Tidbits of Writing Wisdom and a Host of Gratitude

Not long ago, I wrote about finding community, in life and in writing. This website wouldn’t exist without the help and encouragement from friends and writing colleagues, nor without the interaction from readers like you. But, a large chunk of this blog would sit empty if it weren’t for the many authors who willingly stopped by for interviews about their books and their writing.

In looking at this past year’s list of authors, I discovered two things. One, I’ve had the honor of hosting a lot of interviews, and two, the words of wisdom those authors shared often overlapped: Write what you love, have faith in yourself and the journey, and support others.

So, thank you — to them and to you. Here are links to the interviews, along with snippets of what they each said about writing.

• Geraldine Solon, author of Chocolicious.
  “Don’t try to follow the trend, but write about what you care about.”
• Lisa Rivero, author of Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux.
  “[W]e need to do what we love and trust that the dots will connect down the road. . . . Trusting the dots will connect means taking the long view, scheduling regular practice…not getting caught up in a quest for quick success at the expense of patient, joyful progress.”
• Jenna Blum, author of The Stormchasers.
  “Reach out to and support as many other writers as you can.  It’s good karma, and that must always come back to help you in the end.”
• Sean Keefe, author of The Trust.
  “My advice for anyone starting out writing is simply to write. If you don’t write something, you don’t have anything to read or even edit.”
• Linda Cassidy Lewis, author of The Brevity of Roses.
  “…[M]y best advice is to write from your heart. If you don’t love what you’ve written, neither will anyone else.”
• Kaira Rouda, author of Here, Home, Hope.
  “The best writers I know are readers. They love books, their own and others’. They celebrate the written word and they see the publishing industry as a world of new possibilities today.”
• Caroline Leavitt, author of Pictures of You.
  “Never give up. . . . You have to sit down and write everyday, and always help other writers. We’re all in this together!”
• Ilie Ruby, author of The Language of Trees.
  “Write truth. Write where there’s ‘heat’. Follow your questions and relate them to universal themes. Know that if you’re wondering about something, it’s likely other people are, too.”
• Rebecca Rasmussen, The Bird Sisters (recently out in paperback!).
  “Have faith in yourself and your work. . . . Also, be kind to yourself. When you face rejection, treat yourself to something small that you love. Send yourself flowers or chocolates or go find a little trinket. . . . Pick yourself up. Keep writing.”
• Susanna Daniel, author of Stiltsville: A Novel.
  “…[Don’t] worry at all about publishing…concentrate completely on the story you want to tell and the voice in which you want to tell it.”
• Cathryn Grant, author of The Demise of the Soccer Moms.
  “I’ve lived in suburbia all my life, so I think my sense of its positive and negative sides is part of who I am. . . . I am always taking notes, and not just on suburbia. People fascinate me….”
• Danielle Evans, author of Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self.
  “…[D]o the work that you believe in, because that’s the only part of the process you can predict or control.”

Two more interviews are just around the bend. I hope you’ll stop by to read what these authors have to say as well: Megan Stielstra (author of Everyone Remain Calm) on November 30th and Anna Solomon (author of The Little Bride) on December 28th.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m about to bury myself in turkey and stuffing and some mean pumpkin pie. So, on that note…see you post-Turkey Fest!