Member Spotlight: Christine Rochelle Kendall

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing is one of the ways in which I answer questions about the world. Questions I may have been struggling with either consciously or subconsciously surrounding universal issues like identity and purpose. Writing is an important medium because of its potential to inspire and teach as well as to entertain.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Immersing oneself in the creative arts–music, literature, paintings–can help break the wall between reality and the fictive world. When I feel stuck I listen to music, mainly jazz, or read the work of other writers.

What is your favorite time to write? I don’t have a favorite time to write. I can write anytime day or night.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? We are all unique and we all have something to say. Tell the stories that only you can tell.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I am most excited about the opportunities for writers from all backgrounds to tell their stories in their own voices.

Christine Kendall’s The True Definition of Neva Beane is out now with Scholastic.