So I woke up this morning and thought, “Oh, I haven’t posted a new interview in my Interviews With Women Writers series in an ENTIRE YEAR!” Well, I must remedy that today, friends, and I’m so excited to introduce you to Leigh Shulman, who I’ve known for a few years now and who is helping writers find their confidence through her mentoring programs! It’s so great to see writers helping and encouraging each other, so read on to learn more about Shulman’s work and mentoring projects… xoxo

Name: Leigh Shulman
Where are you from: I’ve moved around a lot. Right now, I live in Argentina
3 words to describe me: I asked my partner to answer this one for me. Passionate, talented, anxiety-prone
Website: Leigh Shulman

Tell me a bit about yourself…what do you do, what are your hobbies, etc.?
I’m a writer, mentor and book coach living in Argentina with my family. We travel as much as we can. I’ve taught writing and poetry at universities, continuing education programs and at small school programs in the U.S., Panama, Costa Rica and Argentina. My work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Establishment, Vox, Guernica and more. I’m also the author of The Writer’s Road Map!

These days, I spend my time writing and coaching women 1:1, at international writing retreats and also through The Writer’s Process, my online writing academy for people who want to learn writing skills, find their community and make money with their words. I want to help more women feel confident with their writing, finish their masterpieces and build professional careers.

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Was it always something you wanted to do?
I remember sitting down to write in a notebook when I was 12. I was pissed off at something or another — as 12-year-olds do — and the words just poured onto the page. I just kept having things to say. From then on, I thought of myself a great writer. I wrote for the school newspaper, yearbook, for myself, short stories, you name it. I dreamed of writing and traveling the world.

But life doesn’t always work out as planned, right?

After college, I took a job at MTV, and while it was an incredible experience, I had little time and a lot of excuses that kept me from putting fingers to keyboard. Then when my daughter was born in 2004, my writing ground to a halt. Writing has always had a place in my life, although there have been many times I doubted and stopped putting pen to paper. I mean, if I’m not writing, am I still a writer?

Fortunately, I turned that ship around. I got my MA in creative writing and education and began teaching writing. When my daughter was three years old, we sold everything we owned and left Brooklyn to travel. We eventually settled in Argentina, which is my home base when I’m not traveling.

What writers/books did you admire growing up?
I read and totally wanted to be a character in Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books. But most of all, I loved Madeline L’Engle. She came to speak at my school in third grade. I remember her telling us that people always asked her how to write books for children. She said, “You write them as you would for anyone else.”

What is most rewarding for you as a writer?
When I’m able to finish a piece of writing that makes my readers feel the way I intended. When someone tells me after reading, “Yes, that’s exactly it!” Or when I find a solution that helps me unravel a problem in a new story and helps me find my way to finishing.

What issues do you think women face as writers?
I’ve spent years working with women writers helping the write books, articles and publish. We simply don’t give ourselves enough credit. We feel like we have to first prove ourselves before we can definitively call ourselves writers. We worry that no one wants to hear what we have to say. Really, we just need to stop worrying about being pushy or aggressive or any of those adjectives too often used to tell us that we’re asking for too much.

I met so many women held back by these adjectives and expectations, I wrote a blog post about it!

What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were just starting out?
Just do what you want. Don’t worry about mistakes. Everyone makes them, and ignore anyone who tells you it’s impossible to do something you want to do. It never hurts to try. It does hurt to hold back from a dream because someone else has decided it’s not possible.

Be sure to follow Leigh on Twitter to keep up with her writing journey! I’d love to keep this series going, so feel free to email me at mellow1422@aol.com with ideas or if you’d like to be interviewed! We women have to stick together, right?!?!? xoxo

It’s been four months since we got to know some women writers in our Interviews With Women Writers series! I don’t know about you, but I could sure use some inspiration right about now, which is why I’m so excited to introduce you to Jackie Sizemore. Not only is she an MFA grad and freelance writer, but this year, she also added consultant to her impressive resume when she started Point of View Consulting, a writing consulting business!!! Read on for more on Sizemore’s background, the most rewarding part of her job and her thoughts on the issues women face as writers… xoxo

Name: Jackie Sizemore
Where are you from: The Rust Belt and Tokyo
3 words to describe me: Introvert, witty, nerd
Author website: Jackie Sizemore
Writing coaching/educational consulting business: Point of View Consulting

Tell me a bit about yourself…what do you do, what are your hobbies, etc.?
I grew up in a General Motors family, which means that I moved a lot. My list to date is: Dallas, East Lansing, Detroit, Tokyo, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Boise and Laramie. Combine this with strong family ties to Kentucky and Tennessee. Being a constant “new kid” and being pegged as an outsider forced me to become a bit of an anthropologist in order to figure out how to culturally blend in or make friends. This turned out to be great practice for writing fiction. When I disclose my nomadic history with people, I’m often met with sadness or sympathy. But I really couldn’t imagine living any other way. I am happiest when I’m packing my things into a car and heading out to a new place and a new adventure. I received my MFA in Fiction from Boise State last year, and now I’m living in Laramie, Wyoming, while my partner attends his Creative Non-Fiction MFA program.

I write short stories for literary and sci-fi/fantasy markets, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Since graduating, I’ve started doing some freelance essays and articles as well. Right now, I am working on a bunch of writing projects, including a chapbook of poems about Paris, and my first novel, which is a near-future, dual-narrative feminist story.

I’ve also been preparing to launch my business called Point of View Consulting. I used to be an Assistant Director of Admissions for Carnegie Mellon University, and helping people with their college and graduate school process is one of my passions. Coaching people on the introspective process of writing their statements of purpose is so fulfilling, and I love working with narrative in this super practical way. All during graduate school, I had this dream of running my own college consulting and writing coaching business, and I finally found the time and energy to go for it! Working from home on various contract and on-call jobs while building up my business has also been wonderful because I get to spend more time with my dog Meeko. She can be a bit of a diva, but she makes sure I don’t stay at my desk too long so we can go for walks and kick at the tumbleweeds.

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Was it always something you wanted to do?
In early elementary school, I thought I’d like to be a writer. I wrote exclusively about frogs going on adventures and solving mysteries, and would scotch tape the front pages to make covers. This dream was somewhat discouraged by adults in my life, and I didn’t really come back to thinking I wanted to be a professional writer until I was an undergrad. I wrote poetry all throughout middle and high school, but I felt like I was writing it in a vacuum. I just had no idea about the larger poetry world, that there were contests I could have been entering, or that poetry readings even existed. Luckily, my English teacher for 10th-12th grade, Mrs. Derrico, was very encouraging of my writing, and she was always handing me extra books to read, or offering to read what I was writing. At my undergrad school, Carnegie Mellon University, I learned that Creative Writing was a major. Surely if I could major in it, that meant I could also do it in a way that existed outside of my little notebooks? It sounds so silly now, but I really had no idea that one could study creative writing or actively pursue it in a professional way.

What is most rewarding for you as a writer?
For me, so much of writing is a puzzle. Whether it is poetry or fiction, when I feel like I’ve cracked a way of describing a weird motion or found a phrase that holds all three connotations the story needs, that is the highlight. This reward is even better if someone else reads the piece and notices that same spot that had been such a tough puzzle to put together. Making someone cry from laughing too hard is also good.

What issues do you think women face as writers?
I think many of the issues boil down to the inability to view women’s experiences as an equal default as men’s experiences. In many of the classes I’ve been in, whether graduate, undergraduate, or community, the feedback towards insights coming from female-identifying writers, or from female characters, seems to be, “I don’t know if I believe this because it’s not my experience, therefore I feel entitled to question it.” Of course, I’m not saying this happens 100% of the time, and this is certainly not limited to male readers. I feel that women writers are not given the same level of credibility when it comes to their interpretations of the world, their insights and their female characters. I can completely understand if someone, whatever identity, had only come across stories where female characters served to prop up a male character, that they could end up believing subconsciously that this is a perfectly acceptable way for characters or stories to interpret the female experience.

What would you tell aspiring writers today?
Writing can exist in a life in so many ways, and no one way is the best way. Explore all the paths, and write whatever projects or pieces call to you the strongest. Know that rejection is a constant, even for the writers you admire the most. There will always be a next step you can’t wait to get to, but don’t forget to enjoy and celebrate the steps you’ve accomplished so far. Understand that writing about backgrounds and cultures different from your own is a tall order, and that doing your homework and understanding the specific power struggles and existing appropriations will only make your work, and your writing ethics, stronger.

Is there anything else you think I should know?
I have zero unread emails in my inbox.

What wonderful inspiration, don’t you think, friends?? Be sure to follow Jackie on Twitter to keep up with her writing journey! I’d love to keep this series going, so feel free to email me at mellow1422@aol.com with ideas or if you’d like to be interviewed! We women have to stick together, right?!?!? xoxo

It’s weird how things work out sometimes, isn’t it? And for once, I mean that in the most positive sense! Last month, I received an email from Laura Carney, who was in the midst of editing an essay of mine for Good Housekeeping. She’s a copy editor at the magazine and she wrote to tell me how much she could identify with my story. She lost her father at a young age as well and, after finding a bucket list he wrote, she created My Father’s List to chronicle her journey in finishing that list. What a way to connect with family! Read on for more about the memoir she’s writing, her hobbies outside of writing and her tips for young writers! xoxo

Name: Laura Carney
Where are you from: Wilmington, Delaware
3 words to describe me: Gentle, Courageous and Curious
Website/Blog: My Father’s List

Tell me a bit about yourself…what do you do, what are your hobbies, etc.?
I’m a full-time copy editor at Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Woman’s Day magazines. I’ve been with GH a little over five years, the other two about two months. I’ve worked as a copy editor for about a decade. I’m also a writer, though I do that more in a freelance capacity, primarily my current project, My Father’s List, personal essays and TV recaps, but I was trained as a reporter at the Associated Press and majored in English/Journalism at the University of Delaware, so I’ve written about just about everything. My current passion is travel writing, which helps a lot with My Father’s List.

As for hobbies, I love to travel and explore cities and art museums; I love spending time with my friends and family—my husband and I do a lot of couple visits these days since we’re now in the married-person zone; I’m a marathon runner, but also love tennis and hiking; I’m a big reader, mostly classics mixed in with essays, nonfiction, memoir, irreverent post-modern stuff like Vonnegut and lit. journal authors, self-help, Malcolm Gladwell and anything like Malcolm Gladwell and astrology and the occult. I’m a comedy nut, particularly SNL, and love documentaries, but I also like to feel like I’ve seen or am aware of most award-winning films and TV shows, which is necessary for writing about pop culture; I’m very into all sorts of board games and trivia, I’m pretty competitive with stuff like that; I’ve been a cat person my whole life, and have a polydactyl torbie, though I must admit my husband is a much bigger crazy cat lady than I since we found her in the wild, despite his horrendous allergies; and of course I’ve been obsessed with magazines for as long as I can remember.

Tell me about My Father’s List…
Sometimes, the best ideas can just fall into your lap. That’s what happened to me with My Father’s List. My dad wrote a bucket list when he was 29 years old and my brother only just now found it, 13 years after our dad’s death. He was killed by a teen driver on her cell phone.

I struggled for years to structure a memoir about my dad and find a way to bring awareness to what killed him, find a way to prevent more families from experiencing such a preventable loss. And then the list showed up, and we decided to finish it as I write about it.

I think something in me knew this was the answer and something in me was overwhelmed by all I envisioned with it. So far, in only five months, all of those things I envisioned have come true and more.

What is most rewarding for you as a writer?
Writers have the ability to make people feel normal and less alone. If I’m able to express emotions and tell stories that help people tap into something within themselves that they couldn’t access otherwise, then I feel I’ve served my purpose. If I’m able to share something fascinating or cool or an amazing connection between ideas that my reader might not have come to on their own, if I’ve helped them understand a writer’s intent with something or uncovered an underlying theme, that’s incredibly fulfilling, too. The greatest gifts of being a writer for me are that I get to share my mind and ideas and heart with others.

I always say I’m a painterly writer and a writerly painter. My writing has a lot of layers and then I often go back and cut the transitions between the layers. I want to keep the transitions invisible and seamless. Much the way our thoughts bleed into each other. Hemingway always said, even if you erase a word, its presence can still be felt later. I love that. Sometimes the absence is better than the presence because we don’t often spell out for others how we really feel in everyday life, but we still feel it. I don’t like spelling things out for people, I’d rather take them on a journey and explain it as sparely as I can. Most of my writing involves cutting. I have to kill a lot of darlings. A lot of visual art involves communicating an idea as immediately and strikingly as you can, and I try to do the same in writing.

What issues do you think women face as writers?
I’ve often found that it’s difficult for women in their 20s to write a short story or essay without referencing their own appearance in it. It’s a habit that has always bothered me, even though I’ve been guilty of it. But being born a woman means you will inevitably fall prey to being the objectified sex in our society or to being expected to become primarily a consumer and nurturer. Just because you own a womb doesn’t mean you have to think with it. I think a lot of 20-something writers are smart enough that they’re forced to grapple with this conundrum: Writing puts you in the position of being a subject of your own universe, not an object in it, which is what you’re treated as the rest of the time. Thanks to sexism, I imagine most women writers who’ve had any success have had to fight a hell of a lot harder to be taken seriously.

What would you tell aspiring writers today?
–Use whatever you have going for you to help people. That’s all we’re really here to do. I read this great quote the other day—it said that whatever we give ourselves on this earth goes with us when we die, but what we give to others becomes our legacy.

–When you are writing, think about only a few people whose opinions matter to you as your audience. If you think about too many readers, your message can get diluted.

–If you find you’re having a hard time finding your unique voice, don’t worry about it. It will come eventually. Sometimes this can take years.

–If you have a cause you really care about, as I do with safe driving, this can help tremendously. It provides an impetus to use your writing to bring attention to something that needs it.

–Try not to compare yourself to other writers too much or worry that other writers are getting recognized while you’re not and that’s just not fair. We’re all running our own races in life. Even if someone seems to be garnished with riches, you have no idea what it truly feels like to be that person. Worry about your side of the street, and applaud anyone who is doing well. If they don’t shine, you don’t shine.

–Find a role model. People often say that you can’t envision something for yourself if you’ve never seen anyone else do it. Trailblazers are important. So are the writers whose work you look up to but whose behavior you don’t agree with—they’re giving you an example of how not to be.

–Oh, and if you need to see a therapist (and you might if you’re a highly sensitive person as most writers are), don’t sweat it. I used to think therapy would hurt my writing, but I’ve found that it actually helps it. And exercise or get out in nature. Exercise is so important when you need to get a creative idea. Most of my best ideas come to me while I’m running or walking somewhere, preferably outside. There’s something about forward motion that gets the brain moving forward.

Is there anything else you think I should know?
So I guess my message is this: When you’re curious about something, pursue it relentlessly. And when you hear a calling, don’t refuse it. Don’t be afraid of standing out or being different. You’ll know in your gut what it is you’re meant to do with your writing when you see it. It really doesn’t matter what anybody else has to say about it. Also, don’t stress if the calling hasn’t come for you yet. Oprah always says luck is hard work plus the ability to recognize opportunity when it presents itself. Oftentimes, when we think we are just sitting around, waiting for our lives to begin, we’re actually just being groomed and prepared for what’s to come next.

Also, so often we are standing in our own way as writers due to fear, even if it’s a fear of success. Most of the time, when exciting things or changes have happened in my life, as a writer or otherwise, it’s been because I’ve said out loud, “I’m ready for this now.” Try it yourself. See what happens. Tell the universe what your plan is. And if you can’t do that, listen harder to what the universe is trying to tell you.

How inspiring is that, friends?!? Thank you so much, Laura!! Be sure to follow her on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with her writing journey! I’d love to keep this series going, so feel free to email me at mellow1422@aol.com with ideas or if you’d like to be interviewed! We women have to stick together, right?!?!? xoxo

Friends! I’ve literally been counting down the days to today’s chat in our Interviews With Women Writers series! I first met Deanna Cabinian more than a decade ago when we both worked on our college’s newspaper. She was the cool editor and I could tell back then that her passion for writing ran deep and her hard work has definitely paid off with last year’s release of her first book One Night. When she emailed me a few months ago, I knew I had to interview her about her exciting life as an author. Here, Deanna talks about the joy of the debut novel and her fantastic advice for young writers… xoxo

**And stay tuned for a book giveaway of One Night next month!!!

Name: Deanna Cabinian
Where are you from: If we’re talking originally, Los Angeles, CA. But my current location is the Chicago suburbs.
3 words to describe me: determined, intelligent, optimistic.
Website/Blog: Deanna Cabinian

Tell me a bit about yourself…what do you do, what are your hobbies, etc.?
By day, I work as a marketing director. I write early in the morning during my train ride into work and occasionally at night. As for other hobbies, I love reading and listening to boy bands of all kinds. I also like trying new recipes (sometimes) and aspire to be a better cook, but it’s lower on my list of priorities. I spend a lot of time hanging out with my husband and our Havanese puppy Cuba. And I love to travel.

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Was it always something you wanted to do?
Writing has always been a part of me. I wrote and illustrated my first picture book when I was five. It was about a family of sea turtles and is collecting dust in my parents’ basement. I wrote a lot of picture books growing up and wrote stories here and there throughout high school. I was seventeen when I decided I wanted to be published.

What writers/books did you admire growing up?
I LOVE the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. If you are a girl, no matter what your age is, and you want to laugh out loud, these are the books for you. I read those books over and over. They never get old. I was also a big fan of The Giver by Lois Lowry.

What is most rewarding for you as a writer?
I love connecting with readers. If they can relate to my book in some way or at minimum be entertained for an hour or two, then I’ll have done my job. Also, I just enjoy the act of writing. Some days sitting at the keyboard is torture, but some of the time, I’m thinking, “God, I love this sentence!” or “YES, I know exactly where to take this story next!” I live for those moments.

How did you get the idea for One Night? What was the writing process like?
OK, so One Night is a coming-of-age story set in Hawaii with an Elvis slant. For years, my sister and I thought — GASP! — Elvis was overrated. All his songs sound the same, they’re too old-fashioned, etc. But then, in 2010, we decide to take a road trip to Graceland and BAM, we’re converted. Right around Graceland, Elvis’s music is playing in practically every store, restaurant, gas station, etc. I think being forced to listen to his music did something to us. Needless to say, I now have a number of Elvis CDs and my sister and I have seen a fair amount of Elvis impersonators. Shortly after that trip, I read the book Me & A Guy Named Elvis, which is written by one of Elvis’s best friends; it’s not only a fascinating read but also an example of great writing. Really, that book is a master class in “show, don’t tell.” At the end of 2013, I got it in my head that an Elvis impersonator would make a great character in a novel. I started writing what would eventually become One Night, but it wasn’t coming together for some reason.

Then in fall 2014, I’m walking to the train station, on my way home from work, and as I pass under the El tracks, the character of Thompson (the main character of One Night) pops into my head. I just got this picture of a heartbroken kid and I knew he was the missing link in my half-started Elvis impersonator novel. Thompson just dropped out of the sky for me. I wish all ideas came to me that way. So then I have Thompson who’s coming off a breakup and he meets Johnny, the Elvis impersonator character, and the book just took off from there. I wrote an outline and pounded out the first draft in three months. I decided to set the book in Honolulu because I love it there. I was lucky enough to stay with a friend there a few years ago.

What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were just starting out?
Share your work. I wish I had started using critique partners sooner. The sooner you get feedback on your writing, the faster you’ll improve.

What would you tell aspiring writers today?
Write what you want to read. Write about characters you care about. Do not write to trends. I spent years writing to trends — chick lit, paranormal Twilight-esque romance, you name it. They were all spectacular failures and just came off as not genuine at all. I wasted a lot of time not being myself. I have always loved reading quirky young adult novels more than any other genre; it took me a few years to realize I should be writing them, too.

Is there anything else you think I should know?
Yes, I’d like to talk about my next book! It’s called The Other Side of the World and is about a Filipino-American teen who travels to the Philippines and helps his dad complete his recently deceased grandmother’s bucket list. You can read a full description here. I’m really excited about this one because my dad is Filipino and there aren’t enough books set in foreign countries.

Thanks so much giving us a peek into your life, Deanna! Be sure to follow her on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with her writing journey! I’d love to keep this series going, so feel free to email me at mellow1422@aol.com with ideas or if you’d like to be interviewed! We women have to stick together, right?!?!? xoxo