Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born in Seattle, I’ve lived in Bellingham and Los Angeles, and now I’m in Walla Walla. I’d like to move back to Seattle to be close to family and friends again but I want a little cabin to escape to somewhere in the Cascades. I’ve written two books to date, Making Room for You: A Practical Guide to Organizing your Home and Your Power: Affirmations for Transformation. I’ve had countless day jobs: waitress; admin for non-profits, law and architectural firms, and the healthcare industry; bookmark maker; winery harvest intern/production assistant; professional organizer; freelance editor. I was a mailman for 5 months. I’m working on selling enough books to bankroll my obsession with writing. It’s out of hand. I could write 23 hours a day and not tire of it.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Making Room for You: A Practical Guide to Organizing Your Home. I have been organizing homes and offices for the past six years. I’ve always loved to organize but working with people and their belongings is an extraordinarily fascinating, humbling and illuminating experience. People share their lives with you as they go through the sorting process. It’s primal, emotional and revelatory, a few of my favorite states of being. I wanted to consolidate easy organizing methods because most competing titles are gigantic tomes. I can’t imagine someone overwhelmed by too much stuff wanting to read a 300+ page book about how to deal with it. So brevity and usefulness were paramount. I also wanted to include the emotional and psychological sides to getting your home or office in order. I see an absence of that in most books on this topic even though they are undeniable and inherent elements to the process of getting organized.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know how to gauge that. They’re so ingrained that I wouldn’t recognize them as unusual, but other people might. I’ll write anywhere. I have to use a pen and paper to initially get my thoughts down. Pilot V5 pens and Peter Pauper Press journals or Mead 5 Star notebooks. I’m fastidious about that. I edit and go through several drafts the same way before I consider typing anything up. I write in cursive. I feel like the act of physical writing is a necessary component. It influences my thoughts and what I wind up writing. I drink a lot of coffee and water when I write during the day and I sip beer or tea when I write at night.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dostoevsky, Steinbeck, Tolstoy, D.H. Lawrence, Rumi. More recently Tom Franklin, Elizabeth Strout, Smith Henderson, Matthew Thomas, Alice Hoffman, Herman Koch, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Maira Kalman, Stephen King, Craig Thompson, John Green, Megan Abbott and Gillian Flynn. Too many American poets to list (okay, Mark Strand, Alan Dugan, Mary Oliver, Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, W.S. Merwin, Frank O’Hara, Anne Sexton, W.D Snodgrass, Theodore Roethke, and Billy Collins among others) and the great Pablo Neruda.
What are you working on now?
I am currently transcribing and editing over 87 journals I’ve kept since I was a child. I’ll be releasing them in 80,000-word volumes chronologically. I’m curious about how they will be received because I don’t know of anyone (other than Karl Ove Knausgaard) who has attempted something similar. And even he has written them under “fiction.” I don’t have that safety net which is why I’ll be using a pen name and publishing quasi-anonymously.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m on the slow train to creating my website and I need to get on that. My favorite social media site is Twitter. As far as promotion, I’m surprised to find that it’s fun. It’s basically creating professional relationships with people who share your interests and exchanging relevant, engaging content. For self-published authors, may I suggest the blog angelsintheunderworld.com. Her “For Writers” section is a wealth of information with writing tips, promo suggestions, and lists of contacts for reviews. It’s been a goldmine for me.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Editors are your friends. It’s easier than ever to get your books into the world. Use the glory of the internet age to your advantage. Educate yourself on the basics of formatting and design or pay someone to do it for you. Readers for your work are out there. You just need to find them.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Some will, some won’t. So what? Someone’s waiting.” Or as Winston Churchill put it, “When going through hell, keep going.”
What are you reading now?
We Are Not Ourselves – Matthew Thomas
The Children Act – Ian McEwan
The Museum of Extraordinary Things – Alice Hoffman
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
The Ploughmen – Kim Zupan
What’s next for you as a writer?
Continuing to promote my books. Transcribing and editing my journal project. Devising and launching a campaign for the journals.
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?
A coffee table book of Van Gogh’s paintings
Aesop’s Fables
Remebrance of Things Past – Marcel Proust
A book of New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles
Author Websites and Profiles
Meghan Hill Website
Meghan Hill Amazon Profile
Meghan Hill’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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