Welcome back to this fabulously popular series. This week I’m joined by fellow writer and poet Amy J. Markstahler and poet Paul Penn. So let’s jump right in and see which quotes have fired up their inspiration and the impact these have had on their writing and across their lives.
Amy J. Markstahler’s favourite writing quote is:
“I’m not a writer with a drinking problem, I’m a drinker with a writing problem.”
Dorothy Parker
How did the quote get you into writing, help develop your writing style or attitude?
I gave the question a lot of thought, and all I could remember was reading this back in 2013. I was visiting Ireland with my mom, and we were at a beautiful shop that made and sold anything wool. I look up and there’s a magnet that had this quote on it. I laughed so hard, but a pang of jealousy pierced me once again because I so desperately wanted to write. I looked at my mom and said, “I have to have this.” In the spirit of Ireland, I thought the quote fit quite well! Mom’s return look confirmed how crazy she thought I was, even though, she knew all I’d ever wanted to do is write. After we came home, I looked it up to find that it was an American Poet whom I truly admire today. That was May of 2013, and I started writing Life Happens on the Stairs in July of the same year.
What are you writing at the moment/working on?
I am currently in the final edits of Life Happens on the Stairs. I call it LHOTS for short. LHOTS will be released in October of 2018 by Black Rose Writing Publisher, and I couldn’t be more excited! This is a coming-of-age story about a girl faced with her dying father and her mother who desperately needs her help to make ends meet. As they go through the heavy reality of losing the man they love, Elsie falls for a boy who her mom forbids her to see. Elsie gets the warning a bit too late though, and she has to choose between lying to her mom and finding the love of her life. LHOTS is a story that hones in on the complexities of family relationships, loss, wealthy verses poor, North verses South, and what it looks like for a boy to treat a girl like a gentleman should. Another project is a novel about an orphaned teenager forced to live with his uncle who’s the President of a one-percenter biker club. I also have a short story that I’m expanding into a full novel. I write poetry to fill the days when I need to get something written, but don’t necessarily have time to work on the novels. Most of my poetry can be found on my Twitter page.
Social Media Links:
Paul Penn’s favourite writing quote:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
Charles R. Swindoll
How did the quote get you into writing, help develop your writing style or attitude?
When I was around 13 years old my baseball coach gave everyone on my team a framed version of this quote. I’m 37 now and I’m staring at that same framed quote because it’s sitting in my office at work. I’ve kept it with me because I love everything about it and I try to live my life this way. Trust me, I know every day won’t be great but I know if I have a positive attitude, work hard and treat people the right way then success and happiness will follow.
What are you writing at the moment/working on?
I’m always writing something. I used to only write when I was going through a difficult time but 2 years ago I started writing songs and I never stopped. I usually write at night after my daughter goes to bed. I come up with a lot of ideas in my head while I’m driving then I expand on those when I’m writing at night.
I do have a project that I’ve been working on for a while now and I’m almost ready to launch it. I’ll be selling T Shirts and other clothing with my writing on it. My good friend has his own clothing line so I’ve been working with him. I really want it to be different and more than just the shirt so I’ll be throwing in a free necklace with a moon or flower charm. I also designed my own stickers so every shirt will come with one of those. I’m excited about it but it’s a lot of work and I want everything to be perfect.
Social Media Links:
Instagram: @paulyp9
Many thanks to Amy and Paul for joining us this this week and to you, my lovely readers.
And if you would like to appear in this series or have any comments please contact me below.
Until next time, Happy Writing, Happy Reading, Happy You!
Soulla xxx
