Today I’m announcing some big news, and usually when someone does that, there’s an interview to go along with it.
Consider this post my press tour.
I asked you to interview me, and lots of you had great questions! I’m answering some of them here, and the rest of the answers can be found on Facebook where they were originally asked.
Below are some of those questions, and the people who asked them:
Johi Kokjohn-Wagner
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
Who are your literary inspirations?
And how do you feel about Neil Diamond?
I’ve always written – poems, plays, stories, journals. I think I always wanted to be a writer. I used to devour books as a kid. I couldn’t get enough stories in me, and now I can’t get enough out of me.
My inspirations aren’t so much real people as they are characters and stories. I’ll meet a character in a book and wish he/she lived in my head. I’ll read a story and recognize how well it was done, and aspire to be that good.
As for Neil, I am openly Pro Neil Diamond.
Carla Schreiber
Do you think you would be as happy and fulfilled without being a mother?
I’ve known since I was 15yo that I might not be able to have kids. As an adult, it was clear to me that I needed to be a mom, whether I could get pregnant or not. I can’t imagine I’d feel fulfilled if I didn’t answer that innate part of myself.
Dani Ryan
My question is: How do you do it??! I feel like I see your name everywhere, and everything you do is top notch. Are you just naturally this awesome, or do you spend every waking moment at your computer (or dancing to Marky Mark)? Is it the cupcakes??
I really do appreciate the compliment, and all I can say is this: when my husband was starting off his career in his 20s, we knew he had to commit to long hours, little sleep, and certain sacrifices to get him where he deserved to be. I’m going through that now, just in my late 30s and with a lot of parent/home responsibilities on my shoulders.
Everything I do is a step towards my dream career: a writer and novelist. I work very hard towards this goal, strategize daily, and fortify myself on my amazing cupcakes. I am always, always tired, but the time investment is worth it.
And as for the Marky Mark? Sometimes a girl just has to dance.
The Bearded Iris
I really want to know: how long have you been a vegetarian (or is it vegan?) and why did you choose that lifestyle? But please, answer in a Haiku. Thanks.
I have tried it all.
Even since I was a kid
I did not like meat.
Taste and texture? BLECH.
The smell of bacon? Delish.
I’m complicated.
Wendy Zomer
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Waiting for my (future) agent to call me and tell me what the movie rights to my latest book sold for.
Tim Cline
Where/how do you see yourself in 20 years?
I’ll be 57 years old then, so hopefully I’d be a respected author, still living in New Jersey, my kids will be independent and happy, and my husband and I will be in the habit of taking cool trips around the world on a regular basis.
Erin Louise McKenzie
If you had 1 superpower what would it be and would you use it for good or for evil
It’s a tie. On one hand, I’d love to fly. On the other, I’d love to control energy – be able to move people and things while just sitting there on the couch. I’d use both of them for good. Especially the good that comes of sending my kids to their rooms until they are nice and tidy the first time I ask.
Jessica Root Filleul
I love reading your posts. You have a wonderful way of discussing what’s “taboo” to some. Is there anything that is off limited for you to write about?
I’m very much myself online. What I don’t talk about in person, I don’t talk about online. There’s a comfort level, so I never feel like I’m being taboo. I think if you are earnest and open, you can talk about anything you want to.
Anything at all that my husband doesn’t want me to talk about is 100% off-limits, period. I respect him too much to not honor his requests.
Cassie Lee
How do you think your daily life would change if you had no access to the internet?
I’d know so fewer people, which would stink! Most of my circle of friends were made online, and became in-real-life friends. It would also be much harder for me to research things I need to know more about – and I’m painfully curious, always wanting to learn.
The internet allows me to quickly connect with people and learn new things. Without it, I’d be alone at the library’s reference section all the time. Booooorrrriinnngg.
Jenni Thompson
Did you always imagine your life like this?
What did you want to be as a small child/teen/young adult?
I imagined many things, but not quite this.
As a kid I wanted to be an actress, first and foremost. I loved stories, and wanted to act them out. My teen years I thought I’d be an actress who did a stint in the peace corps. As a young adult, I imagined I’d be a college professor (English Lit).
I imagined all these things, but Life took me in all sorts of different directions.
Anjay K. Reed
Zombie Apocalypse: What’s your weapon of choice? What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done in public?
Whatever kills zombies from a distance – I don’t want to get too close to them. Gross.
I’ve thrown up in public, which is totally embarrassing, and very much not like me. Otherwise, I don’t embarrass easily.
Gretchen Vorhauer Beveridge
Not everyone can speak their mind, it has taken me a while to find mine and I am proud of this. I attribute most of it to my awesome husband and two kids.
The question is, “Who helped you find your voice and/or have you always been up front and personal?”
I was very, very quiet and painfully shy as a kid. I started to speak up sometime around 8th grade, and people responded to it. Their responses were the encouragement I needed to start speaking my mind more often.
It took so long for me to speak, so long to get out of my own head, that I think my voice had no choice but to be an extension of what is going on inside me.
Jules-Julie Marie Barham
You get the opportunity to interview ANYONE living or dead. You can only ask one question. Who do you interview, and what do you ask them?
I would ask my deceased Nana her life story, so I could write it down. She was amazing, and it breaks my heart that there’s no formal record of it anywhere.
Scott Carolyn Mallin
What do you want to be remembered for when you are gone?
What do you want for YOUR legacy?
My imagination and honesty, and that I instilled these traits in my kids.
***
Be sure to get all the details on my latest adventure HERE.
So…anything else you’d like to ask me?
I love this. You somehow come across as more awesome in an interview. I’ve been interviewed and I came across as more stupid. I’d want to write my grandmother’s story too. Both grandmothers actually. There’s something about the way the world changed during their lifetimes that lends itself to extraordinary lives.
Allison @ Motherhood, WTF? recently posted..A Letter to Luke on his 6th Birthday
Thanks! My Nana was a single mother (her husband died when my mom was about 6yo) from VT who was a one-room-schoolhouse teacher. She was a tough cookie, had a great sense of humor, and I only wish she lived longer, because I would have loved to have been a grown-up with her (I was 18 when she died).
You’re a beautiful person. Inside and out.
Steph at I’m Still Learning recently posted..It’s the little things…
As are you, my dear.
This was so much fun to read. You are awesome at conducting interviews AND being interviewed. I especially liked the haiku answer. Well done.
Jen at PIWTPITT.com recently posted..Weekly Wrap Up 3.8.23
Thank you! It was fun interviewing you, and just as fun answering these!
Loved the haiku!
And now I’m off to make those cupcakes in hopes they make me 1/2 as awesome as you!
xo
Dani Ryan recently posted..The god’s honest truth about breastfeeding . . . and a giveaway!
Those cupcakes make the ladies scream your name. You’ve been warned.
Kim, I hope all of your dreams come true. You are such a hard worker and an amazing talent! Keep it up, Mama!
Bethany recently posted..Comment on I Just Want to Pee Alone by godsake
MWAH!
That was a fun read, but I need to know- vegetarian or vegan?
Lori recently posted..Nicotine Overdose!! More Awkward Smoking Pictures, Please!
Vegetarian. No seafood. I do eat eggs. These things seem important to people when defining vegetarianism, but really, for me, it just comes down to this: I’ve never, since I was a kid, liked the taste or texture of any poultry, meat or seafood. I’ve eaten it because I had to, but never enjoyed it. The last thing I stopped eating was chicken breast, which was about 4 years ago now, and within a couple months, I felt different, better. I think I’m just not meant to eat meat. No biggie.
I cut out read meat over a year ago. I still eat pork, chicken, and seafood if it’s organic. I’m hoping to cut out another meat group soon. I’d love to eventually be total vegetarian.
Lori recently posted..Nicotine Overdose!! More Awkward Smoking Pictures, Please!
It must be hard if you like it. My father was old school Italian, so I’ve eaten every part of every creature, ever. So I know I don’t like any of it. I’ve had people bribe me to eat meat, and at this point I won’t take the money, because I probably can’t even digest it without tummy issues.
I do feel better now that I cut out that last bit of chicken breast. Not sure why, but I do.
I tend to feed people who come over vegetarian meals, out of habit, and there’s always clear plates, so it’s not too tough a lifestyle to suffer through. Also? Cake is vegetarian. 😉
I like the part about “off limits” especially given your butt surgery and the wookie. Last week one of the Kardashians sniffed the other 2 sisters’ undercarriages (via a cloth napkin, as I read.) So there’s always someone exposing more than us.
Suburban Snapshots recently posted..Zen and the Art of Birthday Parties
I see discussing my butt surgery as helpful. It was a long, painful medical issue I was frustrated about and open with, and it helped others. My Wookieness is obvious to anyone who sees my chin in broad daylight.
What isn’t out there for public consumption is stuff that isn’t about me, that isn’t only my story to tell, that can only “sell” me but not to the benefit of others.
The Kardashians just do everything for ratings, always, and I am embarrassed for them.