Q&A with Jane Howard, author of “Hey Nature Lady: Vignettes on Living a Creative Life”

Who was your intended audience for this book when you first conceived of it, and who do you think it is now? Did your intended audience change at all over time?

At first, I was just doing it for family members, just tracking my own history of out-of-the-box lifestyles, and writing down adventures that I didn’t want to forget. . . . Now, though, I see my audience as broader than that—any age, really. The intention of the writing is to inspire others to take risks, to be curious about life, to reconnect with a sense of innocence, and curiosity about the world and nature..

Q&A with Patsy Truxaw, author of “Gathering: Family, Grief, Resilience”

What were the benefits of workshopping Gathering with a group?

I was inspired by people's writing and by people's directness, and I felt like eventually it was a class where I could take a chance and be myself and read what I wrote. I got good feedback, and the best thing is having a group of people who are just so supportive. I like having an audience, as it turns out.

Q&A with Brian Jeansonne, Author of "Onward. Forward.: My Journey with ALS: Finding Beauty and Love in the Clusterf*ck"

If you could give a first-time author who’s midway through a book manuscript one piece of advice, what would it be?

Stay connected to the heart of your story, especially during the rough patches. There will be moments of doubt, but if the story feels meaningful to you, trust that there’s a reason you’re writing it.

Author InterviewSara RoahenDecember 6, 2024memoir, ALS, health memoir, spiritual memoir, pastor memoir, New Orleans story, Alanis Morissette, Ted LassoComment

Q&A with Katya Cengal, author of "Straightjackets and Lunch Money"

Straitjackets and Lunch Money by Katya Cengal is a memoir written in two voices: the voice of Katya as a ten-year-old girl hospitalized at the Roth Psychosomatic Unit at Children’s Hospital at Stanford as treatment for self-starvation; and the voice of Katya thirty years later, as a journalist researching her own story from that time to better understand what she went through, and to bring the reader’s attention to other children at risk of going unseen and unheard.

Q&A with Carole Wagener, Author of "The Hardest Year: A Love Story in Letters During the Vietnam War"

Carole Wagener recently self-published her first book, The Hardest Year: A Love Story in Letters During the Vietnam War. Her husband, William, who wrote roughly half of the letters in the book, shares author credit.

Q&A with Photographer and Writer Dorka Hegedus

Photographer Dorka Hegedus and her family are on the road this year, traveling the world. She shared a cache of images from their travels, which I’ve interspersed throughout the following Q&A. Dorka answered my questions in writing.

Q&A with Kathleen Lenski, Author of "The Daughter of Vladimir Lenski: Memoir of a Child Prodigy Violinist"

In The Daughter of Vladimir Lenski: Memoir of a Child Prodigy Violinist, Kathie examines the pieces of her extraordinary life, the smooth pieces and the jagged pieces, the pieces she chose and the pieces forced upon her. Read on for a conversation during which we discuss what Kathie discovered about her writing voice, how documenting her stories helped her process some of the more painful parts of her life, and what working with Kindle Direct Publishing was like for her.

Author InterviewSara RoahenFebruary 25, 2023memoir, Kathleen Lenski, Violin, Vladimir Lenski Comments

Q&A with Deborah A. Lott, Author of "Don't Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir"

An interview with the memoirist Deborah Lott about her book, Don’t Go Crazy Without Me: A Tragicomic Memoir.