Women on Wednesday—Sharon Reamer
Sharon Reamer
1. What was the impetus or inspiration for you to write your stories?
It’s a complicated and not completely linear process, this genesis of ideas. I suspect it’s probably that way with most writers. Anyway, I’ll try.
Shaky Ground is the sequel to Primary Fault, the first book in my Schattenreich series. I got the idea for the first book when we first started working on the archeoseismology of the Roman ruins being excavated in the Archeological Zone in Cologne (the paper that came out of that project is open access, published by Springer Verlag and downloadable here). The events in the novel are all fictional, but the real world controversy surrounding the (still unsupported) hypothesis that an earthquake could have forced Charlemagne, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, to abandon his seat of government in Cologne for Aachen greatly inspired me. Even though the Schattenreich series is contemporary, this inspiration drove me to write two historical short stories in my fictional universe. I have plans to do a couple more, linking the past to the present, and bundle them into a collection.
But what really caught my fancy was a certain Roman well – a part of the excavations in the middle of Cologne – just across from the Rathaus or City Hall. This Roman well, still in use in Charlemagne’s time, kept bugging me, wouldn’t let me go. Plus, I had begun reading heavily about Druids and continental Celts and started developing a passion for a culture about which not a whole lot is known except from secondary sources, mainly their conquerors, the Romans. I knew that had to be a part of the story. Druids+Roman ruins+Earthquakes. It was enough to get started. Even though the Roman well doesn’t come into play until Shaky Ground, it was always there, in the back of my mind while writing the first book.
My next series idea was inspired by my great great great grandmother, who was a Seneca princess. I don’t know anything about her except for her name and what she looked like, from this one photo I have of her. Sometimes, inspiration can be flamed into existence by less rather than more.
So, complicated.
2. What were some of the struggles you faced in the writing process? How were you able to overcome them?
Even though I work part-time and teach at the University of Cologne, finding the time and passion to write hasn’t been a problem for me, other than the occasional bout of writer’s block. But I’m an expatriate American, living in Cologne, Germany. And even though there is a nice expat community here, being able to network locally with writing professionals in my native English is limited, especially since I write speculative fiction, fantasy and science fiction. I worked as a lone wolf for a while, until I hooked up with an awesome online critique group and started getting feedback on my writing. But aside from that, going to conferences in the U.S. was cost prohibitive. I started going to U.K. conferences and have been able to meet some really nice people there. With my good friend, the accomplished author and musician/songwriter, Robin Goldsby, I also co-moderate a local writing group of expatriates. But it still feels like I’m on the outside looking in sometimes because of the language isolation.
3. What is the most important piece of advice you can give to aspiring female authors?
Write as much as you can and read as much as you can and most importantly, write what you love. Don’t worry about the publishing end of things until you’ve got your writing game up to a certain level. How do you know that? Submit pieces of writing (fiction or non-fiction) to magazines. Get lots of rejections. Keep trying. Don’t give up. Try to find strangers to give you feedback and advice. But, ultimately, trust your own instincts because you’ll have to live with the results.
4.Tell us about your latest book.
Shaky Ground, the second book in the Schattenreich series, tells the continuing story of an expatriate American in Cologne, Germany. What she really wants is to get settled in her new life with her brother and start looking for a job. A scientist by training, she suddenly has to come to terms with a completely ‘new’ paradigm that includes deities and creatures out of myths and legends, from a Celtic culture that no longer exists in contemporary Europe. At the same time, she must confront her enemies again, the ones who kidnapped her brother in Primary Fault. Oh, and her life is deliciously complicated by her new boyfriend, a gorgeous German baron with his own castle.
Shaky Ground is a novel of suspense blended with contemporary Otherworld fantasy and a generous portion of real-world science
5. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Stubborn as hell.
6. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
Right now, I have a hankering to go to Scotland, to do some long hikes and get to know the country. I’ve never been to that part of the U.K. I’ve been exploring Celtic rock and the beauty of the music has given me a longing to see the land where all those lovely traditional and not-so-traditional songs come from. And I’m pretty excited about the possibility of seeing men in kilts.
@sharonkae
Women on Wednesday—Cai Emmons
Cai Emmons
1. How and when did you decide to become a writer?
I became fired up about writing when I was in fourth grade and our teacher, Mr. Vogel, had us write ‘daily compositions.’ He sometimes gave us a prompt in the form of a picture or object or opening line, but we could always write whatever we wanted and the pieces were never graded. I came to associate writing with great freedom. It was a rare arena where I was the sole proprietor.
I have been writing consistently since then, but it has been a circuitous path to the writing of novels. In junior high school and high school I wrote poetry, in college and thereafter I wrote plays then screenplays, and eventually I found my way home to fiction.
2. What was the publishing process like for you?
The day my agent called to tell me she’d sold my first novel (His Mother’s Son) burns bright in my memory. I was home alone with my nine-year-old son, Ben, who was sick. Due to his illness we had both been awake most of the night before, and we were lying in bed, limp and bleary-eyed, watching cartoons. The phone rang and I took the call from my agent in a daze. She had an offer from Harcourt, she said, and we should take it, though other companies were interested too. Ecstatic, I returned to bed. “I sold my novel!” I said to Ben. Sick as he was, he didn’t miss a beat. “Now I can get a Gameboy!” I had to laugh—I had indeed promised him a Gameboy if I sold a novel, but that promise had seemed at the time like a safe way of insuring he would never actually have a Gameboy.
Off we went that very morning, tired as we were, to Toys R Us to purchase the Gameboy. I am quite sure I have never made a happier purchase of electronics.
Publication itself was surprisingly gratifying with that book. The best part was having the work taken seriously, first by my agent, then by my editor, and then in the world at large by readers and reviewers. It was 2003, before the big publishing shakeup, and I was sent on an old-fashioned book tour that felt glamorous, and served as a terrific ego boost. The reviews of the book were good and coverage in The Economist and O Magazine was especially satisfying.
By the time my second novel, The Stylist, came out in 2007 things had changed in publishing. My book tour was smaller, my publicist was not so on the case as my first one was, and while I knew I should be doing things on the web, I wasn’t quite sure what. As a result The Stylist is still finding its audience.
Now, anticipating the publication of Short of Wonderful, I feel challenged and excited. I am savvier about how to find an audience, and I really look forward to reaching out to readers in cyberspace.
3. What is the most important piece of advice you can give to female authors?
We live in a culture that can be demeaning to the concerns of women. Women writers are often given the message that the content of our books is trivial (especially if they address the domestic/family arena) and that men are writing the really important books of literary merit. Their books are the ones, we are led to believe, that will matter to the human race.
I think it is essential for women (and men) to resist this notion and remember that the truths of human existence can be discovered by a focus on almost anything. There is no single lens, no single method. What your instinct tells you to write is exactly what you should be writing. A piece of writing matters because it offers a unique perspective on things, a unique voice. Ignore the world, at least for a while.
4. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
Lively. Creative. Engaged.
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
I have long harbored a dream of traveling to Bali because I have been told that the culture there prizes and encourages creativity as few other cultures do. In going to Bali I would want to step outside the word of words for a while and see how it feels to draw or paint or make music. I would relinquish myself entirely to that sensual island culture and hopefully return refreshed and enlivened to my familiar and beloved warren of words.
6. Tell us about your latest book, Short of Wonderful.
I am just now finishing Short of Wonderful, the first first-person novel I’ve written. The book was inspired by an autobiographical story I wrote. Shortly after I finished the story and was wondering what to do with it, a novel burgeoned around it, a novel that quickly left all the autobiography in the dust.
A brief synopsis:
Art professor Helen Parry, a well-educated New Englander prone to worry, has grown up with a strong sense of ‘we and they.’ Not that she would ever have said so aloud, but there were certain people with whom she never expected to associate.
Now married and living in California, Helen and her lawyer-surfer husband, Steve Fairchild, are on the verge of adopting a baby from two working class California kids, Kaylee and Kevin. Though Helen and Steve do not consider themselves naïve about the challenges of this transaction, they have no idea how their unexpected entanglement with Kaylee and Kevin will change their lives.
Women on Wednesday—Adela Crandell Durkee
Adela Crandell Durkee
1. At what age did you begin writing? Is writing your sole career or do you have other jobs in addition to being an author?
I “wrote” my first published piece (in The Flint Journal) when I was six years old. I dictated the story to my mother, who took it all down in shorthand. She taught me the values of trusting myself, and of self-editing. I remember her erasing her mysterious short-hand scratches when I corrected myself hand changed “the little girl lifted her hands like this,” to “the little girl lifted her hands over her head.” Mom clipped the story and saved it for years, giving it to me just a couple of years ago.
I always loved story-telling and writing. That said, I most of my career is in science: microbiologist, chemist, quality assurance professional. I held leadership positions in large and small pharmaceutical companies. There I honed my writing skills by creating protocols, reports and procedures. Writing instructions is a great way to build skills in writing details: turn the black knob one-quarter turn counter-clockwise or until you hear a faint click and see a faint stream of steam escape.
I also love my vocation as wife and mother, which requires a lot of upfront investment and pays wonderful dividends.
2. What are some of the struggles that you have faced in the writing process? How were you able to overcome them?
The hardest part is getting started, and the second hardest is stopping. I cannot write too close to bedtime, or my mind won’t relax. Sometimes just the process opens up a flood of ideas. This can have a paralyzing effect. Now I keep an electronic journal of ideas for later.
3. How do you see writing as an empowering experience for yourself and other women?
I just love to write, it’s part of who I am and how I ground my thinking. It’s a wonderful feeling to organize all the mish-mash of my thoughts into words on paper. Sometimes, just putting a pencil in my hand helps me to coalesce my thoughts. When recognizes me for my writing, it’s the best feeling in the world. The only thing that beats that feeling, is holding one of my newborns for the first time. Come to think about it, the process may be the same: lots of gestation, waiting, and wondering, and finally, something I can share with the world.
4. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Tenacious (I loved it the first time someone described me as tenacious. My heart shouted out a big “YES!”)
Passionate (My sister pointed out that characteristic as so much more satisfying than emotional.)
Imaginative thinker (Sometimes I imagine what the squirrels and birds are thinking as they scamper around my yard. On a serious note, I love logic and following a thread to imagine various consequences, intended and unintended.)
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
When I met my husband he promised we would visit the seven continents. We’ve gone to North America (!), South America, Europe, and Africa. I hope either Australia or India is next. (I know India is not a continent, but it surely warrants a trip of its own.) I’ll save Asia for last. And I’m not going to Antarctica, although I’m game for Alaska for my dose of the cold-cold climate.)
6. What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future? Do you have any exciting plans or projects coming up?
My first novel, A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, will be finished by the end of March. I plan to get a boat-load of rejection letters because that’s the best way to get published. Anyways, that’s what Stephen King and Anne Lamott both tell me in their books on writing. I am putting my tenacity to work by submitting short pieces and I’m learning how to monetize my two blogs The Black Tortoise and Once a Little Girl. Eventually I plan to transform Once a Little Girl into a memoir. In my free time, I’m editor of my ASQ Chapter’s Newsletter (http://www.asq1212.com) and I love to garden, play with my grandchildren, adventure with my husband, George, and of course, read.
http://www.theblacktortoise.com
http://www.oncealittlegirl.com
http://www.facebook/TheBlackTortoise
Http://klout.com/Blacktortoise
@blacktortoise
Women on Wednesday—AJ Walkley
AJ Walkley
What was the impetus or inspiration to write your stories?
While my first two novels (Choice and Queer Greer) were primarily driven by social issues that also affected me personally in some way (abortion and the LGBT+ community, respectively), my newest book – Vuto – was inspired by my experience as a health volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps. Stationed in Malawi, Africa, one of my most vivid memories from my time there involves my witnessing a teenager give birth in the health center of my village. I was in awe of the fact that she had to go through her labor and delivery alone, as tradition warranted. I was also incredulous to find out that the husband of the girl would not see the child for two weeks after the birth; if the child passed away during that period of time, the father would never acknowledge the child whatsoever – the burden of burial would fall on the mother and the village women. I knew there was a story in those traditions and it took me about five years since returning from Malawi to flesh that story out.
What were some of the struggles that you faced in the writing process? How were you able to overcome them?
My primary struggle was assuring that my memories of Malawi and Malawian customs were accurate. While Vuto is fictional, I wanted to make my descriptions as precise as possible. One of the ways to do this was to incorporate as much of the language of the country as I could into the story, weaving Chichewa vocabulary into the prose and the conversations of the characters. This was yet another struggle – to assure my use of Chichewa was correct in each instance. I sent my manuscript to several Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to read over before publication to make sure all of the aforementioned were as they should be.
How do you see writing as an empowering experience for yourself and other women?
For me, writing is about having an outlet for my creativity that I have complete control over. It’s about being able to enter any world and be any type of person on any given day. Writing is how I travel without a plane or a plane ticket. It’s how I can experience being both an all-powerful presence and the smallest, most vulnerable creature in a matter of paragraphs. Writing is experience and, for me, experience is everything. I have always been intrigued by people and places I’ve never been, desiring the ability to live an astronomical amount of lives within my own lifetime. As a writer, I have that seemingly impossible ability. For women and others with similar desires, or for those who may feel trapped in their current realities, writing offers a similar escape and a way to explore lives one might never have the chance to otherwise.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to aspiring female authors?
Never stop writing. Write when others say you shouldn’t or you can’t. Write when you’re happy, angry, sad, ecstatic. Write every day. I can’t tell you the number of times people have told me I won’t make it or I won’t make a living as a writer. If you hear those same critics, ignore them, pick up a pen and write some more. You are your own biggest cheerleader when the critics grow too loud – press on through, keep writing and, one day, you’ll make it.
If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Passionate, idealistic and driven.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
It’s so difficult for me to choose just one place – I want to go everywhere and see everything! Believe it or not, though, ever since I left Malawi, I’ve felt pulled back there. I want to revisit without being a member of the Peace Corps to view the country with a new set of eyes. I want to go back and try to find my homestay family, whom I think of daily yet have had no way of corresponding with since coming back to the U.S. I want to give back in some way to the country that influenced me just as much as my native home.
What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future? Do you have any exciting plans or projects coming up?
I always have at least three books percolating in my mind at any given time. Right now I’m considering a follow-up to Queer Greer, perhaps turning it into a series. I also have a very rough draft of a novel from National Novel Writing Month 2012 that may or may not turn into something publishable. But I’m thinking that the book I’ve been writing off and on for four years, based on the life of the incarcerated Elizabeth Burke, might be next. I’ve been corresponding with Burke since 2009 and, after hearing her story and reading her court transcripts several times over, I believe she was wrongfully convicted of killing her son. The Innocence Project of Texas is currently looking into her case and their verdict might mean that Burke becomes my fourth novel.
@AJWalkley
Women on Wednesday—Alissa Johnson
Alissa Johnson
1. What was the impetus or inspiration to write your story?
I tried very hard not to write my story. In 2008, I started graduate school at the University of Western Connecticut MFA program. I was determined to become a witty travel writer—a David Sedaris meets Barbara Kingsolver out on the open road, if such a thing is possible! I swore I would never write about relationships or marriage.
Yet every time I sat down to write, my marriage—and my disillusionment and unhappiness—crept in. For my very first assignment I tried to write about a trip my husband and I took to Mexico. I wrote 30 pages to arrive at the 15 I turned in, and the piece was a mess. Luckily, my mentor, author Mark Sundeen, took the time to read carefully and discern that it was not really an essay about a trip to Mexico. It was an essay about a 30-year-old woman trying to figure out if she could reconnect to her husband and the life they’d built together over the previous 10 years.
She could not. I could not. Over the next two years, I found myself writing a memoir about my divorce as every aspect of my life unraveled. Time and again, I tried to write something else, but I was always drawn back to my own story. I learned that sometimes we have a specific story that needs to be told and there can be great power in heeding that. I know now that writing that story helped me save my own life and create a new one better aligned with my true dreams and values.
2. What were some of the struggles that you faced in the writing process? How were you able to overcome them?
Most of my struggles were emotional. I wrote as a way to find answers in my own life, often tackling questions and issues I hadn’t admitted out loud to myself or to my husband. This made writing an extremely emotional process layered with intense guilt—my ex-husband was not an evil man; I was the one hurting him by asking for a divorce. I was also writing about things still ongoing in my own life. I didn’t know how things were going to turn out, much less how to end chapters. Some chapters had to sit for months before I could give them a proper resolution. I also worried a great deal about writing a story that not only exposed my secrets and flaws, but also exposed my ex-husband and my family.
Three things helped me get through the process. First, I learned to focus only on the writing before me. I could worry about sharing it (and hence, the reactions of others) after I had a manuscript to show for my efforts. Secondly, I found a lot of freedom in the Artist’s Way, a book by Natalie Cameron that taught me to foster my own creativity and introduced me to morning pages—essentially, three pages of handwritten brain dumping to get ride of mental clutter and closer to my own truth. I learned to let the act of writing be a safe and creative space in my life and not something to fear.
I also had tremendous mentors who didn’t judge me. They provided a fair sounding board for my writing, and also cared about my well-being. They taught me that it was okay to let a story rest while I lived my life—that just like my life had it’s own timing and rhythm, the life of a story did, too.
3. Is there a place, routine, or ritual that you have when writing? Is there an environment that allows you to be the most creative?
For creative writing, I write best in the early morning hours. I like to wake up, let the dog out, get a cup of coffee and climb back into bed to start with morning pages. It’s best when it’s still dark out and I’m writing only by the glow of a bedside lamp. It creates the sensation that I’m in a safe cocoon, and it’s a signal to my inner censor that this draft doesn’t have to be good. It just needs to uncover the story. (I should add that I write all rough drafts by hand for the same reasons!)
Now that I’m in a new relationship, it doesn’t always work to take over the bed for writing. I’ve trained myself to write during the light of day now, in 90-minute increments (with the timer actually going). That’s long enough to get something done but short enough that it doesn’t feel like an overwhelming amount of time. I’ve also had great success writing first drafts on airplanes or waiting for airplanes—there’s no place to go and nothing else to do.
4. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Determined. Adventurous. Homebody.
(I like to think the latter two can coexist).
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
Rock climbing in Thailand. I moved from Minneapolis to Colorado after my divorce, and I now live 9,000 feet above sea level. I crave tropical forests and humidity! Not long after moving here, I met my boyfriend of two-plus years and he introduced me to rock climbing. It’s a physically and mentally demanding sport that in many ways parallels the writing process—you make progress by taking small steps and learning that you can move forward even when you’re afraid. That’s a life lesson I always need to be reminded of, and I would love to explore it in Thailand.
6. What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future? Do you have any exciting plans or projects coming up?
I’ve begun my first novel about a young girl in Northern Minnesota—the place of my roots—coming to terms with a newly created wolf hunt. I’ll admit, I love fiction after pouring my heart and soul into a memoir! I’m also launching a new business as a writing coach, and as part of that, a website called WritingStrides (www.writingstrides.com) dedicated to helping writers navigate the writing process. Not just the nuts and bolts of writing, but the emotional hurdles that come with it.
Coffee Shops in NYC for Writers
The Coffee Bean, 606 2nd Ave
You’ll often see the Pubslush team working here, incidentally on this blog post. The Coffee Bean has both booths and lounge chairs, along with tables and chairs to help you focus on your writing.
There tends to be a shortage of outlets, but you can always find a seat (provided they’re not taken up by the Pubslush team), surrounded by plenty of other people either working on their own writing, or studying. It’s a quaint café that can sometimes get a little crowded, but otherwise a great place to write.
Tea Lounge, 837 Union Street
There is plenty of comfortable seating here to accommodate many people. The place tends to get pretty packed, but the drinks are delicious, and the environment makes it easy to work on that elusive novel of yours.
And hey, once you’ve finished writing as much as you can for the day, they have a second bar that serves alcohol—everything you need in one place!
Housing Works Bookstore Café, 126 Crosby Street
Doubling as a bookstore and a café, the atmosphere in Housing Works is extremely quiet, making it the perfect place to concentrate on your writing. Housing Works is run by volunteers, and all of the profits made go to AIDS research and helping the homeless, so you can get the coffee you need to keep working on your writing, and feel great about doing it at the same time.
Housing Works isn’t just a café either: they serve coffee and tea as well as beer and wine. And while you’re here, you can always pick up some of the reasonably priced books. Triple win.
Think Coffee, 248 Mercer Street
The perfect literary café. Not only does the environment condone writers sitting on the comfortable armchairs and couches for hours on end, pecking away at their work, Think Coffee also hosts Scrabble tournaments and book readings, giving you a great reason to pack up your laptop and have some fun.
With great coffee and plenty of outlets throughout the store to get you through the day, Think Coffee provides an environment that helps you keep your focus for as long as you need it (well, you know, until the Scrabble tournament get going anyways).
‘sNice, 315 5th Avenue
Plenty of both small individual tables as well as large communal ones make it so you will always find a place to get your creativity flowing. This café is very clearly filled with a literary crowd, and their book reading events definitely mirror their clientele. ‘sNice also has a full menu of great food and plenty of coffee options instead of just pastries and snacks, setting it apart from other coffee shops.
It does get a little crowded and outlets tend to be hard to come by, but even though it might be difficult to work here for an entire day, ‘sNice’s charm and literary community will still keep you coming back.
Argo Tea, 1792 Broadway
The Midtown West location tends to get a little busy, but you can almost always find a place to sit.
Great baristas let you try something before you commit to a whole drink, and there are outlets for your laptop everywhere. The food and drinks are delicious and are the perfect fuel for your brain.
If you don’t mind the noise during busy hours, the layout of the tables and seating is perfectly conducive to working and writing. You can either have your own private table, or work at one of the community ones for as long as you have the creativity and tea or coffee to keep you going!
Birch Coffee, 56 7th Avenue
With plenty of seating and a library upstairs filled with books, this coffee shop fulfills all of the atmospheric requirements of a writer’s haven. It is also a very community-oriented place: they hold readings and events for readers and writers on a regular basis.
There are also plenty of outlets throughout the shop, so the battery life on your laptop will never be an issue. The only downside is you only receive one hour of free Wi-Fi with each purchase, but that can also be a great help when the only thing you want to focus on is writing. Friendly baristas, great coffee, and delicious cookies will keep you coming back to this cozy home away from home in Flatiron.
Women on Wednesday—Meghan Ward
Meghan Ward
1. What was the impetus or inspiration for you to write your story?
After spending nine years working as a fashion model at the height of the supermodel craze in the late 80s and early 90s—I spent a lot of time answering questions like, “Did you meet any supermodels?” “Do all models have eating disorders?” “Did you make a ton of money?” “Do all models do drugs?” I decided to write a memoir to answer those questions and to give women and girls an insider’s look at what it’s really like to work as a high fashion model in Europe and Japan.
2. Is there a place, routine, or ritual that you have when writing? Is there an environment that allows you to be the most creative?
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I work at the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto, which is a wonderful, supportive environment for writers. I have a quiet office where I write and the opportunity to dine with accomplished authors at lunchtime. It’s the perfect synthesis of calm and community. On weekends, I write in my garage-turned-office, where I sit on a sofa with my laptop and gaze out the window at the deer munching all the flowers in my backyard.
3. How do you see writing as an empowering experience for yourself and other women?
Throughout history, women have been denied a voice. (Women have had the right to vote for just 93 years, less than half of our country’s 237-year history.) Memoir and personal essay, which I write, empower women to tell their stories—whether they be of love, heartbreak, adventure, joy, parenting, careers, or struggles—and to share those stories with others.
4. What was the publishing process like for you? How were you able to bring your book to life?
My book is still in the fetal stage. It’s with an agent and on submission to publishers, and I hope to see it born into this world the way my daughter and son were three and five years ago.
5. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Creative, Hardworking, Determined
6. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
I’ve done a lot of traveling—throughout Europe and Asia and to Central and South America—but there are two places I haven’t been yet that I want to go: Africa and Antarctica. While on my honeymoon in Patagonia, I met a man who had taken a cruise from Tierra del Fuego in Patagonia to Antarctica. I want to do that. And I’ve always wanted to go to Africa—both to the island of Mauritius and to Egypt and Kenya. There is so much to see in the world!
www.facebook.com/meghan.ward.author
@meghancward
Women on Wednesday—Vicki Addesso
Vicki Addesso
1. At what age did you begin writing? Is writing your sole career or do you have other jobs in addition to being an author?
I began writing when I began reading. I love reading. I remember being very young, and watching my father sit at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. I saw all the marks - which were letters - but did not know what they were yet. I felt like my father knew the secret to a wonderful mystery - I couldn’t wait until I learned that secret also. Learning to read was amazing!
When I opened a book, I was in another world. It did not matter what the book was about, but knowing what letters were and that they made words and words told stories - that was so exciting for me. So, it was a natural transition from being a reader to becoming a writer. Of course, as a child I wrote stories that imitated what I was reading. In my early teens, I began to keep a journal - not so much a diary, more like a depository of emotions and questions and ideas. Im my journal, I did toy with writing fiction, jotting down the beginnings of stories I hoped to one day write.
But my writing remained personal, and secret, for a very long time. I was too inhibited, insecure, to share my stories with anyone else. I thought they weren’t good enough.
So, in college I choose a major in art history. I continued to read voraciously. And I continued to write in my journal and hoped that one day I would figure out how to be a “real writer.”
I worked at the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, NY for ten years, as Education Associate and then Coordinator of Public Programs. When I married and gave birth to my first child (I have two sons), I left my full-time career and took on a variety of part-time jobs. I worked in a book store, as a dental office receptionist, and did data entry for a home decorating company.
Obviously, writing is not my sole career. For the past fifteen years I have worked as a Personal Assistant to the founder and director of the Treeture Environmental Education Program.
In 1998, I registered for a memoir writing class at the Hudson Valley Writers Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY. That was the beginning of my “career” as a writer - meaning, it was then that I allowed myself to believe I could write something of interest and worth to share with others. I took many workshop classes at the center, and met some wonderfully supportive writers.
In 2006, I and three other women from the writers center started meeting on our own, every Thursday morning - we each were writing different material: fiction, journalism, memoir. We would bring in what we had been working on during the week, read it to each other, and critique the work.
During the first year or so, we continued to pursue our separate goals, but at some point , we began to bring in pieces about our relationships with our mothers. The subject of the mother/daughter dynamic became a focus, and we eventually decided to collaborate on a book about that subject.
2. What approach did you use in publishing your book—self, traditional, etc.? What is your involvement in the pre- and post-promotion of your work?
After we had finished writing all our pieces about our mother/daughter relationships, we worked for some time on the format of the book. Once we had put it all together, we wrote a proposal and began to search for an agent. Surprisingly, we found one rather quickly and for a year or so worked with her to reshape the book. Our agent had a different vision for it - she wanted to incorporate our writing group experience into the framework of the collaborative memoirs of our mothers. When we completed that transformation, she shopped the book out to large publishing houses. Rejection after rejection began coming back to us. It was discouraging, but very educational. We realized that the vision our agent held for the book was not the path we truly believed we should take. So, we went back to the beginning, worked on restructuring our book once again, and let our contract with our agent expire. It was then that we approached smaller, independent publishers. After about another year, we were picked up by Big Table Publishing (Boston, MA), a very small press. The editor there loved our book; she had the same vision for it that we had, so we moved forward.
Because Big Table Publishing is such a small press, there is no PR department. We decided to invest in a PR firm to help us promote our book. We found a local firm (here in Westchester County, NY) and negotiated a contract that we could handle financially. However, the time is limited and soon we will have to take up our book’s promotion on our own.
3. What is the role of social media in your publishing process? Who are your greatest fans, what are their demographics, and what social media platform do you find most useful in communicating with them?
We have had to school ourselves regarding social media. I have been on Facebook for several years and felt very comfortable utilizing that area for outreach. I now also use Twitter and Tumblr. I and my three co-authors schedule posts and tweets about our book. Our PR firm set up a Facebook page and Twitter feed for our book and post/tweet 3x a week. I also blog and post to SheWrites.
As our book just came out (March 1, 2013), so far our greatest fans are family and friends. However, we are doing many readings and events over the next three months, in Westchester as well as Manhattan and Brooklyn. Several local publications have featured stories about each of us and our book. NY/Metro Parents Magazine, which has a circulation of 400,000, featured an article about our book and an interview with us in their March issue. Appearances and interviews in other publication, and on television and radio, are pending. So, we are hoping, and expecting, our fan base to grow. Obviously, as the book is about the mother/daughter relationship, it is assumed that women would be most interested in our book. However, as a collaborative memoir about family, growing up, and relationships, we know our audience does not have to be limited to one gender, or even demographic.
I have found Facebook to be very useful. The connections that are made as friends share posts with their friends, and so on, snowballs. Twitter, also, allows for networking. With both platforms, I find that connecting our book to another’s work or interests is so important. It is not always the best route to “toot your own horn”, so often I will post and tweet about subjects not related to our book, simply to make connections and interact.
4. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Optimistic shy extrovert.
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
I would love to visit Iceland. The geography of that land is so interesting - it seems primordial. It seems so different from where I have always lived. And I love the music that Bjork creates, and that is her home. I imagine that place as a reflection of her creativity.
6. Tell us about your latest book.
If by my latest book you mean STILL HERE THINKING OF YOU - A Second Chance With Our Mothers, it is my first published book. It is a collaborative memoir. My co-authors are Susan Hodara, Joan Potter, Lori Toppel. From our press release:
In the book, the four of us, each from very different backgrounds, remember our mothers in a unique and captivating way: together. Having joined forces in a writing group in 2006, we began writing about our relationships with our mothers. In the process, not only did our understanding of one another deepen, but our perceptions of our mothers slowly transformed and crystallized. The book opens with “The Writers,” where we each describe the circumstances that led us to the writing group. “The Stories” then presents our four separate mother memoirs. In the epilogue, “Still Here,” we reflect on how sharing our memories affected us. Revealing pain, humor, tenderness, and, finally, empathy, Still Here Thinking of You taps into that universal pulse that never stops beating, the bond between mother and daughter.
Currently, I am at work on a collection of short stories. I have always wanted to write fiction. I think that writing the memoir about my mother and me was freeing - we had had a very close and complicated relationship. After her death in 1997, I knew I had to explore that subject. Now, I am ready to continue writing, as a career.
The collection I am working on (I have three stories completed so far) will be connected - they are based in the present, but reflect back on the 1970’s. I find myself doing a lot of research, as the stories relate to events such as the Vietnam War and the Women’s Movement, as well as the social changes of that era, and how those experiences follow the stories’ characters into the present.
www.stillherethinkingofyou.com
@VickiAddesso
Ten Twitters All Writers Should Follow
Twitter might be a place for some to post pictures of cats and endless updates about their daily lives, but it also has invaluable writing advice and links to connect writers with everything happening in the literary world. That’s the beauty of social media—you can make countless invaluable connections from the comfort of your own home, all while wearing your pink bunny slippers and bathrobe. (Or is that just me?)
Here’s a rundown of ten Twitter accounts all writers should follow.
Goodreads – Not only do they link you to great books you should be reading, but they also give you quotes to help you with your own writing and keep you updated on all things in the literary world. @goodreads
Winning Writers – A seemingly unending supply of links to opportunities to publish your work, contests, samples of other writer’s works, and tips on how to submit everything you’ve created. @winningwriters
Writer’s Digest – Tips, tips, and more tips! Everything Writer’s Digest posts gives you suggestions on how to make your own work better, along with chances to submit your work for publication. @WritersDigest
Duotrope – Listings, interviews, and reviews to keep you connected with the literary world. @Duotrope
Pen and Muse – Hilarious? Definitely. Pen and muse uses lighthearted sarcasm mixed with real advice to help you make your writing better. As a bonus, they tweet suggestions on how to keep those creative juices flowing. @PenandMuse
Grammarly – Tips on how to correct grammar and fix those little mistakes in your writing. Not to mention the nerdy and hilarious voice behind every tweet. @grammarly
Writing Secrets – Helps take your writing to the next level with ideas on how to stop that pesky writer’s block and suggestions on character development, dialogue, and description. @writingsecrets
One Wild Word – Resources given by a fellow writer, Carly Sandifer, to help spark creativity. Sandifer believes “sometimes all it takes is one wild word to make a poem sing or a sentence fly,” so she helps you find those words in her own tweets. @onewildword
Writer Unboxed – “Lessons in the art of storytelling,” updates in literature for authors, and suggestions for overcoming the difficulties of publishing. Writer Unboxed gives you the perfect links that will help you make your writing better. @WriterUnboxed
PubPerspectives – Daily updates on everything happening in the wide world of publishing. Links to endless articles relating to the changes in publishing, tips on writing, and a couple of jokes thrown in for good measure. @pubperspectives
So what are you waiting for? Get some Twitter in your own writing.
Women on Wednesday—Alexandra Caselle
Alexandra Caselle
1. What was the impetus or inspiration for you to begin writing?
I always have said that I held a pen in my hand while I nursed a sippy cup in the other. Writing has always been a part of me. It allows my imagination to have full reign. As a child and still as an adult, I have had an active imagination. Whenever there was a thunderstorm in sunny Jacksonville, I pretended that I was in a war. The thunder was the cannons firing off. I would huddle my stuff animals under my spread behind a fortress of pillows, and I would tell them stories about the war going on. Writing offers me an escape from my reality. It allows me to connect the dissonant parts within me and the world and construct them into a whole, a composite of experience and meaning-making.
2. What were some of the struggles that you faced in the writing process? How were you able to overcome them?
When inspiration strikes, I get a barrage of images, emotions, and characters all at once. I try to fit it all together into a seamless narrative. When I try to force the ideas into a frame that I deem to be necessary, the characters fight with me. The words do not flow as freely, and I struggle with the story. But when I submit to the characters and let them guide me through the story, the narrative becomes seamless and effortless. I have learned when the writing stagnates, I need to stop and reconnect to the characters and let my “third eye” or the muse show me the way. Usually when I go for a walk along the beach or in the park, the ideas start to flow. Lately, I struggle with my memory. I had an illness in 2009 that resulted in temporary memory loss. After recovery, I still have migraines and memory/cogitation problems. So it may take me a little longer to find the right word or to create the right image to resonate with the reader. My mantra helps me overcome any struggle in the writing process: create despite circumstances.
3. What is the most important piece of advice you can give to aspiring female authors?
Well, I consider myself an aspiring female author, so I guess I would offer the same advice that I use to motivate myself. Remember why you fell in love with writing. Let those reasons sustain you as you navigate the humbling road to publication. Along the way, you are going to face rejections, closed doors, and writing blocks. Keep your pen in motion. Never let your fingers leave the keyboard. The muse gave you a talent for a reason: to write in truth in order to be of service to others. Your writing will touch at least one person. You have to keep writing despite your circumstances because that one person needs it to enrich his or her life.
4. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Visionary. Literary Maven. Survivor.
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
I would travel to Jamaica. As a child, I had many talents in the arts area. I loved writing, of course. But I loved acting, performing, drawing,and dancing. I watched Fame, Soul Train, and BET/MTV music videos and studied and practiced the choreography. I loved Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. I wanted to be a choregrapher like Fatima, or Debbie Allen or work with the Alvin Ailey group. Reggae music is my favorite type of music. My body manipulated the melodic beat of the music just like my pen manipulated words into beautiful images. I would love to experience the culture and beauty of the island. Of course, thanks to my imagination, I always envisioned myself riding on a horse along the beach with the man of my dreams sitting behind me.
6. What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future? Do you have any exciting plans or projects coming up?
I have a couple of projects in motion. I am beginning to research the cultural and historical influences of the 1950s & 1960s in Florida and in Mississippi. I have an idea for a novel that will explore the following questions: 1) Can love be an all-healing salve? 2) What happens when the boundaries of love are tested over and over again? 3) Whose love is the all-healing salve: self-love or romantic love? It offers a new twist on the commonly used conflict of love triangles.
The second project delves into a genre held closely to my heart, young adult literature. It is a paranormal novel that will expand the boundaries of the supernatural and romance and provide a unique representation of how adolescents can manipulate magic and their own personal power to assert themselves in the world.
On my blogs, Womanlution: Inside the Mind of Alexandra Caselle & Rhet Effects, I will have serialized stories, flash fiction stories, and other types of posts that will be used to teach different literary, writing, and reading concepts.
I hope to leave my mark on the literary world, one reader, one story, one poem at a time.
https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.caselle
https://twitter.com/AlexandraCasell
http://womanlution.wordpress.com
http://rheteffects.wordpress.com
http://www.shewrites.com/profile/AlexandraCaselle?xg_source=activity
Literary Spotlight: Under the Gum Tree
Under the Gum Tree is a new micro-magazine that publishes creative non-fiction and visual art. Learn more about the magazine and what they publish below. For more, be sure to check out their website!
1. Under the Gum Tree is a micro-magazine. Sounds fancy! Can you tell us what that means?
Absolutely — the term “micro-magazine” comes from Seth Godin and the concept is that, because of the technology available today, publications can cater to a small audience and be successful. For Under the Gum Tree, that means our goal is to have 1,000 paying subscribers.
2. In one sentence, tell us what you’re all about.
Under the Gum Tree is a digital literary arts magazine publishing creative nonfiction and visual art because we are interested in the power of personal storytelling.
3. Why did you choose to publish only creative non-fiction?
Funny, my editor’s letter in our new issue addresses this question. Aside from the fact that I write creative nonfiction, the genre is compelling to me because of the vulnerability involved. Many people who write other genres argue that any type of writing requires vulnerability, and I agree, but to me there is something more intimate with nonfiction — when authors share an experience and tell their readers, “This really happened to me,” it is somehow more personal and creates a special authentic connection. I believe that the power of personal storytelling is how we connect to each other.
4. Is the visual art component intended to supplement the writing that’s published or stand apart from it?
There’s no intended connection. We solicit the artwork independent from the stories that we select, but often we find that themes overlap. I think that’s the nature of art — we are all attempting to express the truth of our experiences.
5. As a new company, how have you found your audience?
We are primarily a digital magazine, so we find our audience mostly through online outlets. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, the usual social media suspects. But also through sites like thereviewreview.com and thelitpub.com that are devoted to literature and writing.
6. Any advice to authors seeking publication in your magazine?
We get a lot of “when I was a kid” or “coming of age” stories. Those stories are important and most are well-written. But we aim to include one food-, music-, and film-themed piece in every issue. We also aim to include one flash piece in every issue. Those are the submissions we need the most, so for writers who have those stories, the chances of getting published with us are much higher! Otherwise, of course read a past issue to get a feel for our aesthetic.
Women on Wednesday—Elisabeth Kinsey
Elisabeth Kinsey
1. At what age did you begin writing? Is writing your sole career or do you have other jobs in addition to being an author?
I wrote my first story called “How California Got Its Name” about a Calif who was sad and travelled to a magical land called Ornia. That won me the Young Author’s Award in sixth grade. The rest is history. If you get praised for writing at a young age, you’ll do anything to keep going.
Writing is not my sole career but I would love to earn more with my writing. I teach writing online through Regis University and feel it is my calling besides writing. I learn a lot from my students. I also teach writing workshops. My plan is to convert these into an online forum.
2. Is there a place, routine, or ritual that you have when writing? Is there
an environment that allows you to be the most creative?
I meet so many writers who want to get together to write. I can’t do that. I need my coffee, silence or something quiet going in the background like Rachmaninoff, and my office with all my Yay-team writing snippets above my computer. It’s also nice if I have my full library to access other writers for inspiration. I write every morning for at least three hours. But, sometimes I’ll only get a page out of that if I’m editing.
3. How and when did you decide to become a writer?
I actually wanted to be an actress, even though I’ve written since I was 8. When I realized how “in my face” my acting colleagues were, I dropped out. I needed space. I went full force, taking writing classes in my twenties.
4. How do you see writing as an empowering experience for yourself and other women?
Women need to voice their every day lives! Through writing we create community. Through our stories, we are heard. I particularly believe that if we continue to tell our stories, all women will be able to have a voice: the down trodden, abused, nearly dead in Africa. This will take the normalization away from violence and belittlement of women.
5. If you had to describe yourself in three words only, what would they be?
Mercurial. Outsider. Tenacious.
6. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
Right now, it would be Altopascio, Italy to look up my Grandmother’s cousins and finish her line in the family tree. I’ve started a fiction work based on her life and would be able to gather stories that I could convert.
Look for my memoir - hopefully I’ll obtain an agent soon: The Holy Ghost Goes to Bed at Midnight: Half a Mormon Life.
Elisabeth Kinsey received her BA in Writing at Metropolitan State College of Denver and her Masters in Creative Writing at Regis University. She has published poetry in Wazee Journal, Metrosphere, Apogee, Emergency Online Journal, and creative non-fiction in The Rambler, YourHub.com, The Metropolitan, and Ask Me About My Divorce (Seal Press, 2009). She is working on three novels concurrently while fostering a hobby for birding. She lives on the road with her husband’s job, and totes a menagerie of pets with her.
