Member Spotlight: Mona Alvarado Frazier

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing is exploring parts of yourself you keep hidden or questioning those you didn’t ask but wanted to. We work things out in story, imagine outcomes, and fantasize about the what-ifs. Writing is communicating through character emotions and sharing that with readers. Good writing places the reader in the proverbial shoes of the story.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I don’t believe in writer’s block, but I do believe in writer’s procrastination. Any physical activity, especially those done alone, helps stimulate energy to get back to the page. Hikes, walking, and strolling through gardens, hills, or the beach work for me. Keep a notebook with you. Scribble what you see, feel, hear, smell, and soon you want to return to writing.

What is your favorite time to write? Early in the morning, around six, with a cup of coffee.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Writing takes time and persistence. If you really want to write, you’ll make the time and persist through rejection and the challenges.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? The increase in BIPOC writers and the options we have in writing our stories through different publishing paths: traditional, hybrid, indie and self-published and on various platforms.

Mona Alvarado Frazier’s The Garden of Second Chances is out now with SparkPress.