Meet AC Contributor Kyla Matton

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Associated Content Contributor Kyla Matton. Once I came across her first AC article, Quebec Reveals a Thirteen-Step Program to Target Dropout Rate , via a Twitter link I subscribed right away. Education is dear to me and I can tell it is to her as well. My favorite article of Kyla's is Teaching Reading Through Great Literature . She focuses on education in her articles, but writes about a variety of other interesting topics as well. Read on to find out more about this kindhearted and motivated individual who is excelling on AC quickly.

How Did You First Find Out About Associated Content?
I learned about Associated Content when a dear friend, Angie Mohr, began posting links to her AC articles on Facebook. I enjoyed them, and I read a few other articles that were suggested, but didn't fully realize the potential of Associated Content until I started to see articles popping up in search engine results. That got me thinking, so when Angie suggested I publish some of my work here I decided to take the plunge!

Do You Freelance For a Living or Do Something Else As Well?
My first and most important job is Mama to four beautiful children, and wife to my biggest fan. I homeschool my three daughters, and advocate for my autistic son. In what friends have jokingly referred to as my copious spare time, I create educational e-books for classroom teachers and home educators. I am in the process of concluding negotiations to have these books distributed online, by a well-known supplier of homeschool materials.

Tell Us a Little More About Yourself
Sometimes I describe myself as a simple woman living a complex life. The things I value are very basic - family, good food, good books, bubble baths, a hot cup of tea, walking through the crunchy leaves on a crisp autumn day - and also rather complicated - social justice, preparing for our children's future, appreciating our heritage. I am interested in just about anything that sets the world on its ear and makes us question things we've always just taken for granted. I can be blunt, and I sometimes see things from a very different angle than those around me. I tend to think too much, plan too far ahead, and ask too many questions.

How Do Some of Your Life Experiences Add to Your Writing?
One of the great things about Associated Content is that the articles published here aren't just a straight re-telling of the same details of the same stories we've all heard at least ten times over already. I like that other authors add a little something of themselves to the stories they publish - Amanda C. Strosahl who talks about her mother's CDC-approved practices for isolating a sick family member, or Anne Marie St. Jean who turns an unfamiliar word like Steampunk into an amusing article, complete with a polling of other AC contributors. It's a pleasure to be able to take a creative slant to reporting news, or producing what would otherwise be a technical writing piece. I find it difficult to not add something from my own experiences to my writing. It's not always very pronounced, but it does come out in the types of articles I tend to create: parenting, health issues, special populations like the elderly or children with disabilities, education and homeschooling, frugal living, recipes. These are topics that I would read about as a mother who homeschools, and as an individual who has a background living and working with special needs people.

When I write about how distribution of the H1N1 vaccine is affecting Canadian programs for seasonal flu shots, Yes, I will discuss the fact that senior citizens may still have access to seasonal flu vaccine even in areas where it is not currently being distributed and of course, I'm going to inform people about the availability of the shingles vaccine. I studied Gerontology while I was working at a chronic care hospital for war veterans, and issues around aging are very much in my mind as my own parents grow older. Like the forty-something classmates I had when I was younger, I too have begun to feel the weight of the years upon me. I know this is the path I will be walking in the not so distant future, so researching and writing these stories is part of keeping current and preparing myself for the days when I will myself be a senior citizen.

Other writing is less researched and more a matter of an inspiration, like my article about telling the stories of all the everyday triumphs of our special needs kids. I wrote this piece with my own autistic son in mind, and it expresses a great deal of my feelings about raising a special needs child. My sense of humour comes out more in the piece I wrote after Angie welcomed be to AC, warning me that I was sure to be teased about being Canadian. I am trying to write more in less familiar areas such as entertainment, but I write most often about what I know.

What Prompted You to Write Educational Materials?
One of the best discoveries I made when I started homeschooling my girls is that I have this rare opportunity to return to all the learning I did as a child, and relive it as an adult with a whole different set of experiences that helps me to come back to each subject area and topic with a fresh new focus. In the process of scouting out the best resources for my girls I stumbled upon a whole body of literature, much of it from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, that was written to teach children through narratives rather than using a textbook format. While many of us are familiar with the children's fiction of the time, these other books are relatively little known today.

Having been a volunteer with Project Gutenberg, the concept of restoring old texts and creating e-books from them was a familiar one. When I saw other homeschoolers formatting texts so homeschoolers could more economically print them, and creating companion materials such as copywork books, study guides, or unit studies, I knew this was something I had to explore. The first text I produced was Louisa may Alcott's lesser known Fourth Grade Reader, which I had originally begun reformatting for my oldest daughter to use in her own English studies.

Sharing these texts with the rest of the world was a natural extension of creating them. I suppose in a way, it helps me to justify all the digging I love to do when I am reading an author or learning about the setting in which a story takes place. I add my own special touches to the texts, and then I offer them to other educators who may not have the opportunity or ability to locate the information I have. It's a wonderful feeling to be rescuing a beautiful piece of literature from obscurity, but also to have yet another outlet for my writing.

What Benefits Do You Expect to Gain from AC?
If you had asked me this a month ago, I probably would have said I was looking to generate a little income, and maybe benefit from some increased exposure. After a month at AC, I have made a small amount of money and I am seeing my articles indexed on other sites, so I can't complain at all on that count. But I really must say that there were many hidden benefits I had never expected! I've made a number of new friends in a very short time - warm and generous folks who have not only welcomed me into their community but supported my writing in ways I never expected. I look forward to logging in each morning and seeing the comments on my articles, the personal messages, the compliments and the offers of help or advice. So many people have helped me to promote my work, both here and on other sites like Twitter. And even as a new writer here I find I am being approached by others asking for advice, or that I can help to answer a question or to get another writer the exposure they deserve.

I had always shied away from writers groups, even the virtual ones, and now I find myself wondering why! If I had imagined there would be some kind of cutthroat competition between authors, or that my writing would be torn apart, perhaps I was flashing back on experiences from high school - a time when most of us don't really grasp the "constructive" aspect of constructive criticism! Rather I find that my fellow contributors are eager to celebrate every milestone, no matter how small it may be in comparison with what they themselves have achieved, and they are generally quicker to point to the strengths in another's writing than to the weaknesses. In the last two weeks I've discovered Jolie du Pre's goal setting threads in the forum. While it is a great way to avoid become complacent, Jolie and others who post to the threads create such a positive and safe environment. This is a great way to set goals and really stick to them, and to find encouragement when needed.

Learning that so many of the AC contributors also participate in other writing projects and publish at other sites was another unexpected benefit. People are so generous about sharing resources and pointing others to paid writing opportunities, but also about doing things together that are just for the fun or the challenge. A large number of AC writers, for example, are taking part in this year's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.) This will be my first time, and I'm so glad to know that many of my AC friends will be working toward the same goal at the same time. The camaraderie and encouragement will certainly come in handy!

What is the Most Meaningful Piece of Content You've Published at AC and Why?
The piece that means the most to me is "Special Needs Children Telling All Their Stories." I wrote this after I read a blog entry by the mother of another disabled child, who addressed the question of how she wished people would treat her son when they came upon him in the community. My article was also inspired by the ten years' of experiences I've shared with my autistic son. It has received a very positive response, both from parents of special needs kids and from others. I hope that it has helped in a small way to raise awareness of what life is like for a family with an exceptional child.

Name 3 Other Favorites that You Have Published at AC

"Teaching Martial Arts to Adults and Children Together"

"H1N1 History and Recent Developments"

"Conflict Resolution for Kids"

As a New Contributor Excelling Quickly, What Advice Would You Give New Contributors?
I think the best advice is what has been said by many others before me: publish, but also take the time to read other authors and to network with them. Reading more established writers' work gives an example of what works - what will generate better income, and what people want to read. Learn from the authors that interest you, and from those whose writing you respect.

Comment on articles, and participate in the forums. Take the time to cultivate a relationship with others here. AC is a wonderful community, and success comes more quickly when a new member takes full advantage of all it has to offer.

Is There Anything Else You'd Like to Add?
Just that I want to thank you very much for all of your encouragement and interest in me, Lyn. You were the first new person I met here at AC, and have been a great help to me. New members would do well to read your articles and tutorials, and to come to you with their questions. Not fawning over you or trying to polish your apple. It's just the truth.