Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Donna O’Donnell Figurski. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Donna , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I stumbled into writing in the early 1990s. By then, I had been teaching either first or third grades for about 10 years. Because children are like sponges and soak up their environment with their innate curiosity and their eagerness to learn, I knew this was the perfect time to instill the love of writing into them. So that became my mission.

Every year when I introduced the first lesson on writing, I’d ask my young students, “Are there any writers in the room?” Their eyes would grow big. They’d stare at me, and some would inevitably blurt out, “I’m not a writer!” or “I don’t know how to write!” I’d peer right back and say, “Can you write the letter ‘A,’ ‘B,’ or ‘C’?” Timidly, they’d nod to indicate they could. “Can you write the word ‘cat’ or ‘dog’?” More heads nodded. “Can you write your name?” Many hands flew into the air. “I can! I can!” they’d chorus. I knew I had them then. I’d scrunch up my nose and say, “But you said you couldn’t write. You were kidding me, weren’t you?” Relief, coupled with smiles, filled the classroom as the children realized that they were indeed writers. I accomplished my first task in the process of writing––getting them to believe they can.

I loved teaching writing to kids. It was such fun to watch them grow throughout the year. But I wanted to learn more techniques on how to teach them, so I registered for The Writing Project, a summer course and Saturday sessions at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. The best way to learn any skill is to do it, and that is what my professors asked of me and the other elementary school teachers in my class. We wrote and wrote … and wrote. One homework task required that we write a story for children––a picture book manuscript. Now I felt as my students had. My eyes grew big. I didn’t blurt out my fears, but I thought, I don’t know how to write a children’s story! I bet a lot of my fellow classmates felt the same way. Our professor was encouraging, and so I went home to try to write a story that would engage children.

After many failed attempts, I was surprised to succeed. While sitting on my deck, surrounded by my grassy yard and clear blue skies above, words started to appear on my computer screen. Bubbles–too many of them–began to appear in my bathtub … and on an elephant’s toes. Bubbles jumped through fiery hoops and traced loop-de-loops. Bubbles were everywhere! Somehow, those bubbles took over my subconscious brain, and a story unfolded. I was surprised and wondered, Where did THAT come from?

The following week, I had nervous jitters as I read my creation aloud to my fellow classmates. I couldn’t believe that they and my professor loved it! They showered me with praise and encouraged me to submit the manuscript to a publisher to be made into a children’s picture book. That was when my magical writing spark was ignited.
I began to think of myself as a writer. Writing became my passion, and I began writing on a regular basis. I now not only create stories for children, but I also write for adults. I sent my first children’s story to about twenty publishers. No, it was never accepted, but along with the standard rejections (Dear Author … boilerplate rejection … Sincerely, The Editor), I also received some personal and very encouraging comments from various editors. Some even requested to see more of my work. I was hooked!

I’ve since written about twenty picture book manuscripts and have submitted each of them, and they continue to get “good” rejections. I know ‘“good’ rejections” sounds like an oxymoron. How can a rejection ever be good? Fortunately, I am excited by any manuscript that is rejected with praise from the editor. Check out about thirty of my rejections on the “BUT” page (Musings by Donna #57 Love it–BUT … ) of my first website (https://donnaodonnellfigurski.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/musings-by-donna-57-love-it-but/). Here are three examples to whet your appetite:

I think this is the strongest piece you have sent me – it’s funny and charming, and a story young children will relate to well, but …

Molly and Oliver are endearing characters and you have a nice sense of their age group, but …

Your writing is “on the cusp,” but …

I hope someone will please finally push me over the edge. But until then, I will write and submit my children’s picture book manuscripts and continue to pursue the dream that originally sparked my life of writing.

Donna , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I like to describe myself as a wife, mother, granny, teacher, pup playmate, playwright, actor, director, stage manager, photographer, picture book reviewer, writer/author, and caregiver for my husband and best friend, David. (Phew! I juggle a lot of hats!) This circuitous route through life contributed greatly to my path as an author. It took many years, but each stage was necessary preparation. Did I know I wanted to be a writer? No. It never crossed my mind. But looking back, I can see how my process formed a life-mosaic that led me to writing.

Writing was an integral part of my life. When my husband, David, had a serious brain injury in 2005, I recorded his every movement. When he blinked an eye, when he moved his hand, when he coughed or sneezed, I made a note about it. I mean I kept track of his every movement! I also made notes about all my meetings with doctors, nurses, and therapists. I used this information to write my David Update emails each evening to send to family and friends across the country to keep them informed of David’s progress. I also wanted to share the details of what David went through while he was undergoing and recovering from each of the three brain surgeries that were needed to treat his traumatic brain injury. I wanted them to feel as if they were with him when he woke from his coma and was finally able to comprehend the consequences of his catastrophic hemorrhage.

I had no plans to write a book for adults. I thought any expertise I had in writing was for children’s picture books. But a year later, when I read some of the email updates to David, we both knew that I had to write the story––his and my story. I hoped to accurately portray how David’s life had changed after his subarachnoid hemorrhage, which was treated by an emergency surgery and followed by two more brain surgeries to treat an aneurysm and an AVM (arteriovenous malformation). I also wanted to realistically tell my story as his caregiver and forever-partner-in-life. David’s chances of living were very slim for all his surgeries. But despite those grave assessments by his surgeons, David survived, though not without consequences. Still, we are both grateful that he is still this side of heaven.

My career as a teacher, a profession that I am very passionate about, was the catalyst for me to write my second book: If I Ran the School: A Play Yard for Learning, which is completed and in search of a publishing house. This book takes readers on a journey of my innovative classroom for very young learners. It details my methods of teaching first and third grades and invites the reader to be a fly on the wall of my classroom to observe and experience the inner workings of how I inspired my “kiddles” to love learning. Anecdotes from the children as well as teaching procedures are included in this bird’s-eye (Oops! … fly’s-eye …) view of my classroom–my “play yard for learning.”

I am in the revision process of my third book, which I am working on with a co-author. The working title is Conversations: You Are Not Alone. It is a dialogue between a brain injury survivor and me–a caregiver. It’s an inside view of how both a survivor and a caregiver approach various aspects of brain injury, such as changing roles, returning to work or school, and invisible vs. visible disabilities after brain injury. We have just finished the final draft, and its publication will make this book available to the world to help other caregivers and their survivors.

I know writers are usually passionate about their work, as they should be. But I wonder how many other writers have persisted in their dream for more than thirty years. That’s how long I’ve been striving to break into the children’s publishing field. When I first began to write children’s picture books in the early 1990s, I thought that three years would be an inordinate amount of time to sign a contract and see my picture books on the shelves of book stores and libraries. Never in a gazillion years did I think I would still be pursing this dream of writing for children with no contract in hand some thirty years later. Some may consider this dedication. Others may claim it to be craziness. (You decide.) As I mentioned earlier, those “good” rejections were, and still are, my carrots to continue to pursue my dream. I’m definitely in for the long haul.

An important validation for me was the publication of four of my children’s stories in a basal reader series (Literacy Place 2000) published by Scholastic. Two of my stories were included in a third-grade workbook; another, in a fourth-grade workbook; and the fourth, in a fifth-grade workbook. I was so excited and honored to see my work in Scholastic publications and to know that my stories will be read in schools by tens of thousands of children across the United States. I guess the small successes give us the impetus to move forward, to dream big, and to work hard to reach those dreams.

Although writing is a major passion, there are other passions that I have. Not surprisingly, my creativity has been an important part of these secondary passions. Creating jewelry is one passion of mine. Some pieces can be seen at diemodi jewelry (https://diemodijewelry.wordpress.com/0). Another passion, which I engage in each and every day, is photography. I love taking photos of nature and life in general––capturing for forever a moment in time. Some of my work can be seen (and purchased) at Fine Art America (https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/donna-odonnellfigurski/shop).

Until now, I have emphasized the importance of creativity and passion in my life, but these traits do not fully describe the person I am. To be sure, I consider myself to be a writer. But one of my greatest joys is Cricket, my shih-poo “pup.” She was 13 when I rescued her a year ago. She’s definitely not a puppy, although she has the energy of one, so I call her my “pup.” She has become my adorable forever-companion, and she is a major delight in my life. Cricket and I are always together … and her silly antics constantly make me laugh.

Of course, writing, Cricket, and my lesser passions do not even come close to my greatest accomplishments–marrying the man of my dreams and, together, raising our daughter and son to become wonderfully accomplished adults.

As I look back on my life–both the great times and the tragedies–I can say that passion and creativity have always been major themes. Whether I use those parts of me when I’m connecting with my family, when I’m teaching children how to deal with life, when I’m producing writing that’s inspiring, when I’m helping the brain injury community, when I’m playing with my adorable pup, when I’m performing in our community theater, when I’m capturing the beauty that surrounds us in my daily photographs, or when I’m experiencing the Zen of making jewelry, I can truly say that I feel like I can go forward in life with excitement and confidence. My story is not finished yet. I wonder what it holds.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My biggest pivot in life was when my husband had his brain injury, which I mentioned above. David’s traumatic brain injury, which will affect him for the rest of his life, turned both of our lives upside down and set us on a completely new path.

David’s injury turned a very vibrant, health- and exercise-conscious, middle-aged man into a person who is reliant on others, especially me, for help. His injury damaged his cerebellum, which directly affects his coordination and balance. For example, the smallest irregularity on the sidewalk, such as a crack, a stone or twig, or even a slight difference in grade, will send him tumbling to the ground. This once so-able man has become a prisoner of his body. David also lives with a variety of other afflictions from his brain injury, but we are ever grateful that his cognitive brain was not affected. With rides from professor-friends, David worked for seven more years before he retired from Columbia University in New York City, but I was still always on call as his caregiver whenever he was at home.

David’s brain injury profoundly affected not only my life but also my personality. David believes I have uncovered strengths I never knew I had. Because David was in a coma early on, I had to make life-or-death decisions totally on my own. As a result, I became more independent and more assertive. I’ve taken on many of the responsibilities that David used to do because he is no longer able to, like paying the bills or doing taxes. I even recently negotiated the purchase of a new car. David was proud of my great deal. But, I really, really wish he could take out the trash! Anyone wishing to learn more about my life-changing pivot can read about it in my three-award-winning memoir, “Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver’s Tale.”

David’s brain injury event changed my focus of writing for children to that of also writing for adults. I became a serious advocate for survivors of brain injury and their caregivers and do everything I can to share information with anyone, including starting and maintaining a blog (Surviving Traumatic Brain Injury, which has had ~136,000 views) and hosting an 80-minute online radio show (Another Fork in the Road) twice a month on the Brain Injury Radio Network. I particularly love to speak at conferences, to book clubs, or to any venue with people who want to learn more about brain injury.

I’m so excited that my writing pendulum is swinging back to include my creating picture books for children. I am involved with three critique groups for writing quality stories for children. I have begun to once again submit manuscripts for children’s picture books. Wish me luck! And cross your fingers for “good” rejections––or, better yet, for acceptances.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I’m so glad that I stumbled onto my writing path. I find it gratifying to string words together to make sentences, join those sentences to make paragraphs, and watch as those paragraphs build into a story, an article, or a book that will either help or entertain others.

There is tremendous power in words. They can make you laugh, cry, and even G-A-S-P! as they do in my memoir, “Prisoners Without Bars: A Caregiver’s Tale”. It tells a real-life love story in the context of brain injury. I’m thrilled when I’m invited to speak about Prisoners. Ever since my husband, David, had his brain injury, I have become an ardent advocate not only for him but also for the brain injury community. I am always eager to share our story and help folks know that they are not alone on their brain injury journey.

To be able to use my words to touch someone, to awaken a person’s emotions, or to engross a reader is one of my greatest accomplishments. I’m excited that I can be a part of the world of word-crafters.

Contact Info:

• Website: donnafigurski.com
• Instagram: dmodfigs https://www.instagram.com/dmodfigs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donnaodonnellfigurskiauthor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-o-donnell-figurski-72963453/
• Twitter: @donnafigurski https://www.facebook.com/donnaodonnellfigurskiauthor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoclskoaz64XnutottX1DQ
• Other: Website: https://www.neelyfoster.com/contact-me Blog – SurvivingTraumaticBrainInjury.com Blog – Donna O’Donnell Figurski’s Blog WriteLife Publisher https://writelife.com/authors/donna-odonnell-figurski/?sfw=pass1658175862 Host of my show, “Another Fork in the Road” on the Brain Injury Radio Network https://www.blogtalkradio.com/braininjuryradio