Michelle McAuley Olmsted has been a member of WLT since April of this year and will be attending the 2014 Summer Writing Retreat in Alpine next month. She lives in Cedar Park, TX.
Scribe: In what genre(s) do you write?
Michelle McAuley Olmsted: I seem to gravitate towards memoir when I’m trying to write something that might be publishable one day. For a living, I write children’s fiction and nonfiction for educational publishers.
Scribe: What authors would you like to have coffee or a beer with and which beverage?
MO: I would love to have cocktails with Gillian Flynn, and I’d invite Mindy Kaling along. In my mind, we would be the best of friends by the second round.
Scribe: If you were stranded on a deserted island, what book would you want to have with you to keep you sane?
MO: I’m torn between something by Deepak Chopra and Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.
Scribe: What have you learned from your association with the Writers’ League?
MO: I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is to keep going. My story is worth telling.
Scribe: Where do you see your writing taking you (or you taking it) in the future?
MO: I hope that finishing my memoir is just the beginning. I’d love to write short stories, narratives, a novel…and have people actually want to read them.
Scribe: Is there anything else about you that you would like to share with the world? An opportunity for blatant self-promotion!
MO: I’ve heard writers say that they don’t necessarily love writing but they love having written. That’s how I feel most days. I’m easily distracted and can procrastinate with the best of them. Taking classes, entering contests, and going to the summer writing retreat has helped me in so many ways. I still haven’t reached my goal of a completed memoir, but I’m getting there.
If you’d like to learn more about our Summer Writing Retreat in Alpine or register for one of our workshops, you can find more information here:
https://writersleague.org/37/Summer-Writing-Retreat
