Ask the Author: Brandy Ferner
Answered Questions (6)
Brandy Ferner
For me, it's that writing is my favorite form of therapy. So every time I sit with myself and work through my story, there's some form of processing or therapy (or play) that I'm giving myself. This sounds a lot like something else. Hmmmmm.
Brandy Ferner
As mentioned before, hire a babysitter and then panic that you're wasting your money if you don't write anything so then you are forced to write. Nothing like a little adrenaline and shame to get the creative juices flowing.
Brandy Ferner
You're gonna hate me, but my advice is to just write. Especially moms who feel like they don't have time. MAKE TIME. I wrote my book while in the thick of intense mothering with young kids. That was a questionable thing to do and may have made me lose my mind a bit, but also, if I hadn't, I would've forgotten the specifics of what that era felt like. It was also a hugely cathartic gift to myself to get to process my thoughts and feelings through writing the book. I know Toni Morrison says to basically "write through the puke," in reference to writing while a baby spits us on your paper. Some people can do that, but I could not. So I hired the cheapest babysitter I could find (without sacrificing too much safety haha) and made myself write during those hours. If it's important to you, make it a priority. Also, don't beat yourself up if you can't because motherhood itself can be so all-consuming. Do whatever you need to - for some that's writing, and for others that's not writing yet. Bottom line: if you want to write, don't just talk about it, get your butt in a chair and write! Also, read Anne Lamott's book, "Bird by Bird."
Brandy Ferner
I have a non-fiction project in the works, and a few other seeeeeeecretttttsssss. Also, just trying to get my podcast out every two weeks too.
Brandy Ferner
By hiring a babysitter and knowing that every minute I'm not writing, I'm wasting money haha. That is mostly how, but also, I am inspired by everything I see and hear in everyday life. I can be in a room with two silent people and have pages to say about it. OVERACTIVE BRAIN.
Brandy Ferner
The idea hit me over the head one day when my youngest was two years old - I wondered what would two moms do in Vegas with no one watching and both at the end of their rope? Sex, drugs, cheating, laying in bed alone drinking from a can of Pringles? And then I started thinking about how we're all human (therapists included) and we're all guiding each other through this thing called motherhood. And then I was like, "What if I make Snoop Dogg a character?" I tried to deny the call to write this book, but I couldn't sleep for a week and was up at night making notes, outlining the story, and detailing all the most asinine, hilarious, and enraging parts of being a mom - it was pouring out of me. After not sleeping for that entire week, I realized my only choice was to find a babysitter and write the damn thing. That was the only way I would get sleep again, so I obeyed and wrote the book.
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