The process of writing can be joyful, freeing, and most importantly, nourishing to the soul. But when you become a parent, everything changes. The love for writing does not waiver, but the time to dedicate to your writing does.
Joining today’s conversation on shaping a life around writing is author Nancy McCabe, a single mother and accomplished professor who has published six (soon to be seven!) works. Like many of us, she grew up loving to tell and read stories, but she never thought it was possible to make a career out of writing.
As a parent with a demanding job and intrinsic desire to write, Nancy has had to intentionally carve out time to write her numerous nonfiction and fiction books. She found fun ways to integrate her love of writing into motherhood, such as having her daughter come along on book signing and reading events. By allowing her daughter to be part of her writing journey, as opposed to keeping them separate, Nancy was able to find a balance that worked and inspired her writing.
Erin speaks to Nancy about her writing projects, the writing process, and important female authors. They also discuss how many big budget films and television shows miss the mark on capturing the spirit of a novel’s story, and they touch on the lack of diversity in classic children’s books.
Tune in for all this and more — including a ton of book recommendations for you and the kids!
Topics discussed in this episode
- Nancy’s writing journey
- Learning to love teaching
- Shaping a life around writing
- Deciding to be a single parent through adoption
- Balancing parenthood and writing
- Folding our kids into our writing lives
- Rereading children’s books from an adult perspective
- Nancy’s book, Little Houses to Little Women: Revisiting a Literary Childhood
- Female authors and characters who love to write
- Betsy Tacy, one of Nancy’s favorite book series
- Joe’s new ending in the Little Women film
- Embracing the messy first draft as part of the writing process
- Erin details her current WIP fantasy book
- The joy of writing
- Advice on revision techniques and feedback
- Missing the mark from book to screen
About Nancy
Nancy McCabe is the author of seven books and a Pushcart winner, who directs the creative and professional writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and teaches in the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University.
She became a single parent by choice when she adopted her daughter from China in 1999, writing two memoirs about China adoption and homeland travel while her daughter was growing up and dragging her along on many research trips and book tours.
Get her books
- Can This Marriage Be Saved? A Memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/Can-This-Marriage-Be-Saved-ebook/dp/B08BG78Z8L/ - Following Disasters: A Novel:
https://smile.amazon.com/Following-Disasters-Nancy-McCabe/dp/1944853030/ - From Little Houses to Little Women: Revisiting a Literary Childhood:
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Houses-Women-Revisiting-Childhood-ebook/dp/B00P43ZOMW/ - Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge: A Journey to My Daughter’s Birthplace in China:
https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Blue-Willow-Bridge-Birthplace/dp/082621942X/ - Meeting Sophie: A Memoir of Adoption:
https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Sophie-Adoption-Nancy-McCabe/dp/0826214959/ - After the Flashlight Man: A Memoir of Awakening:
https://www.amazon.com/After-Flashlight-Man-Nancy-McCabe/dp/1557532583/ - Vaulting through Time (forthcoming):
https://www.amazon.com/Nancy-McCabe/e/B001K8OBBA
Connect with Nancy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.mccabe.92
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancygmccabe
- Website: https://www.nancymccabe.net/
Books discussed during the show
- Betsy Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace
- Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners List
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
- Author and Poet Gloria Whelan
Free your creative self too
Download your free copy of my guide, 5 Steps to Help You Start Writing Today, at https://parentswhowrite.com/5-steps-start-writing.
Let’s connect via my Facebook group, Parents Who Write, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite.
