Once upon a time MaeMucho = a pen name for blogging carefree. One day The Charlotte Observer, MomsCharlotte, and Huffington Post required a proper name to byline proper pieces.
A writer and her author ego learned to tell stories together and lived happily ever after. The Beginning...
Host Landis Wade interviews Bess about NOW AND AT THE HOUR for the podcast.
Talking to inspiring women is AMAZING!
I spent my childhood lost in books, so it was no surprise that I eventually majored in English at Davidson College.
After college I worked in the non-profit sector, married my college sweetheart, and became a mother. When my kids were young I completed a masters in Organizational Communication at Queens University of Charlotte in 2009; it took a village to raise a graduate degree during that hectic time!
I had to write a lot for my program and especially enjoyed exploring the impact of the internet age on the social construction of personal identity. How does technology influence how others perceive us . . . and how we view ourselves?
“I’ve enjoyed having you in class this summer. You provided wonderful insights, clarity, and demonstrated a strong commitment to learning. Can we clone you?”
– Dr. John Bennett, Queens University of Charlotte
Many Hats Mom
Two classmates surprised me by setting up my blog the summer after graduation. Given their support of my writing was based on such riveting fare as “Word Unplugged: Transcending the New Social Communication Contract” this was a pretty stunning development.
When I began blogging I decided to use a pen name to fully embrace this creative endeavor and to write about my life uncensored. I selected an abbreviated version of my childhood nickname, “Bessie Mae Mucho” a play on the famous Spanish song Bésame Mucho. It felt cool to post under my name that was not my name.
One writing path led to another, and I began blogging for skirt.com as MaeMucho in 2010. I used that forum to explore political themes, current events, aspects of the writing process, and all things great and small on the home front.
“Damn MaeMucho. Not only was this great discourse about Sarah Palin . . . but a great lesson for writers and well, just human beings. I loved this post!”
– Stephanie Davis Smith, former national web editor of skirt.com
Pen Up Girl
I continue to enjoy telling stories online and in print.
I learn what it is like to make a daily deadline when I write a series for The Charlotte Observer during the 2012 DNC
MomsCharlotte offers a place for cathartic parenting fail confessions in my Worst Mom Ever series. Other online contributions include Miracle on Curbstone Street; Mom and Pop; Team Mom; Because Friends; and my current blogging series, A Few Good Moms: Can you handle the truth?
“I loved working with Bess because she really cares about the spirit of a story. She does so much more than straight reporting; she labors over the intent and the meaning of a story and asks thoughtful, probing questions.”
-Sandra Conway, Chair/DVACharlotte
Storyteller
