Member Spotlight: Brenda Clark Thomas

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing is important to me because it helps me see what I think. It clarifies. It lets me get things out. I think it’s an important medium to the world because it lets others see things from many different viewpoints. It lets people experience other worlds.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I just sit down and start writing. Eventually, the words come and the story takes off.

What is your favorite time to write? I write in the morning after having my coffee. For me, this is the most fruitful time of day.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? The best piece of writing advice I’ve ever received was to please yourself; you can’t please everyone because half the world is at odds with the other half. Say what you want to say–it’s your unique perspective on the world.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I like that there are self-publishing avenues available. Without it, a lot of wonderful voices wouldn’t be heard.

Brenda Clark Thomas’s The Surrogate is out now.