All Member Spotlights
Member Spotlights

Member Spotlight: Ellen Prager

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing for me is a vehicle to bring science to a lay audience and make it understandable, relevant, and especially entertaining. I particularly love marrying exciting fiction adventures with science, humor, and relatable characters for middle graders. Not only am I promoting learning about nature and science, but also fostering literacy and a life-long love of reading. And while reading is critical to achievement and success in life, science literacy is, as we are all experiencing, critical to society.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Doing something else! In particular, being physically active in nature–open water swimming, kayaking, hiking, cycling, snorkeling….anything active and outside. Interacting with my readers can also provide great inspiration to get down to writing.

What is your favorite time to write? Morning or late afternoon.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Read, read, read and find your own voice and style.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? The wide range of means to reach and interact with my readers.

Ellen Prager’s Dangerous Earth: What We Wish We Knew about Volcanoes, Hurricanes, Climate Change, Earthquakes, and More is out now with University of Chicago Press.