My author feature in November's UNCAGED begins on p.44:
Out of the cage--Cyrene Olson's first question and my reply:
1) You retired from being an elementary teacher to being an author. Are there any similarities in the two professions?
If I thought the teaching profession required devoting many hours in addition to those spent in the classroom—being an author is practically a 24-hour proposition.
Ironically, I do see similarities in both professions, which I’ll narrow down to three:
1.Self-Discipline:
In elementary education, a teacher must have thoroughly prepared lessons for multiple subjects every single day, along with possessing the mental fortitude to switch gears should any one of those lessons fizzle with the students.
An author—foremost, a “writer,” by trade—must ply himself/herself to the craft every single day, along with possessing the mental fortitude to scrap what doesn’t ring true for storytelling.
2.Relevancy:
In the teaching profession, the instructor must tailor lessons and material to his/her students’ needs and interests.
In the writing profession, the author must tailor an engaging story to a target audience.
3.A Thick Skin:
Just as a teacher cannot let an unruly student ruffle feathers—you know, “Never let them see you sweat”—a published author cannot wallow in mean-spirited, negative book reviews.
There's much more:
The rest of the interview
A generous novel excerpt from AN ENLIGHTENING QUICHE & Cyrene's review
Memoir #55: The Zapruder Effect from my new release--100 WILD MUSHROOMS:MEMOIRS OF the '60s
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