Ask the Author: Kelly Carlin
Answered Questions (8)
Kelly Carlin
Tammy - this is what I say to people...a quote from my dad: “When you're born into this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in America you get a front row seat.”
Kelly Carlin
Ah, life. Fifteen years ago, after my mom died, I knew I had to tell my life story. I wanted to make sense of it all, put it in a neat box so that I could move on from it. FINALLY, that day has come. lol
Kelly Carlin
Reading. When I read about the world, what others are thinking, how artists approach their work, how women find their power, how we can come together to rise above the vicissitudes of life - I get inspired.
Kelly Carlin
I'm musing on what my next book will be. It'll be around the theme that I wrote about in my memoir - finding my voice - but it'll be broader in that I want to include more ways for others to find their voice, center, authentic self (all words that are overused and say nothing but not sure how else to say it). I'm always fascinated by how we clear the way to our essentialness.
Kelly Carlin
Get a timer, set it for 20 minutes, sit down and write. Every day.
Kelly Carlin
I love getting to discover what I think though writing. I definitely write to understand life, the world and myself. Without writing, I would be a ball of anxiety and confusion. By turning thoughts and feelings into words, I integrate and metabolize them. It's how I create my reality.
Kelly Carlin
MY biggest trick is in tricking myself. I tell myself to sit down for just 20 minutes and write what ever. I give myself full permission to just vomit on the page. As Anne Lamott talks about - shitty first drafts. Nothing needs to make sense, be good or be important - just express. This always gets me going, and the next thing I know, I've written for 90 minutes.
Kelly Carlin
The ones I tend to revisit are poetry books (David Whyte and Mary Oliver especially), books that illuminated parts of myself to me at one time (Jung, J. Campbell, James Hollis, Anne Lammott, Annie Dillard), and great fiction (Wallace Stegner gets read every few years).
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