“If you strongly believe stepping away temporarily is what you need to do, honor that.” ~~Mary Jo Doig
Debilitating Stress is Gone
An interview with Mary Jo Doig by B. Lynn Goodwin
BLG: I met Mary Jo through Story Circle Network. She was an active writer who took a break for a few years, but then she came back with renewed enthusiasm. Many people drop out for a variety of reasons, but not everyone comes back, so I asked her to share her story starting with her writing background.
MJD: As many of us started out, the fictional worlds of Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Judy Bolten, Trixie Belden and then the Hardy Boys drew me in (and away from the unhappy people in my childhood home). When I later sought to sign out adult books, librarians discouraged me and, passive and invisibility-seeking child that I was, I obeyed.
I began to read my mother’s magazines and to write small stories similar to what I read there. As my senior year in high school opened, my English teacher started a literary magazine, “The Keyhole,” and asked me to be the editor. I was as shocked as when I was awarded the James Balfour Award for Excellence in English at graduation.
I went to State University of NY at Oneonta to major in English Education, left after completing the first semester of my Junior year, and married my high school sweetheart. Five years and three babies later, he disappeared. A year later, with help from two compassionate social workers, I returned to college and completed my degree.
Writing and reading went out the window for many years as I single-parented and began to earn a livable wage for my family.
A second marriage and two daughters later, a flashback to my childhood broke open another life I’d dissociated from and turned life upside down. I began years of therapy and profuse journaling to integrate the full truth of my life.
When my children graduated, the marriage ended also. I moved to Virginia in 2000 to start a new life.
The first (and smartest) thing I did in January 2001 was join SCN. I had a story leaking through the pores of my skin, aching to be released. But it was a horrific secret I could never tell anyone. When I joined, I found my “tribe” for the first time in my life. I had been a lifelong human services professional for years, yet shy and uncertain of my writing skills. SCN warmly welcomed me, and I thrived in the circle of positive feedback for my writing. My confidence and eagerness to learn grew in the many opportunities that opened for me over the years.
BLG: Briefly, what made you stop writing?
I was overcommitted and over-responsible. In late 2022, my anxiety level was sky-high, also. The generational trauma that had traveled through my parents’ family on both sides entered my home as I parented two sets of two children with two different fathers. I was also bereft over the killing of so many innocent people and children in world conflicts, yet I decided that peace begins at home and looked at what more I could do as my three children struggled with their traumas.
BLG: What brought you back?
MJD: Honestly? I learned to get out of their way and continue to be supportive and positive. At the end of 2022, I entered the winter solstice seeking an epiphany for a new direction in my writing. I read voraciously through the winter and gained significant insight into human behavior, a lifelong interest of mine. I journaled, too, but did not write, except for our now 7-year-old writing circle bi-weekly stories. By the end of the year, my notes revealed some growth and positives, but epiphany material? I saw glimpses that were positive but not enough.
I entered 2024 and continued my search through reading, journaling, and added one more facet: meditation. I’d studied and practiced off and on after leaving the church I was raised in. But this time, I took a big dive into two of Tara Brach’s deeper meditation workshops.
After careful learning to slowly and gently face deep fears, I knew this was definitely part of my epiphany. Then an important event I had never considered relevant to my search, intersected with my new spiritual knowledge like two hot wires. I understood it all immediately.
BLG: How had the writing world changed as far as you could see? Feel free to include both writing and publishing opportunities.
MJD: The biggest change I saw and explored was the recent Substack system of publishing our work, which so many of my writing sisters have switched to. I took a presentation with Dan Blank, who has become an expert with it and found it both fascinating and appealing. At the workshop conclusion, though, I could not foresee the undertaking then. Perhaps when 2025 concludes with my present project….
BLG: How have you changed?
MJD: I’ve happily lived alone for decades now, still cook from scratch and manage my Diabetes Type 2 without medication by eating well and exercising. I walk 2-4 miles most days with my beagle, Addie, and enjoy my two cats. I have worked diligently to simplify my small Creative Cottage that’s now 4 years old, my lifestyle, and commitments. I have room to breathe now as I move slower and adjust to my pace. Gone is debilitating stress. Present is a stronger spirituality that affects me in so many positive ways, and peace is better anchored in my heart.
BLG: What are you working on right now?
MJD: I’ve reviewed Linda Hasselstrom’s winter solstice comments in her “The Wheel of the Year: A Writer’s Workbook,” a book I purchased several years ago.
BLG: What advice do you have for writers who walk away from their work?
MJD: If you strongly believe stepping away temporarily is what you need to do, honor that. At my epiphany year’s end of 2023, I had not learned my answer yet, but I intuited that it would arrive, and I needed more patience. Without that feeling and trust of my intuition, I probably would have stopped and returned to writing blog posts and book reviews and/or signing on with Substack.
BLG: Where can readers learn more about you?
MJD: My website is at https//:maryjodoig.com, which I established when Patchwork: A Memoir of Love and Loss was published 5 years ago. I’m always available at doig.maryjo@gmail.com.
@@@
“Don’t be afraid to follow your gut.” ~~ Katie Garner
Justice Achieved Plus an Author’s Twists, Turns, and Tips
An interview with Katie Garner
Do you ever really know your family or the people you love? Do you ever know how you might respond to a crisis before it happens? I have a page on Writer Advice titled “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” but realistic fiction does exactly that—turning the improbable into the possible and feeding the reader with the same limited points of view that we all experience in real life. This is never truer than in Katie Garner’s new novel, The Family Inside.
In the interview below, she shares her insights and process. It’s well worth your time to read this.
BLG: Tell us about your background. What drives an art major with a teaching certificate to write thrillers?
KG: Great question! I think it comes down to the fact that I am a visual person. I gravitated toward art and art history because I could see what I was studying. As a visual person, I also tend to see things clearly in my head, like a movie.
When I had the idea for my first book, it felt like a bolt of lightning. I could visualize the entire world, the characters, and their lives. It felt like I wasn’t creating a new story, but rather documenting theirstory, a story that had already happened. I realized writing was more than something new I’d fallen in love with—I realized writing was my missing piece.
And to me, writing IS Art. Fingers dancing across a keyboard is just as lovely as a hand gliding over a canvas. Art is putting your soul in a medium and opening yourself up to critique, good or bad.
BLG: Lovely. Can you tell us what idea or character first inspired The Family Inside?
KG: It was an idea—and sadly, to go into too much detail will spoil one of the twists, but I will say I remember the moment clearly. I was standing in my kitchen watching a true crime documentary on my phone and I felt myself growing angry.
Every true crime I’d been hearing about seemed to end the same way, over and over—families and communities who knew the identity of the killer yet they never faced justice. Either by corrupt police departments, or poor investigative work, or even something like the culprit wasn’t read their Miranda rights. It infuriated me, which to me meant I had to explore why I felt so strongly.
I combined that with the fact that I tend to mix my biggest fears into my plots. In THE NIGHT IT ENDED, it was *spoiler* home invasions. In THE FAMILY INSIDE, it was my fear of losing my job and my house, as Iris does.
BLG: Have you ever known or observed a family like this? If so how did they influence the writing and if not how did you develop them and their behaviors?
KG: If I ever knew a family like this in real life I think I’d change my name and move to another country. But really, each character is shaped by their individual life events, events that occurred before the book even begins. Birdie’s story came to me first, and she always felt so real to me. I built her family out from there.
As far as what inspired them, honestly, I wanted people who felt real to me, people comprised from both the light and the dark. I wanted people with money problems and marital problems. People who have health conditions and disabilities, as with Birdie and Gabe. Their arcs and personalities grew from there.
BLG: What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
KG: My goal is always to entertain and make readers lose themselves for a while. Reading a big twist is such a great feeling (at least to me!). Aside from that, the theme of THE FAMILY INSIDE was always justice.
Each character, no matter how small, comes face to face with their own form of justice. They each need to decide how far they are willing to go to find it. I’d love if readers finished the book and wondered what they would’ve done if they were in the character’s position. Would they have done what they did? Would they have let things get so far?
BLG: Writers would love to know what an experienced writer does after she completes a first draft. Can you tell us about your process? Which characters changed and how much did the plot change? When did you know the book was ready?
KG: Like many writers, I don’t strive for perfect first drafts. When done, it’s hard not to immediately go back and rewrite everything. I don’t. I step away for a week or so and let it rest a while. During this period, I’m brainstorming and jotting down notes and ideas that come to me organically that will hopefully improve the next draft.
I then go back (armed with a boatload of new notes) and copy/paste into a new document. What I do then is a little strange—I write my notes in my new draft. Doing this can make the doc grow to 150k words. But it’s worth it. As I work through, I delete the notes, and when they’ve all been addressed, that’s when I know that draft is complete.
BLG: What do you recommend for those who want to write thrillers in addition to reading in the genre and writing daily?
KG: This is something I wish I started doing years ago—write down all of your favorite things! What is that really good TV show you watched? Write down the title and what you liked most about it. That movie you caught the end of? Write down what you loved about it and what worked for you. That audiobook you couldn’t stop listening to—make a note about what character you were rooting for and why.
I compile all of this in a doc (or two) and when I’m ready to start writing a new book, I go back and explore all of my favorite things. Most times I’ve totally forgotten I’ve ever read that book, or watched that show, and I’m so glad I wrote it down because it may have that one teensy tiny element that inspires my next idea.
BLG: Many writers need help getting published. In addition to your track record what were the selling points you put in your query?
KG: I really worked on honing my hook and read the query to as many people I could. If anyone was confused, I knew that was an area I needed to clarify. I also read every single entry on QueryShark.blogspot.com (RIP Janet, you’re the best). It really shows you that the hook is what matters most, as well as the conflict, character, and conundrum. Keeping things under 250 words was something I worked really hard at and I also wasn’t afraid to keep rewriting it over and over. Kill your darlings—even in your query!
BLG: What recommendations do you have for writers who are seeking their first publisher or agent?
KG: Don’t be afraid to follow your gut. I know some people only submit to their dream agents. Do that, but if you also feel a virtual connection to a lesser known or newer agent, go for it! Don’t write them off because they’re new or have fewer sales. They are building their career, as you are.
BLG: What else would you like us to know and where can we learn more about you?
KG: Even though I went to school to become an Art teacher, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with shows like Unsolved Mysteries and CSI. I wanted to be just like Dr. G, Medical Examiner. It was either that or write thrillers. You can find me lurking on Instagram @katiewritesmystery or on my website: katiegarnerauthor.com.
@@@
Leave a Reply