Reading time: About 2 minutes
The hard part of writing for Gail Ward Olmsted is not the writing! Instead, it’s all the marketing activities — and she started her working life as a marketer…
Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction full time. A trip to Sedona, Arizona, inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. Three more novels followed before Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband’s, and his wife Mary. Olmsted enjoys writing about quirky, wonderful women in search of a second chance at a happy ever after. She has published 11 books and now has two more on the way. When not writing, she loves being on the water, especially in a kayak. For more on her books, visit her Facebook page or her website.
I was excited to talk to Gail about how she approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
It varies depending on what else is happening, but anywhere from an hour up to five or six.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
I am a good listener and am inspired by the stories I hear every day.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
Opportunities to spend time with friends and family, the need for physical activity like walking, kayaking and water aerobics classes. Listening to music and reading are also important to me.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
I go for a walk, meet a friend for coffee, chat with my husband, or go out in my kayak. If I’m still not in the mood to write, I work on promos, respond to emails, etc. I don’t have daily word count goals or anything like that.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
Remember the Reader. Always.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
I love the first draft stage. Everything is possible, the sky’s the limit, and nothing is off the table.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
I read three books a week on average, and the recent standouts are: The Measure by Nikki Erlick, The Wedding People by Alison Espach, and This Tender Land by William Kent Kruger. I highly recommend all of them.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
A new-to-me author: Joshua Moehling and his series of thrillers featuring a small-town Sheriff’s Deputy. Book one is And There He Kept Her and book two is Where the Dead Sleep. There are four books in the Ben Packard series so far, and I am hoping for more!
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
My own misperception was that the writing is the hard part and everything beyond that is easy. So not true!! The marketing activities, the never-ending seeking of reviews, distribution, setting up the book signings: that’s the hard part, and I’ve been involved in marketing for my entire career.
