Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
About me, well, I’ve always been curious about a multitude of things and places, which is probably how I ended up spending my twenties moving every six months (that might be a BIT of an exaggeration). My first love was always the environment and sustainability, starting out when I was just a little kid and I would lead other neighborhood kids on “Earth Walks” through the neighborhood where we picked up litter. I was also intensely curious about space and archeology, things that still fascinate me today. I earned two degrees in environmental sciences/sustainable development, worked in positions ranging from academic research to eco-tourism, and have operated my own side-business making products from wasted materials for several years. In 2017, I became obsessed with the film industry. I earned my acting certificate and started acting in and making short films, some of which have appeared at film festivals.
I have written three books and two more are in the stages of completion.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Another Fucking Dollar is not my latest book, but I want to showcase the amazing audio book that has recently been completed, with a really great narrator. Another Fucking Dollar a memoir of sorts, which sprang out of a blog that I had where I would just rant about work and tell funny stories about work. I was surprised to find so many people reading and reacting to my blog, and several people said I should turn it into a book – so I did, and I took it a level deeper by making it a book that really tells my story, through work. I wanted to showcase the funny and bizarre stories, and also use this book to share some of the real truths about working, particularly in America (I’ve worked in four different countries). Having grown up without a lot of money with a crackhead dad, and having gone off to earn a master’s degree and become a professional, I definitely have some intimate experience to share about what “pulling yourself up from your boot straps” really entails, and why it’s not easy or always possible for everyone.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think anything is unusual when it comes to writing habits. Everyone is so different, which is part of why I don’t think you should read too much into what other people tell you you should do if you want to write. Some people write every day, some people don’t. Some people write late at night with coffee, some people don’t. I have fazes of creative energy, seasons if you will. Almost everything I have written – or created for that matter – has been a combination of intense bursts of “doing” energy and periods of rest from the project where my subconscious mind is doing magical work that I don’t always understand. I sometimes start a project and then leave it for a year and come back to it. This wouldn’t work for everyone, but it works for me – I follow my interest in the moment and over time a lot of things get done, they just don’t always get done in a sequential, practical order.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
In terms of my writing style and my personal ambitions as a writer, I love Bill Bryson, Samantha Irby, Joan Didion, David Sedaris …
In terms of how I think about the world, I have been very moved by Carl Sagan, Alan Weisman (The World Without Us), David Suzuki, Naomi Klein (I read the Shock Doctrine and Confessions of an Economic Hitman in the same month and I was a little messed up after that but better off in the long run), and also anything that explores the connection between the spiritual and the scientific. Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind, Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert. Also, there is a really amazing sci-fi book that I cannot remember the name of, but the main character was a monkey who was living on a space ship in the future and I loved the commentary about humanity that the book made.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on bringing my sustainability background and my filmmaking capacity together to create a documentary, which will get into intersections between spirituality and sustainability, an exploration of what is sacred.
I am also working on completing two more books that should be finished in 2022.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is hard, because I have had different luck with different sites. I don’t think I want to answer this question. What I am working on right now is learning more about how to connect with people who have established social media platforms, as I think the best advertising may come from having people review and talk about a book on Instagram or TikTok, but I haven’t had as much success connecting into this form of marketing.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Work at it. You don’t have to write in any certain way or certain time, but you do have to actually sit down and write. What’s stopping you? It’s probably more important to answer that question than anything else. A lot of people with a lot of good ideas stop themselves from either starting or finishing because they are afraid it’s not going to be good enough, or maybe they are afraid that it IS going to be good enough. Or they think that they have to be emotionally imbalanced to write amazing things. Or they only want to write a book once they know it’s going to be perfect. Or they are embarrassed about what they want to write about. Try to write something with the intention that it is not going to be your best work, because the truth is it probably won’t be. Just make something. You will learn from that thing and be better when you make the next thing. You have to make some things that aren’t that good in order to get better.
2. Don’t worry about rejections. Learn from them if you can, but don’t think much more about it. I have been rejected so many times it’s unbelievable, and I have learned that I don’t care – I write because I want to, I put stories out there because I want to. It’s important to think about what rejection can teach you – did someone offer critique about your style or grammar? Can this make your writing better. But sometimes your thing was rejected because someone just didn’t like it, and someone else might. Sometimes your thing was just not ready for the world to see, because there’s a better time and place in the future. Sometimes, you just haven’t found the right audience.
3. GET YOUR SHIT COPY-EDITED. PAY SOMEONE FOR THIS SERVICE. If you can’t afford to pay someone, make a trade.
4. If you are going to query agents and publishers, have a clear plan and thought-through strategy, including getting some professional feedback on your query letter and doing real research on the agencies/publishers you submit to.
5. Learn what you are good and doing and not doing and what you want to learn and don’t want to learn, and outsource accordingly. If you self-publish especially, you can’t do it all by yourself, and your book will be a lot better if you hire people to do things that you aren’t good at. If you want to learn how to create an audio book, then make your own. If you want to learn how to do graphic design and you’re good at it, then design your own cover. Otherwise, don’t, focus on what you want to do and what you are good at.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A couple of years ago, I said something to a coworker about wanting to have a month off of work so that I could finish writing my book and she said “If you can write a book in a month off work, you should quit your job and go do that.” I didn’t listen to her exactly, but I think something about what she said stuck in my head. I also think a lot about something that the author of the book Last Child in the Woods said at a book talk I attended. He said “Martin Luther King didn’t say ‘I have a nightmare.'” I think about that a lot, what’s your dream? Better to to focus on that, knowing that there are issues out there.
What are you reading now?
I always have several books at varying stages of completion. Right now I am working on Left Hand of Darkness, The Path of the Dreamweaver, The Invention of Nature, and a wonderful book called Cantoras.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I am finishing two books right now. One is a collection of short sci-fi stories, all containing lesbians are the main characters. The other is a more spiritual book, and it will be more of an imagery-based 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?
That’s hard. I actually think the Bible would be one of them, because I have always been curious about reading it since it has so much impact on our culture (I wasn’t raised religiously at all). I might choose some other religious texts as well. More practically speaking, I’d probably like one of the books to be a non-fiction guide to some of the things i may want to know to stay alive on this island…
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