Interview With Author Laura Gaddis
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer, educator, and book coach living in Oxford, Ohio. I currently teach part-time at Miami University in Ohio, where I also received my MFA in creative writing. Before receiving this degree, I had a career in the clinical psychology field. The move to Oxford was a good opportunity for me to pivot and pursue writing, which was also a second love of mine.
Mosaic, my debut memoir, is the first book I have contracted with a publisher. As many writers will say, their first publication is not their first manuscript they wrote. I wrote two full books before Mosaic and have another full manuscript, a historical fiction, in the wings.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Mosaic is my forthcoming memoir. It started as my thesis project for my MFA program, but really I had the concept to write it a couple years before switching careers. I started writing about my pregnancy losses back in 2011, and by the time my daughter was born and spent time in the NICU, it was 2015. I knew then that the first book I wrote wasn’t necessary bad, it just was incomplete. The journey the years between 2011 and 2015 were the basis for this book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I wish I did! I don’t do anything crazy–I don’t light candles or anything. I don’t have a specific writing time or location. Maybe that’s unusual in itself? I do like to have music on, but I can’t have music with lyrics or else I get too distracted. It’s the only time I listen to ambient sounds/music.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was writing my memoir, I read almost exclusively memoir. So obviously there were some good ones on that list: Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking,” Elizabeth McCracken’s “An Exact Replica of a Figment of your Imagination,” and Sarah Manguso’s “The Two Kinds of Decay” to name a few. Before I got into the MFA program, my husband encouraged me to attend a writer’s conference at Indiana University and the nonfiction workshop leader that year was Kiese Laymon. It was a few months before his memoir, “Heavy” was published, and I heard him do a reading from it. His advise about writing, memoirs, and editing your work never left me. And his writing is beautiful, raw, and inspiring.
What are you working on now?
I’m at the end of a revising a historical fiction book that I wrote. It’s about a young woman named Gertrude who is born between the two world wars in Germany along the Polish border. It follows her and her family’s struggles and journey through World War II. It’s a coming of age story, as well as a story of displacement and identity. It is heavily based on information from my own grandmother’s life as well as additional research I’ve done over the two years I wrote it.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a newly published author, I don’t have a best method yet! I have maintained my own website for a number of years now to list all my publications and book coaching services. I also have an author page on Instagram and Facebook, and have dabbled in TikTok. I like to give writing advice and talk shop. As an educator, I also enjoy engaging in person with people–so in addition to teaching at Miami, I run a community-based writing course, and most recently went to the Desert Nights Rising Stars Writers’ Conference at Arizona State University where I gave a workshop session. As extra promotion, I was sure to hand out bookmarks!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is about the long game. You have to write because it’s in you to do so. Then you just can’t give up. Don’t stop writing, editing, submitting, and promoting. Things will happen, it’s just slow. And there’s rejection. But wins can be found if you never give up (and the wins are so sweet).
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Kiese Laymon is a huge proponent of revision. The real work is in the edits. I truly believe that–writing is like a lump of clay. You have to mold it into what it is meant to be.
What are you reading now?
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. I just started this book after finishing “The Women” by Kristin Hannah. I’m also reading an ARC for a writing friend of mine (her book, “Twice the Family” comes out in February with She Writes Press!)
What’s next for you as a writer?
I find that writing for me goes in waves. I’m in the promotion phase for Mosaic and the query phase for my historical fiction. As soon as those are moving along, I’ll start my next book.
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?
Heavy, Kiese Laymon, The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion, and of course Mosaic, by Laura Gaddis
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