Hello moms! I hope you're loving CafeMom as much as I am, and finding the time to enjoy your kids and pursue your dreams. Here's a little about me ...

Eight years ago I decided to stop procrastinating and pursue my dream of writing a novel. Making that happen with three small kids posed a challenge, but I decided that I could do it if I got up at 5 every day and wrote before the family awoke.

There was only one problem. I had no idea what to write about.

Then, in the middle of a PTA meeting, as I looked around, feeling like no one in the room had any idea I had an inner life behind the smiling PTA face I presented, it occurred to me that everyone felt something pretty similar. That's when I decided I wanted to write about these types of women and explore their secret dreams, passions, pain and joy .

Two years later I had a completed manuscript. Nine months after that I had a literary agent. Another six months and I had a book deal with a major publisher, HarperCollins.

It's called SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE APPLEWOOD PTA, and it's a friendship story about three women who conspire to get a George Clooney movie filmed in their hometown. If you'd like to learn more about it, you can visit  ellenmeister.com, or see what readers are saying about it over at Amazon.com. I also have a blog called Side Dish. I hope you'll stop in.

My second novel, THE SMART ONE, came out last summer. It's a sister story that has, I hope, as much humor as heartache. It got wonderful reviews, which is so gratifying. Better yet, the letters I get from readers really touch my heart.

My third novel sold at auction to Putnam, and it will come out in 2010. More news on that soon.

On the mommy side of my life, I have three incredible kids who make me laugh until I'm gasping for oxygen. I can't figure out how to write about them without sounding like I'm bragging, so I'll just say that they make me proud enough to cry.

I'd love to hear from other moms about their dreams and passions!