Fasten your seat belts, folks, because here comes Lela Davidson and she has been blacklisted from the PTA. Whether you think we should all be so lucky or you are a loyal PTA volunteer, I think there is a laugh and a nod of recognition in Lela’s first self-published collection of essays for every mom.
Lela is the author of Blacklisted from the PTA, Managing Editor of ParentingSquad.com, and the Parenting Columnist on HubPages.com. She is also the Associate Editor of Peekaboo magazine and represents the publication in the Parenting U segment on ABC affiliate KFSM Wake Up With 5News. Her writing is featured regularly in family and parenting magazines throughout the country and in Chicken Soup for the Soul: New Moms. Lela is also a popular teacher of online writing and promotion strategies.
Blacklisted from the PTA captures Lela Davidson’s irreverence. Whether it’s PTA meetings or POA politics, Lela exposes the humor in every awkward moment of familial failure and maternal meltdown. Lela says what the rest of us are thinking. Her hilarious observations and subtle satire are always spot on. She’s not afraid to reveal her screw-ups, along with fleeting delusional moments of wherein she honestly believes she is the best mom ever.
1. How has writing (either just the act of writing or writing this book or both) impacted your self-confidence?
There is nothing so exciting as when someone tells me that something I wrote made them laugh. That has been happening on a regular basis ever since I started writing these essays and posting them online, and then publishing them in a local magazine, and then submitting them beyond my own small circle. I’m always thrilled to get that stamp of approval from a reader. However, there is something very different about seeing them all gathered together in a nice typeface with a catchy cover (and oh, did we agonize over the cover!) But nothing compared to watching my husband read my bound-and-bar-coded review copy and hearing him say, “This is really good!”
2. What are three words that describe your creative book-writing process?
Long, slow, deep. Wait, no – that’s yoga. I would say erratic, fun, and Post-It-Note. When something makes me laugh and I find myself telling the story I write down the key elements. Then I try to get something down on paper before I lose the spirit of what I thought was funny. Sometimes these things translate to the written word and sometimes they don’t. If it’s working and I can make a story of it, I go back over the notes and shape it into something that makes sense. And deadline. No deadline, no essay.
3. What good has your book created in the world?
Smiles, giggles, and a fair amount of LOL-ing. People tell me a lot that they’ve experienced something similar to one or another thing I’ve written. I hope that by presenting mundane or frustrating facts of family life with humor that people (moms especially) will be a little easier on themselves, but if all they do is smile for a second that’s good enough for me.
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Have you written any personal essays for pleasure or publication? Lela’s essays are sassy and funny. But every essay writer has a unique style and tone. How would you describe yours? (If you don’t write essays for publication already, tell us how you imagine yours would be described.)
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books). Please read the complete rules at least once!
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway! Please bring a gaggle of friends next time you come. 
