As I regain my health and energy, I’m wading back in to the
blogosphere with an author interview. I’ve missed all of you and will slowly catch up with your lovely blogs.
Please join me in welcoming Molly Stevens.
Molly Stevens is an author, blogger, and nurse, as well as a mother, wife, and grandmother. She grew up on a potato farm in northern Maine, and views writing and blogging as her
second act in life. She was among the winners of the 2017
National Society of Newspaper Columnists Writing contest. She also has a great sense of humor, which (thankfully!) she shares on her blog.
Buy Molly’s book HERE
Tell us a little about yourself. I live in eastern Maine near Stephen King’s hometown of Bangor. I grew up in northern Maine on a potato farm where I wore a snowsuit over both my Halloween costume and my Easter dress. I’ve worked as a registered nurse since 1979, which in health care years is a century. I am wife to Patrick, who is shallow like me, so we are a terrific match. And I am the mother of a fabulous son who lives nearby with his incredible wife and two perfect sons. But I’m not proud or prejudice.
What is the title and genre of your latest book? Who published it? Boomer on the Ledge™ is a pictorial humor book about the antics of an aging boomer. Humoroutcasts Press published it, and I took all the photographs for it.
Tell us a little bit about your book. Boomer on the Ledge™ portrays, in a humorous way, some of the challenges people face as they age. I compare the experience of aging to hanging on a ledge, teetering between danger and adventure. Through the antics of a little doll I remind readers that aging can be fun. And we don’t have to be grim while we wait for the reaper.
What inspired you to write it? I saw my grandsons get excited about a little elf that monitored their behavior leading up to Christmas. I realized no one watches the actions of my generation unless looking for signs of dementia. I had a vintage doll my mother left me, and I started posing her in comical scenarios, and it made me laugh. That motivated me to design a new doll that became the focus of the book. She is hilarious and if you don’t believe me, ask her, and she’ll tell you.
What inspires you to write in general? I have always been a voracious reader, gobbling books with almost as much enthusiasm as a platter of nachos. This foundation set the stage for me to become a writer. I am a humor writer, and since laughter helps me through rough patches, my mission is to help others do the same. I also love connecting with my readers and other writers.
When and what did you start writing? I started writing mini-essays on Facebook, and family and friends urged me to start a blog. Once I decided on the name – Shallow Reflections – I published my first post in January 2015 at the age of 61. My tagline is, ‘Wading through life (mostly) laughing.’ Though I write humor, I reserve the right to be solemn or opinionated on occasion. I write weekly essays about a variety of topics – from my love affair with white potatoes to the whacky reasons I live in Maine year round.
What advice would you give a new writer? Think about your focus and the audience you hope to attract, but write for you, and you will find your voice. Read and study other writers. Write quality content with consistency. Be generous supporting other writers and a standout when you comment on their blogs – you will make some fabulous friends. Limit social media to protect your writing time. Use a thesaurus. Be attentive to grammar and become a ruthless editor – less is more. Don’t forget to glance up from the computer to live so that you can gather new material for your writing.
What is a fun fact about you? I sang back up for Foreigner when I was 59 years old. The band performed at a fundraising event in mid-coast, Maine and needed a choral group for the song “I want to Know What Love Is.” They usually invite a high school chorus but because there was an open bar, they had to resort to adults. So the community group I sang with had the chance to do it. You can see it on YouTube and I’m the one dancing like Elaine Benes from Seinfeld. Because, you know – open bar.
Where and what time of day do you like to write? Why? I can write anywhere and often do with devices and notebooks scattered from one end of my house to the other. But this writing involves jotting down rough ideas and notes for later development. My real work takes place in my office typing on an iMac. I am a morning person, so while I can write after noon if I have to, I’m not as productive.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing? Any hobbies? I love to spend time with family. I am involved in a local church and take part in the choir. I started singing lessons in my 40’s, developing an affinity for classical, sacred, and contemporary choral music, and have sung in several groups. I am a fan of British and Australian television, but can watch reruns of Frazier and the Gilmore Girls ad infinitum. I adore reading. And I’ve made snacking an Olympic sport, scoring a gold medal in the nacho competition.
Blurb from Boomer on the Ledge
Do you believe aging is grim? Molly Stevens observed her grandsons discovering Christmas magic with an elf who monitored their behavior and reported it to Santa. As invasive as that seemed, she realized no one watches folks in her age group unless scanning for signs of dementia. She felt invisible. So she created a little doll whose daily surprises reminded her how being a boomer is both harrowing and hilarious. From the mundane to the sublime, Boomer on the Ledge™ can transform grim into grins while you explore the antics of an aging boomer.
focus of your blog?
main story plotted out and the main cast designed before I even start. This helps me maintain continuity and stay on target with foreshadowing. Sure, I typically had to rewrite the next outline after I finished a book, but the major plot points remained intact. That right there shows that I’m not 100% planner, which I think is the norm. We gravitate more toward one than the other, but there’s at least a spark of the opposite in our work. As much as I plan stuff out, outlines rarely survive the first draft process. I merge, add, and erase sections while characters refuse to go along with some ideas. You have to learn how to roll with this because a natural flow is better than forcing stuff.
didn’t work well for
passionate about something that isn’t writing and then get passionate about the story, the two can cross wires without realizing it. The best example from me involves Fizzle the Drite (a small dragon with dragonfly wings) coming across a homeless child in the sewers. He’s a character who has always been in the wild where orphaned animals are either left to die or adopted by another animal. Fizzle would even step in to raise the kids, but his understanding was that it was the wilderness. To him, cities were supposed to be different and seeing the abandonment of a small child confuses him to the point where he thinks it’s plain wrong. He asks questions about why people let it happen, which I realized came from me because it’s something I personally don’t understand. So, a character and story can end up being a voice for the author to vent confusion and frustration about a social situation.
attention to evil while good is dancing around in the background asking for even a half-hearted clap. Call me naïve and foolish *waits for the shouting to stop*, but I don’t like escaping reality to read about a world that comes off just as stressful and unbalanced as our own. Yeah, I’m getting very close to social commentary, but my point is that this led to my personal goal for writing. It’s to entertain and give people an adventure that will help them forget the world for a while. Making a point is nice and can make a story stronger, but I really find myself more interested in using my stories to make a reader shed some of their stress. It could even be hope. If these fictional characters can prove that good conquers evil then why can’t the flesh and blood citizens of our world not to do the same?
TINA FRISCO 
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