Meet the Editors of Middle-Pause — They’re Women You Wanna Know

We are stronger together!

“What is your passion?”

“Women!” I said.

“That’s too broad of a category. You need a niche. Over the weekend, think about it, and let me know what you come up with,” said my writing coach, Shaunta.

The following Monday I informed her I had a niche and a name for my publication–Middle-Pause–for the woman in the middle to have a voice, authentic and true.

Four years later, Middle-Pause(MP) is a force to be reckoned with! We serve a community of hundreds perhaps even thousands of women who are in the middle of work, relationships, menopause, and mostly of themselves.

Our audience is women (40+) who write to share our hopes, dreams, pain, failures, joy, and loss. It’s a place where we can heal.

MP’s grown slowly but steadily just like the tortoise in his Hare story. However, we are gaining momentum! Submissions are coming in like crazy and all the team members are working to edit your drafts.

That’s why sometimes more than one editor leaves notes.

Right now it’s still a work in progress. We are editing out the kinks so bear with us, please, pretty, please.

Some of you may ask–Who are these people? I’m here to enlighten your mind! Tell you all about them and what they do at MP.

Before I go any further, I’d like to say that all MP’s team members are superheroes. And guess what? They have superhero names!

Are you ready to meet the editors?

Meet the Editors

Debbie Walker

I’ll go first just because I was the first editor. I started MP in 2019 to showcase the articles of other women. Why? Like I said before, women are my passion and I wanted a community of sisters.

Why sisters? Because I always wanted one! Being the oldest in a family with three younger brat brothers, I yearned for a sister to share my feelings and sisterly camaraderie.

But as submissions trickled in, I felt unqualified to edit, being a brand-spankin’ new writer, myself. Heck, I couldn’t edit my own stuff.

But I had a vision–

To encourage, inspire, & empower women to live lives of meaning and purpose.

This is why I’m The Flash because I bring the future back to the present. But, again, I felt inadequate. That’s when I asked for help.

In my own words–

I’m a great-grandmother of a tribe of 21 souls. We are a mixture of diverse people. And we love it! You’ve already read everything about me–in my own words, above. Hey, hey!

Magnificent Meg Stewart

Meg Stewart joined because she believed in my vision. She became the cornerstone in building the castle of MP. That’s why I dubbed her Magnificent Meg, the Queen of Technology. Plus, she’s a pro at editing, and teaches classes on it!

Without Meg, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on!

In her own words–

Meg Stewart is a writer and business coach. She founded Solutions by Stewart in 2003 to teach technology, SEO and do freelance writing. With over two decades experience, the intersection of writing, teaching, and technology is Meg’s sweet spot. Her tech knowledge helped launch the Middle-Pause publication, and she helps behind the scenes as needed in its mission to share empowering stories with the world. She is excited to increase her role this year as an editor.

Mah-velous Marilyn Flower

I also named Marilyn Flower the Spiller of Wisdom and resident Funny Woman. Why? Because that is exactly what she is!

She became Senior Editor and forged a new path for MP that helped us foster a community of empowered women! Yes, I said it! You’re a powerhouse, Sis!

Marilyn is a fellow prayer warrior who believes in the power of transformation. She strives to look past outer appearances and stand in the ultimate truth of a situation. We’re blessed to have her on our team.

In her own words–

Marilyn Flower is an author, playwright, poet, and proud resident of Oakland, California. Humor is her first and favorite language.

Laughter is her way to stay in top physical, emotional and spiritual shape for crazy times such as these. Besides “writer,” Marilyn answers to “sacred fool” and “prayer warrior.” She studies clowning, improv, and all-round feistiness at Stagebridge.org, the premier senior theater school which is right down the street.

She’s also a contributing editor to Middle-Pause, as well as interviewing guest speakers for their podcast STOMP! With a little or a lot of humor, she writes about health, recovery, writing, mid-life issues, and the body politic. She adores being a daughter, sister, aunt, and great-aunt which pries her away from the laptop and keeps her in shape.

Margie, The Merry Minion, Podcast Engineer Extraordinaire

As time went on, the team started a podcast, STOMP! (Stronger Together on Middle-Pause) as an off-shoot of the publication. I asked Margie Pearl to head up this endeavor.

As it happened, her family is in radio and newscasting, so STOMP! became a family project. Woo-Hoo!

Margie aka Margie Pearl learned the ins and outs of the podcast industry and away we went into a new adventure.

In her own words–

She is the Sunday editor on MP. She relishes the fact that her initials are the same, MP

When Margie is not working on her writing, she enjoys nature by filling the bird bath, taking walks with her husband enjoying Minnesota’s numerous park systems. She has two adult children who are wiser than her, though they don’t always show it.

Her favorite indoor hobbies are sewing, knitting, and watching foreign films. In her sewing career, she did alterations, fittings, and sewed bustles for wedding gown trains. She worked as an archivist and coder at a law firm. She was a public library clerk which put her in direct contact with favorite subject: history. Her longest job has been as an interviewer where she asks questions for Social Science research.

She loves detail and handwork — even weeding. Important qualities for an editor.

Cindy, the Marketing Martial Artist

Along about the year, 2020, Cindy Heath offered to help move MP forward through her skill and knowledge of marketing. She helped us form a business plan and even developed MP’s own avatar.

You go, girl!

Cindy’s help has been invaluable with her being pragmatic and all. She’s happy to slide into the editing role, something she’s good at!

In her own words–

Cindy lives on one of the San Juan Islands in the far northwest part of Washington State where she loves to garden, hike, and kayak. She works as a ghostwriter and content writer for a marketing agency. The ongoing process of writing a memoir about her life growing up on a homestead in Alaska shaped who she became, and has changed her life. Cindy writes about life in all its wonders. If you’d like information on her coaching services for writing, she’d love to hear from you Cindy Heath.

Krista, Thunderkat and Legal Eagle

Even though Krista Bennett isn’t currently editing, she is still a part of the team. Hiding in the background waiting to transform–Thunderkats, thunkerkats, ho!

Krista was with me at the very beginning before MP was created. She’s been my biggest cheerleader and was the first one to submit a draft, other than myself. Remember, girl? What was it? Something about fat pads or bums…lol!

Anyway, Krista’s there if we need her.

In her own words–

Krista is still stumbling through life. LOL! Actually, I have some projects I’ve been working on starting to come together. I don’t have a lot of time, but the time I do get, I work on these projects, and I believe I’ll see some progress and will have a couple of eBooks published.

Now that you know our editors, don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something about editing or the notes we leave you.

Isn’t this wonderful? What do you think? I believe MP is a place where women can feel safe expressing their beliefs, dreams, sorrow, and hope without judgment.

We can dance in the stars and float in a river of tears. Then we support one other.

The women of MP live out the vision of MP —

To encourage, inspire, and empower women!

In the words of Marilyn, We want to make your articles shine!

And, in the words of our Merry Minion, We are a sisterhood in print.

Luv, y’all!