Member Spotlight: Victoria Houston

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? For me, it’s a window to emotions I would never express out loud but I can explore them through my characters. Less expensive than a shrink? Maybe not. 🙂 For the world, writing is and always has been a ticket to freedom — of thought, of choice, of exploring life.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I have a contract, a legal document. I can’t afford writer’s block. Maybe the work isn’t perfect but, hey, it’s happening.

What is your favorite time to write? Early morning, right after one full pot (4 large cups) of black coffee.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? After trying stories set in locations far from where I grew up in the Wisconsin Northwoods, I had a character show up (to my surprise) on the lake where I was from. The published writer reviewing my story said, “I was going to tell you to go back to school but when the story turned to Wisconsin — it just sparkled. It came alive! And so I would say to other writers, “write what you know, what you know from the inside out.” And I am drawn to books written by people who do that: Eudora Welty, Richard Russo, Isak Dineson.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? Lots of new tech discoveries that I’m able to learn about and use in my work, specifically developments in DNA and tracking people, to name a few.

Victoria Houston’s At the Edge of the Woods is out now with Crooked Lane Books.