Inspired!

Posted on May 5, 2012 by moeltjen1

New York City - just thinking about it inspires me!

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve blogged. I have been job searching since January and that in itself is a full time job! I knew it was a tough market out there but man, for a writer looking to find a decent, solid paying job, it is EXTREMELY difficult.

I’ve likened job searching to dating – you search for just the “right one” and sometimes you think you’ve found it (job or guy), but then you find yourself in the wasteland of rejection. And we all know rejection sucks!

Somehow, I persevere. Because much like my dating life, I just KNOW the right job is out there for me. (I have to have that hope or this is all one big waste of time, right?) And fortunately, despite the dismal depression of being denied one too many times (in dating and job searching) I have been inspired by so many. Most of whom may not even know it.

I’m inspired by my hairstylist, Jenny, who recently launched a 30-day hair challenge on her blog and got hired to write for a hair website.

I’m inspired by my friend Kim, who trains for IronMans, works a full time job and STILL finds time to travel to exotic locales such as Thailand and Hawaii and never seems to forget about little ole me!

Kimmy after her 7th Ironman!

I’m inspired by my dear friend, Stephanie R, who has the sweetest 5 month old baby girl. Steph has morphed into the role of mommy so seamlessly and beautifully that every day I am amazed to the point I can’t even remember how she was before CeCi came into our lives.

My "newest" friend, CeCi Rodriguez, the beautiful result of God's work (along with a little help from Steph and David Rodriguez!).


I’m inspired by my mother, who just months ago lost her own mother and now faces the challenges brought on by caring for my dear grandfather whose own life has been upheaved by major change as well.
I’m inspired by my sister Angie, who may be going through one of the most difficult times in her life yet she grabs life by the horns and loves her three boys in a way I can only hope to love my not-yet-born children one day.

I’m inspired by my father, who relentlessly works the fields on his farm and loves on his family. He has exemplified what the combination of hard work and patience portrays by never, ever giving up on what he believes in to be good and right.

Mom and Dad - on a much deserved vacation in AZ!

I’m inspired by my “oikos” at New Covenant Lutheran Church. Through their dogged faith and steadfast love for Jesus (and me!), they remind me daily that none of this life is my own — we are all merely vessels to showcase God’s mercy and love.

Pastor Steve and his wife, Patti, part of my "oikos" here in AZ.

There are so many more people who inspire me daily and for all of you, I take this time to say thank you. You just never know when you are a light in someone’s darkness and thank you for being mine along this journey we call life.

 


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An Incredible International Woman to Honor

Posted on March 8, 2012 by moeltjen1

Today is International Women’s Day … A day to honor women. Really? Just one day? It’s kind of like Valentine’s Day to me – if you aren’t showing the one you love that you love them other than once a year, then what’s the point?

Let’s be honest: women rule the world. And if you don’t agree with me, then you can stop reading my blog and go listen to Rush Limbaugh.

To honor this day, I felt compelled to pay tribute to a woman I haven’t even met. A women whose story I just began to read about yesterday. That woman is Immaculee Ilibagiza and she is simply amazing.

Immaculee not only survived the Rwandan genocide, she lived to tell her story in her book, “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.” I immediately was captivated by this woman’s tale – one that started so sweet and innocent as a young child in Rwanda and then turned so horrible and ugly, it makes you wonder if there is a God.

Yet this is exactly what makes Immaculee so tremendous. For 91 days, she was trapped, hiding in a bathroom with several other women – unable to speak, shower or even change clothes – all the while fearing for her life. Yet in this tiny space, she finds God and thanks him every day for her life. In that small bathroom, she envisions her future and sees the plans God has for her and it fuels her to continue hoping for her freedom.

I do not know this woman other than the precious words I have read on the few pages of her book so far, yet she has inspired me. Inspired me to quit complaining about the petty things in life that do not matter, for I have more than I could ever want or need: a family, wonderful friends, my health and most of all, my freedom. I pray that my faith could be as strong as Immaculee’s during such inhumane times – yet I also pray I never have to find out the way she did.

Could I find God trapped in a bathroom for three months? Immaculee did. If she can do that, what can’t she do? What can’t I do? What can’t ALL women do?

Thank you, Immaculee. Thank you for sharing your beautiful story of your amazing resilience. Most of all, thank you for never giving up. You are a hope and inspiration to many.

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My Seven Degrees of Separation from Blake Crouch and JA Konrath. (Or how my mom talking to strangers used to really annoy me but now I kind of think is cool.)

Posted on February 1, 2012 by moeltjen1

Today I have the wonderful privilege of hosting critically acclaimed author, Blake Crouch. Blake is the author of several novels including Desert Places, Locked Doors and Stirred – a novel co-written with JA Konrath.

When I first started doing my research on e-publishing a couple years ago, I couldn’t help but “bump into” JA Konrath (online of course). His blogs on his strategic move from legacy publishing to e-publishing gave me shivers because they struck a chord deep within me. Why pay publishers for what you as an author can do for yourself and instead of making a paltry 15-20%, you can take home a hefty 70%? I liked JA because he told it like it was – no sugar coating. And he was pretty darn funny too. He recently even set out to do a 30 day beer only diet – a man truly after my own heart.

But I digress. This blog isn’t about Konrath. Really, I promise. He doesn’t need me to help further drive the astronomical success he has had with his e-books. At the rate he is going, I am hoping maybe he reads this and sees a poor, starving artist who could use a cushy charitable donation to continue her career as a writer after quitting her high paying day job. Sorry … Again, I digress.

No, this blog is about small worlds and how you never know who you are going to meet when you take the path that leads you to your dreams. Or, how having a Chatty Kathy for a mom can open up your world to meet amazing people.

Nearly nine years ago, my mom was on a flight from Omaha, NE to Phoenix, AZ to visit me.  Now my mom can and does talk to anyone, a trait I once found slightly annoying but now highly admire for many reasons. So as usual, on this particular flight, she chatted up the woman seated next to her and before she knew it, she had a new BFF. Lois from Iowa was also flying to Phoenix to meet up with her sister, Marlene. Without going into all the silly details of that weekend, one of which involved drinking wine coolers from red solo cups, Marlene became a fixture in my life. She was like a long lost aunt I never knew I had. And much like the aunts I did know I had, she was such a fine, polished gem whose warmth and kindness could fill a room. Marlene taught me how what it meant to “resort hop” and how to bake an amazing apple pie. We went on long hikes in the McDowell Mountains together and shared our common dream of one day traveling to Italy.

“Michelle,” Marlene would say, “our lives are a tapestry that is constantly being woven. We can’t see what the final pattern will look until it’s complete but every thread matters.” Never had more true words ever been spoken.

Fast forward to 2011 when Marlene revealed to me that her daughter and son-in-law were friends with Blake Crouch. “Shut the front door!” I yelled at my computer … Since it was in an email with which she shared this info with me and no one else was around to yell at. I was very familiar with Blake’s name since I was a religious follower of anything JA Konrath related. Blake had frequently been featured in JA’s blog posts and they were co-authors of a few books.

Now my mom may be able to talk to anyone face to face but I? I clam up like a stinky, smelly oyster. But, I can talk to ANYONE via email. (The joys of being a writer.) So I decided, what the heck. I was going to reach out to Blake and introduce myself. And he was kind enough to reciprocate the communication. I love authors. They really are the kindest people.

Right about the time I started talking with Blake was when I also became the proud owner of a Kindle (finally), so I began reading his and JA’s books.  Now I have not been a huge horror fan since my early teen years when I scared myself silly by reading all of Stephen King’s psychotic thrillers and then subsequently living out my own horror story in real life, but I wanted to know what made these guys such phenomenal successes in the e-pub world. And once I started reading their books, I wasn’t disappointed. Their writing is brilliant, keep-you-up-till-3am-suspenseful … and very sick and twisted, which I say with the deepest regards. Where Konrath lightens the mood with a bit of humor in his dark thrillers, Blake delves 20 feet deeper into the disturbing psyche of his antagonist’s minds to torture the hell out of his characters. Oh and even better? They offer their books at ridiculously low prices so even poor, starving artists like me can afford to read them. (Seriously, the digression in this blog is insane.)

So, without further ado, I would like to share with you a little insight into a murder/mystery writer’s mind. (I mean, haven’t you always wanted to know what goes on in their heads?) Ladies and gents, I give you the great Blake Crouch.

1) First of all – how did you decide to become a writer? A murder/mystery writer in particular?

It was always something I was passionate about and loved to do, even from an early age. And I didn’t really “decide” to write in the thriller genre. Those are just the kinds of books I love, so it made sense to write what I would want to read.

2) Where do you find your ideas for your books? Do you ever give yourself nightmares? 

Yes, I have on occasion given myself nightmares. Usually it’s when I’m up working very late on a particularly intense part of a book. I’m blessed with ideas in that I have so many of them. The hard part is picking the right ones to tackle. That’s actually probably the hardest part of the job. It’s the most important choice every writer makes.

3) The term “platform” is a scary word for most authors -especially for those just starting out who have yet to build one. How did you build yours? 

I don’t know that I really have a platform, and truthfully, I think that word gets thrown around way too much. What I think a platform should mean is a bunch of kick-ass books and stories. That’s what I’ve been working to expand over the last five years—a sizeable catalog that readers can dive into and spend a year working through. The best thing a writer can have is a handful of excellent books.

4) You have co-authored several books with JA Konrath. How did you two become acquainted? If you had one word to describe him, what would it be?

Ha! Great question. Joe and I met at a mystery conference called Left Coast Crime in El Paso Texas in 2005, I think. We had already read each other’s debut novels which had come out in the previous year (Desert Places and Whiskey Sour). We didn’t start writing together until early 2009 with “Serial.” That grew into us overlapping our entire catalogs over the last two years which has been a total blast. One word to describe Joe…hmm….one word doesn’t do it. Here’s a handful. Generous. Irreverent. Hilarious. Inflammatory. Ambitious. Visionary. Fun.

Editor’s last digress (truly, I promise): Thank you Blake. It’s been great fun getting to know you (and your sick and twisted characters). Between you and JA, I was able to find the inspiration to do my own self-publishing and to me, that is priceless. I wish you hordes more success in your writing journey.

And of course, a special thanks to my very own Chatty Kathy, aka mom. I know you are my biggest fan and I am yours as well.

To learn more about Blake, visit his website at www.blakecrouch.com.

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Love, Lies & Lessons Learned Book Trailer

Posted on January 13, 2012 by moeltjen1

If you were wondering what LL&LL is about, I have included a short video here I used for a presentation. Because the file is too large for my blog, I have linked to my Amazon Author Central site. Once there, you can scroll down to the bottom right to watch the video.
Warning: some scenes are very graphic and overall the content is for a mature, adult audience. Love, Lies & Lessons Learned Book Trailer

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Happy Endings … er, New Year!

Posted on January 3, 2012 by moeltjen1

 

My sisters, Angie and Sheri, toasting to my Grandma J. I'm assuming Grandma is the only one with liquor in her glass. But then again, I've learned not to assume too much.

Wow – another year has come and gone. Seriously, where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting here, starting out on the 100th revision of my first book and now here I sit, a published author! YES!

When I wrote my first paid-for article and saw it published on the AZ Republic nightlife website a few years ago, I knew I was hooked on this writing thing. I just had to figure out a way to quit my day job so I could do it full-time. Most experienced writers/authors will tell you to do your writing on the side – at nights or weekends when you have free time. Or for the love of God, at 4am if you are a working mother with three needy children and a hubby. Then, and ONLY then, when you had accumulated enough business or written the next Great American Novel could you quit your day job to do what you love. Pfft! Not that I minded writing at nights and on weekends when I was SINGLE, but I preferred writing DURING my day job – it was a great way to make my boss think I was working really hard (and even late) on many occasions. Unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t keep up this charade forever. And when I found myself at the age of 34 sitting in cardiologist’s office because of daily heart palpitations (which were later dismissed as stress pains), I knew something had to change.

So I quit my job. It was the best and worst decision I ever made. And the only reason it was the worst is because now I’d be paying for my health care (which sucks) and not getting a hefty paycheck deposited into my bank account (which also sucks). But I sucked it up. Life was way too short to live it tied up in a gray cubicle, always wondering when my “someday” was going to come. Screw that. I was going to make my someday happen. Now.  That is what made it the best decision of my life to date.

And over the past year, I did just that. I wrote my first book, a memoir – “Love, Lies & Lessons Learned” (now available on Amazon & B&N). I agonized every day for nearly two months writing 2000 words a day. I took a short break and then agonized for what seemed to be two years but was in actuality only another two long months to work on a 2nd draft. I sent it in for professional copy editing. And then I edited it myself one more time before I sent it to my publisher. (And yes, it STILL has errors. If I can deal with it, I hope you can too.) All the while I marketed my book via Facebook and Twitter. I had no idea how many people would actually buy my book when it was released, but I had a feeling it would be more than one. And since that was my goal, I felt pretty dang good.

I’m still waiting for the actual sales indicators from my publisher and to be honest, I don’t really care what they show. I would do this for free. Watching my book go up and down on Amazon’s Kindle rankings and hearing from readers I have never met or friends I haven’t heard from in years who bought a copy of my book telling me how they purchased my book and were up till 3am that same night finishing it – makes it all worth it. And I would do it all over again. Connecting with my readers, ones I didn’t even expect to have, is like crack/cocaine for me. (And no, I have never done crack/cocaine Mom – I’m just assuming this may be similar to how good it feels.)

So thank you my dear readers. Being able to use the word “readers” in the plural sense is exhilarating, tantalizing and orgasmic. (Again, sorry Mom.) So much so, I’ve decided to start the painful process all over. (Maybe this is what it is like for those who are into S&M?) Again … NOOOOO … I have not tried that.

Today I started on the sequel to “Love, Lies & Lessons Learned.” Tentatively it is going to be called “Happy Endings”, mostly because I think that is a funny name but also because in LLLL, I wasn’t sure I would ever get my happy ending. I’ve experienced enough life to know that there really are no endings, only transitions from one phase to another. Have I received my “Happy Ending”? (And NOOOOO … not that kind.)  I guess you will have to read the book to find out.

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Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by moeltjen1

All the Justesen cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's for a very Merry Christmas - circa 1991. (One guess as to which one is me: scary, high hair!)

Oh how I love Christmas time! Some years more than others. This year I should be sad … and I am. You see, I lost my dear grandmother just a few weeks ago. Instead of going home for the holidays, I went home for her funeral. Nothing prepares you for that moment when you first see your loved one, lying in a casket. It stabs you in the heart like a cold icicle and that is when it hits you – they are forever gone.

My grandma had been slowly slipping away from us in her old age. Dementia started to take her away from us slowly but surely several years ago. It was something I could barely stand to watch. To this day, I still don’t know how my mom did it: visiting her and grandpa in the rest home every day, watching them slowly fade away from the vibrant individuals they used to be.

Yet, my grandma gave her family something that death cannot take away: memories. Tons of precious memories and the majority of them revolved around Christmas. At her funeral, my sister Angie and I stood up to reflect on our favorite memories of grandma. She loved the holiday season. And even though she had the smallest house of all our relatives, she insisted that everyone gather at her house each year. Christmas Eve was always my favorite, even though one of her traditions was eating oyster soup. Man, that stuff stunk the house up! But she knew Grandpa and a few others loved it, so she made it. Christmas time at her place was heaven even though as kids, it was excruciating to wait for supper to be over, the dishes to be done and the Lawrence Welk holiday special to be over before we could unwrap our presents.

Christmas time at grandma's before she was even a grandma. (Grandma is third from the left. My mom is on the far right and that handsome man next to her? My grandpa.)

So, I should be sad because grandma is no longer with us to celebrate this holiday season. And I am. But I am at peace because as cliche as it sounds, I know she is in a better place. And my Grandma and Grandpa Oeltjen, who also left this earth for heaven during the holiday seasons of 1991 and 1992, were waiting for her and I know they gave her a warm welcome. I can picture them hugging, laughing and watching down on us and it warms my heart.

Instead of being sad for my loss, I celebrate Christmas time because I know this world is only a temporary shell that we inhabit. Each day is a gift to be cherished. I have 36 years of memories of my dear grandma to carry me through until the day I see her again. And that? Is something to celebrate.

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Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2011 by moeltjen1


Thanksgiving. It may be my favorite holiday of the year. There are no gifts to rush out to buy for others at the last minute because you forgot your cousin’s uncle’s girlfriend’s daughter was coming over for the festivities. There is no stress of decorating the home in decadent decor. (Seriously? Untangling the lights after a year stuffed in a box in the garage? There should be a service for that.) There are no parties to wonder what in the world you are going to wear to. It is simply a time of thanks…and lots of good food. (And football…can’t forget the football!)

YOU try herding this rowdy bunch of goofballs to gather for a seemingly simple task: to take a family photo.


This year I am so thankful for so many things. (So many, in fact, that I thought it appropriate to list them on my blog.) Here are a few of them: 

  1. My book being published. After 8 years on my “to-do” list, I can finally cross that one off of my list. That? I give a million thanks for.
  2. My readers – you, especially – for all the love and support you have given me throughout the anguishing writing/editing/publishing process. There literally are not sufficient words to express my gratitude.
  3. Being able to help at least one woman who has been through the horrors of dating/domestic violence. Victims usually have to “suffer in silence” and I am beyond grateful that I was able to use my voice to help another who has suffered as I once had.
  4. Stretchy, comfy pants in which to eat a grotesquely large amount of turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.
  5. More stretchy, comfy pants in which to lounge around the entire holiday weekend watching college football (Go Huskers!) and eating leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.
  6. The simple act of living and having the freedom to do what I love: write.
  7. My boyfriend, who has stood by my side from day one, cheering me on and supporting me. He is my rock that I lean on more often than I can count.
  8. My amazing girlfriends. Too many of you to name and for that reason alone, I am blessed and thankful! I love you girls!!
  9. A second “family” in Arizona – the congregation of New Covenant Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, AZ. You took me under your wing nearly 8 years ago and have made me feel loved, safe and secure ever since then.
  10. My family. You never cease to amaze me and even though I knew how blessed I was before May 14, 2003 to have such a large, supportive network, you all showed me so much love, compassion and support from that fateful day forward and for that, I will always be thankful. Goofy as you…ok, WE are. (As witnessed by our exhaustive effort to take a family photo at my sister’s wedding last week. We are a lost cause when it comes to picture taking…and being serious.)

The Lord is great and I pray He blesses each and every one of you this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thank You!

Posted on November 15, 2011 by moeltjen1

A BIG thanks to all those who came out to help me celebrate LIFE and LOVE in the big-hearted small town community of Palmer, NE. (Pics to be posted soon – in the meantime, here is one of my beautiful family taken at my sister Kelly’s amazingly gorgeous fall wedding on 11/11/11.) I am continuously amazed and blessed to be surrounded by such loving, amazing people – friends, family and so many others I have crossed paths with during this publishing journey.

I must confess that I lied to many of you and said I had instructions on my website regarding downloading a free Kindle reading app for your computer/iPad/smartphone/etc. Sorry! Here are the instructions:

1) If you do not own a Kindle/Nook or any other type of e-reading device, do not fear! You can download a free Kindle app to read my book (and many others!) on whatever device you may have.

2) Download my book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBook or to your Sony eReader. I’m always open to constructive feedback so if you want to leave me a review on this site or any others, please feel free!

 

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The Scariest Night of All!

Posted on November 1, 2011 by moeltjen1

What is scarier than a night dedicated to the dead, ghosts, goblins and all night Halloween movie marathons with Mike Myers? How about becoming a first-time author and learning your book just went live on Amazon the same day? I can think of nothing more petrifying. Surely it is a coincidence that my first ever book gets published on Halloween, right??? As if watching Halloween tonight with my mom and boyfriend weren’t enough to warrant an extra ambien, now I have to imagine other people are reading MY book in THEIR beds and wondering to themselves, “What is Amazon’s book return policy?” (Insert pause for editor’s deep breaths and deep gulps of wine and one more ambien please!)

It only took me the better part of a decade, but the time has finally come. Time to have my baby. My book baby. And it is time to share it with the world.

I dreamed of this day, never imagining it would truly come to fruition even though I know myself well enough to know that if I want something … truly want something … I will get it. I just had many, many, many doubts along the way.

Looking out the big picture window of what was once my grandparents farm house, my ten-year old self dreamed of the big wide world that was surely waiting for me to arrive. I had lived my entire life on the farm as had my parents and grandparents, and I knew I was destined to live somewhere warm, a place where I would have a pool in my backyard and a high-paying job letting me live in the lap of luxury. Time gave me everything I had wished for. My seven to eight years of waiting for my book to be ready for publication looks miniscule compared to the tapestry I wove for my life so many years ago from that big picture window.

In the spring of 2004 I began with the sincere intent of turning writing into a full-time profession. The picture in my mind was so clear. I would get a lucrative deal from one of the Big 6 Publishing houses in NYC and be able to quit my high-paying job which I had ended up loathing more than even going to the dentist. (This is true and documented – ask my dentist, I have told him this on several occasions when I used to work at said job.) My publishing dream died over time. Discouragement settled in and I gave up on the process of publication. Eventually I even gave up on my own ability to write. My story was one of hard subject matter – a personal tragedy I only wanted to forget – a subject I wanted to push back into the dark recesses of my mind, never to think of again.

As a Christian follower, it was revealed to me shortly after my tragic experience that God wanted me to share my message and healing journey with others in similar situations so it seemed natural for me to write a book on the topic. I met with the right people, did a lot of research and began taking steps to write my book. Yet I pushed it to the side many times – telling God I was too busy, too tired, and I didn’t have any guarantee that anyone would buy, let alone READ, this book once it was released. Yet God would whisper to me, “Your work is not done.” And when God whispers, it is louder than any scream I’ve ever heard from any human on earth. Not because it is loud and irritating (well, it is a little irritating if you try ignoring it) but because it is strong, forceful — like a head wind a plane is trying to fly into yet making no progress until it yields to the power of the force and tries a different flight path.

So I listened to God. I sat in silence for days, months even, and listened to Him. When I realized what he wanted me to do, I was in disbelief. What he was asking of me was ludicrous. Insane. Crazy. He was asking me to quit my high-paying job and finish my book — and in the midst of a recession! And because I knew that not listening to Him had gotten me into the predicament of having such horrible subject matter to write about in the first place, I decided to pay attention to what he was asking me to do. This time I obeyed.

Once I was “self-employed”, I found myself with oodles of time on my hands. I soaked up every bit of information on the wonderful World Wide Web that I could about writing and publishing – anything to do with the book publishing industry was fodder for my mind. My eyes were opened to an entire new world over the course of this time. I became familiar with indie publishing; I befriended other writers and well-known authors. They were my sages on this new journey. I went to a writer’s conference in New York City (THEE best city in the world) and felt I had known the other attendees all my life after brief introductions to each other. This was my turf. I was finally “home”.

And I realized the whole game had changed from the many years ago when I had started down the publishing path. I didn’t need to continue sending out proposals. I didn’t need to put the fate of my book in someone’s less capable hands.

Throughout the course of thirty-six years’ time, God had given me all the tools and resources I needed to write, design and market a book. From the first time my Grandma Oeltjen took me to the library where I fell in love with books and reading to the last job I had as a media producer, I was being groomed by God for the role of an author.

As a dear friend of mine once said to me, “The tapestry of life is always being woven. We just won’t know until it is all said and done what the pattern will look like.” The tapestry for my book has been woven from the day I was born. Thirty-six years of weaving it took to prepare me for the birth of my baby. My book baby.

And now, it is time.

Love, Lies & Lessons Learned is now available on Amazon. My baby has been born and she’s in your hands know. Please take good care of her. She may not be perfect but she’s imperfectly perfect to me. And it will only get better from here on out.

 

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Meg Waite Clayton on Writing

Posted on June 16, 2011 by moeltjen1

Today I am so fortunate to have another amazing author guest blogging for me, Meg Waite Clayton. I “met” Meg on the wonderful writing site She Writes and then fell in love with her work after reading the beautifully written The Wednesday Sisters, in which four women become friends and decide to take their love of reading and writing to the next level by forming their own writer’s group. (Hmm…sounds familiar.) Add in the early references to Intel (where I used to work before I decided to become a writer myself) and I knew the reading/writing gods were intervening – thus I had to reach out to Meg to talk to her. Needless to say, as an aspiring best-selling author myself, I am humbled Meg took time out of her very busy schedule to answer my questions on writing. She is an amazing writer and I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed being able to interview her. Thanks for stopping by Meg!

1. When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer?

Growing up (isn’t that where all dreams start?), I was a huge reader and dreamed of being a novelist from a pretty young age, but I thought writing novels meant being able to leaping tall literary buildings in single bounds. The adults I knew were businessmen—not even businesswomen; the “ladies” were moms and teachers and nuns. I went to law school, which wasn’t my dream, but it was something I thought I could do. My husband, Mac, was the first adult to whom I admitted my childhood aspirations to write, and he gave me a great big push. He said, basically, “Your dream, Meg. How will you ever know if you can do it unless you try?” So I just started putting pen to paper, reading more and deconstructing what I read, trying to learn how to write. Which I’m still doing!

2. What was the hardest part of the writing process for you and why?

Oh, the blank page, the blank page. I start things in my journal just to avoid it. I can pretend I’m not really starting anything, I’m just doodling in my journal. Sometimes I just write the word “The” in hopes some other words will feel sorry for that one lonely word and attach themselves to it.

3. As a previous Intel employee and an aspiring writer in a women’s writing group I really connected with The Wednesday Sisters. Where do you find your inspiration for your books?

I’m reluctant to use the term “inspiration.” What I do is sit down in the chair every day and hope something comes. If you don’t show up, nothing is ever going to happen. That having been said, I tend to write stories about friends, and I definitely draw on the spirit of my closest friends for that. So to the extent I am “inspired” I definitely owe it to them.

4. With the current state of the economy and the closing of major retailers such as Borders, what is your take on the future of traditional publishing vs e-publishing?

I applaud reading in any form folks will read, but I’m concerned as more bookselling goes online that new voices will have a hard time finding audiences. Independent booksellers are often where new voices first get noticed, and authors often grow from the comfortable cocoon of their local independents. I fear the rise of e-books will give more writers outlets to publish, but I think the end result will be even more sales of the top few book, and fewer sales of books that aren’t by well-known writers.

Then there is the ease of piracy, of course, which jeopardizes the living of even the successful writers.  So much of the world thinks free books are a wonderful thing, and don’t stop to think that they are taking something that really belongs to someone else.

And I’m not sure the current pricing structure is sustainable, especially given the very small slice of the e-book pie the writer now gets. But I do think that will all sort itself out. Or I hope it will!

5. If you could give 2-3 pieces of advice to new writers looking to become published, what would it be?

On writing, the best advice I’ve ever gotten came from Tim O’Brien firsthand at the Sewanee Writer’s Conference, but it was nicely set in print in the Atlantic not long after I heard it: “Above all, a well-imagined story is organized around extraordinary human behaviors and unexpected and startling events, which help illuminate the commonplace and the ordinary.”

My advice on publishing: Continue to believe in yourself long after any reasonable person would have ceased to do so. There are too many wonderful stories about important and popular writers facing more rejection than you can imagine before finding their ways into print for anyone to ever let go of the possibility that might be them as well.

6. You’ve just released The Four Ms. Bradwells in addition to the paperback release of your first novel, The Language of Light. Tell us about your next upcoming project.

I’m working on a new novel to be published by Ballantine that is a sequel of sorts to The Wednesday Sisters, in which three of the Sister’s now-grown daughters travel to the English Lake District (home of Beatrix Potter) to scatter the ashes of one of the Wednesday Sisters and to clear out the cottage where she’s been writing. I’m quite enjoying writing it. I hope my readers will enjoy it too!

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