Interview with Special Author, Windy Harris!

Hi everyone, I hope you’re doing fantastic and here is an interview with a very special author, Windy Harris!

Windy Lynn Harris writes personal essays, short stories, flash, nonfiction, and novels from her desk in sunny Phoenix, Arizona.

She is the author of Writing & Selling Short Stories & Personal Essays: The Essential Guide to Getting Your Work Published and a frequent speaker at literary events around the country. Her work has been published in places like The Literary Review,34th Parallel,Pithead Chapel, The Sunlight Press, Literary Mama,Sasee, and Chahoots, and many other journals.

 www.windylynnharris.com.

Welcome to Penable, Windy!

1. What motivates you to write? 

I am deep in the world of stories. All the time. I’m constantly looking at the world with curiosity—collecting images and odd bits. So, I’m always ready. The problem is that actual writing is difficult. We all avoid it at times and me probably more than most. My motivation to actually sit down and write is a worry that I’ll never be able to capture all of the great stories floating around me. That panic keeps me writing every single week all year long.

2. What have been the highs and lows of writing your books?

I love the high of writing a new story. Every new page holds great possibility. The low always comes when I have to say goodbye to a project. I miss the characters and the comfort of the familiar. Starting something new tends to feel like a big undertaking until the work begins again.

3. What advice would you give to any aspiring author?

Hang out with other writers as often as you can. Go to conferences, attend classes, spend time at the library. Start a critique group or a study group or a submission group—anything to connect with other people who understand what you’re trying to do with words and pages and stories. Being in the company of other writers can be an important part of feeling understood and a source of inspiration to keep you going along your writing path.

4. What do you enjoy most about writing?

The challenge of storytelling. Every idea can be conveyed to an audience with enough time and sweat. Every day brings a writer a little closer to the words: The End.

5. Where do you get inspiration from?

For me, story ideas come from reading nonfiction. Lately, I’ve been inspired to write about climate change. I have stacks of environmental magazines, nature books, land management pamphlets, etc stacked around the office.

6. What is your favourite quote? 

“A word after a word after a word is power.” – Margaret Atwood

Thank you for doing this interview with Penable, Windy. And thank you for reading!

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Have an awesome day,

Stay safe,