Tag Archives: Mariah Wilson

Mariah E. Wilson and the writing life will complete this month’s Three by Five interview.

VAH: Are you a full time writer?

MEW: I’m working my way toward being a full time writer. Currently I have three school aged children, so they do take up a lot of my time. My husband works full time out of the house and I have the immense luxury of being a stay at home mom. If I wasn’t writing, I’d be a stay at home mom that doesn’t write.

VAH: When the page is blank what gets you writing?

MEW: Songs. Sometimes songs can inspire me to get the juices flowing. But often, if I find myself stuck with my fiction, I switch to poetry (or the other way around) and the change is usually enough to get my brain into gear.

VAH: What is your “process” when working on a new piece of writing?

MEW: When I have a new idea I’m consumed by it. I’ll sit down and make a few notes, but then I dive right in and start writing it. And I keep going until I can’t. Then I toss it aside for a while, in some cases years, and I rewrite it. Sometimes it take a rewrite or two or four but eventually I get a good handle on what it is I’m really trying to say.

VAH: What does your typical writing day include?

MEW: My typical writing day involves coffee. I like to get up before the kids and have some quiet time, though it’s not necessary, I can write in any situation almost. I get up, I make a coffee, I check my social media while I wake up, then I open my word processor and try to get a good thirty minutes in. Like I said, I’m a stay at home mom so my writing comes in fits and starts all day long whether or not my kids are at home. If they’re not here, as soon as I drop them off at school I try to get another two hours of writing and writing related activities in before I have to come back to the real world and do things like cook and clean. Once the kids are in bed I can usually sneak in another thirty minutes to an hour of writing.

VAH: What words of wisdom do you have for the emerging writer?

MEW: Finish what you start. This is the number one most important thing you will learn how to do. Finishing projects not only gives you a sense of accomplishment, which is important any writer, but it also give you something to revise and edit. Which brings me to my second bit of advice. Don’t edit it until you’ve finished it. If you want to change something, make a note and do it after you’ve got the story down. You can fix anything except a blank page.

VAH: Mariah thanks for taking part in the Three by Five Interview Series.

 

Mariah Wilson Sampler:

The Echo Remains in the 2014 Best New Poem Contest

Sinkholes of Emptiness in GERM Magazine

Talking to Strangers in The Literati Quarterly

Saudade in The Steel Chisel

Kummerspeck and Retired Jesus in The Lake

Jellybean Jealousy in Walking is Still Honest

Connecting….in Luciferous

Mariah Wilson Social Media: Twitter  Facebook  Tsu  Website  Blog  Wattpad

Mariah E. Wilson’s contemporary romance, The Demon in Him will be released in 2015.

Harley Black is trapped in an impossible situation. Caught between love and family, between dreams and duty, Harley will have to decide if she’s willing to risk everything, including her father’s freedom, for the man she loves.

Mariah E. Wilson is a writer from beautiful British Columbia. She has been published in Thin Air Magazine, Every Day Poets, The Kitchen Poet, Literary Orphans and The Corner Club Press, for which she is also now the Poetry Editor. Her first poetry collection, We Walk Alone, was published by Writers AMuse Me Publishing. Her debut novel, The Demon in Him will be released in 2015.

Return next month on days that end in three for more featured authors and emerging writers.

Next month: Canadian poet Carol A. Stephen.

VAH: Mariah, who is your favorite literary character?

MW: Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. I love her because she feels things deeply and because she’s strong and resilient.

VAH: What about a favorite author?

MW: Dean Koontz. I grew up watching my mom devour his books. It wasn’t until I was eleven years old that she finally let me read one. She selected The Voice in the Night and I’ve been hooked ever since. I haven’t read all of his books, but I have read a great many. He truly is the master of suspense.

VAH: Imagine you’re stranded in a snowstorm, stuck on a deserted island. What books would you hope to have with you or find?

MW: I would have Anne of Green Gables with me. I’ve read this book so many times it really is like an old friend. I would also have The Count of Monte Cristo because it’s another one of my favorites. I would also like to have an empty notebook with me. I really can’t live without at least one empty notebook.

VAH: What is the most memorable book, story or poem you’ve read? How so?

MW: The most memorable book I ever read is They Cage The Animals at Night by Jennings Michael Burch. It’s the true story of a boy who spends several years being bounced in and out of foster care. He goes through a lot and it’s really hard to read sometimes. It was the first book that made me cry.

VAH: Do you have a favorite book, poem, or story?

MH: My favorite poem is Just Think by Robert Service. I grew up reading him.

And I simply can’t choose just one favorite book. I’d have to give you a top ten list.

VAH: What author or books keep you up at night because you can’t put them down?

MW: Dean Koontz will keep me up late into the night, but so will any really good book. Most recently it was Penelope Douglas and her book Rival.

VAH: Which reader are you – always finish what you started or put it down and move on if you don’t like it?

MW: I used to be a finish what you start reader. But life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy. So now I don’t finish books I can’t get into.

Mariah Wilson Sampler:

Jellybean Jealousy in Walking is Still Honest

Connecting….in Luciferous

Mariah Wilson Social Media: Twitter  Facebook  Tsu  Website  Blog  Wattpad

More with Mariah Wilson this month on days that end in three!

For May, Three by Five will be talking with poet and emerging novelist Mariah Wilson.

VAH: Mariah – So the first and my favorite question is why do you write?

MW:  I write because I have to. That’s the easy answer. I write because I feel that it’s the only thing I was ever any good at. It’s the only thing I ever imagined myself doing. I love it. It’s something that I can do myself, but there’s a really great community out there, and I love that too. I write because I want to connect to people. I want them to read my stuff and know exactly what I was feeling when I wrote it, because they felt it too.

VAH: Why did you become a writer and when did you know or feel like you were a writer?

MW: I became a writer because really, I could be nothing else. Sure, yes, for the sake of argument I could have been anything I wanted. An architect. A researcher. A marine biologist. Pretty much any career that doesn’t involve advanced mathematics, I could do. But I want to be a writer. I didn’t feel like I was a writer until my late twenties. Until then writing was a hobby, a passion yes, but it wasn’t anything I took seriously. That changed in mid-2012. I decided that I would make this my career. It’s been a long learning process, and I’ve taken many, many baby steps, but I’m a lot farther along this road than I used to be.

VAH: How about influences? What or who impacted your development as a writer?

MW: My writer friends. I have some great writing companions. Some I know in real life, others I only know online. Like Amber Skye Forbes and my writing guru, Mary Cote Walkden. Both of these ladies have taught me so much. I’ve learned a lot about the business and the craft from both of them. They’ve been invaluable to me.

VAH: What do you remember about your first story or poem?

MW: My first poem was written in grade four. This was when I discovered that I wanted to be an author when I grew up. We had to write a poem and I wrote one about a nun who failed at being a nun so she went to the bar. Somehow she ended up running into Al Capone. Obviously I was a strange 10 year old. I sadly don’t have the poem anymore, but I remember the opening lines.

Sister Mary was not a nun by far

So she took her sorrows to the bar.

VAH: HA! That is such an interesting opening! I’d love to know the rest if it ever resurfaces. What is the favorite piece you’ve written to date?

MW: I have so many poems that I absolutely love, but one of my favorites was published by Germ Magazine under the title Sinkholes of Emptiness. As for fiction, the book I’m working on now, There is Still Light. I’m absolutely in love with this story.

Mariah Wilson Sampler:

Jellybean Jealousy in Walking is Still Honest

Connecting….in Luciferous

Mariah Wilson Social Media: Twitter  Facebook  Tsu  Website  Blog  Wattpad

 

More with Mariah Wilson this month on days that end in three!