January 2021 Member of the Month, Lisa Churchville. Interview with Laura Engel, SDMWA President
LE: Congratulations Lisa! How did you discover SDMWA?
LC: Through Writer’s Ink, a wonderful organization in San Diego that offers a wide variety of classes for writers to learn anything from how to compose a scene and dialogue, structure a book, start a blog, or write a query letter and get published.
LE: Have you always been a writer?
LC: In second grade, my grandmother gifted me a journal and I was hooked. I wrote a lot of bad poetry as a teen and loved my creative writing classes in college, but once I started law school, the lack of free time took its toll and the creative juices just froze up. It was another decade before I found my way back.
LE: Have writing classes made a big impact on your writing?
LC: Absolutely. Classes not only taught me how to hone my skills, they also gave me the joy of hanging out with other writers. We come from all walks of life and have this one thing in common—a love of storytelling.
LE: Great advice. We’d love to hear about what you are presently writing.
LC: I am currently working on a collection of personal essays about growing up in Iowa where I fished in the Mississippi River, helped my dad make ammo for his shotguns, smoked my first cigarette in the cornfield across the street, and was the only Jewish kid in my elementary school.
LE: You are a winner in the 2020 Memoir Showcase (Congratulations!) Please tell us a little bit about how you chose your scene and what it was like to win a spot in the next Shaking The Tree anthology.
LC: I tend to write about serious subjects like mental health and trauma. But the theme for the showcase this year was “That’s a terrible idea. What time?” This encouraged me to write a more humorous piece. I grew up with a mom who was a health nut—we’re talking carob and juicing long before it was cool—so I wrote about one of her home remedies gone awry.
LE: What are some of your favorite Memoirs?
LC: Educated by Tara Westover, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Untamed by Glennon Doyle
LE: Any advice for new writers?
LC: If a little voice in your head calls you to write, pay attention to that. Carve out even 15 minutes a day to listen to that muse. Find a class or an online group. You will never regret where your writing will take you.
LE: Thank you so much Lisa, more great advice for beginning writers. We appreciate you at SDMWA and are so delighted to have you as our first Member of The Month in 2021!