If you have followed my previous blog posts at all, you already know that I have written a review over Mardi Jo Link’s The Drummond Girls: A Story of Fierce Friendships Beyond Time and Chance, and I have also had the opportunity to interview Mardi and pick her brain about anything and everything writing related. Feel free to check those out by using the hyperlinks I provided previously.
On the Thursday, the first day of the workshop I made time in my schedule to sit-in on Mardi’s intensive session “It’s Not About Your Life – It’s About How You Feel About Your Life,” which was all about writing memoir in a way that is productive for the author and the readers. This session was probably one of the most interesting and applicable things I have ever heard in my life as a writer. Like the cool person I am, I showed up late to the session, gushed when she introduced herself and asked me to make copies for her, and waited until the end of the intensive to speak with her. Yes, I gushed more at that point too.
Please understand, I grew up in a very small town in Southern Indiana, and no one who is remotely famous takes time out of their day to visit my hometown. I never had exposure to this type of celebrity before, so gushing was the only way to get my point of, “You are amazing, and I aspire to write like you one day,” across. Thankfully, Mardi didn’t seem to mind, and that gave me confidence to approach other authors as well to tell them what I thought of their work or their personalities as a whole.
I held conversations with Becky Albertalli (author of Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and The Upside of Unrequited), Ruth McNally Barshaw (author and illustrator of The Ellie McDoodle Diaries series), John Gilstrap (author of Nathan’s Run, along with many, many other novels), Mardi Jo Link (author of The Drummond Girls: A Story of Fierce Friendship Beyond Time and Chance and When Evil Came to Good Hart), Mike Mullin (author of the Ashfall trilogy), Amy E. Reichert (author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake and The Simplicity of Cider: A Novel), and Angie Thomas (author of The Hate U Give).
The best advice I can give someone about to meet one of their heroes or someone they find admirable is to just be yourself. Play off of their personality if you can, and don’t be afraid to be personable. Be interested, but not overly invested. Do not ask them about their son’s soccer victory because you saw it on their Twitter account two months ago, but feel free to ask about upcoming works. Think you catch my drift? Don’t be afraid to gush because, honestly, it’s pretty nice to hear sometimes, but don’t go overboard and call them a “goddess” or the “high priestess of literary achievement,” especially if you actually mean it.
Overall, what I am trying to get at is that the people you believe to be celebrities are still just people. Becky gave me a hug before she left, Ruth drew on my name tag for me (and also gave me a big bear hug), Amy introduced herself to me with the words, "I stole these!" which was a running joke for the entire workshop, John asked me to get something for our commander in chief, Jama Kehoe Bigger (aka the Director of MWW and my teacher for ENG 299X, the class that allowed me and my classmates to be interns at #MWW17), Mardi told me about the Drummond Girls’ reactions to my blog post, Mike asked to sit at our table of interns, and I complimented Angie’s shoes. These authors are all just plain people, and honestly, I think it is better to treat them as such. Yes, they absolutely deserve the recognition and gushing that comes from their immense number of fans, but all-in-all, nothing makes someone feel more accepted and at ease than being treated like a regular human.
I hope to write a three-part series about this workshop because one blog post absolutely does not do it justice.
Thank you for reading. |