Meet the Writer - Part 1

A Challenge Accepted!

Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash

Over the past two weeks, I have participated in Beth Kempton’s #meetthewriter challenge on Instagram. The focus was community and sharing about ourselves as writers. I connected with writers who seem aligned with my writing style, which I believe is partly because they follow Beth. Beth was also promoting her book The Way of the Fearless Writer.

From a marketing angle, I loved how this challenge allowed her name to be shared over and over but it never directly connected to the book. Beth had other posts about the book and other writing-related content but the challenge felt all about connection.

Another writer, Laura Trott, I met through the challenge shared her answers on her Substack. We have marked it in our calendars to answer the questions at this time next year too.

1. DESK - What is on your desk?

   My desk at home is full of books and tarot cards. I have candles I light when I work. My husband refinished a four-drawer card catalog for me that holds the crow he got me for my birthday last year. The fountain pen I use is on the surface in front of a recipe card holder I use to put tarot cards while I am writing.

   
   Right now, I also have a quill pen with Ink wells I got for my birthday this year.

   There are reminder notes, post-its, and notecards scattered about.
   
   The surface is full of notebooks: partial and filled ones I need to read through to transcribe and to pull prompts for other classes I run.
   
   Some of the books are to be read and some of them are reminders of what to put as reading material in my Bradbury Trio Course coming up.
   

   The desk itself was a thrift find from one of the 5 trips to Florida this past year. My husband bought it for me and it is perfect. There are three drawers under the top surface and it is all wood. It holds a lot.

2. TIME - When do you write?

   My preferred time is just after waking with a cup of coffee in one hand and my pen in the other. The cat has decided my notebook is the place to lounge lately. Sometimes we reach a compromise and he lays next to my legs. My writing feels more imaginative in this veil between awake and dream. I always record my dreams when I remember.
   
   But honestly, I write all the time. I write when I am walking. I write when driving and in the shower. Many notes are taken throughout the day.
   
   I am always thinking about a story. This is my writer's life!

3. MOTIVATION - Why do I write?

   I write for many reasons.
   
   I am compelled to do so no matter what is happening in my life.
   I want to change people's minds and make them think about magic.
   I write because I have something to say and have to write the words to sometimes know what that is.
   I write because I believe reading and writing are connected.
   I write because it is part of who I am.
   I write because I love it.

4. CHAMPIONS - Who are you grateful to and for championing my work?

   I am grateful for the people in my life who have championed for me.
   
   The first is my husband who has been my champion even when we weren't together. He is the first one to remind me to say YES to opportunities. He has given me the life I have now and I am more grateful than there are words for. He loves this writing part of me. We have matching tattoos that represent our red thread of fate connection. We are truly intertwined.
   
   My PUSH group has been there for me during tragedy and happiness .
   
   My first reader, Chari. She is the one person I talk out loud ideas to and the one I sent pieces to without questions because she already knows what I need to know.
   
   My readers. The ones I know and the ones I don't. Thank you.
   
   My son and Disney buddy is the one who defends my new career to everyone. As a former educator, many people from my old life do not understand my new life path.

5. INSPIRATION - Whose writing do you love? How have their words inspired you?

There is a list of authors that I come back to over and over. Neil Gaiman’s work and the fact he has written in so many different genres is intriguing.

I adore Pam Houston and her writing. At a workshop last February, her words changed my writing life forever. She gave me permission to write how I want to write and to let go of what it is before that time comes. She is generous and kind and can see inside of you . She is magic and loves Icelandic horses!

Sarah Selecky has been a teacher for me on so many levels, and I adore her short story collection. She has a magic when she teaches and interacts with writers and I am so glad to know her. The Centered community she began has changed my life.

My life inspires me every day and the people whom I love around me.

Another inspiration is Beth Kempton. Her books have quietly come into my life. I read her words and sit and think and then write. Not many people can do that for me.

I am inspired by my #bradburytrio as well. A #poem, #story and #essay a day. All my reading influences my work but these pieces show me craft and structure and heat.

If you want to read about the course I am teaching next month click here, please.

6. MUSIC - What do you listen to when you write?

   I prefer silence when I write. If I am having trouble focusing, I sometimes put on white noise in the form of a train in the winter or Tibetan singing bowls. Otherwise, I go for a walk.
   
   Writing while music with words is playing doesn't work for me.

The rest of the words/questions/answers will be in Part 2 of the #meetthewriter

If you want to follow along, choose a question and answer it in the comments!