For this installment of “20 Questions and a Selfie,” we catch up with Jodi (J.A) Wright, promoter and producer for an event and festival staging company by day, writer by night, recovering addict all the time.
J.A. literally wrote the book on How to Grow an Addict, which is receiving critical acclaim and coverage around the world. On April 11, it won bronze in the Literary Fiction category at the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, J.A. has been crafting this novel since she stopped using drugs and alcohol in 1985. Five years later, she and her young family moved to New Zealand, where she continues to write about her story of addiction and recovery.
You can connect with J.A. on Twitter @jawright8 and at www.jawright.net.
Our 20 questions with J.A. start now:
1) What is your full name?
Jodi (J.A) Wright
2) What is your professional job title?
Promoter/Producer
3) Describe your organization.
I own and operate an event and festival staging company. When I’m not producing shows, I write.
4) Describe your surroundings right now.
White couch, birds singing, cat sleeping, dryer going, empty coffee cup, 17 emails calling me, 4 jellybeans left
5) What was your first paid writing gig?
An essay about quitting smoking
6) What was the last thing you wrote?
Today I wrote: to start – to seek – to speak – to scream- to cry – to blame – to rid ourselves of despair
7) What is the next thing you plan to write?
I’m planning to re-write the last thing I wrote
8) Finish this sentence: The ideal way to start my day is …
A request for help and a word of thanks. Coffee, toast and an hour of peace.
9) Besides your computer, what is sitting on your desk right now?
A lamp, a wallet and a to-do list that has way too many things on it and 4 jellybeans
10) So-called writer’s block is no match for you! What is your antidote?
Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs usually gets me moving. If not, watching the news will get me motivated.
11) Finish this sentence: I hate it when I read …
that it’s 2015 and most women are still doing more and making less than men.
12) What are the most important tools, programs and systems you use for your work?
a process journal, note pad in my car and on my phone, Grammerly and people who let me know when I’m off base.
13) First book that comes to mind? Go!
14) What are your favorite Internet/mobile apps and why?
iTunes, Endomondo, Dropbox, Huff Post, podcasts, NPR
15) What have you always wanted to write?
a great song
16) What is your advice for aspiring professional writers?
Try not to pay attention to what they think of you. It’s your business to think well of you, not theirs.
17) First famous writer who comes to mind? Go!
18) Finish this sentence: My favorite thing about being a writer is …
I can live where I want with who I want, do what I want when I want and leave anytime (all in my head of course).
19) Pencil versus pen—who wins and why?
pencil – so many more shades available
20) Finish this sentence: One word or phrase people will never read in my writing is …
Ocean fishing is fun
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