Gina Sorell

How did you become a writer?

I started writing poems when I was about seven years old. I had a lot of big feelings, and it was a place for me to put them all. That writing grew into performance pieces; monologues, plays, sketch comedy, stand-up, and eventually novel writing. I was an actor for many years, and writing my own material was a way to stay creative and keep performing in between hired gigs.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

My parents had a beauty salon (my dad was a hairdresser), and one of my dad's clients was the highly respected South African writer Isaac Pfaff. He had written over a dozen plays, three novels, and many short stories and radio plays. A lot of his writing centered around human rights and compassion. My dad mentioned that I was also interested in writing, and Mr. Pfaff took it upon himself to read my work and offer feedback. For years he would check-in and follow up on my writing progress. I was barely a teenager, but his interest and encouragement made all the difference. Much later, after many years as an actor, I returned to school, enrolling in UCLA Extensions' Writing Program. There I studied under the wonderful writer Caroline Leavitt, who became my mentor and dear friend. Caroline has advised, read, critiqued, supported, and encouraged me throughout my writing journey. It is no exaggeration to say that I wouldn't be a working writer without her.  

When and where do you write?

I try to write before the rest of my life wakes up, 5:30-7:00 a.m., and then again in the afternoon after doing other freelance work like copywriting and naming. I focus better when my desk is clear. I also like to take a few hours on the weekend to write. Anytime I can get an uninterrupted stretch where no one in my family needs me, you can find me in my home office at my desk overlooking the backyard, with a thermos of coffee in hand.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I'm working on a book about three friends who are all in need of a second chance, professionally and personally. It's been ten years since they were all together, and they reunite in the city where they met twenty years earlier. 

Have you ever suffered from writer's block?

I get stuck. But I don't think of that as writer's block; I just think of it as part of the process. Often I just need to step away from the work and go for a walk. Walking always helps me.

What's the best writing advice you've ever received?

“Don't give up,” and “you're not alone.” At some point, writing feels hard and lonely and scary for everyone—even the most accomplished writers! 

What's your advice to new writers?

Try it all and find your own way. I know writers who can write anywhere: in line at the grocery store, on the subway, on their lunch break from work…and others who need three solid hours to get anything done. The important thing is to write and build a writing practice. Eventually, you'll find what works for you. Just keep at it. And know that while it can feel like everything, it isn't everything. It's words on the page, and there are an infinite number of ways to arrange them—trust that, and be sure to get out and live too, so you have things to write about! 

A graduate with distinction of UCLA Extension Writers' Program, Gina Sorell is the author of Mothers and Other Strangers, a Great Group Reads selection, and a 2017 best book of Refinery 29, and Self Magazine. Her second book, The Wise Women (HarperCollins, 4/5/2022), has been named a most anticipated book of 2022 by Parade Magazine and The Today Show's Read with Jenna Book Club Community. She lives with her family in Toronto, Canada. Visit her at www.ginasorell.com.

Rebecca Sacks

How did you become a writer?

When the poet and essayist Joseph Brodsky was on trial in the Soviet courts for "social parasitism" in 1964, he gave his profession as "poet." According to the translated transcript published in the New York Times, the judge asked, "And who said that you were a poet? Who included you among the ranks of the poets?" Brodsky's reply: "No one. And who included me among the ranks of the human race?" 

 I wish I shared his certainty! I myself struggled to call myself a “writer” for quite a while. I knew I was someone who wrote. But what would make me a writer? Who would make me a writer? Who would include me among the ranks of writers? It turns out, Brodsky was right: a writer makes themselves. I became a writer by writing every day.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Oh gosh, I fear this question because I live in such debt to so many books and teachers that I know I will answer incompletely! I’ll attempt to list books and authors chronologically as I encountered them: Lang’s Fairy Books, D’aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths; the King James Bible; The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil; the Epic of Gilgamesh; Anne Carson; Averno by Louise Glück; Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; The Future of Nostalgia by Svetlana Boym; Orientalism by Edward Said; Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill; A.B. Yehoshua; Mahmoud Darwish; Terrance Hayes; Claudia Rankine; Edward Siken; Homegoing by Yaa Gysasi; The Known World and Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones; Look by Solmaz Sharif; Black Skin, White Masks by Franz Fanon; The Kingdom of Strangers by Elias Khoury; the Talmud, which I am encountering slowly as part of a queer yeshiva; Minor Detail by Adania Shibli; Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd.

The writers who have influenced me as teachers are Michelle Latiolais, Vu Tran, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Danzy Senna, and Amy Gerstler. I’m also grateful to my teachers of Talmud at the “traditionally radical yeshiva,” Svara. 

When and where do you write? 

I’m a morning writer. From the time I get up, I feel that an hourglass has been overturned and my time is running out as the morning slips by. I write at home. My desk is by a window.

What are you working on now? 

I am working on a novel about a love affair unfolding within political ideology.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Shhhh, it can hear you. (Yes. When this happens, I forgive myself and try again the next day.)

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Vu Tran taught me that plot is a character device: it is a way to reveal a character by forcing them to make decisions; this changed the way I write. Michelle Latiolais taught me to build recovery time into my writing, as I give so much of my emotional and physical self to the work; this has allowed me to develop a sustainable writing practice.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Forget the fantasy that you’ll sit down and out of your fingers will pour a story ready for The Paris Review. Embrace the mess, embrace revision. Let the first draft be a story that you tell yourself. Then, lose yourself in the process of editing as that story becomes an act of communication with a reader. You got this. 

Rebecca Sacks is a graduate of the Programs in Writing at the University of California, Irvine. Rebecca, who uses both “she” and “they” pronouns, has been awarded grants, prizes, and fellowships from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and the Mellon-Sawyer Documenting War Seminar Series. A graduate of Dartmouth College, they worked for several years at Vanity Fair before moving to Tel Aviv to pursue an M.A. in Jewish studies. City of a Thousand Gates (HarperCollins, 2021) is her first novel. They live in Los Angeles.

Kellye Garrett

How did you become a writer?

I’ve known I wanted to write books since I was 5 years old but it still was a slow and winding 30-plus year journey to become a published author. Fear played a big role in that. I was on the high school newspaper and studied journalism in undergrad at Florida A&M. Then I spent three years in the field. I left for film school at USC right before print journalism collapsed. I spent 8 years in Hollywood developing TV projects and  working for a season on Cold Case. When my Cold Case contract didn’t get renewed, that’s when I finally decided to just write a book already. It helped that I had the idea for what would become my debut, Hollywood Homicide.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

For writers, I grew up reading and admiring Valerie Wilson Wesley, Walter Mosley, Barbara Neely, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, and Laura Lippman. My favorite all time writing book is Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron. She walks you through the entire process from idea to revisions and has some amazing tips. I re-read it before I start a new project. 

When and where do you write?

I’m not one of those authors who writes every day – at least not putting words on the page. I will think about my book every day though. Since the pandemic especially, sprinting with friends has worked really well for me. We’ll pomodoro so we’ll do 25 minutes with a break. I’ve also started doing Zoom writing sessions with friends as well, which makes it feel more collaborative. It’s like how you’re at work where you spend a few minutes talking with your fave coworker then you both go off and do your own work a bit. You can also help each other brainstorm.

What are you working on now?

My next standalone about a black woman who goes on vacation in the tri-state New York City area. She comes downstairs one day to find her boyfriend gone and a missing white woman dead in her foyer. Like with Like A Sister, it has a very strong social media element.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

When do I not? 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Writing is rewriting. I hate the blank page. It scares me. But I love rewriting. I have to force myself to spew words on the page – I call it the vomit draft – so I can clean it up later.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Celebrate every victory because they can be few and far between. Finished a draft? Celebrate. Sent off your first query? Celebrate. Get an agent offer? Celebrate. Get a R&R from an editor? Celebrate.

Kellye Garrett is the author of the suspense novel Like A Sister (Mulholland Books) about a black woman in New York City looking into the mysterious overdose of her estranged reality star sister. She also wrote the Detective by Day lightweight mysteries, which have won the Anthony, Agatha, Lefty and IPPY awards and been featured on the TODAY show as a Best Summer Read. She serves on Sisters in Crime’s national board and is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color. Learn more at KellyeGarrett.com.