I Went Flying!

    I went flying with Al! He just got his pilot’s license and he took a friend and me up! Wahoo!

The sights were amazing and the landing was soooo soft! A dream realized for him and an honor for me.

Thanks to Niccolai Murphy, my buddy from way back when in Singapore and to Frank Britton, (Nicco’s friend who has become one to me) for taking Al up 9 years ago and instilling in him a love of flying. And to Pat Hlavin, Nicco’s sweet wife who will likely show him this post because Nicco is a fuddy duddy. Ha! Love you guys!

Jocelyn Takes Gold in Kansas!

    I took gold in my division, made a new friend, master Lifter Elizabeth Brown from Kansas, and a pic with teammate Wesley Hartquist and his dad, Ed, our amazing Coach, Bob White—the big brother I always wanted—and his lovely wife, Bonnie.

#weightlifting #mastersweightlifting #yellowbrickroad #grit #fitforlife #womenshealth #author #aneyeforaneye #thriller

Broken Arrow Meet and Shane Hamman

I met the amazing Shane Hamman at the meet in Broken Arrow. He came by to say hi to Coach Bob and the team.  What a pleasure! He signed my shoes and I signed a copy of my book An Eye for an Eye for him.  Right before we took the pic, I said, “We kinda look like Mutt and Jeff!”  We both laughed.

#MastersWeightlifting #AnEyeforanEye #Grit #StayStrong #WomensHealth

Izzy O’Donnell Thrillers

Rookie detective Izzy O’Donnell is on the trail of a serial killer who’s murdering victims and leaving behind body parts wrapped in Bible verses.

Izzy tracks him down with the help of her two partners—a very enigmatic Moreno and a rather grumpy Cal, her injured dad’s former partner. Meanwhile, her wacky sidekick, Apple MacIntosh, totes a pet rabbit around in a baby sling, insisting he’s telepathic and can smell death on Izzy’s clothes. Unnerved by unexplained dreams, Izzy forges forth to solve the case. A homeless man, a philandering televangelist, and a mentally challenged gardener are among the suspects who distract Izzy from seeing the killer, who has been getting to know her all along.

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Weightlifting Champ

Jocelyn is a gold medal-winning Olympic-style weightlifter. She works with Bob White of Team Metro in Norman, Oklahoma.

 

For more information, read her interview in the OU Daily.

Click to read the full interview about bodybuilding and writing

 

 

Giving Back

For Community Service, I am a member of CPAAN, the Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association. I am a graduate of the Norman Citizen’s Police Academy. CPAAN helps to build relationships between the community and the Norman Police Department. Last year I volunteered to chaperone at a program where police run a camp for kids. Each year we have a fundraiser called Back the Blue that I participate in. In the fall, we have an activity where we ride along with police officers and visit various neighborhoods where folks visit with their neighbors and we stop by to build relationships. These are just a few of the activities we help with. There are many more. 

 I am on the board of LifeMissions. It’s a non-profit based on accepting people where they are with love, compassion and empathy. Since we live in Norman, and I work at the university and our founder is a student at OU, we are connected to folks at OU. We have mentored students who were suicidal—helping them to find the help they need. We have talked to alcoholics who are not yet ready to become sober, but who need friends who continue to encourage them to seek help. We have taken home-schooled students under our wing and helped them adjust to life on a big campus, and we’ve helped a family struggling with a child’s mental health issues. Mental health issues are hard on the family, not just the person who is struggling. 

 My friend who is LifeMission’s founder, is also an athlete. A professional athlete. We just opened a gym named GetFit where we do remote coaching, providing daily nutrition and workouts to those who sign up for our service.. Our goal is to help anyone who wants to become healthier, but a main focus is to build relationships—especially with those who might never go to the gym because they’re embarrassed about being seen there. 

 

About Jocelyn

Jocelyn Pedersen is an award-winning, AP-published, professional journalist with hundreds of published clips in various newspapers and magazines. A lover of the mystery and thriller, she eats popcorn while watching documentaries about serial killers and huddles under blankets on the couch while watching Criminal Minds with her friends and family.

 

She enjoys her kids, the beach, teaching writing at the University of Oklahoma, and being a former sheep farmer, considers herself a sheepie slipper aficionado. She has more animals than brains and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Check her out at on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, GoodReads.

Community Service

I am on the board of LifeMissions. It’s a non-profit based on accepting people where they are with love, compassion and empathy. Since we live in Norman, and I work at the university and our founder is a student at OU, we are connected to folks at OU. We have mentored students who were suicidal—helping them to find the help they need. We have talked to alcoholics who are not yet ready to become sober, but who need friends who continue to encourage them to seek help. We have taken home-schooled students under our wing and helped them adjust to life on a big campus, and we’ve helped a family struggling with a child’s mental health issues. Mental health issues are hard on the family, not just the person who is struggling.