I write. I always excelled at writing. In a different version of my life, I stayed in the challenging school system where I started, was pushed to excel, and found a mentor who guided me into a writing career before I graduated. You already know my name.

In this version of my life, I spent the last three years of high school in a small town school where the guidance counselor apologized because they didn’t have a decent English teacher. I was fifteen and thought she was weird. I had fun and life took an entirely different path with many moves, careers, and relationships. Life’s been interesting – and it’s all material.

In 2005 I was paid to revise a screenplay. In 2007 I self-published my first novel and I’ve been editing and helping others self-publish since 2013. My short stories, novels, and screenplays have been finalists or honorable mentions in Kindle Book Awards, Emerging Screenwriters, Sacramento International Film Festival, Amazon Breakout Novel Awards, Writer’s Digest International Self-Publishing Book Awards, Writer’s Digest Short Story Writing Competition, and the Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. An art book I edited and designed was runner up in the San Francisco Book Festival Photography/Art category.

With the book I’ve just launched, I’m focusing on doing a better, more sustained effort at marketing. That has included figuring out the unifying factors in my novels: They’re stories with strong, propulsive plots and engaging characters – with substance to fuel conversation.

What inspires your writing themes (either as a whole or for each book)?

(SM): While writing a gripping story with characters that stay with you is the structure, I do slide in themes that fuel conversation, too. The inspiration always comes from real life one way or another, and resilience is always a factor. My family and I have had a variety of experiences; I’ve worked with at-risk adults, children, and teens in different ways; and people talk to me. I’ve had a stranger give me their life story in a fifteen-minute bus ride. 

All for One: Love, War, & Ghosts – the first draft was completed in 1981, when Vietnam vets were experiencing a lot of problems and a lack of support. I didn’t recognize a positive rejection from an NYC agent as encouragement to work on it. When I got back to it decades later, I wanted to check on some details – and had trouble finding any Vietnam vets who wanted to talk. Knowing the problems didn’t just go away with time made me decide to have my characters age before the scary stuff begins. 

Running Away: Maggie’s Story – when I got my first check for writing in 2005 and decided to take writing seriously, her issues were more pressing. I’d worked with many girls who’d been molested but either didn’t think anyone would believe them or they’d misbehaved in anger so much that no one would believe them. The story is told in her voice and her mother’s to show how communication got broken and mends. 

Peg’s Story: Detours is her mother’s story. Readers asked for it because the mom mentioned she’d run away at the same age and her parents thought she was dead for ten years. I did some meandering in my twenties and thought her story would be like that, until the character took over at the bus station and shocked me. I put it away, embarrassed that someone might think it was about me. Then I saw an interview program with women who were putting their lives together after being trafficked, and I realized that was her story. 

Tough Times started life as Michael Dolan McCarthy, which was a terrible title for a book geared for teenage boys. Michael’s just a regular kid whose life falls apart one piece at a time, but he toughs it out and takes responsibility for his young white siblings – the kind of character my “tough” students would understand. Making race the reason they’ve never met his mom’s parents was just one more layer and brings in family communication issues again.

Alice is a quite short novel. A group in Vancouver puts on a 3-Day Novel Contest every year. I entered the weekend with an idea of a situation with the bank, because that sort of thing was common at that point, and the three main characters in mind. Once Jack, Alice’s father, showed up, the two of them started dictating the dialogue in the voices of Helen Hunt and Jeff Bridges. They had me laughing out loud and the initial draft was done by the end of the weekend. Sometimes the characters take over in a fun way. Yet it’s been described as a modern day ethics story.

What was your favorite part of writing All for One: Love, War & Ghosts?

(SM): That’s tough. I enjoy the whole process, even revisions on revisions, braiding the plots together. And the little bits where character show through – like when the bad guy flashes on a moment from his teen years. But overall? It’s a bit mean spirited, but I may have gotten the most satisfaction out of the gossip’s faint.

How would you compare your screenwriting process versus books?

(SM): I tend to be very sparing in my description when I’m writing books – I usually stick to details that are essential to understand something else. That makes converting one of my books into the screenplay relatively easy. You give the essential description before the dialogue and let the producer and director add the rest. In both cases, the characters and the story have got to work.

Your educational background covers a wide array of writing capabilities, from research and grant proposals to fiction and nonfiction. Which would you say is your preferred writing vice and why?

(SM): There is great satisfaction when a non-fiction project makes a substantial difference in lives. However, I’ve been making up stories since I was a little kid, so storytelling is me having fun. I grew up in a house full of adults – I was the oops seven years younger than the after-thought who was seven years younger than the family. The after thought’s train was set up in the attic. I was not allowed to run it, but he trusted me to play with all the little people and buildings. And that’s just one example. My mom and I made up my bedtime stories, I helped write our class plays in elementary school, and I researched my first novel the summer I turned ten…

What piece of advice would you give to women aspiring to become authors?

(SM): Love the process – write, share, revise, repeat. If you love the process, you will produce your best work. If you love the process, success doesn’t hinge on numbers.

Sheri McGuinn is an award-winning writer of fiction with strong, propulsive plots and engaging characters that provide substance to fuel conversation. With Master’s degrees in Education and Professional Writing, she also writes and edits for hire and helps people through the self-publishing process.

Anne Marina Pellicciotto is a multi talented and multidisciplined individual. Not only a talented writer, but also the President of SeeChange Consulting, a woman-owned Certified Business Enterprise as well as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer in Mexico. Her diverse lived experiences fuel her life philosophies and methodologies. 

What inspired you to start writing your book, Strings Attached: A Memoir of Marriage, Music and Escape?

(AMP): Just freed, at 27, from the marriage to my music teacher predator, a relationship that began when I was 15, I started writing the secret scandalous story at as a novel. I suppose I was attempting, in those early years, to out myself – and him – but in a safe way. I got encouraging feedback from the continuing ed class at Georgetown: “Feels like you’re right there, inside that girl’s skin.” “Verisimilitude,” the teacher complimented. I was new to writing, so that felt good. But they also said my story was not too believable – the age difference, the fact that he was married and I (a girl named Eve) was the babysitter. I put the manuscript aside and got on with my career as a systems analyst – and the journey to discover who the heck, apart from my music teacher predator ex, I was. Those were some dangerous years of experimentation that also involved a lot of therapy and medication.

Two decades later, at 50, in the aftermath of my mother’s terrible cancer death, retriggered by ghosts of the past, I unearthed the novel manuscript – along with a shoebox of well-preserved memorabilia from those undercover teenage years. With Mom gone – she’s a key complex character in my transgressive coming-of-age story – I was free to write the book as truth. Over the intervening years – as if preparing for this moment – I had consumed memoirs – by Mary Karr and Joyce Meynard and Vivian Gornick, to name a few. I joined a Bethesda Writer’s Center program to complete your book project in a year. I had no idea what a journey I had ahead of me.

A neon posterboard of My Big Beautiful Book Goals stares me at the face each day from the wall above my desk. The first and foremost goal on the list: To write for the creative, cathartic joy of in hopes of touching and inspiring others. Now that I’ve completed the fifth, maybe sixth rewrite of my manuscript and I begin the harrowing process of birthing my book baby into the world, I try to remember: this book is no longer about me. We are all wounded in some way. The readers of Strings Attached are yearning for permission – an invitation – to release themselves from unearned shame and live their lives out of the shadows, fully, powerfully, joyfully.

As the President of SeeChange LLC, what advice can you give to both aspiring female authors and entrepreneurs alike?

(AMP): Haha, I started my own company because, well, I got fired from every job I’d ever been in. I was not one to take to rules and structures and restrictions – especially since I’d been confined in a box at such a young age by my predator music teacher.

The problem with the corporate world – especially the burgeoning IT world .com world of the 90s and 2000s – they could handle creativity – unconventionality – out-of-the box thinking – especially from a woman. Though they sure did pay it lip-service. I was tired of having my ideas received with a blank stare.

So, at 33 I took a MS in Organization and Human Development – with the aim to bring a more creative, humanistic perspective to the organizational improvement. My practicum project became the basis of holistic approach I would bring my clients. Upon graduation, in 2001, I launch SeeChange and have been going strong ever since. My advice? Never allow your creativity to be squelched. If you feel that constriction – be in work or in relationship – get out. It’s not always easy going it on your own – you must weather a lot of ups and downs and oftentimes on your own. What’s more, the independent life may not be quite as lucrative as working for the man. But your creative freedom is priceless.

How would you describe your writing process?

(AMP): I am pretty disciplined – as an indy for so many years, I have learned to be – and I believe it’s part of my nature. I begin my day (as early as I can – and I’m not a morning person) with a routine of yoga to get the energy and breath flowing. Then, with a cup of ginger turmeric tea, I sit down to my Morning Pages (a la Julia Cameron, The Right to Write and The Artist’s Way). In my journal, I let the muse go where she wants – oftentimes it’s meditative, like sights, sounds and smell entering my sense doors. Sometimes, it’s boring to-do lists or lists of accomplishments. But oftentimes the journaling becomes the writing and I find I’ve written passages or scenes from my current project into my composition notebook. I flag those with Postits and then, when I sit down to my computer, I merely need to transcribe. I have a note taped to my desk that says: “Just type – no conditions.” Because, sometimes. I put such pressure on myself to accomplish something – and my muse doesn’t like that. She freezes. And the writing day is a total struggle. So, I have to keep reminding myself – back to my #1 goal for my memoir – “to write for the creative, cathartic joy of it.” Oh, yeah, to protect my muse inside our creative bubble, I keep my phone and Internet powered off until I am done, around 1 or 2 pm. It’s blissful.

Your philosophy of head and heart, science and art is admirable! How do you incorporate those principles in both your life and writing?

(AMP): Great question. I do need to update my website because my philosophy has expanded to include the body: head, heart and body.

Creativity, I once read (Stephen Nachmanovitch, Freeplay) is an act of making decisions. As humans, as writers, we are constantly making choices about what’s in, what’s out – what characters motivations are – where we show in scene and where we tell in summary – and at a larger lever, where to direct our creative energy – into what project or essay or poem. Whether and when to take a pause.

These choices can’t be made solely from the head – using a tool I learned in business school called the Decision Matrix. Sure, logic has its place; we need good information to good make decisions. But the heart and gut must be involved. The answers come to these other two brains. From sitting in stillness, chanting mantra, moving the body in yoga. By planting seeds – asking questions – tapping into our intuition – that’s when the most creative answers and ideas arise.

Lately, I’ve struggling with some important life decision – feeling the effects of so much dis-harmony and uncertainty in our country and our world. I have a Postit note stuck to my mirror that stares me in the face each morning: What’s in harmony with the Divine Design for my life?

The answer has been emerging, little by little – by paying attention, I feel the answer either as tightness – for me in my lumbar spine, shoulders, or jaw. Or, when an idea finally resonates, a truth becomes clear, I feel relaxation, calmness, feet more grounded on the earth, and a little bit of excitement in my belly.

I use my journal to translate the sensations into words. Sometimes that works. As long as I don’t jump from the feeling to the page too quick. Developing this heart-mind-body intuition is a daily practice of making space for the truth to arise – and be there to witness it. This practice has been essential to my writing.

It seems you have lived many lives, from consulting, to the Peace Corps, and into your holistic healing journey. How have these experiences shaped your perspective as a writer?

(AMP): Yes, I love exploring new places, people and lives. I am an experiential learner. Living new experiences gives me both material about which to write – and the volition to do so.

For instance, I am embarking on a new book project based on my last four madcap years living the nomad life. Crooked Spine Chronicles is the story about how, practically crippled with severe scoliosis and in suicide-level pain, I defy doctors order to fuse my spine with rods and bolts and, instead, take to the road. I will not let them to immobilize me. Washington, DC to Santa FE, Durango to Escalante, Sedona, Joshua Tree, LA – I encounter shaman, yogis, PTs, body workers, psychotherapists, tarot readers, psychedelic guides and, lovers. Turns out the universe is conspiring to save me!

All along my journey, I posted stories to my blog of ups and downs, twists and turns and lessons-learned. Now, I am turning those stories into a book with the aim to help others discover their inner power to heal – and to live their most vital, adventurous and pain-free lives. Oh, yes, that Peace Corps memoir is stuffed in shoebox somewhere waiting for the harmony moment to be reworked. It even has a title: Dance the Huapango: Madcap Misadventures of a Mid-Career Volunteer South of the Border. 

Please connect with me via my blog at www.seechangeconsulting.com/blog or befriend me on social media and let’s dialogue. Writing needn’t be such an isolating process. Thanks to WNBA-SF, I feel part of a vibrant and creative community.

Mary Mackey is a member of WNBA-San Francisco. She became a writer by running high fevers, tramping through tropical jungles, being swarmed by army ants, and reading. She is the author of 9 poetry collections, including In This Burning World: Poems of Love and Apocalypse (Marsh Hawk Press 2025);  Sugar Zone, winner of a PEN Award; and The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award for Best Book Published by a Small Press. 

Where did the concept for your new poetry book,  In This Burning World: Poems of Love and Apocalypse” originate?

(MM): The poems in In This Burning World are not simply a collection of unrelated poems. They form a lyrical, poetic look at what I imagine what lies ahead of us as the climate of the Earth changes; and what we can do to preserve hope, joy, and compassion in the face of a slowly evolving catastrophe. They are poems that weave together the most accurate scientific predictions I could find with the emotions we experience when we think about the New Planet that is being created around us as the glaciers melt, the forests burn; and the seas and rivers rise.

In 1966, I saw the cloud forests of Costa Rica being turned into charcoal, and as I stood there on the unpaved gravel of the Pan-American Highway watching those tall trees—with their orchids and hummingbird nests and fog-wreathed branches—tumble to the ground, I became an environmentalist before I had ever heard of the word. This was the moment when I saw the destruction that was coming, the seed that lay in my mind for decades and grew at last into the poems in In This Burning World.

What do you hope readers take away from your new book?

(MM): I hope people who read these poems will find them beautiful, absorbing, and moving. I hope these poems will help bring the science behind the predictions about climate change to life and give emotional force to the unemotional logic of scientific studies; because I believe people must be moved as well as convinced. I hope too that those who read In This Burning World will come to believe—as I do—that mutual aid and kindness are vital in the face of what the future holds for us as the Earth warms; that, if we can’t undo the effects of climate change, we still can choose to love and care for another with passionate kindness and passionate devotion; burn with the determination to shelter and comfort those who have lost everything; reach out to one another and create places where grief cannot enter. And I hope that young people living now and the generations still to born will find in these poems a reason to go on hoping, loving, and living.

How would you describe the relationship between the two kinds of burning: the burning of apocalypse and the burning of love?

(MM): One drives the other—at least I hope it does. If we only concentrate on the apocalyptic changes going on in the Earth’s climate, we risk falling into despair, becoming depressed, frozen like deer in the headlights. When you feel powerless, you give up; you do nothing. But if you concentrate on love and the power of love to unify us, there is a great deal we can do to help one another Every human being on this planet is in the same situation right now or will be in it in fairly near future. I don’t think that there has ever been a time in human history when we have all had so much in common except perhaps during the two great ice ages that humans have lived through in the past 200,000 years.

I see that you wonderfully explain how and where writers get their inspiration from in your book “Creativity: Where Poems Begin.” Where does your inspiration to use poetry as your writing medium come from?

(MM): I write poetry, novels, and screenplays. Some of my novels—particularly The Year The Horses Came, The Horses at The Gate, and The Fires of Spring, which are set in Europe 6000 years ago—have environmental themes, but they also have plots, characters, action, adventures, not to mention love scenes. All these things tend to dilute the impact of observations about the environment, which fades into the background and becomes scenery.

I am inspired to use poetry as a writing medium, because it does some things no other form writing that I know of does with such ease: First, it’s short, concentrated, and has immediate impact. When I write a poem I cut ruthlessly until I arrive at the core. For example, the poem “Cold Snap” that appeared in my collection The Jaguars That Prowled Our Dreams started out as a four page poem and ended up as three lines:

                        Cold Snap

         dying is something you only do

         once

         you don’t have to get good at it

The second thing poetry can do is tolerate ambiguity. When you read a scientific paper, you expect a logical conclusion. But when you read a poem it can spread out in a myriad of different ways, take you to places where contradictions can exist together, even recreate itself and become a new poem in your mind. In other words, poetry is powerful, expansive, and unpredictable.

But perhaps the most important aspect of poetry—at least the kind of poetry I write–is that it can convey emotion better and more powerfully than most other forms of writing, and it does this in more than one way. Poetry can be beautiful and moving; powerful and life-changing; it can recreate touch, taste, and smell. A poem can not only describe what we see when we see a leaf, but what we feel when we see that particular leaf, what that leaf reminds us of, what it is to us or what it isn’t to us. Poetry can take an idea and illuminate it like a medieval manuscript. It can make unusual connections: see faces in tree trunks, messages in clouds, the penmanship of birds. Poetry is imagination set free with no boundaries.

How would you describe your writing process? Does it alter depending on which book you are working on?

(MM): All my writing starts with an idea, an image, or a few words that bubble up from some wordless space inside me. This is hard to express, but I’ve tried to describe where creative ideas come from—not just mine, but everyone’s—in a short book entitled Creativity: Where Poems Begin.

I usually write for about 5 hours a day, mostly in the mornings. I always write the first drafts of my poems in a large notebook. After I’ve revised the first draft four or five times, I enter the poem into a file in my laptop and do six or seven revisions, trying to find better words for what I want to say, encouraging and developing metaphors, playing with line breaks, and cutting ruthlessly. The finished poem—the one readers see—has usually gone through twelve or more revisions.

My process for writing novels is different. I always write novels on my laptop. I start by writing a rough plot summary (which I’m willing to change if I think of something better). I have created blank characters charts, which I fill in for all my main characters, asking myself questions like: “Age?” “Height?” “Friends?” “Enemies?” “Present Problem?” “How Will it Get Worse?” When all this preparation is done—and all the research is finished if this is a historical novel—I start writing. A novel takes me approximately two years to complete. Like poems, I put my novels through multiple revisions—usually at least half a dozen or more.

Except for the need to do historical research for historical novels, this process doesn’t change much depending on which book I’m working on. On the other hand, when I’m writing screenplays my writing process is different. If I’m adapting one of my own novels, I do a new, updated two page outline of the plot and then reconfigure it for film and turn it into a two-page, present tense treatment, which—as usual—I revise, often in collaboration with another screenwriter. The treatment becomes the basis for the screenplay. One thing I do that is a little unusual is to close my eyes and run the film in my mind from start to finish. I do this several times as I polish and revise the screenplay.

How did being a woman shape your experience as a writer?

(MM): When I was young, almost all editors and the majority of agents were male. Women writers were not taken seriously—particularly women poets who were often mocked and thought fit only to write greeting cards. In college I did manage to get a poem accepted by the editors of the undergraduate literary magazine by imitating a poem by Wallace Stevens, which was “male” enough to pass the test; but for the most part, it too was an almost-all-male publication.

At the time, this was frustrating and discouraging, but as the years passed it became clear to me that this lack of acceptance had been a good thing. If my poetry had been welcomed, I would probably have gone on imitating male writers. Instead, I was able to find my own voice—a female voice, individual, personal, not like anyone else’s. And when I began teaching, I was able to help other women find their voices.

More importantly, I became part of a community of women. The year I graduated from college, 1966, was a time when women and people of color were redefining what it meant to be a writer. Women were founding presses like Shameless Hussy Press, which published my first novel Immersion (which was quite probably the first Second Wave feminist novel in the world published by a Second Wave feminist press.). They were creating women’s bookstores and literary magazines like Velvet Glove and Yellow Silk Journal, which published my poetry. I will forever be grateful to the women writers, editors, agents, teachers, librarians, friends, and colleagues who helped, supported, and encouraged me over the years. Without them, I might never have become a writer.

Climate change continues to be a pressing issue for our world. How does your passion for ecology and history tie into your book concepts of the “New Planet” and “Old Planet”?

(MM): In In This Burning World, the “Old Planet” is the planet we’re living on right now, the one we have inhabited for nearly 12,000 years since the end of the last Ice Age. This Old Planet is changing all around us at an increasingly accelerating rate. The “New Planet” is whatever the Earth will be like in the future.

This concept of the Old and New Planet is a natural outgrowth of a lifelong interest.  I write historical novels and enjoy doing the research needed to make the history in them as accurate as possible. As for ecology, I’ve been passionate about it ever since I spent months living in remote tropical field stations in the jungles of Central America surrounded by ecologists who taught me about biodiversity, ecological niches, and why hummingbirds have mites in their noses.

A knowledge of ecology and an awareness of potential changes in the environment such as rising sea levels and rising global temperatures, suggests that the New Planet may be very different from the Old Planet. A knowledge of history tells us that radical changes in an environment eliminates entire species. The question that haunts me, the one that I think we all might want to ask ourselves, is: “Will there be a place for us on this New Planet that we’ve been helping create? No one knows for sure. But poets can imagine where scientists can only reason, and poems can bring what poets imagine to life.

What advice would you give to any aspiring female writers?

(MM): It’s the same advice I’d give to any aspiring writer: Write for fun. Play with your writing. Write freely without worrying about getting published. Write whatever you want. The truth is, there aren’t any rules when it comes to writing; so make up your own. Start a small in-person writing group and share your work with other writers who are at about the same stage in their careers as you are. In my first writing group, none of us had been published and it felt as if we never would be; but we helped and encouraged each other, and as of 2025, the three of us have had over thirty novels published by major publishers and small presses. So don’t get discouraged by rejection. Just keep writing. And revise, revise, and revise.

Mary Mackey’s poetry has been praised by Wendell Berry, Jane Hirshfield, D. Nurkse, Al Young, Daniel Lawless, Rafael Jesús González, and Maxine Hong Kingston for its beauty, precision, originality, and extraordinary range. She is also the author of 14 novels including The New York Times bestseller A Grand Passion.

CJ Palmisano has written since she could scribble “no” on her mother’s immaculate kitchen wall. She has never stopped writing–a few pages here, an entire story there–but for the majority of her adult life, writing couldn’t be a priority. She raised a family and taught, something she did well (for what it’s worth, in 2006 she was in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers).

In 2010, the moment to write full time arrived. She exchanged a classroom for a tiny, poorly lit storage room destined to become a darkroom. She dragged boxes of STUFF to the garage, rolled in a desk and creaky office chair, and settled into a space with a window that natural light couldn’t seem to find. She was determined to become a Real Writer.

What inspired you to start writing?

(CJP): It’s difficult to point to anything specific. I’ve been a storyteller my entire life. Around 3rd grade I wrote little stories teachers encouraged me to submit to kid magazines like “Jack and Jill.” A couple even gave me a copy of the magazine with submission info highlighted. I’m also the oldest of six kids so grew up babysitting (bossing them around is what they’d tell you). We’d construct blanket tents, crawl inside and I’d tell stories. Neighbor kids gathered in our back yard which abutted a wood we all explored. As the oldest, I’d often suggest a story we’d occasionally play out, or “improvise” (though I didn’t know the word at the time). I’d devise a scenario, tell each kid who s/he was, take the best part myself, then we’d act it out.

You’ve written a lot of work for different categories: mini stories, dark, humorous. Do you have a favorite genre you like to work in?

(CJP): It depends on my mood. Every genre gives me a different satisfaction. I love storytelling overall and narrative fiction edges out script writing. When I imagine a story it nearly always reveals itself in a particular way: I might see it as “pure” narrative–a short story or one that might grow into a novella or novel. At some point I moved away from narrative and began writing stage and then screen plays. 

Do you have any goals when it comes to your writing?

(CJP): I currently have four writing goals, the first two are my primary ones:

1. Two screenplays are today getting a lot of attention. Some of the twentyish notices I’ve received in the past couple years include: “Best American Screenplay” at the London Film Fest (Jan 2025) and the NY Script Awards (Dec 2024);  “Best Feature Screenplay at Staged Film Comp (Jan 2025), at the Berlin Women’s Cinema Fest (Apr 2025), and at Boston Indie Films (Nov 2024); “Best Script” at the LA Indies Fest (Mar 2025); Best Female Screenwriter at the Tokyo Film and Screen Awards (April 2025); “Best Fantasy Screenplay” at Hollywood Indie Screenplay Awards (Feb 2025).  
2. I have multiple novel drafts, two of which are close to ready for human eyes. For now, I plan to take a standard publishing route (send to a publishing house and cross my fingers for two years), rather than the quick and “easy” self-publish path. It’s an ego thing–as in I need independent, objective confirmation that my writing is print-worthy.
3. I have a stage play I wrote ages ago which I believe is the best writing I’ve ever done. No one has seen it except my late husband, and though it’s really completed, every now and then I open and tinker with it. I keep planning to send it off but haven’t yet figured out where.
4. I’ve enjoyed writing and publishing on Substack (which I began August 2023) and hope to get back to. I’ve been busy with other projects, but it looks like things will calm down by summer.

You mentioned undergoing a severe writer’s block that spanned years. How did you overcome it and do you have any advice for others?

(CJP): In fall 2014 I stopped writing. I’d open a document, stare into space, then close it. Within months I hated writing and stopped even trying. Then January 2020 I was at the Sundance Film Festival, recruiting people for the newly formed Sundance Collab–an international on-line site for film artists, directors, actors, writers, etc. I signed up to demonstrate how to navigate the site though didn’t expect to join full time. That April, as COVID was heating up, Sundance’s Collab introduced a MWF screenwriting workshop. Largely because I was fed up with myself about not having written a word for 6 years, I committed to joining the Collab for an hour every MWF even if I didn’t do anything other than (perfunctorily) scribble off a paragraph. Yet, within a month I was not only attending every 8:00 write-in but writing on non Collab days. Months later, after I’d stopped writing drivel, I joined London Writers’ Salon (LWS) which met three times a day, Sunday through Friday; I religiously attended at least two session every day. I also began reading my work in (on-line) Open Mics, Prompt Writing Socials, and created a Substack Newsletter. Sorry for another cliché but I felt as though Writer Me had risen from the dead. LWS was a godsend as was the Sundance Collab which got me started.

How have your experiences in theater influenced you as a writer?

(CJP): Theater has been a lifelong passion. I was active in High School (my yearbook includes “future actress” in my bio). I fully intended to move to NYC upon graduation and likely would have become one of the many starving actress/waitresses living in the Big Apple. Life, however, threw me a curveball, though I continued performing regional theater into in my thirties.

I was 16 when I wrote my first play; it’s embarrassingly bad. Years later I decided to rework it but just reading it was torturous, so still it gathers dust. I had minor theater successes in New England (where I lived until 25 years ago), seeing four of my plays staged. I shifted to screenplays when, one day I was hit with a story I envisioned unfolding on screen, instead of on-stage as was typical. I studied a few scripts and drafted the story. Months later I took an intro class in screenwriting. Screenplays are what I primarily wrote for the next couple decades.

And lastly, do you have a favorite piece of writing that you have worked on before?

(CJP): Maybe “How Far to Woodstock,” my first published short story (in Stanford’s 2020 anthology, 166 Palms). Also, the evolution of the actual story carries special meaning to me. I’ve since drafted a companion piece, “State of Grace,’ which was supposed to be another short story to include (with the “Woodstock” story) in a collection of my short writings. But it kept expanding and at 60K words is turning into a novel. I’d also mention A Legend of Persephone, the first screenplay I wrote (and mention above in #5), the first to receive any kind of recognition: quarterfinals in BlueCat Screenplay Competition, and in Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope Screenplay Contest, both the first year I submitted it anywhere. It’s also one of the two scripts getting awards and recognition these days. I’m currently editing the novelized version of it (mentioned in #3B).

Palmisano has a B.A. in English and Art from University and an M.A. in English Lit from Middlebury College (1995). Under list of her jobs, you’ll find university publications editor, admissions officer, and world and dramatic literature teacher. The résumé details her love of learning: classes and workshops–in theater, film, art, writing, and animation. Her passion for collaboration, exchanging ideas and working in community: film festivals and theater companies, as well as sixteen years as an information guru for the Sundance Film Festival.

Lenore Weiss serves as the Associate Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Editor for the Mud Season Review and lives in Oakland, California. Her environmental novel Pulp into Paper was published last year on Earth Day as was a new poetry collection, Video Game Pointers from WordTech Communications.

What inspired you to write your environmental novel, Pulp into Paper?

(LW): I lived in the Louisiana and Arkansas area for several years. When I stepped outside my house in the morning, I detected a strange smell, almost like a convention of cigar-smokers. This was my introduction to paper mills. 

Through what was then called, the Louisiana Environmental Action Project, I got to know people living in Crossett, Arkansas. Retirees were organizing to pressure the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to investigate high levels of cancer and asthma in both adults and children. Georgia Pacific (Koch Brothers) were dumping the mill’s effluents in people’s backyards, primarily in the black community. People couldn’t eat anything they grew. No tomatoes. The groundwater was polluted. Areas of Crossett were like a toxic dump. While more modern mills employ technologies to recycle the chemicals produced in the pulping process, this particular mill was old. The company did not want to invest in making it a safer place for the workers and people who lived in the area.

My novel, Pulp into Paper, grew out of that experience.

How did your journey into poetry begin?

(LW): My mother loved poetry and recited poems to us as kids by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I loved the rhythm and sound of those words. As I grew older, I read more poetry. I loved The Odyssey by Homer, and Shakespeare’s plays. Of course, I didn’t understand all the words, but his metaphors were like puzzles. I studied 17th and 18th century English poetry from anthologies in our school library: John Donne, and later, William Blake, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and others. I loved poetry and often visited the Gotham Book Mart (now defunct) located in New York City’s jewelry district where I could smell all the old books stacked up to the ceiling and on top of each other. Poetry was like a romance with an attractive lover and I wanted more.

In your biography, your trilogy of poetry focuses on the feelings of love, loss, and being mortal. Why do you think that you gravitated toward those emotions in your work?

(LW): Most of human life is shaped by the emotions of love, loss, and being mortal. In my case, I was frequently sick as a young person. In my early twenties, both my parents died. Poetry helped me navigate through those difficult times. In my twenties, the Black Liberation Movement was emerging, new independent poetry presses like Broadside emerged to publish the work of Sonia Sanchez; Third World Press published Don L. Lee (now Haki R. Madhubuti). Margaret Walker published her poem, “For My People.” I understood how poetry allowed writers to speak from a deep place of longing for freedom and liberation. It took writing three books of poetry to see those interconnections in my own work—how I was grieving my losses and wishing to free myself.

How do you choose which topics to write about?

(LW): I think topics choose me. I have to care about something. I keep notebooks with quotes and phrases from my reading, combinations of words that are interesting. I listen to people’s conversations and write descriptions of individuals who I see on the street. These things converge and emerge in my writing.

Do you have a favorite project you’ve done before?

(LW): When I worked as a technical writer, I authored a blog called, “Tech Table Talk: It’s Not Over Your Head.” Outside of writing tedious manuals and deciphering the notes of software engineers, I wanted to challenge myself and make my job more interesting. I had the idea to create a blog aimed at explaining technology. This was at the beginning of what is now called the “Computer Revolution.” A lot of my friends who worked outside of technology felt intimidated by computers, similar to the discussion we are having today about AI– is it good or bad? Many people were suspicious. I decided to focus my blog on new and positive environmental technologies that I found interesting like capturing methane gas produced by cows and converting it into electricity. I reported on new software for desk top publishing that was being created by companies like Adobe. I felt I was providing a service, and at the same time, educating myself.

And lastly, who are your writing inspirations and why? 

(LW): I find inspiration from writers who love humanity—the writers who come to mind are Luis Alberto Urrea, Carolyn Forché, Joy Harjo—writers who are technically and otherwise brilliant like Virginia Woolf and Ursula K. Le Guin, or who care deeply for the environment like Terry Tempest Williams. I also draw inspiration from visual artists like Ruth Asawa who worked continually with new forms and explored the potential contained in each one.

Lenore’s poetry collections form a trilogy about love, loss, and being mortal: Cutting Down the Last Tree on Easter Island (West End Press, 2012); Two Places (Kelsay Books, 2014), and The Golem (Hakodesh Word Press, 2017). Her most recent poetry chapbook is From Malls to Museums (Ethelzine, 2020). Alexandria Quarterly Press published her prize-winning flash fiction chapbook, Holding on to the Fringes of Love.

Catherine Lawrence has spent the majority of her career as an Administrator in the field of Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). In this capacity, Catherine has helped students navigate University programs at the Undergraduate and Graduate levels. While working full time Catherine completed her Undergraduate and Graduate degrees (in the evening) receiving a B.S. in Communication, Political Science and History; as well as a M.S.Ed in Education (Reading, Writing and Literacy/Adult, Family and Community) with a certification as a Reading Specialist.

What led you to becoming a writer?

(CL): I have always been a writer in the academic setting while earning my graduate and undergraduate degrees; as well as writing as a requirement of my position as an administrator in the work place. The writing continued once I retired and became a Peace Corps Volunteer. I wrote and published weekly blogs of my experiences both as a Volunteer and as an Ex patriot; and continued to publish articles during this period with an on-line publication OpEdNews.com. 

However, the true writing fire came as a result of COVID. I know I am not alone as I have heard this story from so many people. As a result of being sequestered during the pandemic I was able to take classes to expand my knowledge of the craft as well as becoming aware of resources to publish.  COVID and all that came with it gave me the confidence to think that I could be a published author. 

Do you have a favorite work that you’ve written?

(CL): Yes, actually I have 2 articles that I am very proud of:

WINGS – Published in the November 2023 Issue of Airways Magazine. This piece chronicled my experience as a first time pilot of a single-engine Cessna.

Living “Out of the Box” – Published in 2016 in Peace Corps Passports Publication. This piece spoke to my feelings of living in the Peace Corps.

What inspires you as a reader and writer?

(CL): I am in awe of authors who can articulate their thoughts with words. Curiosity and a desire to understand not only how we live; but, why we live drives me at times to reading multiple books simultaneously on different topics. I often seek answers in books; but, I realize there really are no answers in books. However, reading does give me the tools to formulate my own answers giving me ideas and new perspectives.  As an aspiring writer it is my goal to emulate all that I derive from reading.

What topics do you usually delve into when writing?

(CL): My main source of material is myself and my experiences on topics such as travel, food, art, relationships, education, family, trauma, emotions, survival and teaching to name a few. I draw inspiration not only from my internal reflections; but, from everything around me. The world as my palette for writing. Also, I love being a member, for the past four years, of the WNBA Great Group Reads; and, have recently expanded my book reviewer skills to include NLAPW – National League of the American Pen Women by being given my first assignment as a book reviewer. 

You’ve held a lot of different job titles in your life. Does any of your past experiences influence your work? 

(CL): My Motto has always been “Buy experiences, not things”.  I am always seeking out new experiences as a means of entertainment and growth. So often I am asked: “How do you find time to do all the things you do?” and my response is that “I don’t have television”. Twenty plus years ago I gave away my televisions as an experiment moving into a studio apartment. This allowed me time to spent my time seeking out new adventures and writing about them. 

What is your favorite genre(s) to write and read?

(CL): I so enjoy reading historical fiction as well as (my guilty pleasure) murder. Books that deal with the human condition; how behavior is a predictor of events that drives me to see behind the facade of why we do what we do. Honestly, I would read any genre. As I said I write about myself and my experiences (as outlined in a previous response).

Once retired from her position at the UPenn in 2014, Catherine served in the Peace Corps in the Republic of Georgia. This 27 month program used her skills as an Educator in primary, secondary and University settings. Upon completion of the Peace Corps Catherine remained in the Republic of Georgia as an ex-patriot continuing teaching English and Reading. Catherine is also involved with the OSCE/ODHIR which observers elections in 57 States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. Its mandate includes many issues and Catherine is involved as an observer in one of their mandates which is to ensure free and fair election.

Catherine loves to travel and to-date has visited 55 countries. Her love of books and libraries have involved her in the WNBA where she was a facilitator of the monthly book group within WNBA; as well as a member of the Great Group Reads for the past four years. For the past year, Catherine has been working as a SP (Specialized Patient) at hospitals in the Philadelphia area. This role allows her to work with medical students, doctors, nurses and other members of the medical community to enhance their continuing education and medical school curriculum. Presently she is taking writing classes with the goal of publishing in the genre of Flash Fiction as well as honing her skills in journalism and interviewing.

When Rebecca Rosenberg discovered the real-life widows who made champagne a world-wide phenomenon, she knew she’d dedicate years to telling their stories. These remarkable women include Veuve Clicquot, Madame Pommery, and Lily Bollinger.

Can you tell us about your new book? Is it connected to any of your old works?

(RR): My new novel, Silver Echoes, is a dual-timeline historical mystery set in the Roaring Twenties. It centers on Silver Dollar Tabor, a burlesque and movie star who, beneath the glittering facade of fame, wrestled with a profoundly fractured identity, potentially indicative of undiagnosed Dissociative Identity Disorder, while navigating the era’s dangerous gangster underworld. Seven years after her disappearance and reported brutal murder, her mother, Baby Doe Tabor, is left to grapple with the mystery, desperately searching for answers.

Yes, Silver Echoes is a direct continuation of my exploration of the Tabor family. It’s connected to my previous novel, Gold Digger, The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor. While researching Baby Doe’s life, I was consistently drawn to the even more compelling and ultimately tragic story of her daughter, Silver Dollar. I realized that her life, marked by the dramatic loss of wealth, psychological trauma, and a public persona that masked deep inner turmoil, offered a rich narrative landscape. I felt compelled to delve into the darker undercurrents of her life, revealing the less-celebrated aspects of the Roaring Twenties, and to explore themes of fractured identity, the corrosive nature of ambition, and the enduring bond between mother and child, all through the lens of Silver Dollar’s captivating, yet ultimately heartbreaking, story.

As a self proclaimed champagne geek, how does your interest continue through your stories? I’ve noticed that many of your stories revolve around the champagne industry.

(RR): My passion for champagne, or as I affectionately call it, my ‘champagne geek’ persona, naturally permeates my writing. I find it’s a constant thread that runs through my storytelling, manifesting particularly in my two interwoven series: The Gold Digger Series and the Champagne Widows series. This structure keeps my creative process dynamic and invigorating.

My connection to the world of sparkling wine is deeply personal and multifaceted. Living in Sonoma County, with the vineyards of Chateau St. Jean as my daily backdrop, I’m immersed in the culture. But it extends far beyond that. I actively engage with the industry as a speaker, event coordinator, social media influencer, and through my work interviewing producers and experts for SparklingDiscoveries.com, as well as podcasts and broadcasts. Each of these roles deepens my knowledge and appreciation for the intricacies of sparkling wine production and history.

My fascination led me to the extraordinary women who shaped the champagne industry. Veuve Clicquot, Madame Pommery, and now, Lily Bollinger, the subject of my current work-in-progress, License to Thrill: Lily Bollinger. These women revolutionized not just champagne, but the business world as a whole. Their stories, filled with innovation, resilience, and a touch of glamour, provide a rich tapestry for my narratives. My ‘champagne geek’ tendencies, therefore, aren’t just a hobby; they’re an integral part of my creativity, fueling my storytelling and driving my exploration of these remarkable women and their legacies.

What is something fun or unusual you’ve learned about champagne when researching your story?

(RR): Oh, where to begin? Researching champagne history is a constant source of delightful surprises. One of my absolute favorite discoveries, which features prominently in Champagne Widows, involves Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, the legendary Veuve Clicquot. She possessed an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, ‘Le Nez,’ which many considered a curse. However, she brilliantly transformed this perceived weakness into a cornerstone of her champagne empire. What’s even more remarkable is her audacity during the Napoleonic Wars. She defied Napoleon’s blockades, risking execution, by sending American ships laden with her champagne, cleverly disguised as shipments of chocolate and coffee. Imagine the sheer nerve!

Another captivating story comes from my research into Madame Pommery. During the Franco-Prussian War, when her home and winery were occupied by the Prussian Army, she faced the challenge of protecting her precious champagne. Not only were the Prussians stealing her stock, but she also needed to safeguard it for the French Resistance. Her solution? She ingeniously excavated the ancient chalk caves beneath the city’s refuse dump, creating a hidden sanctuary for her champagne and a refuge for the Resistance. It’s a testament to her resourcefulness and unwavering determination. These women were not just vintners; they were strategic geniuses, and their stories are truly inspiring.”

Where did your interest in historical fiction come from?

(RR): My passion for historical fiction truly blossomed while exploring the abandoned ghost towns of Colorado. Hearing the echoes of past lives sparked a deep fascination. Then, when I moved to California, the vibrant history of the Gold Rush and San Francisco completely seized my imagination. The dramatic narratives and the larger-than-life figures were irresistible. It’s precisely this allure that fuels my writing.

How do you come up with an idea for a book? 

(RR): Discovering a woman’s story that hasn’t been told. I’m especially eager for next year’s project, a novel about Lillie Hitchcock Coit. She was a spirited heiress who built Coit Tower to honor the firefighters who bravely defended San Francisco from devastating fires. Her story, a captivating blend of a wild spirit, audacious daring, and remarkable generosity, perfectly embodies the kind of historical narrative that ignites my creativity.

Do you have any advice for writers who are struggling to finish a story?

(RR): If you’re struggling to finish a story, my strongest advice is this: don’t be afraid to set it aside. Sometimes, the best way to move forward is to work on something completely different. Start a new novel, explore a fresh idea. Then, when you revisit the original manuscript, you’ll often see it with a clearer perspective, and understand what needs to be done.

I experienced this firsthand with Silver Echoes. I wrote it ten years ago, and despite multiple drafts and edits, I felt it was missing something crucial. I shelved it because I couldn’t capture the story’s essence, the depth and complexity it deserved. The initial version was too bleak, too weighed down by despair. Yet, the story wouldn’t let me go.

What kept pulling me back was the profound bond between Baby Doe and Silver Dollar Tabor, revealed in their letters at the History Colorado archives. Re-reading those letters, I had a revelation. I realized Silver Dollar’s behavior—her request to be addressed by multiple names, her constant movement, her manic descriptions of fleeting jobs—strongly suggested Dissociative Identity Disorder. This insight completely transformed the narrative.

Suddenly, I knew how to tell the story. I decided to use a dual-timeline structure, interweaving Silver Dollar’s fragmented reality with Baby Doe’s desperate search for her missing daughter. By giving Silver Dollar’s internal struggle a name, and by showing the true love between mother and daughter, I was finally able to capture the heart of the story. So, don’t give up on a story that haunts you. Sometimes, you just need to step away, gain new insights, and let the characters reveal their truths.

Visit www.rebecca-rosenberg.com and preorder Silver Echoes!

Rebecca Rosenberg is a champagne geek, lavender farmer and multi-award-winning author of historical novels.

A voracious reader, Valerie Saul grew frustrated with the way women her age were portrayed in fiction. Mature women can be more than caregivers, grandmothers, and book club aficionados. They can also ride motorcycles, use chain saws, rescue drowning people, and chase bad guys on occasion. Her debut novel, The Badass Widows, is about women doing all those things while also dealing with love and loss.

In your bio, you mentioned that you were tired of the way older women were depicted in media and fiction. How do you challenge the domestic older woman stereotype in your work?

(VS): I’ve shown 4 women from different backgrounds being daring and bold with their life choices. They are kind and helpful like the stereotype, but also they chase bad guys, go back to school, found companies, race boats and chop down trees.

What books, movies or other media inspired you when writing this book? Do you have any recommendations for books with badass older women? 

(VS): There are lots of good ones right now; I think it’s a trend. There is Matlock on CBS starring Kathy Bates, The Thursday Murder Club, the best selling book by Richard Osman which is being made into a Netflix movie with some huge stars. Check it out here!

But probably my favorite is a more obscure book I love, Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn.

Did you face any challenges while working on your story?

(VS): No more than most people do. I started writing this thinking it would be a fun romp about older women. But then COVID happened, my mom passed, then her husband passed… and pretty soon the book was also about grief and how we deal with it in different ways. So I guess it became a more thoughtful book along the way.

What does your writing process look like? 

(VS): I guess I am a semi-plotter. I make a vague outline. Having that plan gives me confidence to keep going when it gets difficult but then I ignore and revise it as I go along.

How does your background in psychology influence your work? 

(VS): Studying psychology helps me understand people who are different than I am. Unless you are writing memoir/autobiography, you have to understand people before you can write good characters, right?

What was your favorite moment during the writing of The Badass Widows? 

(VS): I wouldn’t know how to pick one moment. I realize now that I wrote it as escape and as therapy. The last few years have probably taught a lot of us not to take anything for granted. There were just lots of moments with my husband and family that were extra sweet because I had the time and the freedom to write what was in my heart.

Valerie Saul has a psychology degree from Stanford, a master’s degree in special education, and a doctorate in audiology. She has been a clinician, a college professor, and a cochlear implant representative in four countries. Valerie now lives just north of San Francisco with her husband and two rowdy golden retrievers.

Goal-strategist, Debra Eckerling, joins us today, sharing her experiences with helping people achieve their goals, her thoughts on writing, and news about her new book, 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting.

You’ve been coaching people for many years now. Did you, when you were younger, imagine that you would be working in the field? 

(DE): I always believed that whatever I did in life, I wanted to have an impact. 

It amuses me that I ended up in the world of nonfiction: I write business/inspirational books, host podcasts, and offer workshops and consulting for individuals, teams, and organizations on goal-setting simplified, networking, and book proposal development. 

Growing up, I was very into creative writing. I even took a screenwriting class when I still lived in the Chicago suburbs. I have also done NaNoWriMo – National Novel-Writing Month – a few times. 

I got my freelance writing break less than a week after I wrote that first screenplay. Nonfiction/interviews/slice-of-life writing just came naturally to me, so I went with it. I ended up in the right place.  

What is something unexpected you learned as you began to coach people? 

(DE): More than anything people need cheerleaders – a community of supporters. I actually learned this when I began running writing groups, focused on setting and achieving goals. People would come in and be like, “No one in my family understands my desire to be a writer. You get me.” Can you imagine not getting encouragement to pursue what you are passionate about?

My business background is communications and project management. As I led these groups, people would come up to me and say, “You’re good at this, can you help me write my book. I have been trying to get it done for years.”  We did it in three months. Or “You’re good at this, will you speak at my event?” That’s how my career evolved from creating this group that I loved to developing a system to help people set the foundation for their goals.

A little encouragement – along with practical advice – can go a long way! 

Sometimes all people need is a little encouragement and support, someone who tells them that if they focus and set aside time to work on the things they love, they can do it!

What is one common question you get during your sessions and what is your answer? 

(DE): A very common question is: “How do I find the time to work toward my goals?” It’s more about prioritizing your goals and gifting yourself the time. This is especially important with writing projects, where there is usually not an immediate benefit. 

The whole point is to set goals that set you up for success. 

Look at your schedule, find pockets of time where you are available, and put those in as appointments in your calendar. One week you may have an hour total goal-time, another week you may have three. Little bits of time add up. 

Treat those appointments with yourself with the same respect as you would a meeting with someone else. Now, if something comes up and you have to move an appointment, that’s fine. Just don’t delete them. After goal-time, make a note about what you accomplished. That way, when you feel things are taking forever, you have a reminder of your progress to keep you motivated and moving forward.

You also write in the Jewish Journal and run a podcast on cooking in your spare time. What is one of your favorite topics that you’ve written about? 

(DE): I am a former non-cook, so the fact that I am a food writer and podcaster amuses me. I have met some amazing chefs, but I also love when I get to interview non-chefs on my food podcast, “Taste Buds with Deb.” I have interviewed authors, actors, executives, philanthropists, and community leaders. It’s a lot of fun! And many of these awesome people – chefs and others – ended up also being interviewed for 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting.

In your About Me section on your website, it mentions that you initially were an event planner at Barnes and Noble, before you shifted more into coaching and helping people with goal planning. Your most recent book event was also at another Barnes and Noble. How does it feel to have your career circle back to the same place where it started?

(DE): It’s really cool to have gone from arranging events for other people to being the featured author. It’s a beautiful, satisfying callback.

Whereas back in the day, I definitely imagined my own book signings, I probably thought it would be for novel-writing, rather than non-fiction. Things do work out the way they are supposed to. 

I was interviewed the other day and one of the co-hosts remarked that, even though I talk about goals a lot, I am still very enthusiastic. I say, when you love what you do, it shows. And, conversely, when you do not love what you do, it really shows. Why not love what you do?

Can you tell us a little more about your new book?

(DE): The secret to success is there is no one secret. For 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting, I interviewed achievers in business, tech, food, entertainment, and creative realms, including WNBASF president Brenda Knight, to get their best tip, along with an example and/or anecdote. The result: a menu of inspiration and advice designed to help busy professionals create the life they desire.

While the book can be read straight through, it’s organized so people can go to a specific section and get help/direction, whether it’s focus, well-being, action, networking, communication, productivity, or leadership and teamwork. They can also read through the contents, find a “secret” that resonates with them, and try it out. 

The idea is to try out these secrets, see how they fit into your life, and do more of the things that help you achieve your goals. 

What is the most unexpected response you have had to your book?

(DE): I think it came from me. As I wrote the book – I did 60 interviews, maybe 10 via email, the rest via Zoom – I pieced it together by section. I then wrote the intro, section openers, appendices, etc. The first time I read it cover to cover is when I received the galley for my review. I was surprised and delighted at how well everything flowed together. 

I have gotten that response from others, as well. This review says it all: 

“While I totally think 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting is a book that can be picked up and put down, I couldn’t put it down! I kept wanting to know one more nugget, one more idea! The fascinating thing about Deb Eckerling’s new book is that not only is it a guidebook that provides concrete, actionable steps for achieving one’s goals, but it also provides these actionable steps from a diverse set of accomplished individuals. And it is in this diversity of talent that you have an opportunity to find what clicks for you! Deb’s ability to bring together this wide variety of thought leaders across so many different disciplines makes for a truly informative and engaging read.”

—Beth Ricanati, MD, award-winning author of Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs

I am very proud and blessed to be able to bring so many awesome people together – Did I mention they are all 1st degree connections? people I know or intros from friends? – and share their advice with those who need a helping hand to create the life/business/career they want.  

Learn more at 52SecretsBook.com and learn more about me at TheDEBMethod.com/bookswithdeb!

Debra Eckerling is a goal strategist speaker, corporate consultant, and workshop leader who works tirelessly to help people achieve their goals. She has spoken on TEDx, VON3, DWEN, Innovation Women, Engaging Virtual Meetings Conference, and more, and is the host of #GoalChat, #GoalChatLive show, and The DEB Show podcast. 

Clare Simons was the press person and gatekeeper to the stories of the terminally ill patient-plaintiffs defending Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act at the U.S. Supreme Court, and worked for passage of assisted dying laws in several states. She is a member of PEN International, the Women’s National Book Association and a former cohort at the Pinewood Table in Portland, Oregon and the Ocean Beach Writers Collective in San Diego.

What led you to becoming a writer?

(CS): My erudite English mother who read poetry to me at bedtime and my ex-boxer Slovak dad whose talent as a street-smart raconteur won him a trophy for Throwing the Bull, taught me to love the musicality of language and a rockin’ good story. I learned early the power of a library card that made me a citizen of the civilized world — for which I will always be grateful.

In my twenties, I studied method acting and sense memory with a famous teacher in Manhattan and learned scene structure reading plays by Chekov, Ibsen, O’Neil and Tennessee Williams. Becoming immersed in the emotions of the words and the silences that opened between them, made the drama come alive. Short stories by Flannery O’Connor, Dorothy Parker, Truman Capote, and Raymond Carver revealed the craft behind the work. Like Emily Dickenson, I love to tell a story…but tell it slant.

A lot of your writing centers around personal events from your life. How do you choose which topics to write about?

(CS): I think in pictures and feel sounds. Stories reveal themselves and lead me down roads with detours, potholes, dead ends and make me wish I didn’t care about following them to the end. On good days, my best lyric writing has color, music, and style and emerges fully formed like the glorious birth of Aphrodite. Most writing days, I’m a dog circling its bed, marking territory and trying to align my paws with the magnetic field of the earth.

Do you have a favorite work that you’ve written?

(CS): My first published story, The Greatest, won a writing competition and was included in the anthology An Ear to the Ground: Presenting Writers from 2 Coasts by Cune Press. I mailed a copy of the book to Muhummad Ali and requested an autograph. His wife read my braided essay about heroes and boxing and liked that it was written by a woman. She asked permission to post it on Ali’s website, where it appeared along with works by Joyce Carol Oats and Norman Mailer. I’d hit the bigtime — or so I thought. Thirty-years later this early work shows, I already had a “voice” on the page and was beginning to find my footing as a creative nonfiction author.

Can you tell me more about your memoir?

(CS): To Be Here Is Immense, my 80,000 word hybrid memoir is a big sexy epic, a heroine’s journey into the netherworld and a coming-out-of-the-tomb opus. I never knew how much love was available to me until the love of my life died, and another great love, my guru, Mata Amritanandamayi, Amma the hugging saint, called to say she was praying for my mental strength. The question of how to live another day began the retracing of my spiritual path — exploring everything I thought was true. A lifetime of reading and rituals went up in smoke, along with my husband’s body and burnt in the fire of transformation. What I found amazed me.

Were there any obstacles you had while writing your memoir?

(CS): If I’d known creating this book was going to be so hard, I would have taken up knitting. Early drafts went through coaches and critique groups who suggested I begin with my childhood stories. Those drafts are in a file box in my storage area, along with receipts for chiropractic adjustments, nutritional supplements, and acupuncture. The manuscript I am submitting to agents and publishers never would have come into being without my patient readers and friends who endured rants and muddled drafts and the unflinching support of my editor, the muse and poet Judyth Hill.

Lastly, what is something you have learned about yourself when working on the memoir?

(CS): Anyone who has been humbled by the death of a loved one…lost and found their balance somewhere between faith and doubt, learned to live with half-truths, cries in the night, blessed blue jays, jasmine tea and reality TV, and been called brave, resilient, the mother of reinvention, knows this tenuous territory of mourning. Mine is a seekers and skeptics story, a prayer for the road; for all who limp, lurch, tip toe, stagger down the path of imperfection, may we all cross paths, someone on the road to Elsewhere. My aim is to transport readers across time zones, off the map, behind the veil, beyond the void and into the mystery. For those who tend to grapple with ineffable, marvel at the sacred and mundane, may you find a refuge in this story and remember to believe in the healing power of love.

Simons has been widely published, her essays about Amma, India’s hugging saint, appeared in Parabola and Spirituality & Health, her essay, “The Greatest,” appeared on the official Muhammad Ali website alongside works by Joyce Carol Oats and Norman Mailer. Her work has also appeared on Anti-Heroine Chic, bioStories, Change Seven, Faith Hope & Fiction, Manifest Station, Persimmon Tree, Story Sanctum and The Write Launch websites. Publication of her memoir is forthcoming.