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YC Alumna, Laura Flecha

Laura Flecha, Published Author of The Ready Room shares an update with the YC Alumni Office

Laura Flecha

When did you Attend YC?

I received Associate of Arts Degree 2000-2003

What are you doing now?

I now live back in my childhood hometown of Poolesville, Maryland with my husband, two daughters, son, goldendoodle, chickens, and ducks. A few of my interests are gardening, running, playing Yahtzee, Sorry!, and other board games, and being a steward to Sugartree Farmette's Little Free Library. I attained my MA in Writing from Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

I love writing, and my main passion in writing is poetry with a focus on women's issues and subjects that can be difficult to talk about. As I was brought up Tibetan Buddhist, my writing sometimes reflects Eastern concepts, though it always blends with Western thought and experiences. My hope is that my writing brings comfort to those who may face similar challenges, and perhaps provide insight or a shared understanding of human nature.

Tell us about your career:

I work as an Assistant Managing Editor to American Gastroenterological Association's (AGA) medical journals Gastroenterology and Techniques and Innovations in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (TIGE). I just celebrated my 15-year work anniversary with this organization. In my day-to-day work, I provide support to editors, authors, and reviewers. I also manage several special sections of Gastroenterology and manage Special Issues for both Gastroenterology and TIGE.

How did YC impact your career?

Yavapai College was the first of four colleges I attended. It holds a special place in my heart. YC is a hidden gem in terms of professors, curriculum, class size, environment, etc. I had some of my best professors while attending YC. My writing teacher, Prof. Vic Goldie, was hands down the best writing teacher I've ever had (and I've had many!), and my new book, Ready Room, is in part dedicated to him.

Special memories at YC?

During my years at YC, I had my first child. I remember at my graduation, looking out from the stage and seeing my then 1-year-old daughter smiling and looking back at me. This moment stands out so clearly to me, because it was such a huge accomplishment to attain my AA while starting a family and raising a little one! In the years following, my (now two) daughters were also at my graduations for my BA in English and MA in Writing, smiling proudly at me and cheering me on!

Special Person/Mentor/Faculty?

Professor Vic Goldie was the greatest writing mentor and teacher I've ever had. My new book, Ready Room, is in part dedicated to him. He pulled my writing voice out from me and encouraged me to stick to my own unique writing voice. I'll never forget Prof. Goldie's teaching style, literature readings, and the writing prompts he had his class do. He introduced me to some of my favorite authors. During my three years at YC, I took his writing class nearly every semester. I learned new writing techniques, etc. each time and wrote many poems that still mean a lot to me today. A few are even in my book!

Current areas of interest?

I am currently a member of International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) and have recently joined Women's National Book Association (WNBA). I hope to start volunteering with WNBA shortly. I run Sugartree Farmette's Little Free Library (LFL). This is a great joy of mine. I love doing themed months and having goodies like handmade bookmarks (for everyone) and activity books/stickers/pencils, etc. (for the kiddos).

Our February LFL themes are Blind Date With a Book/Play Date With a Book (wrapped love-themed books labeled with keywords) as well as Black History Month. Our farmette is located in Sugarland, an area rich with African-American history. In fact, years back our land was purchased and owned by freed slaves who farmed, gardened, and ran a working homestead. Since moving to our farmette a little over 2 years ago, we have begun rejuvenating the land, planting fruit trees, gardening, and raising chickens/ducks.

Our goal is to be able to provide free eggs/produce to others and give back to our community in this way! I'm currently preparing for March's Little Free Library theme of past and present banned/challenged books! This has been fascinating to do research on, and I'm excited to carry some amazing and powerful banned/challenged books in March!

You can read the official press release for Laura’s book The Ready Room here.

The book is available now for Kindle download on Amazon and through the publisher's website Pegasus Publishers.