World of Writing - Author Interview
Yet another memoir author joins us today to share their story in the realm of writing. As a licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of California (US), Caitlin Billings specializes in deep trauma therapy, is pursuing EMDR Therapy certification, and owns her own private practice.
Despite involuntary hospitalizations and an initial refusal to accept her bipolar diagnosis, Caitlin reclaimed her life and sanity, successfully establishing herself as a professional and a supportive mother to her gender-fluid elder child.
Caitlin invites our readers to drop by her website or join her on FaceBook.
*A note of gratitude goes out to Erin Nicole Conti (of PRByTheBook.com) for connecting us with todays guest.
Q: Why don't we start by having you tell us something about yourself?
A: I would describe myself as: hard-working, committed, kind, empathic, realistic, imaginative, deep, creative. I can be: impatient, cranky, exhausted. Spend time seeking balance and can be reflective, passionate... often caffeinated and a Nap Champion.
Q: That was a great description of yourself - very humorous :). What are your greatest obstacles and motivators when it comes to writing?
A: The best motivator I have found is accountability to a writing community. In order to generate material for my memoir, I worked with a small, committed group of writers for several years. I can’t wait to start my next book for the sheer creative joy of sharing my novel and learning that of other writers.
My greatest hindrances are ego and perfectionism. I learned a lot about checking my ego through writing and publishing my memoir. I also understand a great deal more about perfectionism because self-acceptance is one theme of my book. The hardest part of writing is forcing myself to sit in one place and do it; even when the prose stinks. Even my digits feel like they are full of wet concrete.
What motivates me to park myself in front of the computer every morning is the high that comes with getting caught up in the flow, when I don’t have to think or pause or hover my fingers over the keyboard, lost for the right word.
Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: When I was seven years old, I wrote a book called “The Real Barbie Doll.” My best friend illustrated the cover. I don’t know if that was the first time I realized I wanted to be a writer. I don’t know if there was one first or a series of them. My mom was a university undergrad when I was seven or eight years old. One evening, I asked to read a story she had written on her electric typewriter. The only word I remember now is “crotch”. It made me giggle, but I also felt curious and like I had earned an adult privilege that was outside of the picture books we checked out from the library every weekend. Of course, I enjoyed the slick, colored pages, but I read chapter books, too. The same year I read the word “crotch” in my mom’s college assignment, I read Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. I also read The Diary of Anne Frank and became obsessed with the Holocaust. Somewhere along the continuum of Barbie dolls that came to life, the embarrassing squirm I felt reading the word crotch, and a foray into the world of Neanderthals and Hitler’s Final Solution, I figured out I wanted to be a writer.
Q: What do you do when you are not writing?
Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: When I was seven years old, I wrote a book called “The Real Barbie Doll.” My best friend illustrated the cover. I don’t know if that was the first time I realized I wanted to be a writer. I don’t know if there was one first or a series of them. My mom was a university undergrad when I was seven or eight years old. One evening, I asked to read a story she had written on her electric typewriter. The only word I remember now is “crotch”. It made me giggle, but I also felt curious and like I had earned an adult privilege that was outside of the picture books we checked out from the library every weekend. Of course, I enjoyed the slick, colored pages, but I read chapter books, too. The same year I read the word “crotch” in my mom’s college assignment, I read Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. I also read The Diary of Anne Frank and became obsessed with the Holocaust. Somewhere along the continuum of Barbie dolls that came to life, the embarrassing squirm I felt reading the word crotch, and a foray into the world of Neanderthals and Hitler’s Final Solution, I figured out I wanted to be a writer.
Q: What do you do when you are not writing?
A: I love to sleep. Other activities include talking with people about their most traumatic experiences, searching for meaning in the tragic, and listening. When I was a kid, I loved to talk and found it difficult to listen. After three decades of service in behavioural health, I struggle to make small talk at parties and my “Gift of the Blarney” seems to have traded for a therapist’s chair.
Q: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
A: My intention is to set aside time from 8am-10am every morning to write, but the reality looks more like eating breakfast, chatting with husband, seeing teen son off to school, tidying, showering, or yoga. Some days I spend an hour writing, and others I sacrifice writing for procrastinating or stress-purging (I’ve recently embraced minimalism). My daily writing goal is 1000 words. As for my work schedule, I see clients from 10am to 4pm with a lunch break and some stretching in between.
Q: Did you take any writing classes?
Q: Did you take any writing classes?
A: I took a creative writing class in college. I thought I was a really talented writer until I joined a writing group and through trial and error, understood that a knack for putting words together does not a writer make. A few years ago, I thought about getting a degree in creative writing, but I’ve taken out enough student loans in this lifetime. The best writing classes of all were my writing groups. And they were free.
Q: Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
Q: Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
A: I want to be a writer that gets articles published. I would love to learn how to use humour in my writing because I’m tired of taking myself seriously. Writing a bit everyday sounds like a grand enough goal for now.
Q: Did writing this book change your life in any way?
Q: Did writing this book change your life in any way?
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The reality of publishing a book is not the swell of pride I used to feel in the shower, fantasizing about arriving as a writer and maybe getting interviewed on Oprah.
The reality of publishing a book means I still need to eat fibre, I still feel awkward at parties and loathe small talk, and while I’ve learned how to keep house plants alive, I still haven’t learned to knit and I’m terrible at crafts. I feel less important than I used to, and I think that’s a good thing.
* Find Caitlin's book @: Amazon
Q: Are there things you need, or an ambiance you require, to feel comforted and inspired to write?
Q: Are there things you need, or an ambiance you require, to feel comforted and inspired to write?
A: I wrote many years in a small kitchen at an Ikea dining table, drank wine, and tuned out my kids and my spouse while dinner leftovers languished in skillets on the stove. More recently I’ve had ongoing fantasies of writing outside on the deck, overlooking the regional park, but the sun is bright and I’m peri-menopausal, so overheating is a real problem. If I’m inspired to write, I can do it anywhere. The harder truth is that I’m often not inspired and I’m learning that I have to write, anyway.
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Thank you, Caitlin and PR agent Erin, for making this interview something special :)
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