[Image credit: New Orleans Living] Excerpt from Life Begins When The Kids Leave Home And The Dog Dies, new release on Amazon

“Dear Barb,” a reader asks, “How did you become a writer?”

Well, Dear Reader, it’s not a pretty story. My parents were too poor to afford guardian angels for each of their ten children, so I went through childhood with two little guardian social workers sitting on my shoulders. One had a three-piece suit and a briefcase, the other had sensible shoes and a diaper bag.

Age 5: Guardian-SW#1: “Barb, you can use your school years to construct a foundation of cultural values, human experience and long division on which to build a successful career as a best-selling writer.”

Guardian-SW#2: “Be a super-mommy, be a super-mommy!”

Age 17: Guardian-SW#1: “Barb, here in college you can share the lives and ideas of…