Who in the World is Shelly Barclay?

Born and raised in Massachusetts, this AC Contributor left the nest at the young age of twenty and headed to Washington State…only to return home three years later. Shelly Barclay is an avid hiker, fishing and boating enthusiast, and also enjoys tapping into her nerdy side with Lord of the Rings movies once in a while. (If you meet her, keep an eye out for a tattoo of an elvish script on her upper arm). Shelly’s been publishing on AC since May 2009 and was recently named one of  AC’s Rising Stars. I caught up with this Contributor to find out what she’s reading, writing about and enjoying so far with her publishing career on AC:

SK: How did you get started with writing for AC?

SB: I had been publishing online for a while and reading as many articles as I could find on the topic. I ran across an article about AC and decided to check it out. I’ve really enjoyed it  thusfar, so I have been publishing there regularly ever since.

SK: What inspired you to join?
SB: I was a professional cook for nearly ten years, when I had to take some time off to care for my stepson. I always loved writing and I needed something to do with my down time, so I took up online writing and loved it. AC is one of the more popular writing websites (obviously), so my joining AC was rather inevitable.

SK: Your favorite content category to browse at work is:
SB: Well, if I had to pick one, it would be history. Although, I do browse science and books rather often, as well.

SK: Do you write for other online sites or publications, or do you publish exclusively on AC?
SB: I write for a few other sites, but there are only two or three that I write for regularly. AC is one of them. I find the site to be simple to use and the other writers there have been extremely friendly. You don’t get that from a lot of other sites, so I feel like the more I stick around AC, the more I will learn from the other writers there.

SK: Your most popular/most commented/newsworthy article?
SB: This one sort of makes me laugh. I don’t have a lot of success with article popularity. The bulk of my articles are not exactly newsworthy, I usually just write about what interests me and hope that it will interest someone else. However, I did write an article about the differences between the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie and the novel of the same name. That one was read a lot more than my other articles.

SK: Name one website you visit at least once per day:
SB: All of the sites that I write for get visited by me at least once a day, but aside from them, nationalgeographic.com.

SK: Three Contributors that have inspired you or whose work you enjoy reading regularly:
SB: R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen (Rose), she writes some very helpful medical articles that I am nearly always compelled to share with someone who could use the information. John Myers writes some wonderful articles on homosexuality that I have been reading lately. His calm and precise arguments for the “normality” of homosexuality are an inspiration. And I find Cathy A. Montville’s wonderful real estate articles about Massachusetts truly interesting.

SK: Your favorite form of caffeine?
SB: This is going to sound odd coming from a writer, but I do not ingest any form of caffeine. However, Guitar Hero keeps me awake for hours on end.

SK: A favorite hobby when you’re not writing for AC?
SB: Reading and hiking. I could never choose between them. I live in an area where there are plenty of places to just go for a walk and enjoy nature. I’ll often bring a book with me and combine the two.

SK: Your favorite article topics to write about are…
SB: Mysteries in history, military history and literature are my favorite topics. However, I do write about animals (mostly reptiles and dogs) a lot and I like to write biographies about people that I find intriguing.

SK: One pearl of wisdom for any AC Contributor?
SB: I don’t know if I am in a position to give out advice, but if I had to it would be this: Write about what you love and do it because you love it, not for the money. If you are only writing for the money, it will show and you will get frustrated when you learn that writers do not get rich overnight.  Some of the best writers in history were broke. So if you’re not making a lot of money, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are not good at it.

SK: Your favorite quote about writing or otherwise:
SB: “The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.”~ William Jennings Bryan.