Ask the Author: Erika Montgomery
Answered Questions (5)
Erika Montgomery
Melanie, you have made my day with this question--thank you so much asking!! I'm at work now on the next book and am scheduled to deliver it to my editor in the next few months. It means the world as I write to know you are looking forward to this next story--I am certainly looking forward to sharing it with you!
Erika Montgomery
Hi Manal, thank you so much for your kind words!! I'm not a journalist but I have indeed written other manuscripts over the many years I've pursued publication, so I very much appreciate your inquiry. I look back on some of my earlier works, most that never saw the light of day--and with good reason!--and am reminded that it takes what it takes to gain comfort and confidence in whatever medium/craft we pursue.
Erika Montgomery
Keep writing--and absolutely keep reading. Be patient--with yourself, and with your process. Revise, revise, revise. Your words are precious but don't make them so precious that you can't let them go when you need to. The same can be said of certain stories. Not all of them will work, but all of them will be part of your writing journey.
Erika Montgomery
Forgive the double negative, but I can't NOT write. For me, the stories are always finding their way in. The question becomes deciding which one will go the distance!
Erika Montgomery
I teach creative writing to seniors, and I am notorious for starting off the year by saying that I don't believe in writer's block--because I don't! I do believe that some days the words that land on the page are not worth keeping--or that you can struggle to wrestle a single sentence into shape--but I think words can always be found. I do, however, often hit a wall with a scene and when that happens, I'll often find stepping away from the work is the only way to find the solution. Washing dishes, going for a walk, a shower. Oh, or when I'm drifting off to sleep and am so sure I'll remember the answer when I wake up. (Spoiler alert: I don't! Note to self, always keep pen and paper by the bed for scribbling...)
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