 Being a self-published author is doing PR, marketing, being an agent, a writer, everything. Each book is like its own little business. -- Alexis Lawson Q&A with Alexis Lawson |
| Becoming a Writer: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? What inspired that choice? I was sitting in my ninth-grade English course when I had a realization. After studying Shakespeare and being given the assignment to write a poem and perform it in front of the class, I realized I wanted to be a writer. That assignment sparked it all. I told myself I could do this, I’m good at this, and from poetry came fiction. And from those two separate things came poetic prose and from that came HerBlackHand. I dedicate a part of my love for writing to my ninth-grade English teacher, Ms. Gregory. I think I gravitated to Ms. Gregory because she wasn’t as serious as my other teachers had been. She was in her 20s at the time. She wore bright colors, had short blonde hair and wore those long pencil skirts. She was everything that I thought I wanted to be at 14. What is the best writing tip you’ve ever learned? STOP EDITING WHILE YOU WRITE! |  photo courtesy of Alexis Lawson If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? Don’t let people make you believe that you cannot make a life from creatively writing. Journalism and teaching will not be the only ways that you use your degrees. |
| Who are some authors that you admire and why? Nikki Giovanni is the absolute queen of my literary life. Her work is so raw and having been in multiple spaces with her I can say that her words mirror her personality. I want my writing to be that way. Jamaica Kincaid has had my attention and my heart since the moment I read her essay "Girl" in the New York Times. She’s a name that we don’t hear among the greats enough. The way that she tells stories through objects is unlike any other. She makes the worst situation into such beautiful reads. I think that it brings a little humanity to her words because we all want our mess to appear pretty, even when it’s the furthest thing from pretty. Camille Baker, I love how her characters look like me and I don’t have to pretend that I am her character because I am. I understand the inside jokes. I laugh when it’s time to laugh, and sigh when it’s time to sigh. Her writing makes me feel seen as a black woman learning her way in the world. Learning her way in her own life. |  |
The Beauty in My Bare Bones, by Alexis LawsonThe Beauty in My Bare Bones, is a collection of poetry explicitly expressing the feelings that a lot of people have in common but seldom express, such as the recognition of depression, heartbreak, self-discovery, and much more. Bare Bones, tells poetic stories of the life of a young black woman going through the motions of breaking, reflecting, and rebuilding. Though she has been hurt and made some wrong turns, she remains determined, knowing that there is more to her than what she has been through. In these stories, she finds beauty in the skeletons that she's hidden away for so long. If you have breath in your body, you will soon see the beauty in your own "Bare Bones". |  photo courtesy of Alexis Lawson |
When did you know you wanted to publish a book?
I was sitting in my American Literature class my freshman year of college at Appalachian State University when I saw a post on twitter for a pitch fest in Atlanta the following summer and decided that I had four months to compile and edit poems I already had and make new ones. I finished the book in time for the pitch contest and didn’t get accepted but I had done all this work! I couldn’t give up so I looked into how to self-publish the book and I did at the start of my sophomore year.
Have you always wanted to write poetry? What about poetry captures your attention?
Being a poet is a gift that I don’t take credit for. Poetry always came easy for me. I knew I always had a way with words, so when I had an assignment in high school that allowed me to write poetry I knew that it would be fire. I love the way poetry can evoke so many intense emotions in such a short time but leave long lasting emotions. I love that poetry can be sexy without too much exposure and I love how poetry can express our deepest secrets and never let the reader know exactly what I am talking about. Poetry feels like I’m talking in code only to other people who understand but couldn’t possibly.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? What’s something that no one knows about your book?
I like to think that I do. I know that there are certain things that only some people will understand completely. I like that though. I think it contributes to the art. Having so many different interpretations of the same thing. Knowing that no one will interpret things the same way. I think having those things that only some people will understand makes me share it. It’s like little literary inside jokes.
The first and last poems in my book are two of my favorite that I have ever written.
I was sitting in my American Literature class my freshman year of college at Appalachian State University when I saw a post on twitter for a pitch fest in Atlanta the following summer and decided that I had four months to compile and edit poems I already had and make new ones. I finished the book in time for the pitch contest and didn’t get accepted but I had done all this work! I couldn’t give up so I looked into how to self-publish the book and I did at the start of my sophomore year.
Have you always wanted to write poetry? What about poetry captures your attention?
Being a poet is a gift that I don’t take credit for. Poetry always came easy for me. I knew I always had a way with words, so when I had an assignment in high school that allowed me to write poetry I knew that it would be fire. I love the way poetry can evoke so many intense emotions in such a short time but leave long lasting emotions. I love that poetry can be sexy without too much exposure and I love how poetry can express our deepest secrets and never let the reader know exactly what I am talking about. Poetry feels like I’m talking in code only to other people who understand but couldn’t possibly.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? What’s something that no one knows about your book?
I like to think that I do. I know that there are certain things that only some people will understand completely. I like that though. I think it contributes to the art. Having so many different interpretations of the same thing. Knowing that no one will interpret things the same way. I think having those things that only some people will understand makes me share it. It’s like little literary inside jokes.
The first and last poems in my book are two of my favorite that I have ever written.
 |  |
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on another poetry collection, but I am so excited to share that I am finally working on my first full-length novel. It will fall in between the genres YA and Adult because us 20s figuring it out need a space to exist among the genres.
| What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? Stopping. Knowing that nothing will ever satisfy you the way you want. Knowing that there will be times after these pieces are out and even things that never get published that you will still want to change and have to accept that you can’t. What’s in your writing space? I don’t have a designated writing space yet, but it is something that I look forward to cultivating when I move into my next home. I can tell you that no matter where I am writing I always have my Michael Kors makeup back turned into a pencil pouch, my gold plated pentel ink pen with pink gel ink, a notebook that I am struggling to finish, and whatever snacks I have. |  |
 photo courtesy of Alexis Lawson | Alexis Lawson is a poet, storyteller, daydreamer, and author of the poetry collection The Beauty in my Bare Bones (2019). Alexis received her BA in creative writing from Appalachian State University. She aspires to give her readers the key to hundreds of worlds within a lifetime, and to give people who feel forgotten, overlooked, and not included in literature a place to call their own. Alexis intends to break the trauma troupe in literature and reinforce black joy in narratives. She is passionate about crafting stories that inspire others to become the people they read about. Visit her blog and connect with her on social media. Instagram. Her work has been published in Charlotte Observer, Midnight and Indigo, MadameNoire , Business Insider, and is forthcoming in a McGraw Hill textbook. |
#writemore #howtowrite #howtoselfpublish #kdp #amazonkdp #amazonauthor #selfpublishedtips #selfpublsihedjourney #bookstagram #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity #writerfriends #writingtips #selfpublishedbooks #selfpublishedauthors #writingexperience #selfpublsihingexperience #kdptips #kdpexperience #indieauthortips #indieauthor #bookstagram #writingoninstagram #writer #writerlife
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.
This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:
Current Number Of Columns are = 3
Expand Posts Area =
Gap/Space Between Posts = 10px
Blog Post Style = card
Use of custom card colors instead of default colors =
Blog Post Card Background Color = current color
Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color
Blog Post Card Border Color = current color
Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results
