NAWW WEEKLY ISSN 1534-3693 * Circulation Over 11,000 February 9, 2005
Getting To Know Your Network - Member Interview
This week: MICHELLE DUNN
Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: When I was 9.
Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?
A: I wrote stories and poems my whole life. I published my first book, which was an e-book in 2000. I published my first paperback in 2003, How to Make Money Collecting Money - Starting a Collection Agency. I am publishing 3 books in this series and will have the boxed set for sale on my Web site www.michelledunn.com by the end of the year. I wrote Starting a Collection Agency because I was featured in Ladies Home Journal and the amount of phone calls, emails and letters I received asking how to start an agency was overwhelming. So I wrote this book to help everyone who was asking how to do it.
Q: What's the most important lesson you've learned so far in your writing career?
A: Even though I am publishing my third book I feel like I am just starting my writing career. I was running my collection agency and writing was just a hobby. It takes a lot of hard work, time and attention. Writing your book is only part of it; you then have to self-publish or submit your manuscript. Then you have a whole new job - marketing!
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I am publishing my third book, "Become the Squeaky Wheel, A Credit and Collections Guide for Everyone," and a book of short stories. I have the final book for the boxed set to publish after more editing. I am also writing a book on book and Web site promotion, and my life story.
Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your writing life in a positive way.
A: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jackie Collins, Dan Poynter, Carolyn See, Paul & Sarah Edwards, Ann Rule, Jay Conrad Levinson.
And books I can't live without:
- The Self Publishing Manual, Dan Poynter
- 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, John Kremer
- Anything by Jay Conrad Levinson
- The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle
- Yes, You Can!, Sam Deep - Lyle Sussman
- Anything new that comes out by Jackie Collins
Q: What have you recently read or what are you reading right now that you would consider an outstanding work?
A: "Yesterday I Cried, Celebrating the Lessons of Living and Loving" by Iyanla Vanzanti.
Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: True stories of triumph or biographies of people who made it on their own. I have read too many biographies and watch so many true stories. "Coal Miner's Daughter" is one of my favorites. When I watch a show like that or read a book about what someone did to make their life better and do what they love, I get very inspired.
Reprinted with permission from National Association of Women Writers, PO Box 700696, San Antonio TX 78270