Interview With Author K E Garland
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have published four books: The Unhappy Wife, Daddy: Reflections of Father-Daughter Relationships, and Kwoted. I’ve also won two writing awards as a nonfiction author through the Florida Writers Association.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict is my latest and debut full-length memoir. It was inspired by my need to heal and to show others how trauma and addiction work together to form a cycle of behavior. Sex addiction isn’t a mainstream addiction, and neither is being a female sex addict, so I knew this would be a unique story for readers.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I must have total quiet when I write, so I have a pair of noice-cancelling headphones, in case my family is home and making noise. I also can only write creatively via my laptop, not a desktop or with pen and paper.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are many authors who have influenced me, mostly memoirists: Erica D. Garza, Kerry Cohen, Jesmyn Ward, Maya Shanbhag Lang, and Brian Broome, to name a few.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a memoir centered on my educational experiences as a Black woman in the United States.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I maintain a personal blog called Kwoted on WordPress, which has helped me to not only develop relationships with other writers, but also to find a supportive community, where I don’t feel as if I’m “selling” or “promoting” a book.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Learn to use your authentic voice when writing; that’s what readers want to hear and feel.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
What are you reading now?
No Stones by Marnie C. Ferree
What’s next for you as a writer?
My hope is to publish my next memoir, Academia: A Memoir in Black and White.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Richard Wright’s Black Boy
Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped
Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower
Author Websites and Profiles
K E Garland’s Social Media Links