You can”™t be in public relations without loving the written word, says Gloria Smith, whose business, not coincidentally, is called Wordsmith. She had been in the PR business previously on the design side, but writing became the focus when she moved from New York City to Middletown during the 1980s.
“We had a second home up here to get away from the City stress,” says Smith, “but eventually, I felt it would be better for our two children and for my own mental health to make the move.”
Smith became a stay-at-home mom, but not for long. “The fax machine had just come into vogue,” she laughs, “and so my career abruptly resurrected and morphed from stay-at-home mom to stay-at-home working mom.”
These days, Smith works with clients all over the tri-state area with their public relations needs. She never thought about getting into children”™s writing, even though she had two sons of her own. “Originally, the idea presented to me was to create some magnets where children could move the figures and the book would be interactive (think “Colorforms”) with the focus on the state”™s quadricentennial and celebration of all things Dutch.”
Smith had been to Holland many times because of her work for KLM during the 1980s. She located a Dutch writer to help with the transition from Old World to New Amsterdam, “but the writer wasn”™t ”˜getting”™ it.”
Instead, the writer in Smith kicked in.
“The story idea turned into a book instead. The result of the change has been wonderful because I”™ve been able to write about travel, which I love; the books in the series are adventurous, written for an age group of readers who are eager to be on their own to some extent, not geared towards toddlers.”
Smith admits she did not know much about marketing when she first started out 20 years ago; her forte was copywriting. And, “I didn”™t know that much about the other end of the business. As time went on, marketing became much more satisfying and still allowed me to be creative on my own.” Now, Smith”™s new series, “The Undercover Kids,” may just become the 21st century version of Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. Katie, Jake and Cooper”™s adventures, their first in Holland, are part of a new series Smith is putting together. It is being distributed through not-for-profits.
Born in Chicago, raised in Connecticut, and now living in the Hudson Valley, Smith wouldn”™t have it any other way. “You really can”™t go home again,” says Smith. “The Hudson Valley is home now and I can”™t picture myself living in New York City anymore.”
In Smith”™s case, she can go anywhere she wants without leaving the Hudson Valley, thanks to “The Undercover Kids.”
When Smith”™s not writing, she”™s riding her horse or flying with friend and co-pilot, Eileen Piasecki-Couch, who owns her own herbal foods business in Pine Island. Last year, the two participated in a cross-country race that “was the experience of a lifetime,” says Smith, “albeit an expensive one, because the cost of fuel was astronomical. But we had a great time and it helped me in putting together my fictional entourage and making their adventures more realistic and interesting.”
“The great thing about my work and own personal interests is that it”™s helped me shape the characters in my book,” says Smith, who loves to travel. While she may not have the same opportunities she once had, she still travels as much as she can and does even more of the same via her fictional teen detectives. She hopes their positive message ”“ and interesting adventures ”“ will help spark a love of reading and traveling among the younger set, “who are fixated on computers and texting. This can take them to a place in their imagination that no computer can.”
