Reading time: About 1 minute
If she doesn’t manage to write on a given day, Lucille Guarino tries not to be too hard on herself. Sometimes, she’ll even give herself a pass, she says.
The author of Elizabeth’s Mountain, and Lunch Tales: Suellen Lucille Guarino lives in Lexington, South Carolina with her husband. Lunch Tales was a Grand Prize winner in A Woman’s Write’s 2023 novel competition, and won first place in the Firebird Books Awards Q1 2025 for relationships and friendships and second place for a contemporary novel. A standalone book, Lunch Tales: Teagan, was released in January of this year and the highly anticipated sequel to Elizabeth’s Mountain, Smoky Blue Sunrise, was released last month. You can visit Lucille on her website.
I was excited to talk to Lucille about how she approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
Depends on the project, but it could be anywhere between two and six hours.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
The first thing in the morning, after a cup of coffee, I put on an old sweater and start writing.
Q, What interferes with your writing?
Family demands.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
I’m not too hard on myself. Sometimes I will give myself a pass, but I’ll usually make it up on other days.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
I write for myself first. If my readers happen to like it too, that’s a wonderful bonus!
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
I enjoy editing and tweaking, the stage where I am fleshing everything out.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
Writing is only the first phase; promoting is the next, and the next, and the next.
