I'm needing some Beta readers before I send my most recent manuscript off. Writing is by nature an alone sort of concept. I've not met many people yet in Abilene. I'm an observer.

 As a minister's wife for twenty-five years I was forced into being gregarious, meeting the congregation, teaching classes, counseling required the most study. I didn't want to send anyone in the wrong direction until I realized they didn't want advice, they wanted someone to listen and sympathize. I could do that. 

I could act like a preacher's wife. In fact I could for awhile act any way I needed to. I did, once a long time ago, win a Best Supporting Actress for playing an alcoholic neighbor. Which required acting as I've never been a drinker but I managed. They had to put a port-a-potty out back because I had to drink so much diluted tea on stage.

I love acting. You can be someone else freely. Your job: to entertain and help the audience forget for a few moments the burdens of their lives. You can easily make them cry. Crying is a form of release but it isn't as satisfying as laughter. Comedy is much more difficult. To make people laugh is total joy.

I was Sister Amnesia in Nunsense one time. I had 104 fever at the time but I was the comedy element so I had to do it. I had the shingles on my nerve endings but didn't know it. No one could learn my part in time. So they had icepacks ready off stage. One night the locker I was supposed to open to remind me of the lottery I had won, got stuck and I couldn't get it to open. The audience had no idea this wasn't part of the play. I banged and kicked it and finally it opened. The part also called for me to go into the audience and talk to some of the people. Some of my lines included curse words which I said in rehearsal but in performance I did not. My mother had her whole grandmother club in attendance. I couldn't embarrass her so. Nor myself and my self respect.
Always be true to your heart and your beliefs. Act like you want to become and eventually you will become that person.