A technical researcher and computer journalist, Beverley J. Meincke enjoys an added perk from this line of work: learning. As a natural progression from that learning, Beverley enjoys sharing her knowledge with others not only in the written word, but also in the form of teaching computer science. She teaches application software both in the classroom and freelance as part of the services offered by Meincomp INK, the business she owns and operates from her home. Beverley has also been active in elementary schools and at conventions as a guest speaker. She is also involved in cinemagraphic and theatrical projects, and all aspects of information technology.

"Shine," part of "Stardust," one of Trifolium Books’ "Tales From the Wonderzone" series of children’s science/fiction and accompanying teachers guides, is her first fiction publication.

Beverley was the 1998-99 recipient of the Writer's Craft Highest Achievement Award from the Halton District School Board Adult High School. Upon graduating from the course, she was pleased to apply her professional experience to assisting her instructor in revising the course curriculum.

The second question, close on the heels of the traditional icebreaker, "What do you do for a living?" in my case always seems to be, "So how long have you been a writer?" This always amuses me somewhat.

My answer?

I tell people that as far as memory serves, it was the coffee table, circa 1962, where I stumbled across my first pencil. Shrewdly labelling it an inappropriate appliance for teething, the early entrepreneur in me set about to finding some other use for my discovery.

Truth be known, I believe it was actually a purple crayon, but somehow that fails the romantic retelling of a cocktail party. Besides which, I suspect, the results of that initial Crayola encounter were, technically, more evidential of my future affinity for graphic design than writing. The linguistic component didn’t really manifest itself until several years later.

Still, it did, indeed, manifest itself. And a mammoth-gestation it proved to be at that, in the form of my first "novel," produced in response to a sixth-grade creative writing assignment. Supposed to amount to a handful of pages, mine tome required both arms to handle. And in those days the prepubescent technology at hand to put words to that ream of pages was just that, a hand, a very tired eleven-year-old hand enslaved by obsession into producing a seemingly endless supply of kinetic energy to a ballpoint pen. Several ballpoint pens, actually, if memory serves me correctly. But also in ballpoint, red ballpoint, to cap it all off, these words appear, penned by my sixth-grade teacher: "If this isn’t a career in the making, I’ll eat my hat." After noting how messy the last few chapters had become, he marked it with an A.

Don’t worry Mr. Stainton, your hat is safe with me.

Contact Beverly at bmeincke@cgocable.net
Click here for Beverly's entry page.

Last updated January 5, 2001