October 13, 2014

September Author Interview Answer #4: How supportive is your family and friends in your writing career?

Hello everyone, I hope you have enjoyed reading the third post in this interview series. This is the continuation of the interview with author Debby G. Kaye and Linda Gray Sexton. Please check their bios out via the links you can see below.

Let’s check out the answers for question #3 from them.

“How supportive is your family and friends in your writing career? ”

Author #1 D. G. Kaye

A writer’s life is complex. Much of the time, we live in our heads. I don’t feel that many of the people in my life really understand the life of a writer; all the time and seclusion involved. With saying this, I do have two of my closest friends that cheer me on and don’t give me a hard time for the lack of my presence in their lives. My husband is wonderful. He lets me be and doesn’t approach me when he sees me at the keyboard or with pen and paper at hand. He doesn’t quite understand all that I do, but he supports me, applauds me and loves me, so I am truly blessed. Others in my life have no conception what is involved to be a full-time writer and can’t get past regarding it as a past time or a hobby.

Author #2 Linda Sexton
Moderately.  My sister says, “I wish you could find something that would make you happy.”  My father wasn’t too keen, either.  My mother said before her death, “Never be a writer.  I will follow you around like an old gray ghost.”  So I guess I can’t say my family was supportive.  Friends are supportive, mostly, though some don’t buy my books, which I find odd.  I’d say the people who are the most supportive are my husband, my ex-husband, my readers and my friends who are writers.
I can’t thank you both enough for sharing your opinions genuinely. I can understand that the support from family members and friends can be a little disappointing when it comes to writing memoirs. This can be a bit different from the support fiction writers receive from their families and friends. Keep up the good work and we all admire your courage!
I’ll be posting the answers to the fifth question next: “Writing memoirs can be very liberating. Tell us how you felt when you managed to complete a book?”
Share your thoughts and views below.

17 thoughts on “September Author Interview Answer #4: How supportive is your family and friends in your writing career?”

  1. October 13, 2014 at 10:30 pm
    D.G.Kaye

    Thanks again Jas for sharing this interview! 🙂 It was a pleasure.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. October 13, 2014 at 11:46 pm
    mandy

    I enjoyed this interview question. I have one very supportive person–my husband. Other than that I’ve heard, “are you about done with your writing?”, “when will you get back to having fun?”, etc… I suppose if I were J K Rowling it would be a different story. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • October 13, 2014 at 11:51 pm
      Jassie

      Thanks for the comment, Mandy. I guess people don’t really like writers staying too long in front of computers. If only they were supportive, it will be easier to understand why we write

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • October 14, 2014 at 12:03 am
        mandy

        Sitting in front of a computer or with pen in hand for hours seems to be a mystery to those who don’t write, Jassie. But lack of support is invalidating to me as a writer. Maybe it’s the T-shirt I wear “Careful What You Say Or You Could End Up In My Novel”. Lol 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      • October 14, 2014 at 12:07 am
        Jassie

        Lol! Now I see why they hesitate to support to writing. Lol But yeah, at least, if they don’t support, they could just leave us alone

        Liked by 1 person

    • November 7, 2014 at 1:36 am
      D.G.Kaye

      It’s great you have support Mandy. My husband also supports my work. It’s a huge relief that they understand our sometimes lack of attention to them when we are engrossed in our work. If we are true writers, we are never done with our work, we don’t get to retire! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. October 14, 2014 at 8:40 am
    theowllady

    Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.

    Like

    Reply
  4. October 14, 2014 at 11:17 pm
    Memoir writing, interview with D.G. Kaye and Linda Gray Sexton, International Book Promotion

    […] September Author Interview Answer #4: How supportive is your family and friends in your writing care…. […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. October 15, 2014 at 9:29 pm
    Carol Balawyder

    I enjoyed this series – both writers were insightful, interesting and motivating. 🙂 I tend to write fiction but I found that I could relate to what D.G. Kaye and Linda Gray Sexton had to say. Our genres might be different but the issues around these interviews were similar.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  6. October 18, 2014 at 4:37 pm
    September Author Interview Answer #5: How do you felt when you managed to complete a book? | International Book Promotion

    […] everyone, I hope you have enjoyed reading the forth post in this interview series. This is the continuation of the interview with author Debby G. Kaye and […]

    Like

    Reply
  7. October 19, 2014 at 11:20 am
    LaTanya Davis

    In the last few months, my family have become even more supportive of my writing. When I first started writing my memoir, I think just they saw it as a hobby, but now that I am still writing, they’re starting to ask, “How’s the book coming?” As to friends, I only have a couple that still ask me about the book. This may be because writing is a process, a process that’s taking a lot longer than I initially anticipated. Not understanding how long it takes to write and develop a book, I think they grew weary of waiting.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • October 19, 2014 at 5:16 pm
      Jassie

      I do not really think that people in my life know what I’m writing or what my passion is but I strongly believe that once a book is published, people will learn the truth behind it and getting approval will be easier.

      Like

      Reply
    • November 7, 2014 at 10:27 am
      D.G.Kaye

      LaTanya, let me tell you . .nobody can understand a writer better than another writer. 🙂 I’ve learned not to talk about my books to the people in my everyday life. Quite frankly other than a small handful of friends, majority of my circles don’t even read books! 🙂 We write for ourselves first and make sure it contains words that will resonate with readers. Readers being the operative word! 🙂

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