Ask the Author: Carson McKenna
Answered Questions (5)
Carson McKenna
Getting to be mother and lover to so many :)
Carson McKenna
I have no choice but to write. It's as though there's a magnet in me. I don't really feel so much inspiration as this magnetic pull. If I have free time, I have to do it. That's all there is.
Carson McKenna
Domini, baby! The sequel to Misercordias!!
I'm about 1/3 of the way done already, and I started in March 2019. It is flowing so easily this time. It's like breathing.
I can't help but think of books as children. Misercordias is my first-born who made me feel so alive as she incarnated through me; I coveted her; made sacrifices for her; demanded she be better; demanded she fulfill my dreams; wrestled her to the ground when she didn't obey me; was shocked when she held a mirror to my face and revealed my own inadequacies (which I thought lived only in her); got better for her; became the best version of myself for her; and watched with tears streaming down my face as she finally stood on her own two feet and flew off in a direction that I could never have navigated.
'Domini' is my second born; the child with perfect attendance; the one with the easy temperament; the one you don't have to worry about; the one who exists as a contrast to her sibling; the one whose heart whispers a worry of inferiority to her older sister ("the heir and the spare" syndrome); the one you're always happy to invite on vacation.
It doesn't help that Blaise isn't the main character anymore. She is so theatrical and reactive. Domini is her cousin's Zabana's story, who is several shades mellower.
I'm about 1/3 of the way done already, and I started in March 2019. It is flowing so easily this time. It's like breathing.
I can't help but think of books as children. Misercordias is my first-born who made me feel so alive as she incarnated through me; I coveted her; made sacrifices for her; demanded she be better; demanded she fulfill my dreams; wrestled her to the ground when she didn't obey me; was shocked when she held a mirror to my face and revealed my own inadequacies (which I thought lived only in her); got better for her; became the best version of myself for her; and watched with tears streaming down my face as she finally stood on her own two feet and flew off in a direction that I could never have navigated.
'Domini' is my second born; the child with perfect attendance; the one with the easy temperament; the one you don't have to worry about; the one who exists as a contrast to her sibling; the one whose heart whispers a worry of inferiority to her older sister ("the heir and the spare" syndrome); the one you're always happy to invite on vacation.
It doesn't help that Blaise isn't the main character anymore. She is so theatrical and reactive. Domini is her cousin's Zabana's story, who is several shades mellower.
Carson McKenna
Read Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet," then ask yourself the big question.
If the answer is yes, then permit it to be the very core of you. You have to become as indifferent as possible to what other people are doing. Well-meaning relatives are going to say to you that there is no money in writing. Your Mom will probably try to convince you that it's a hobby that should be relegated to nights and weekends. Your soul knows, of course, how wrong they all are.
You write because it's your life's purpose. Any other work is styrofoam peanuts.
If the answer is yes, then permit it to be the very core of you. You have to become as indifferent as possible to what other people are doing. Well-meaning relatives are going to say to you that there is no money in writing. Your Mom will probably try to convince you that it's a hobby that should be relegated to nights and weekends. Your soul knows, of course, how wrong they all are.
You write because it's your life's purpose. Any other work is styrofoam peanuts.
Carson McKenna
If you have writer's block, it's because you are overfocused on how it's NOT working. You need to distract yourself. Give yourself a literary tonic of Metamucil.
Personally, I take ten mins and do something TOTALLY unrelated. That may mean watching the final cheer showdown from 'Bring it On;' or the crowning moment of 'Carrie' (before the blood comes); or doing the astrology chart for the villain from a 90s movie I rewatched on Amazon Prime. (I did all three of these things before 9 am today).
When I come back, I feel like a freshly-shaken Etch-a-Sketch. And the words always whisper themselves in my ear.
Personally, I take ten mins and do something TOTALLY unrelated. That may mean watching the final cheer showdown from 'Bring it On;' or the crowning moment of 'Carrie' (before the blood comes); or doing the astrology chart for the villain from a 90s movie I rewatched on Amazon Prime. (I did all three of these things before 9 am today).
When I come back, I feel like a freshly-shaken Etch-a-Sketch. And the words always whisper themselves in my ear.
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