~ Something beginning with S ~

I'm thrilled to be sharing interview no. 3 in my Creative Life series today ~ author, poet and journalist Sarah Salway has always been on my word-radar ever since I discovered she read my blog, way back in the early days. To me this was a great honour  – a published author and poet reading my words? Not only that but she teaches creative writing too, so i figured i must've been doing something right (something a writer needs to know once in a while) – her students are very lucky to have such a gifted teacher. Alongside writing stories filled with wit, warmth and acute observations on life, Sarah has an inspiring blog where she shares writing prompts; lately she's been posting 50-word photo-stories and readers have been sharing their own in the comments (such a great idea!).

So without further ado, grab a coffee and sink into the words of the lovely Sarah Salway…

SC: Did you always know you'd write? How did this path begin for you?

SS: My parents were both writers so I grew up in a house where it was quite normal. Before she had us four kids, my mother used to work for the women’s editor of Farmers Weekly. Then when I was growing up, she researched and wrote books about monastery gardens and herbs. I’m very sad that I never told her how proud I am of her for that, but she died before my first book (Something Beginning With, also called The ABCs of Love in the USA) came out and it was only then I realised how lightly we’d always treated her achievements. Being kids, we were more interested in what she was cooking us for tea than her writing and research, but I guess that’s a healthy sign for a child! My dad was a journalist too. He is still writing and publishing at the grand age of 80, so both parents were, and continue to be, an inspiration.

When I was about eight, I started writing a whole library of novels with my friend, Heidi. I used to write these very dramatic stories about orphans who had lots and lots of horses, I remember, but somewhere along the way I stopped thinking creatively. I studied journalism at the London College of Fashion after school, and then worked in PR and journalism for several years, both in London and Edinburgh.

But then one day, I found a two-hour weekly women’s creative writing course run through Edinburgh University. I was so nervous the first time I went, but it quickly became the most important part of my week. I loved it so much and thought the teacher so amazing that I drove past her house one day, just to see where someone who could write stories and poems would live. It’s funny to think I’m that person now, and I’m really happy that I’m inspiring people as much as she did me. (I did tell her about the stalking btw much later when we became friends, but I think even then she was a little bit worried!)

I still feel lucky that I could get back in touch with my creative side through that class. Although at the time I was a successful journalist, I always thought that writing fiction and poetry was something that other, not necessarily better but certainly different, people did, and that I would make a fool of myself if I tried to join that secret club. Now I’m totally convinced that everybody can be creative. Actually more than can, we NEED to be creative! And we need to make fools of ourselves more often too. I wish I hadn’t been so scared about it all for so long.

How did the publication of your first book come about? and how long did it take to write?

It was a fairy story, and I still can’t really believe it. A short story of mine went up on an internet site (east of the web) and I got several emails about it straight away. One was from a publisher, and two were from agents, all asking if I was writing a novel. I signed up with one of the agents and six months later, I had a two book deal. It’s been a bit harder since, but it did prove to me that agents and publishers are actually searching for new authors. It’s not the closed shop that we can sometimes imagine and that’s very encouraging.

Something Beginning With came out of that short story, which was originally called ‘A Girl’s Alphabet’. It was supposed to be one story in a themed collection about a love triangle, and the only one narrated by my main character, Verity. However, her voice kept on nagging away at me, so I expanded the story even after it had been accepted for publication. When I got those emails, I had written nearly the whole novel, and that’s why it felt so special to have someone ask if I’d thought about turning it into something longer. I think they were surprised when I handed them a nearly finished manuscript straight away! It does make me think that getting the voice of your character right is really important, perhaps more even than plot. As a reader, I lose interest straight away if a character starts to behave in what I consider an unnatural way just to keep the plot going. I feel manipulated. I want real characters! As writers, we need to listen to our characters. I will even sometimes write letters to mine, and write letters back from them. It’s amazing what comes out from that. (I don’t post them though, or not yet!)

The wannabe author dreams of publication so i have to ask: how does it really feel being a published author? Did you linger in bookshops looking at the spines on the shelf?

It takes a long long time for a book to actually be published once it’s been accepted, so I did go into bookshops to see exactly where my book would be. Once I even made a little gap for it! Getting published was very special, and I still hug it to myself as it’s something that can never get taken away from me. That there are people out there who enjoyed my story so much that they invested in me like that is amazing. And the launch party for my book was very special. I invited as many of my friends as I could and we drank the bar dry. My best friend tells me I smiled all night long! But there’s so much pressure about being published, and I wanted it so badly that I got worried too much might change and that was hugely frightening. But hey, I woke up the next morning and the kids still wanted their breakfast, and where were their socks for school? That’s when I thought of Mum. I would have loved to have shared the joke with her.

But when someone I don’t know – or indeed someone I know – tells me they’ve read my work, I feel really lucky. I have learnt not to frighten them with a barrage of questions about what they thought about it, did they like it etc etc, not least because publication made me realise that as wonderful as it is to have a book out there, it’s the writing of it that I really love. You always have to be more passionate about the process more than the product. It’s the doing that matters.

What comes first – the character or the story idea?

It depends. I write across the genres – poetry, short stories, novels and non-fiction, and I think the only common ground is that there will be an image I can’t let go of. It may just be a fragment, or a whole picture, bu t I start to build stories around that image. And then, as I said above, I start to listen for the voice of the character. And structure is important for me too. I will spend a lot of time searching for the form that feels the most authentic for what I want to write. I really believe that imposing some kind of constraint on my writing makes me freer. It’s as if the censor part of my brain is happy puzzling out the rules, and the rest of me can get on with writing what I want!

Where do you write? Do you need a special room or pen…. a certain of time of day? A quiet corner of Cafe Rouge? Kids in bed?

Well, my kids are big now so I normally go to bed before them! I write morning pages every day before I even get out of bed. It sets me up, even if I have to put on the alarm clock. Who knows what I write, I rarely read back! My writing room is a little room at the top of the house – it has everything I need: fairy lights, a disco ball, books and a sofa to curl up on. My desk is second-hand. When I first sat at it, I wrote a poem to the woman who had owned it before me. I have no idea who she was, but I had fun building up a picture of her and what she had kept in the drawers. I don’t have a particular routine, although I am finding that I need to switch off the internet now in order to concentrate. It’s too tempting just to see what is happening on Twitter or Facebook, and I need to be able to sink into my work. I always start writing with a pen and notebook, but then when the story starts moving faster, I switch to computer. I can type faster than I write.

What book do you wish you had written?

I think for any writer, there’s always the hope that it’s going to be the next one. That’s what keeps us going! But a book I really admire is The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollen. The structure was simple based around four meals, and yet it was so well researched, passionately written and made me think about how I lived. I would love to write something that had so much impact and was needed so badly. I am sure that journalists are respected more in America. It made me proud to be one, and I’m not always so!

Poems… short stories… novels… teaching… you do it all, but which makes your heart race the most?

Impossible to answer, because they all do in different ways. Writing poetry is such an intense experience that it often feels like the only way I can express some things. Short stories allow me to try on many different masks and have fun. My novels let me enter different worlds and are totally absorbing. And I have learnt so much from my teaching. Seeing a student shrug off a whole lot of bad teaching and engrained criticism so they really take risks on the page is just the best thing ever.

What 3 pieces of advice would you give an aspiring writer?

There are a number of questions that get asked in class, normally ‘are we really allowed to break rules like this?’ when I tell them to write without worrying about grammar or nice handwriting, but I would say these are my three key pieces of advice:

1) Practice making stories all the time in your notebook. Jot down three different scenarios for what a lamppost might be thinking; where that man is going on the train; what would happen if the sun didn’t stop shining? Be as mad as you like. Just keep asking ‘what if?’ Stories create stories – and students who do this regularly never have to worry they don’t have enough to write about!

2) Read. And read, and read. And if you can do so, support independent and small publishers by buying their books and magazines. These are the people who publish most aspiring writers so not only will you be financing them, you may also discover some unexpected new talents. It’s fun to take risks in reading.

3) Write what you would like to read, not what you think you should write, or what everybody else is telling you to write, or what you think will get published. You have to be authentic to yourself otherwise you’re just not going to enjoy it. And that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. How amazingly lucky we are to be doing what we love.

What and who inspires you?

Oh music definitely. I love watching musicians live because for the moment they are performing they give everything they have of themselves. Nothing else matters, because they are feeling the music with their whole body. It takes great discipline and courage to do that, I think, and if I could write like that regularly, I’d be very happy.

Music that I love to write to:

Ben's Brother, TV On the Radio, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Joan as Policewoman, Blitzen Trapper, Nick Drake, Saint Etienne, Nina Simone, Ellis Paul, Amos Lee, Laura Marling.
There's a mixed CD I've just bought and haven't stopped playing since – Dark Was the Night – it's BRILLIANT. Thoroughly recommend it. I get the NPR song of the day too.

I remember when I was starting I was hungry for people's 'how to' lists so here's mine, the books I keep keep turning back to:

Kim Addonizio: Ordinary Genius – one of my writing role models; she's a great poet too
Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit – probably one of the best for me; got me thinking about the body and writing
Julia Cameron: The Vein of Gold and The Artist's Way – half way through TAW – again – at the moment with an internet group I set up
Natalie Goldberg: Writing Down the Bones and maybe even better, Wild Mind – she's my best friend!
Carol Bly, The Passionate Accurate Story – like a very welcome wake-up call about conscience etc.
Tristine Rainer: The New Diary  – a classic, but really good for journal writing. Lots of revelations with this one!
Steve Kowit: In the Palm of Your Hand – really good for sparking poetry ideas
Judy Reeves: A Writer's Book of Days – very useful daily prompts and lots of trivia about writers that is somehow inspiring! Did you know, for instance, that Virginia Woolf wrote standing up, and Amy Lowell smoked cigars when she wrote; Dame Edith Sitwell, however, wrote after she'd been lying down in an open coffin!

Do you have a motto?

I am slightly obsessed with a dead American poet called Alice Duer Miller, but no one else has heard of her. Anyway, she said, 'If it's very painful for you to criticize your friends, you're safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue.' I always try to remember this, because it feels like wise advice. I also use this line from Colette for my writing classes: ‘We will do foolish things, but we will do them with enthusiasm.’ I love the joy and confidence implicit in that!

You're having a dinner party and can choose 6 famous people from the past or present – who would you invite?

Brilliant question. Okay, I’m going to take it as a given that the dead people will be at their most sparkling not smelly. I only want people at my table who are passionate about things I care about, who will not be cynical, who will listen to others without talking about themselves the whole time, and who will definitely not be boring. So I would invite:

1. Alice Duer Miller (as above) not least because she likes practical jokes and would make me laugh.
2. Marco Pierre White – because I was addicted to Hell’s Kitchen recently and I feel he would be prepared to talk quite deeply about lots of subjects. Also he’s gorgeous, but he will have to take the tablecloth off his head.
3. Lynne Franks – I worked for her after college and she was just inspirational. I want to find out about all the work she’s doing for women in third-world countries.
4. John Peel - I miss his voice and his humour and his kindness. He can bring the music.
5. Roger Deakin, who wrote Waterlog and Wildwood. He had such an adventurous spirit and this huge love of nature. I’d love to hear his stories.
6. You! I have been enjoying your blog for so long that I feel I know you already but we’ve never met. Yet…

What are you working on next?

I have just had some very exciting news which is that I will be the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences from this September. It’s a great opportunity, and will fit very well with my current work-in-progress which is a non-fiction look at role models for women. I want to find out who inspires women, and why, and how important role models can be. I’m in the planning stages at the moment, but I’m already thinking about who has had an impact on me over the years – my big sister, Jo in Little Women, Kathryn Hepburn, Coco Chanel,  my mum, Chrissie Hynde… the list goes on and on.  And all so different too!

* * * * *

Thank you so much for sharing your words with us, Sarah! Isn't she fabulous?

(photo credit: Ellen Montellius)

~ The power of gratitude ~

Today I’d like to introduce you to another very inspiring woman: Carla White is a designer and entrepreneur who created the Gratitude Journal app for the iPhone. Shooting straight to #2 in the Lifestyles category within its first week (and receiving nearly all 5 star reviews) Carla made the app for just $500, working on the designs, managing the development and doing all her own promotion. She worked on the project between 5am – 7am before heading to her day job as an IT consultant for a government agency in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – true dedication, non? I love the simplicity of Carla’s design, and how an idea that’s seemingly so simple can be so powerful. Carla's planning to leave her day job in the summer to continue growing her business and has recently hired a life coach to help her get there. I’m already wishing we lived closer to each other as I can tell that an hour in this woman’s company would be inspirational dynamite!

SC: What inspired you to start writing a gratitude journal? How has it affected your life?

CW: In March 2008 I participated in Oprah's A New Earth series (weekly web casts discussing the book by Eckhart Tolle). I don't usually watch Oprah, but my sister recommended we do this together; we were trying to pull each other out of the funk we were still in from my father's death a couple years earlier. Reading that book really opened my eyes about being in the present. It also made me hungry for more so I started listening to Oprah's Soul Series podcasts. And that's where I first learned about keeping a gratitude journal.
I started my first journal in June 2008. At the time I was overweight, drinking too much, worried about losing my job, and struggled to get out of bed. I'm now a totally different person. After two months of daily gratitude I lost 20 pounds, my job turned around, I drastically cut my drinking, I started yoga, won some races, and my relationship with my husband was better than ever. My life has been improving by leaps and bounds ever since. My complexion glows, I've made all sorts of wonderful new friends, my income is strong, and my health has never been better — both mentally and physically.
 
I love that the Gratitude Journal app is a fusion of new-age theory and an ultra high-tech device – why create an app for a phone and not, say, just write a book?

It's funny you ask that. When I first came up with the idea for the app, I was out for a walk having a conversation with god. It went a little like this:
me: ‘I really want to tell everyone the power of gratitude, but how? How can I give back?’
my head: ‘I know, write a book!’
me: ‘Say what girlfriend? How about we try something a little more within our reach?’
my heart: ‘Why not do something with the talents you already have? Like your design and computer skills?’
me: ‘Now we're talking…’
my heart: ‘You love your iPod Touch, why not tap into that audience and create something for them?’
me: ‘I know! I'll create a gratitude journal for the iPhone!’
my heart: ‘…and donate your earnings.’

And there you have it, out of thin air the idea come to me from my heart. It was a way for me to contribute to the world using my strongest talents. To share the power of gratitude.
 
You worked on the Gratitude Journal app from 5am to 7am every morning before work – that sounds like true dedication to me! What kept you motivated?

There were plenty of mornings where I dragged myself out of bed and sat in front of my computer blurry eyed telling myself, ‘Okay, Carla, engage the brain. You can do this.’ And slowly my strength would surface and I made my way through it. Driving to work I listen to the news on the radio about people losing jobs, their life savings, and their homes. I knew we have to approach this differently. Change has to come from within each of us. To overcome this we have to change our attitudes by recognizing what we do have instead of what we don't. If I could get just one person to think differently, it was well worth my early morning sacrifices. That's what kept me going.
 
On your website it says: ‘Carla is on a mission to create a life of financial independence while bringing meaning and purpose to others people's lives.’ I love this! Many people would think that those two goals are mutually exclusive – what’s your take on it?

I believe the two are deeply intertwined. I have created businesses in the past with the intent to get rich. They were a struggle and brought me nothing but headaches. Now everything I create is with the sole purpose to help others — to improve at least one person's life. And it's been an absolute blast. Not only that, it's also been a huge success. If you create something with the intention is to improve others' lives, then the universe will provide everything you need to accomplish that.
 
You seem to be blessed with an entrepreneurial mind – how did you find yourself on this path?

My parents had a farm and five kids, so they had to be extremely entrepreneurial to get by. They taught me how to bargain, shop around, be resourceful and the value of investing in long-term relationships. Once I was on my own and traveling the world, everything I learned kicked into gear. I was constantly on the look out for mentors, picking up everything I could from other successful people. My husband is the best entrepreneur I’ve ever met and has coached me through two businesses. I'm grateful to have his endless knowledge at my fingertips.
 
Who and what inspires you?

The universe inspires me most. Whenever I have a problem I can't solve, be it a design or a personal issue, I toss it out to universe. I ask that my heart and eyes are open to notice the solution and to trust my intuition. Never has the universe failed me.
I'm also inspired by others’ creativity. It's the universe speaking through them. I love how unique and vast everyone's creations are. It's reflective of how unique and vast each one of us are. We all have everything we need right now to be creative and contribute.  

What books/music/artists etc do you love? Could you share some recommendations?

Non-fiction:
A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life – Wayne Dyer
Simple Abundance – Sarah Ban Breathnach
Broken Open – Elizabeth Lesser
The Art of the Start – Guy Kawasaki
Four Hour Work Week – ya, threw that one in there….

Fiction:
The Piano Tuner – Daniel Mason
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Valley of the Dolls – Jacqueline Susann

I love starting my day with Nina Simone's song Feeling Good. My latest find is a group called One Eskimo. Degas and Klee were my first loves in art- with each exhibit I take in, my crushes and flames grow and now there are too many to count. My favourite movie of all time is Harold and Maude – it has a killer Cat Stevens sound track!

How do you switch off from work at the end of the day?

Switching off is important to me because th at's when I receive new ideas. I have to walk away from my computer and engage my right brain. I usually go for a run reciting mantras in my head like ‘I love life and life loves me.’ I try to clear all my thoughts while soaking in mother nature. I'll also do yoga and meditate for a while. Anything to shut down that left brain.
Then I come home, put on some good music and make dinner with my husband. We love cooking. We have a relaxing dinner and afterwards go for a walk together; this is the time when we share ideas and really talk. They're the perfect end to the day.

I have a dream I want to achieve but I don’t know where to begin – what would be your advice for making it a reality?

I really believe in the power of visualization. When I created Gratitude Journal, I took a screen shot of the App Store site and put Gratitude Journal in the number one position. I had this on my desk the entire time I was creating the app.
Vision boards are extremely powerful. My last vision board had images of women public speaking. At the time I created it I had zero speaking engagements, now I have about one a week. See yourself achieving your dream; believe you can do it, trust your instincts and keep going.
 
A percentage of your sales goes to charity – how important is this to you?
 
Giving back is just as important as expressing gratitude. When you practice these two things daily, the universe keeps providing to you. Giving doesn't always mean donating money either. We all have something we can give. It can be your time, your advice, or an introduction for someone looking for a job.
It's only recently that I discovered the real power of giving. I signed up for a project to give something away everyday for 29 days – I started about a week ago and since then I can't believe the good fortune that has come my way. The more you give out, the more that comes back to you. Donating is a privilege and I love doing it.

Has being a woman in the technological world been a help or a hindrance?

I'm always inspired by other IT women; products and designs are so male dominated, we need more female contribution. I was concerned my gender would be a problem when it came to hiring a developer. I thought they would try to walk all over me, but every relationship I've had with developers has worked out like a dream. In fact, I wonder if they enjoy working with a female more.
Being female set me apart from the other 95% iPhone app owners. I get a lot of support from other female entrepreneurs. I love it when women work together helping each other succeed.
 
What’s your motto?

No fear. I had it on a sticker on my car when I drove coast to coast across the US — twice. Then I put it on my backpack as I traveled the globe.  Fear stops us from being our true selves. And fear is based on things that already happened to us in the past. They're done, so stop fearing them. Move on and trust your instincts. Never has anything been even half as bad as I imagined in my head. A new motto that keeps popping in my head is just one word and I think the true purpose of life. And that is ‘love’.
 
You're having a dinner party and can choose six famous people from the past or present – who would you invite?   

That's a tough one. It would be nice to have Ghandi, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Isaiah and Loa-Tzu get together for a pow-wow to discuss religious beliefs, but that conversation might be too heavy. In which case I'd pick Marilyn Monroe, Maya Angelo, Tom Waits, Nina Simone, Jimmy Carter and my great-great Grandpa.

And lastly, what are you working on at the moment?

I'm busy with two big projects right now. The first one is an ebook which will be available in a couple weeks. It's called Inside Secrets to an iPhone App and is the non-technical guide to creating your own iPhone app. I can't wait to see the new apps it leads to!
I'm also working on a second app that complements Gratitude Journal quite nicely which I hope to have released in May. It's another app designed to bring you happiness and prosperity.

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us, Carla! Don’t you all feel inspired now? There's going to be some MAJOR gratitude journaling happening tonight in this house…