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I was born Theresa Ann Bickford and raised in Tilton, New Hampshire, a small town bequeathed by its eccentric founder with several statues, a mansion, and a monolithic, life-sized granite replica of Rome’s Arch of Titus. Fifty-five feet high, the Tilton Arch overshadowed my young imagination to the point that I once believed it belonged to me. And why not, when I picnicked and played beneath its shadow in summer, and went sliding on Arch Hill’s slippery slope every winter?
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From my childhood, I had a vivid imagination, creating stories that I acted out with Barbies (there were never enough Kens), and paper dolls. I loved words from a young age and excelled in English at school. The Madeline series of books by Ludwig Bemelmans were my favorite as a child and the first full-length novel I ever read was Jack London’s Call of the Wild. At the age of 11, I appeared with my fifth grade class on a local television show, where I recited an original poem about air pollution. The impact of my adolescent words on environmentalism has yet to be measured…
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Poet Rod McKuen was an inspiration to me as a young adult spreading my literary wings in the seventies. I began to use poetry as a vehicle for instilling deep meaning succinctly on a page. My short story writing followed this pattern as well, with each word and sentence carefully chosen. I also credit Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables as influential in inspiring my literary dreams, and I am a fan of the ecstatically-free writings of Walt Whitman.
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Adulthood, marriage, child-rearing, and associated priorities took over my life for the next several years; priorities that fulfilled me in many ways as I took care of home and hearth, raising my son and daughter and involving myself in numerous projects. In the meantime, writing was a luxury relegated to late hours and early mornings. Sometimes, I spent whole nights awake, writing pages of poetry, or starting stories that would simmer and bubble until I returned to add more ingredients.
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When my children left home, I found myself firmly entrenched in the shared plight of many a middle-aged woman: an empty-nest and a feeling of diminished usefulness. Several other life-altering events combined with this to force me into a much needed journey of self-reclamation. At the urging of a friend, I returned to school in pursuit of a Creative Writing degree. In conjunction with this, I began a writing career, fulfilling a dream I'd had since my youth. My first job was as a weekly community columnist, mingling my love of creative writing with factual, about-the-town information.
I now work as a freelance writer/photographer for magazines and newspapers, as well as a regular contributor to various websites.
For me, the creative act of writing and the impact one’s words can have on others has no equal in the realm of rewards. As my career progresses, I plan to win awards, publish books, and generally continue my upward climb on the literary ladder of fulfillment and success. Maybe I will own the Tilton Arch one day, after all...
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