From Engineering to Enchantment: Writer Finds Herself with Debut Novel

 Jennifer Elwell Comeau’s journey from corporate executive to published author is as compelling as the mystical stories she writes. 

Following the dictates of family and societal programming, after high school she jumped into the world of engineering, earning a master’s and a bachelor’s degree. “I was the only woman engineer at the Chevy Tonawanda Forge plant of 400 people, and one of few women at all,” says Comeau. “I trained my high soprano voice down an octave, to a lower alto in order to sound more masculine.” 

It worked. At 25, she was already supervising people twice her age and was able to buy her own house. At 30, she was hired by Carborundum as the Worldwide Quality Director, responsible for the quality departments of five US manufacturing plants, with dotted-line oversight into nine international plants. “We called Quality Control the ‘plant conscience,’ and I liked that role, taking a stand for what was right in terms of our products,” says Comeau. “Still, in that world, I felt I had to check my emotions at the door; I built thick armor around my tender heart just to survive.” 

It took its toll. Daily, Comeau popped a half-dozen extra strength Excedrin for her stress headaches and nightly, numbed herself with wine. After decades working as an executive in the automotive industry and information systems, and with encouragement from her brother, she decided to make a change. A big change.

“I was working so hard and had achieved a lot in my life. But something was missing,” Comeau shares. “That’s when my brother reminded me of my childhood–I had been a dreamy, bookish kid, playing in ponds, writing poems, having picnics under willow trees. Hearing his words, at that moment, I realized I had lost myself.”

With no outside qualifications to give her permission to sing or write, Comeau began peeling back layers of programming to remember something her spiritual teacher once said, “When a soul aligns with its purpose, the heart carries superlative qualifications.”

She taught herself guitar and began to write songs, producing two albums of original music. A Kind of Grace, whose lyrics, “I have a mission. It’s just to listen to the wisdom that dwells in here,” was a finalist in Maine’s songwriting competition.