Last week Kristen at Little Lodestar wrote a fantastic piece titled, Nine Things I Wonder About Other Writers.  I don’t remember how I first ‘met’ Kristen but I have so enjoyed getting to know her through her on-line writing and Instagram photography. I am thrilled that Kristen wrote this post because her answers and those of  many other writers who have taken the post to their own blogs are amazingly great to read. It is rare to have the chance to see ‘behind the scenes’ in to another writer’s world so I loved the chance to do so as I read posts written by Nina Badzin, Lindsey (A Design So Vast), Lara Anderson (Joy, Lovely Joy), Justine Uhlenbrock (Heirloom Mothering) and Andrea Jarrell.

Do you share your work with your partner or spouse? Does it matter if it’s been published yet? 

Rob reads my blog most days- I think! I don’t usually give him work to proof read although I probably should more often than I do.

How much of your family and/or closest “friends in real life first” read your stuff…let alone give you feedback about it?

My mom and my in-laws read my blog every day. I have a few ‘in-real-life’ friends who read daily as well and I am always so thankful when they talk with me about something I have written. I am also very lucky to have a good friend who read my blog early in the morning and often catches my typos in time for me to fix them before many other people have seen them.

What I find really funny are ‘in-real-life’ people who I talk to and then realize that they read my blog. They will know something that I know I haven’t told them or more obviously, they will reference a post I have written.

What do you do with the pieces that continually get rejected–post on your blog? Trash? When do you know it’s time to let it go?

I am just recently choosing to post rejected pieces on my blog. My goal in writing is always to start a discussion so I’ve  realized there really is no better place than my blog to do just that. I will continue to submit to other places but it is a bit liberating to realize that I can always get my words out to others by posting right here.

Are there pieces you write for one very specific place that, once rejected, you just let go of, or do you rework into something else?

See above.

What is your main source of reading-based inspiration (especially you essayists)? Blogs? Magazines? Journals? Anthologies? Book of essays by one writer?

I like to think that I read a lot of magazines and essay anthologies but truth be told, most of my non-fiction reading is on blogs. I read a ton of books but they are almost always fiction.

What tends to spark ideas more for you: what you see/hear in daily life or what you read?

I would say my ideas come pretty equally from the real world and from what I read both on and off line.

Who have you read in the past year or two that you feel is completely brilliant but so underappreciated?

Hmm… I’m afraid nothing is coming to me for this one…

Without listing anything written by Dani Shapiro, Anne Lamott, Lee Gutkind, or Natalie Goldberg, what craft books are “must haves”?

Other than the authors listed above, my favorite writing book is Lisa Garrigues’ Writing Motherhood. I participated in writing workshops with Lisa years ago and so loved my time with her.

Have you ever regretted having something published? Was it because of the content or the actual writing style/syntax?

I don’t tend to re-read my writing very often and I’m glad. I’m quite sure there would be some things I wished I hadn’t shared quite so publicly but I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.

Thank you Kristen for giving me the chance to think about my own writing process and to learn about the writing world of others….