18Q Brette McWhorter Sember

Brette McWhorter Sember

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?

It chose me. I should have known though since really it was what I always wanted to do, but I never had the guts to do it.

2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.)

I have a BA in English and a JD. I was a practicing attorney and left on maternity leave and never went back.

3. When did you ‘know’ you were a writer?

I think that’s something I’ve always known. I used to make books when I was a kid. Writing has always been how I think best and communicate best.

4. How would you describe your style of writing?

I’m very good at explaining things, offering practical suggestions, and taking things apart so that they are more understandable. So, in that sense, I am a self-help writer. But I also have a humorous, playful streak, so I like to do essays and humor pieces.

5. What is your writing process?

Put my butt in the chair and do it. Really, as far as I’m considered there’s no process - it’s just about doing it.

6. What was your path to publication?

I responded to an ad in the state bar journal about a publisher looking for lawyers to write books. 2 years later I was home with a baby and got a call from that publisher and that was my start. Around the same time I also sold an essay to a magazine.

7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?

I have a book that I KNOW would sell like hotcakes in hospital gift shops. I haven’t found a publisher yet, but still toy around with the idea of self-publishing it.

8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer?

Probably that so much of it is not about writing. It’s about running a business, building a platform, making the right connections, and above all else, doing publicity.

9. How do you inspire yourself?

What are your sources of creativity? I don’t really think of it as inspring myself, but more as recharging myself. I can’t sit in front of the computer all day, so spending time with my husband and kids, reading, cooking, and traveling are the things that make me feel like a person.

10. What is your proudest writer moment?

There’s nothing like holding that first published book in your hands. I was also really proud to sell my book Your Plus-Size Pregnancy, which I knew there was a market for but it took years to get anyone to believe me

11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing?

I love Anne Lamott’s advice about taking things bird by bird. I use that analogy all the time with my kids with their school projects!

12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?

Probably when I was doing publicity for The Complete Gay Divorce and my publicist mistakenly booked me on a morning shock jock radio show where they had 2 people pretending to be gay asking me obscene and outrageous questions. I hung up and refused to finish the interview.

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?

The biggest challenge is cash flow. When you primarily write books, you only see money when you get royalty statements or when you get an advance. That’s why I think it is important to supplement with magazine and corporate work.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?

Stop stressing about it and just do it.

15. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun?

Read, read, read. PLay with my kids. Travel, cook, walk, decorate.

16. Who do you like to read?

Lately I’ve been on a chick lit binge reading anything I can get my hands on. When it comes to favorite authors though I’m drawn to mysteries - Robert Parker, Diane Mott Davidson, Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller.

17. What’s your advice for new writers?

Diversify. Get your hand in as many pots as possible. If you limit yourself, you won’t have a lot of options.

18. What are you currently working on?

I’m just finishing up The Essential Supervisor’s Handbook and am about to start a new book for which I don’t have a contract yet, so I don’t want to put it out there quite yet. I’m also doing a magazine article on infertility and preparing for a seminar I am giving at a writer’s conference. Any day I should have page proofs for the second edition of my book Seniors’ Rights.

Brette’s 18Q