C+B: Tell us about yourself, Addy!
ARM: I come from a family of writers. My grandmother, my mom, my aunt, and two young cousins are all writers. I earn a living as a professional editor, working mostly in nursing and health sciences for publishers. Editing others' work and helping bring digital and print books to market doesn't leave a lot of intellectual energy for my own work, but I'm fortunate to be friends with many talented writers who support me and cheer me on. In my spare time, I enjoy walking Homer, a gregarious golden-hound-shepherd mutt, and traveling with my beloved.
C+B: What well-known piece/work would you use to describe yourself ?
ARM: Mary-ffing-Poppins. I grew up the eldest (and only) daughter of a parent who was a high functioning alcoholic. IYKYK.
C+B: How do you deal with ebbs and flows in creativity, the highs of a finished piece, the lows of writer's block?
ARM: LOL dissociation? Lately I've been trying to say "yes" or "yes and" more often to opportunities to be with other writers or to be intentional about putting my a** in the chair and writing. Just yesterday, a writer friend texted some of us asking if we'd be interested in participating in a silent write-in over Zoom the day after Thanksgiving. Sounds great to me!
C+B: What impact do you hope your work has, whether on you, the audience, the world?
ARM: I hope my writing makes others feel less alone.
Find and support Addy here:
IG: @addymac23
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: Painting. I can't even draw stick people. My father's mother and grandmother were incredible artists. I have my paternal grandmother's blue eyes and curly hair, but somehow I didn't get the painting gene.
Lately I’ve been drawn to the work of: Jaki Shelton Green, current NC Poet Laureate, and Joy Harjo, former US Poet Laureate. The way each of them articulates family, otherness, oppression, survival, flourishing, conversations with the ancestors, life itself, is singular and extraordinary. My friend Daniel Nathan Terry is writing at a really high level these days - fabulous, fierce work - and I love seeing people's response to his writing.
