Member Spotlight: P.A. Tremblay

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? I am compelled to write stories about the people and places I love in rural America. At first, it was in dribs and drabs simply to entertain myself. My niece is a police officer in North Dakota, which captured my imagination, and I created a character and storyline based on her adventures in the line of duty. Then I discovered the character I created was impossible to walk away from. She wanted her story told, and what started as an amusement became an obsession with not only telling the entire tale, but telling it well. In bygone eras, oral storytellers such as my father and grandfather entertained people and kept the history of vanishing communities alive, so it’s an honor and responsibility to continue that tradition of sharing authentic human experiences.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I rarely experience writer’s block anymore. In my early days of writing, I believed thoughts and sentences had to be fully and perfectly formed before I wrote them down. NaNoWriMo helped me move past that prohibition. Now I let it all hang out and edit, edit, edit.

What is your favorite time to write? Anytime I can! But my favorite time to sit down to write is just before dawn as the sky is lightening. With a hot cup of coffee at hand, I feel energized and excited about what my characters will get up to today.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Just write. It’s easy to sit down and dash off a few scintillating lines based on a brilliant idea, but then the going gets tough and many quit. Over time, it gets easier, but a person must keep writing. Even if it’s garbage (and for many of us it is). My second piece of advice is learn to love editing.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I think it’s wonderful that a writer can self-publish even if a big publisher isn’t interested. The ability to present my stories online to millions of people across a variety of forums blows my mind.

P.A. Tremblay’s Perseverance is out now with Tales on the Rocks Publishing.