Excerpt from A Jersey Pace

Amanda Tinsdale, also known as Misty, is a divorced English teacher in her late thirties who endures over an hour commute to her position at Pacesetters Academy. At the start of the book, she is beginning her 5th year at the school. In the past, she was a self-proclaimed traveling adjunct, teaching seven to eight classes at three different colleges. She started her career teaching pre-schoolers, which she often misses, especially since she is reaching an age where she wants to have her own child, but the odds are not in her favor due to her stagnant relationship with her current boyfriend.

Amanda connects with her students because she has spent the majority of her life as, what she
likes to call, "the other", battling her own learning disability and mental illness. Financial,
emotional, and mental conflict hover over her, especially after her failed marriage and the recent death of her mother. Still, she is a strong personality at work. She is humorous, sarcastic, and cynical, but she is not self-pitying or overly pessimistic. She is an advocate for stronger mental health education and better career opportunities for disadvantaged youth in urban areas. Misty is a dedicated writer, and much of the series will follow her as she writes Pillory and Hope, her memoirs as an educator with high-functioning depression and anxiety.