Laura Brown, 1983 Harding graduate and a copy editor for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, recently published her first book “Everything That Makes You Mom: A Bouquet of Memories.” She will be signing copies of her new book outside of the bookstore in the student center on Saturday, March 30 from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.
TB: What gave you the inspiration to write the book?
LB: : “It started with an essay I wrote for a writing workshop I attend every year, The Glen Workshop. My mother died when she was 50, and as I approached 50 myself, memories of her came flooding back and I wanted to do something with them. I started just jotting them down on sticky-notes or in the little notebook that I carry around all the time. I tried to put them into a narrative, and they really wouldn’t submit to that. Probably not coincidentally, around the same time I got on Twitter, and I became fascinated with the limitations and possibilities of what can be conveyed in a single sentence. Lauren Winner, the workshop instructor in 2011, loved the essay. She mentioned me to an editor at Abingdon Press; I had the great good fortune to meet that editor last year at The Glen; and one thing led to another. The book is very much a collaboration between writer and editor.”
TB: Did your classes at Harding prepare you in any way to write this book?
LB: “Dennis Organ’s copy editing class was perhaps the most rigorous class I had during my time there. He taught me to maintain high standards, which I’m sure has influenced my career at the newspaper. In Larry Long’s advanced composition class I learned to revise and to push myself as a writer. All my literature classes taught me to be a better reader. Writing features and columns for The Bison for three years taught me to pay attention to detail and to love listening closely to people and to take great care in shaping and sharing their stories.”
TB: What was the most rewarding thing about writing and publishing a book?
LB: “The moment when I actually held a copy in my hands for the first time was pretty huge. That’s when it became real. When I turned in my manuscript to my editor, that was a huge sense of accomplishment. I think the most rewarding is yet to come, though, and that is hearing stories of where this book goes and how it’s used. The subtitle is ‘A Bouquet of Memories,’ and ‘bouquet’ is the one word I contributed to the title. As I say in the introduction, my words are the ferns and baby’s breath in this bouquet; the words yet to be written will be the blooms.”
TB: What was the biggest challenge you had while writing and publishing this book?
LB: “I had five weeks from contract approval to deadline. I have a full-time job, I traveled out of town for two of those five weekends, and I had some other writing deadlines in that time. So it was a tight turnaround with many intense nights and weekends. I had to be very disciplined while putting it together.”
TB: How does it feel to have the opportunity to come back to your alma mater and speak to classes and have a book signing?
LB: “It’s a very sweet feeling to remember the student I was then and to come back to the place where my writing career started. It’s going to be a great privilege to talk with writing classes. And that campus is beautiful in the spring.”
TB: What would you want to tell Harding students who wish to publish a book someday?
LB: “I don’t know whether I have useful advice about that, because there was so much serendipity and grace involved in the way my book came into being. And the publishing industry is changing so rapidly. If you want to write, keep writing. Read widely and well. You may have to give things up to make time for it. I don’t have a TV.”
TB: What is the best piece of advice that you received while working on the book?
LB: “I can’t point to one piece of advice, but there were many ways that my editor saw potential in what I wrote and reflected the best of me back to myself. Another writer, who has written five books, said from experience, ‘Publication will not change you. You’re still you.’ That was good advice in terms of staying grounded and navigating this public phase of having written a book with grace.”
TB: Do you plan to publish another book? What’s next for you?
LB: “What’s next is getting this book into the world and selling enough copies so that Abingdon will want to do another book with me. I have several ideas for the next project. One is a book about fathers, although it won’t be structured like this one. I’m also writing on the subject of friendship.”
TB: What closing comments do you have for the Harding community?
LB: “To those still there who played a role in my formation, thank you. To students, love one another. Get to know people and let yourself be known. It might require putting away the cell phone more often (and this iPhone addict includes herself in that advice). And if you’re near the student center on Saturday, come say hi and tell me one thing you love about your mother.”
