What genre do
you write and why?
Though I also
write poetry and dabble in fiction, I am drawn most to writing memoir. I think
this occurs for a number of reasons. One is that life can sometimes be more
fascinating and stranger than fiction. But I think the main reason is that
memoir is a way of sorting out and understanding the past, of connecting with
the many facets of the universal human experience. Our life stories connect us
to one another, broaden our horizons (reading memoir can sometimes be like
visiting another culture), and help us know that we’re not alone in our
challenges.
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| https://amzn.to/2K3JVVv |
Tell us about
your latest book.
Accidental Jesus Freak
tells one young woman’s story of the Jesus Movement, how she was caught up in
it, its effects on her life, and how (and why) she finally left in order to
live a life true to herself. In many ways, this is also a love story and a
coming-of-age story that many women will recognize as similar to their own.
Women can lose themselves in many ways — to men, to children, to religion.
Learning to trust and listen to their own hearts can be difficult, but it’s
necessary to living an authentic life. I hope my story will resonate with and
encourage other women to break out of the bonds that surround them and live a
life of free self-expression. That’s not to say that my memoir is only for
women. I’ve had a lot of feedback from men as well, that my story was
eye-opening for them.
What did you
edit out of this book?
Any vignette
or incident that didn’t contribute to the core theme of my story. Because life
is so rich with source material, one of the challenges (and truly, the art) of
memoir is choosing which events to include and which to exclude. Where to offer
reflection and interpretation and where to simply let the events stand on their
own.
How was this
book published? (traditional, small press, self-pub, etc...) Why did you choose
that particular publishing route?
In 2011, when
I wrote my first book on journaling, Week
by Week: A Year’s Worth of Journaling Prompts & Meditations, I made the
decision to self-publish, so I established an imprint (MoonSkye Publishing) and
set about learning how to publish books. Since then, I’ve published four more
books, including my first memoir, Not the
Mother I Remember, and now, Accidental
Jesus Freak.
I chose this
route for several reasons:
I like being
in control, and if you go with a traditional publishing house, they control
everything — the cover, the royalties, and even the life of your book; if it
doesn’t do well right away, they can bury it;
Speaking of
royalties, a typical nonfiction author is paid between 6-12% of net sales, whereas as a self-published
author, I make between 100% of the net sales, after paying print costs and the percentage
that goes to the distributor. Put into practical terms, for a $4.99 ebook, I
would receive between $0.21-0.42 if published traditionally, whereas by
self-publishing, I receive between $2.70-3.50 for that same book. Financially,
this seems like a no-brainer.
Unless you’re
already famous, publishing companies no longer provide marketing services or
publicity or even advances like they used to. So, for me, the tradeoff of going
through the agent-to-publishing-company gauntlet just doesn’t make sense
anymore.
Do you read
your book reviews? How do you deal with the bad or good ones?
Yes, I do. I
love reading the reviews where I can tell that the reader really got the
essence of my story. And the not-so-good reviews? I take them in stride. Every
story has a specific audience it appeals to, and others may not like it. I just
shrug my shoulders and move on.
Where can
people find out more about you and your writing?
On my website:
writingthroughlife.com. I’ve been blogging on the topic of journaling and
memoir writing since 2008, so if you’re interested in those topics, you’ll find
hundreds of relevant articles there. Or you can just find out more about me on
the “About” page.
How long did
it take you to write your book?
About three
years. I have a day job, so my goal was simply to write 100 words per day until
I was done. And, believe it or not, that worked. So for anyone who thinks they
don’t have the time to write, take heart. If you have a story to tell, you can
make time to tell it.
When and where
do you write?
I typically
write in the early mornings before work in my home office (a converted
bedroom). But I don’t write at my desk (that’s for “work”). I usually write
sitting in a cozy corner by the window with my laptop on my lap desk, and a cup
of coffee by my side.
Are you a
plotter or a pantser?
My first
response was to say that I’m a pantser, because I don’t make a full outline
before writing. But that’s not totally true. Typically, I’ll start by making a
list of key events/scenes that I want to include. Then I choose the scene that
feels most like it wants to be written and start writing. In the writing
process, that list of scenes expands and morphs over time into a full-blown
outline, so that I always know where I’m going next in my story. So perhaps I’m
a hybrid between the two — a plantser.
J
If you could
tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
To not put
aside my writing dreams just because the world says it’s “not a living.” I
would encourage my younger self to start honing my craft at a younger age, to
take risks and get my writing, my stories, out into the world. To never give up
or falter in my purpose, because I was born to write. It’s all about believing
in yourself.
GIVEAWAY
