Member Spotlight: Miriam Nehama Landis

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing and reading are the closest things we have to mental telepathy, and both make me show up and be present in a way that’s hard in many other day-to-day activities. My husband is a doctor, so I’m not under the illusion that artists save the world, but I believe that empathy and connection are critical to a functioning society and empathy is a direct outgrowth of reading and writing. Art also gives joy, and happy people are kinder and more generous.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? When I can’t write, I don’t. When I have writer’s block, I take it as my body and mind telling me it isn’t time yet. So I’ll go away and get busy with other things and let my subconscious mind marinate. I can feel when it’s time to get back to it; by then, I’m ready with renewed energy. Being creative is a difficult thing to force.

What is your favorite time to write? My favorite time to write is whenever I can find a peaceful, quiet moment, which is rare with four young kids in the house. Early mornings are a good time for my brain if they sleep in, and I can wake up.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? My friend, the author Lee Kravetz, says you must put on your shoes and treat writing like a job and not a hobby if you are serious about it. If you don’t take yourself seriously, no one else will.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I love that there are so many different paths and opportunities for diverse authors available now. There is more transparency about the way publishing works.

Miriam Landis’s Lauren in the Limelight is out now with Rhododendron Press.