June 24, 2025 • 29 mins
Camille Boxhill talks about writing while Black, dating in the age of AI, and attending a writing residency with near puritanical rules.
Camille Boxhill is a writer of Jamaican descent who tells stories about legacy, identity, and the kind of multigenerational ghosts that don’t always stay in the past. Her work weaves the supernatural with the everyday, drawing on Jamaican folklore. She’s enjoyed support and recognition from Iowa Writers’ Workshop Summer Program, Tin House, Yale Writers' Workshop, Renaissance House, and Hurston/Wright Foundation. Camille holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Bristol and is a 2024 South Arts Literary Arts Florida Fellow. Her work appears in What We Are Becoming from Hub City Press, and she’s currently at work on her debut novel.
Follow Camille on Instagram @camilleboxhill.
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Episode Transcript
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Camille (00:00):
I tried dating last fall and I had a really bad date
(00:03):
and he was very obsessed with mybeing a writer in a way that
really made me uncomfortable.
He was always talking about mywriting and I was just like,
Ooh, can we just not?
And during the date he revealedthat he was so concerned with
impressing me because I'm awriter, that he used chat GPT
for all of our textconversations
Meryl (00:24):
Wow.
Hi, am Meryl Branch Mc tiernan.
Ariana (00:32):
Hi,
Meryl (00:32):
I am
Ariana (00:32):
Ariana McLean and you're listening to It's All Write.
Meryl (00:36):
A podcast about writers
Ariana (00:38):
and the writer and the writing life.
On today's episode, we aretalking to Camille Boxhill She
earned her MA over in the UK atthe University of Bristol, and
we met at the Hurston WrightFoundation Writers' Week held at
Howard University.
Today Camille is joining us fromSouthern Florida to chat with us
(00:59):
about her writing life about allthe things she's applied for and
where she's at, working on herdebut novel.
Hi Camille.
Camille (01:07):
Hi.
Thank you so much for having me.
Ariana (01:10):
Camille was a 2024 Florida Fellow of Literary Arts.
Camille (01:14):
Yeah, it's a mouthful.
I can't I don't think I've everreally gotten used to saying it.
So South Arts.
Literary Fellow for the state ofFlorida, So basically South Arts
is an organization focused onvisual and written storytelling
in the southern states and theyselected a fellow from each
state And so I was just gratefulto have that.
Meryl (01:37):
Could you tell us what that entails?
Camille (01:39):
Sometimes it feels like I'm cosplaying as a writer when
I say oh, I'm a writer.
And it's just so where are yourlists?
Where can I read your work?
And I'm like, oh, I'm a writer,but I'm not there yet.
And, but this is, this was oneof the times that I felt like I
actually got to.
Be in that writer world andpeople were like, yeah, you are
a writer.
And so all of the fellows werepublished in an anthology, and
(02:02):
then we went to the MississippiBook Festival.
And that was essentially myfirst writer's appearance.
And we all sat on a panel, whichwas terrifying for me.
and then we did a book signing,which again, just felt like i'm
playing dress up and I'm at atable doing book signings, but
there were people who were thereand asking questions and
(02:22):
interested in my writing and itjust felt weird, but also okay,
this is why I want to do this.
Because people care about whatyou're writing.
Meryl (02:32):
Amazing.
Ariana (02:33):
I feel like Meryl often has these fantasies about, she
has like these fantasies of thiswriter's world where you're like
signing books and going toparties and it seems like you
got a little taste.
Camille (02:44):
Yeah, it was a little taste and I want more of it and
then also I think it's fun.
It's fun going to these placesand seeing authors so I went to
a reading at Prairie Lights inIowa City when I was there for a
summer workshop and Kaveh Akbarwas there and he he facilitated
(03:06):
like a discussion and I ran intohim at the was it Miami Book
Festival, and I was passing andhe was like, oh, hey.
And I had one of those moments.
I was like, oh my God, youremember me?
That's so sweet.
And yeah it's nice to feel likeyou're taking little baby steps
and breaking into this world.
And it is nice to be arecognizable face in a sea of
(03:29):
faces at some of these bookfestivals.
And so that's nice.
Meryl (03:33):
So Ariana mentioned you're working on a novel.
Can you tell us where you arewith that novel?
Camille (03:39):
I'm staring at the printed manuscript.
It's
Meryl (03:42):
Been there.
Camille (03:45):
It.
Is there, I really thought, I'mgonna go to Staples.
I'm gonna print this thing outand I'm really gonna get to it
with the revisions.
And so there is a first draftand I say it's trash.
And I know that we're our own,toughest critic, but I did not
wanna share it with my agent.
She is begging me for this.
She's I know it exists.
Please let me read it.
And I was just like, I do notwant you to think lesser of me.
(04:05):
Please just allow me to be inthis space for a little longer.
And a lot of it needs to change.
And so I would say.
About a third of it is stuffthat I'll keep and the rest I
have to rework and I'm in theprocess of reworking that.
And so I can technically saythat I have a first full draft,
(04:26):
but so much of it needs tochange.
And I don't know, but there'speople that are like revision's,
the fun part.
And I'm like, when is it gonnafun out?
Ariana (04:33):
When is it gonna fun up when you get it.
I feel like there's a momentwhere you like something clicks
and that's your, that's what
Camille (04:41):
Like, Ah, yeah, that, where is that moment?
Because I'm like, I'm doing lapsand I ain't run into it yet.
And so I would love for the funof revising to enter the room.
Because right now it's just likesticky notes and highlighters
and, and that imposter syndrome,I try to get into reading to
motivate me into revisiting mymanuscript.
(05:02):
And then I read things and I'mlike, I'll never write like a
Donna Tartt or I'll never writelike a Zora Neale Hurston as I
stare at her book that's also onmy desk.
But then you think about it andthose aren't their first drafts.
Even with trying to remindmyself that, I'll say that to
writer friends, but I don'treally extend that same grace to
myself.
I'm like, no, even on my fourthdraft, it wouldn't sound that
(05:23):
great.
But yeah, the goal is I willhopefully see my agent.
In June, and hopefully that willbe a time where I can say,
surprise, I have a revised draftand I'm excited for you to read
it.
Meryl (05:36):
I'm curious, so you were able to get an agent before
finishing your book?
Camille (05:40):
Yes.
Which is, I feel like so muchabout my writing journey is not,
traditional.
And so I just apply to things.
If I see it, I'm applying forit.
If someone mentions it, I'mapplying for it.
Back when I was on Twitter and,looking at when it was actually
Twitter.
When it Twittering the right wayI would, look for opportunities
(06:02):
there.
And so I ended up applying tothis mentorship scheme that came
with guaranteed representationand so I studied creative
writing in the UK and when I gotthere my program is not what, it
just wasn't what I expected itto be.
And so I knew that I was goingto need some sort of like
(06:24):
supplemental learning or otheropportunities to make my moving
to the UK worth it.
And so I applied to a bunch ofUK opportunities and this was
one of them.
And so you submit a writingsample, you go on this
mentorship scheme for about sixmonths, and then you are paired
with an agent.
And so that's how I ended upgetting an agent, I would say,
(06:46):
with around like 35 to 40,000words of my novel.
And so that, that was greatbecause I know that the querying
journey is a journey and yeah.
Ariana (06:58):
I think, a lot of the things you've said are the
epitome of why of our vision ofthis podcast.
It's like we're all just tryingour best and trying things out
and sometimes it works andknowing that you're not alone
and also that there are manypaths to paths to writing paths,
to publication paths, to gettingan agent.
So it's really great to hearother stories.
(07:19):
Mm-hmm.
Camille (07:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
I am grateful for all of theopportunities, especially the
opportunities that they have forunderrepresented writers or
women writers because it's hardto break into these things and
not really know what you'redoing.
And I don't come from, atraditionally creative
background.
(07:40):
I work primarily with likeeducation, nonprofits and yeah,
it has really been the strengthof the community that I've built
Not all of us come from a placeof having tons of connections
and so you do just have to buildyour way up and then you throw a
bunch at the wall and see whatsticks and it's what it is.
(08:02):
And sometimes it's painful'causenot a lot of things stick.
Some things be falling and thathurts.
But then some things do stickand it's like glimmers of hope.
Ariana (08:16):
So me and Camille met at the, was it 2023 Hurston Wright
Foundation Writers Week.
And it was held at HowardUniversity.
And I'd say that was my firsttime in, in an all Black writing
space, I think.
Camille (08:34):
I'm trying to think, I do think it was probably one of
my first all black spaces inwriting, moving from Brooklyn to
UK I did not prepare myself forthe culture shock of moving some
from somewhere that ispredominantly Black to
predominantly white.
And then also what that meantfor workshopping my work.
(08:54):
And so when I started gettinginto some of the more kind of
racialized texts, like shoppingwhile Black and the
conversations got, they gotinteresting in a way that I feel
like I, I probably should haveanticipated, you just, I'm
always Black.
That's just how I show up.
And so it's interesting whenpeople react to your work and we
(09:18):
didn't really have that in theHurston Wright Where you felt
like you had to ex, you had togo through this explanation
phase before you could actuallygo into the work.
And so let's explain whatshopping while Black means, like
we didn't have to dissect piecesof Blackness in a way that I
felt like I might have to do inother settings which was
refreshing and it just helpedwith not feeling as exhausted by
(09:40):
the workshop process, which isalready intense.
Ariana (09:43):
Yeah.
And I felt like it, for me, itdefinitely was a thing that I
was like, oh, I didn't know Ineeded this.
Having experienced it, I felt alot of validation and comfort
that I didn't even know wasmissing.
Mm-hmm.
Camille (09:54):
It was like the epitome of being in a workshop where
it's like, Issa Rae, I'm rootingfor everybody black.
Everybody's I'm root for yougirl.
And they just, and you just getit.
And that's not always the case.
Meryl (10:04):
What would you say was valuable about being in England
for the
Ariana (10:08):
oh yeah.
How, first of all, yeah, how'dyou end up, let's roll back.
a few steps.
How'd you get to go to, so youare originally from Brooklyn now
in Florida and then passedthrough London, or sorry, uk.
Camille (10:21):
So originally from New Jersey, but was living in
Brooklyn.
And when I shout out to mytherapist at the time, because.
Homegirl changed my life andreally just opened my mind up to
what was possible.
And so she was asking, probingquestions of what would I want
to be doing?
Where would I want to be doingit?
And it took some massagingbecause my brain is like, well,
(10:43):
I'm at work And my brain is justno, I wanna be a high achieving
corporate girl.
I don't want that.
That's not what I wanted.
That's not at all what I wanted.
So peeling that back and Ifinally got to, I just wanna
write.
I wanna write, and I think Isaid I wanted to write by a body
of water.
And she's okay like what wouldthat look like?
And at the time I.
(11:04):
My mom was just in remissionfrom breast cancer, and so I
thought I can't leave.
And why I thank my therapist somuch is that she asked me this
question, blew up my life and itwas what would you what would it
look like to not be the childThat always stays and I'm,
that's essentially what I am, islike, whenever someone's sick,
I'm here.
Don't worry.
(11:24):
I'm a primary caretaker and whenshe asked me that question, I
was just like, damn, I guess Icould.
I could venture a little bitfurther.
And by that time, all of theapplication windows for programs
in the States had closed, butthere were some applications
still open for the UK and so Iapplied to a handful of schools.
I got in and didn't tell myparents until I was in and
(11:49):
matriculated like, Hey, I'm justgonna gonna go ahead and quit my
job and break my lease and moveto England.
It is cool.
It's cool.
It's gonna be okay.
And that's how I ended up inEngland.
And when I got there I was like,what am I doing?
What?
Yeah, it was a bit of a cultureshock, but that's how I got
there.
And it was great.
I'm really grateful for theexperience.
(12:09):
I'd never studied abroad beforeand so it was nice to experiment
and see something different and,yeah.
Ariana (12:17):
And so what were on then and what you were working on at
in Hurston Wright, is that thesame book?
Camille (12:26):
Yes, It's trying to.
Avoid spoilers.
So there is some Jamaicanfolklore and obeah, the very
watered down version that I giveis that, it's like Jamaica's
version of voodoo or hoodoo.
It's.
Infusing a lot more of that, alot more of the dark and like
(12:48):
magical elements into themanuscript.
Which also requires just moreresearch on my part and more
fun.
I feel like it's one of thosethings that you, it's fiction,
so you just get to make it upand so I trying to allow myself
the freedom to do that.
Then there is a love story inthere, and I think I would, I
(13:10):
was just like chronicallysingle.
And so I just skipped toheartache.
I was just like, we're justgonna start at the point where
things in the relationship goawry.
Meryl (13:20):
Oh, I um, tend to do that myself.
Camille (13:22):
Yeah.
And my agent was like, let'snot, and I was like, oh, you,
oh, you want their story?
I don't know, love honey.
And so I'm like, at that point Ijust, I've been out the datin'
game.
I was just like, what are thebutterflies?
What am I supposed to, what am Isupposed to write?
And so that was, it's been a bitchallenging.
So definitely more of a lovestory in there.
(13:44):
The dark and like magicalelements.
But it has changed.
It has changed quite a bit andyeah, I'm excited for one day
when I can have beta readers toactually,
Ariana (13:57):
I'm excited.
Camille (14:00):
you like sign me up.
Thank you.
Ariana (14:01):
Sign me up.
Oh, that's great.
Yeah, I i've de, I've decidedI'm gonna write a novel, so I
just keep saying it.
Right?
If you keep saying it, it'llhappen, right?
That's manifestation.
Camille (14:14):
Do you primarily do short stories?
Ariana (14:16):
I have been, because a novel seemed like a, like too
big of a mountain to climb.
But I was sick of revising myshort stories and sending them
out, so I just thought maybe Ijust do different.
Camille (14:30):
Try something different.
I also think, I think shortstories are so hard
Meryl (14:37):
I agree.
Camille (14:38):
'cause it's so self-contained.
Not that every line doesn't haveto count in a novel, I just
don't think it has the sameweight as it does in a short
story where it's just, it'sdoing such heavy lifting and you
have this contained space andthere's a lot you gotta do in
that space where whereas with anovel, you have room to kind of
breathe and ramble.
Meryl (14:59):
There's so much pressure I think on short stories.
Like, oh, okay.
Did that ending work?
Yeah.
Whereas with the novel sometimesI'm like whatever the ending
was, who cares?
I enjoyed the ride.
Camille (15:11):
Yeah.
When I think of short stories,I'm like, okay, and where was
the hook and what was thetakeaway and the moral?
And I'm like, Ooh.
It just, it does feel like a lotof pressure.
Meryl (15:26):
Would you say that you're a plotter?
Have you heard these terms, theplotter or pancer?
Camille (15:32):
I would say a little bit.
A little bit of both.
I have to have a general ideaof, what's happening in the
story the like.
Letting myself go wild.
Like the, Post-its behind me.
That's, I started using Post-itsbecause I, was intimidated by
Scrivener, intimidated by Worddocs and I was just like, I just
need to be able to fill apost-it.
(15:54):
And so that is the extent that Iwill let myself like ramble is
however many post-its I can fillup.
But I'm not typically a, let'sjust see where this story goes,
kind of gal and feel I'm Toomuch of a type, a kind of
control freak to let that flagfly.
yeah,
Ariana (16:11):
its that your corporate girly coming out?
Camille (16:13):
it is.
I need a little bit ofstructure.
I would love to be a freethinker and be like, oh my gosh,
whatever comes to me, like no.
would drive me crazy.
Meryl (16:21):
So these these post-its, you write down what a scene's
gonna be about or what the nextmove in the plot is.
Camille (16:29):
Yeah, like I will say a good third, at least a third of
my book was written on Post-itnotes because I just got so
scared of the process.
And I, and that's one thing withgetting an agent before your
book is done, it feels likethere's a lot of pressure and,
and then you get introduced tothe publishing world.
(16:52):
Not like deep in it, but alittle bit earlier, especially
like with the mentorship schemeand you're looking at, I think
at my agency they, they showedus, the maid who the author
assigned to her, I think it'sNita Prose, assigned to the
agency and they showed like allthe different versions of her
books and all the ways that itwould like in the different
countries.
(17:12):
It was translated.
And so there became this kind ofcommercial pressure of oh, my
book needs to sell and it needsto sell well, and my voice needs
to be such so that it will, andthen it just.
It just killed whatevercreativity I had inside of me.
I could not write.
And so I'd start with okay, Ihave an idea, and then it'd be a
scene and then I'm fillingthese, I'm just filling these
(17:33):
Post-its.
And that was the only way Icould write.
this,
Ariana (17:37):
So you're writing in prose on these, like you're
writing, I thought you werewriting little notes.
Camille (17:41):
No no no girl it, is full sentences.
It is.
If I fill it, I go onto to thenext one, and then I put my
little story together and it'sjust, it's less intimidating
than like an angry cursor,blinking or Scrivener and the,
that side panel.
Good grief.
Meryl (17:56):
And so at what point do you transfer that onto the
computer?
Camille (18:01):
I'm like, looking at it now I would say once they're
like full scenes, I'll starttranscribing them.
Meryl (18:07):
I love that.
I, so I have never tried that.
I do sometimes go with anotebook, no computer, and then
I like type it up later that daygenerally, but I can barely read
my handwriting.
So it's like I'm making up andit's like I've already thought
about it when I was writing theinitial draft.
And then I look at the scratchand new sentences has come up,
Camille (18:29):
of it.
Yeah.
even a notebook can beintimidating for me.
Like I, I don't know what it is.
It's just when you get into yourhead and you start thinking like
anything, any and everything Iwrite.
Is going to be crap.
But if I write a post-it noteand in my head I'm like, it's a
trash post-it note that it's notthat big of a deal.
Ariana (18:57):
What you been up to lately?
Camille (18:59):
Working full time., I had my revision call with my
agent and she didn't realizethat I had two jobs and she was
like, oh, I'm never getting thisbook.
And I'm just like no.
I'm gonna prioritize it.
That was April.
Oh God.
But yeah, I have a full-timejob.
And a part-time job both doingcommunications, one for an
academic publisher and the otherfor an education nonprofit.
(19:24):
And I will say that my full-timejob is they are warming up to
the idea of infusing internalcommunications with storytelling
which is cool, but also wild tome because they hired me as a
storyteller.
And so when I came in and theywere like, so we want you to
work on all this strategy.
I was like, that's cool.
When I, when do I get to tellstories though?
(19:45):
Like when do I, and so it hasbeen an interesting journey of
trying to get the buy-in of canwe tell employee stories and
have that be part of ourstrategy for engagement?
And so it's writing adjacent notreally the writing that I love
to be doing.
Ariana (20:04):
And how do you, I don't wanna say how do you balance it
all, but We've talked in thepast about sometimes having a
job forces you to write'causeyou have less time.
Like when you have all day towrite.
I I don't write for reason.
Camille (20:16):
Yeah.
That's true.
I will say that.
I will.
You're right.
I will find everything under thesun to do except write when I
have time.
It does help to know that I'vegot like a good hour and a half
after job two to do something sothose moments of I've got an
(20:37):
hour, what can I get done?
I can usually produce something.
I haven't been great with havinga practice though, really having
a daily practice or even aweekly practice.
And that's something, as much asI love structure, I don't have
routines, I'm just out here freeballing.
I'm just doing the best that I'mdoing the best that I can with
what I got.
And so maybe it'd be.
(21:00):
Nice to have some sort of looseroutine where I could, actually
set aside time to write becauseit does for me it gets the short
end of the stick because once Ifinish job two, if I'm tired,
I'm not opening, I'm anotherprogram or a book or a notebook.
Yeah,
Ariana (21:18):
no, that's wild.
Meryl (21:19):
You're doing
Ariana (21:19):
three jobs.
Meryl (21:21):
especially if I feel like it's hard when you have jobs
that are writing and using thatpart of your brain.
You're like, oh my yeah.
I've done this.
Camille (21:30):
Yeah.
You've been writing, you've beenlooking at Word documents all
day.
You've been, and yeah.
No, and it, it is a differenttype of writing, but it's just
the time that I think to turnthat part of my brain off to
really focus on this.
A lot of the times it's just notthere.
When they have icebreakers andit's what do you do for fun?
And I'm like, what is that?
Ariana (21:50):
I don't.
Yeah.
What fun?
Camille (21:51):
We are out here working.
I'm like, what things that I do?
I had a very strongconcerningly, strong, according
to my mom true crime periodwhere I would unwind with just
death.
Like I would just I think maybehe should look at something
else.
But I write dark stuff and yeah,but that's how I would unwind
Ariana (22:12):
What's a show that you particularly like?
Camille (22:15):
I was on a very strong dateline kick ever since I found
out that Samsung tv.
Samsung TV had a whole Datelinechannel and it was like 24/7
Dateline.
And my mom was like, oh my god,please.
So Dateline, I love a 20/20.
There was a show called,Phrogger, which I didn't know
(22:38):
what a phrogger was.
It is someone that inhabits ahome, unbeknownst to the owners.
So like just somebody living inthe walls, someone living in
the, and I was like, this iswild.
It's not funny, but it is.
'cause I'm just like, what doyou mean you were in the walls?
What do you mean?
Ariana (22:56):
The audacity,
Meryl (23:02):
do you get inspired by news stories or true stories?
Does that make its way into yourwork?
Camille (23:09):
News stories?
No, experiences and and storiesfrom my family and retellings of
things.
Yes.
I'm good for taking some sort ofghost story that my parents have
shared and finding new, a way toput that in my work.
I had a really I am laughingbecause of the love part that I
(23:29):
have to write.
I tried dating last fall and Ihad a really bad date and he was
very.
Obsessed with my being a writerin a way that really made me
uncomfortable.
He was always talking about mywriting and I was just like,
Ooh, can we just not?
And during the date he revealedthat he was so concerned with
(23:50):
impressing me because I'm awriter, that he used chat GPT
for all of our textconversations.
Meryl (23:55):
Wow.
No.
Wow.
Camille (23:57):
that made it into the book because.
I couldn't make it up because Iwould've never thought that
something as labor intensive ascopying and pasting a text
exchange and chat chat GBT issomething that someone would do.
And so that made it into thebook as just like a one-liner of
kind of the losers that my, mymain character was dating.
Meryl (24:19):
It's so interesting because I feel like when I'm
trying to connect with someone,i'm hoping that they will like
me.
So the idea that they would likea robot from my computer, that's
just insane.
Camille (24:31):
And it was just so wild because he wasn't able to carry
a conversation in person and soI was like, okay.
I.
Ariana (24:36):
That's telling.
Meryl (24:37):
This is the future by the way
Camille (24:38):
It's, it's, you it's, it's, scary how much people rely
on chat GPT.
I'm like, not for dating, notfor the conversations.
That's wild.
And but he was also very fixatedon the types of things that I
wrote about and my livedexperience, making it into my
stories, which it doesn'tnecessarily, but that had to go
(24:59):
in because why would you dothat?
Meryl (25:01):
Wonder.
So bizarre wonder if he wasattempting to be amms, but he
was not
Camille (25:06):
Yeah.
Meryl (25:07):
that.
Camille (25:08):
Do you write about guys that you date?
And I'm like, I don't even dateenough to write, but like this.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to,
Ariana (25:13):
it.
Meryl (25:14):
You made it congrats!.
Ariana (25:21):
I remember you telling me a story about a residency you
did in I think Martha'sVineyard.
Would you share a little bit?
Camille (25:29):
Yeah, so it was the Renaissance House.
I don't know if it's still goingon because the organizer has
since passed, but it was.
It was very interesting, andagain I had deemed 2023 as like
my year of writing.
I was gonna apply to all of thethings, and so I'd applied to
this residency and it had moreof a mom and pop feel to it, but
(25:54):
unbeknownst to me when I wasapplying, and then after being
accepted, I got this list of dosand don'ts, like no sex will be
had in this house.
No drinking, no drugs will betaking place in this here home.
And I was just like, what did Isign myself up for after having
already paid, like the money isgone, child.
Like she got it.
And so I was like, oh my gosh,what have I signed myself up for
(26:16):
Usually when you see rules likethat, it's because somebody was
doing those things.
Somebody was in that woman'shouse making love and walking
around naked and doing like justwild things.
There was so many rules that Iwas just like, I'm just gonna be
a good writer girl and I'm gonnabe in the house.
The way that it was phrased, itmade it seem, and Martha's
(26:37):
Vineyard, I guess is small andlike people do know each other,
but it just felt like she's goteyes all over this island.
So you're not having a pint atthe bar and coming home.
'cause she's gonna know.
And so it's like like she putthe fear of God in me.
Meryl (26:50):
So you literally weren't allowed to drink even off
premises.
Camille (26:53):
Even off-premises.
We, no, yeah, that was, yeah.
She was not having,
Meryl (26:57):
As adults.
Camille (26:58):
yeah,
Ariana (26:59):
As adults,
Meryl (26:59):
like
Camille (27:00):
I don't care if you gro you came here to write and so
there will be nothing.
There will be no mind alteringsubstances.
You came here to write.
But it was fun.
And it was very homey because westayed in her home with her, but
yeah, it was definitely one ofthe more interesting residencies
that I've done.
Meryl (27:17):
I love it.
Did you get a lot of work done?
Camille (27:20):
Yes, because we had a man, we had mandatory writing
time.
I think it was three hours inthe morning, just like, and no
talking.
I think one day, like some, Idon't know, we weren't even
talking that much, but shecalled from the other room are
those voices I hear?
And I said, oh my God, I willshut up.
When you're like, you're notabout to get me in trouble.
(27:41):
Shut up.
That what it was
Ariana (27:43):
did you feel like you were like eight years old?
Camille (27:46):
You did feel like you were living in Big Mama's house.
And I was just like I'm justgonna respect Big Mama's rules
because she doesn't play.
But she's also really quirky andfun.
She had this picture with aclose friend and this Andy
Warhol like album of photos andshe's naked in a tub.
And so she had fun, like shelived a good life.
(28:08):
You know what I mean?
So it was just very funny forher to be like, and y'all will
not be doing the same on mywatch.
It was like, okay.
Alright girl.
But it was fun.
It was a good time.
I would say it's all right ifyou can't hit 1000 words, and
all you can do is fill up aPost-it note.
Ariana (28:30):
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
That's our podcast.
Thank you so much.
Camille (28:35):
Of course.
No, thank you.
This was fun.
Meryl (28:43):
We'll be dropping new episodes every other Tuesday.
You can find us on Instagram atIt's All Write pod and you can
drop us a line at,isallwritepod@gmail.com.
Write, spelled W-R-I-T-E.
Ariana (28:56):
Make sure to, subscribe, like all those things.
Wherever you get your podcasts,Tune in next time.
I tried dating last fall and I had a really bad date
(00:03):
and he was very obsessed with mybeing a writer in a way that
really made me uncomfortable.
He was always talking about mywriting and I was just like,
Ooh, can we just not?
And during the date he revealedthat he was so concerned with
impressing me because I'm awriter, that he used chat GPT
for all of our textconversations
Meryl (00:24):
Wow.
Hi, am Meryl Branch Mc tiernan.
Ariana (00:32):
Hi,
Meryl (00:32):
I am
Ariana (00:32):
Ariana McLean and you're listening to It's All Write.
Meryl (00:36):
A podcast about writers
Ariana (00:38):
and the writer and the writing life.
On today's episode, we aretalking to Camille Boxhill She
earned her MA over in the UK atthe University of Bristol, and
we met at the Hurston WrightFoundation Writers' Week held at
Howard University.
Today Camille is joining us fromSouthern Florida to chat with us
(00:59):
about her writing life about allthe things she's applied for and
where she's at, working on herdebut novel.
Hi Camille.
Camille (01:07):
Hi.
Thank you so much for having me.
Ariana (01:10):
Camille was a 2024 Florida Fellow of Literary Arts.
Camille (01:14):
Yeah, it's a mouthful.
I can't I don't think I've everreally gotten used to saying it.
So South Arts.
Literary Fellow for the state ofFlorida, So basically South Arts
is an organization focused onvisual and written storytelling
in the southern states and theyselected a fellow from each
state And so I was just gratefulto have that.
Meryl (01:37):
Could you tell us what that entails?
Camille (01:39):
Sometimes it feels like I'm cosplaying as a writer when
I say oh, I'm a writer.
And it's just so where are yourlists?
Where can I read your work?
And I'm like, oh, I'm a writer,but I'm not there yet.
And, but this is, this was oneof the times that I felt like I
actually got to.
Be in that writer world andpeople were like, yeah, you are
a writer.
And so all of the fellows werepublished in an anthology, and
(02:02):
then we went to the MississippiBook Festival.
And that was essentially myfirst writer's appearance.
And we all sat on a panel, whichwas terrifying for me.
and then we did a book signing,which again, just felt like i'm
playing dress up and I'm at atable doing book signings, but
there were people who were thereand asking questions and
(02:22):
interested in my writing and itjust felt weird, but also okay,
this is why I want to do this.
Because people care about whatyou're writing.
Meryl (02:32):
Amazing.
Ariana (02:33):
I feel like Meryl often has these fantasies about, she
has like these fantasies of thiswriter's world where you're like
signing books and going toparties and it seems like you
got a little taste.
Camille (02:44):
Yeah, it was a little taste and I want more of it and
then also I think it's fun.
It's fun going to these placesand seeing authors so I went to
a reading at Prairie Lights inIowa City when I was there for a
summer workshop and Kaveh Akbarwas there and he he facilitated
(03:06):
like a discussion and I ran intohim at the was it Miami Book
Festival, and I was passing andhe was like, oh, hey.
And I had one of those moments.
I was like, oh my God, youremember me?
That's so sweet.
And yeah it's nice to feel likeyou're taking little baby steps
and breaking into this world.
And it is nice to be arecognizable face in a sea of
(03:29):
faces at some of these bookfestivals.
And so that's nice.
Meryl (03:33):
So Ariana mentioned you're working on a novel.
Can you tell us where you arewith that novel?
Camille (03:39):
I'm staring at the printed manuscript.
It's
Meryl (03:42):
Been there.
Camille (03:45):
It.
Is there, I really thought, I'mgonna go to Staples.
I'm gonna print this thing outand I'm really gonna get to it
with the revisions.
And so there is a first draftand I say it's trash.
And I know that we're our own,toughest critic, but I did not
wanna share it with my agent.
She is begging me for this.
She's I know it exists.
Please let me read it.
And I was just like, I do notwant you to think lesser of me.
(04:05):
Please just allow me to be inthis space for a little longer.
And a lot of it needs to change.
And so I would say.
About a third of it is stuffthat I'll keep and the rest I
have to rework and I'm in theprocess of reworking that.
And so I can technically saythat I have a first full draft,
(04:26):
but so much of it needs tochange.
And I don't know, but there'speople that are like revision's,
the fun part.
And I'm like, when is it gonnafun out?
Ariana (04:33):
When is it gonna fun up when you get it.
I feel like there's a momentwhere you like something clicks
and that's your, that's what
Camille (04:41):
Like, Ah, yeah, that, where is that moment?
Because I'm like, I'm doing lapsand I ain't run into it yet.
And so I would love for the funof revising to enter the room.
Because right now it's just likesticky notes and highlighters
and, and that imposter syndrome,I try to get into reading to
motivate me into revisiting mymanuscript.
(05:02):
And then I read things and I'mlike, I'll never write like a
Donna Tartt or I'll never writelike a Zora Neale Hurston as I
stare at her book that's also onmy desk.
But then you think about it andthose aren't their first drafts.
Even with trying to remindmyself that, I'll say that to
writer friends, but I don'treally extend that same grace to
myself.
I'm like, no, even on my fourthdraft, it wouldn't sound that
(05:23):
great.
But yeah, the goal is I willhopefully see my agent.
In June, and hopefully that willbe a time where I can say,
surprise, I have a revised draftand I'm excited for you to read
it.
Meryl (05:36):
I'm curious, so you were able to get an agent before
finishing your book?
Camille (05:40):
Yes.
Which is, I feel like so muchabout my writing journey is not,
traditional.
And so I just apply to things.
If I see it, I'm applying forit.
If someone mentions it, I'mapplying for it.
Back when I was on Twitter and,looking at when it was actually
Twitter.
When it Twittering the right wayI would, look for opportunities
(06:02):
there.
And so I ended up applying tothis mentorship scheme that came
with guaranteed representationand so I studied creative
writing in the UK and when I gotthere my program is not what, it
just wasn't what I expected itto be.
And so I knew that I was goingto need some sort of like
(06:24):
supplemental learning or otheropportunities to make my moving
to the UK worth it.
And so I applied to a bunch ofUK opportunities and this was
one of them.
And so you submit a writingsample, you go on this
mentorship scheme for about sixmonths, and then you are paired
with an agent.
And so that's how I ended upgetting an agent, I would say,
(06:46):
with around like 35 to 40,000words of my novel.
And so that, that was greatbecause I know that the querying
journey is a journey and yeah.
Ariana (06:58):
I think, a lot of the things you've said are the
epitome of why of our vision ofthis podcast.
It's like we're all just tryingour best and trying things out
and sometimes it works andknowing that you're not alone
and also that there are manypaths to paths to writing paths,
to publication paths, to gettingan agent.
So it's really great to hearother stories.
(07:19):
Mm-hmm.
Camille (07:20):
Yeah, absolutely.
I am grateful for all of theopportunities, especially the
opportunities that they have forunderrepresented writers or
women writers because it's hardto break into these things and
not really know what you'redoing.
And I don't come from, atraditionally creative
background.
(07:40):
I work primarily with likeeducation, nonprofits and yeah,
it has really been the strengthof the community that I've built
Not all of us come from a placeof having tons of connections
and so you do just have to buildyour way up and then you throw a
bunch at the wall and see whatsticks and it's what it is.
(08:02):
And sometimes it's painful'causenot a lot of things stick.
Some things be falling and thathurts.
But then some things do stickand it's like glimmers of hope.
Ariana (08:16):
So me and Camille met at the, was it 2023 Hurston Wright
Foundation Writers Week.
And it was held at HowardUniversity.
And I'd say that was my firsttime in, in an all Black writing
space, I think.
Camille (08:34):
I'm trying to think, I do think it was probably one of
my first all black spaces inwriting, moving from Brooklyn to
UK I did not prepare myself forthe culture shock of moving some
from somewhere that ispredominantly Black to
predominantly white.
And then also what that meantfor workshopping my work.
(08:54):
And so when I started gettinginto some of the more kind of
racialized texts, like shoppingwhile Black and the
conversations got, they gotinteresting in a way that I feel
like I, I probably should haveanticipated, you just, I'm
always Black.
That's just how I show up.
And so it's interesting whenpeople react to your work and we
(09:18):
didn't really have that in theHurston Wright Where you felt
like you had to ex, you had togo through this explanation
phase before you could actuallygo into the work.
And so let's explain whatshopping while Black means, like
we didn't have to dissect piecesof Blackness in a way that I
felt like I might have to do inother settings which was
refreshing and it just helpedwith not feeling as exhausted by
(09:40):
the workshop process, which isalready intense.
Ariana (09:43):
Yeah.
And I felt like it, for me, itdefinitely was a thing that I
was like, oh, I didn't know Ineeded this.
Having experienced it, I felt alot of validation and comfort
that I didn't even know wasmissing.
Mm-hmm.
Camille (09:54):
It was like the epitome of being in a workshop where
it's like, Issa Rae, I'm rootingfor everybody black.
Everybody's I'm root for yougirl.
And they just, and you just getit.
And that's not always the case.
Meryl (10:04):
What would you say was valuable about being in England
for the
Ariana (10:08):
oh yeah.
How, first of all, yeah, how'dyou end up, let's roll back.
a few steps.
How'd you get to go to, so youare originally from Brooklyn now
in Florida and then passedthrough London, or sorry, uk.
Camille (10:21):
So originally from New Jersey, but was living in
Brooklyn.
And when I shout out to mytherapist at the time, because.
Homegirl changed my life andreally just opened my mind up to
what was possible.
And so she was asking, probingquestions of what would I want
to be doing?
Where would I want to be doingit?
And it took some massagingbecause my brain is like, well,
(10:43):
I'm at work And my brain is justno, I wanna be a high achieving
corporate girl.
I don't want that.
That's not what I wanted.
That's not at all what I wanted.
So peeling that back and Ifinally got to, I just wanna
write.
I wanna write, and I think Isaid I wanted to write by a body
of water.
And she's okay like what wouldthat look like?
And at the time I.
(11:04):
My mom was just in remissionfrom breast cancer, and so I
thought I can't leave.
And why I thank my therapist somuch is that she asked me this
question, blew up my life and itwas what would you what would it
look like to not be the childThat always stays and I'm,
that's essentially what I am, islike, whenever someone's sick,
I'm here.
Don't worry.
(11:24):
I'm a primary caretaker and whenshe asked me that question, I
was just like, damn, I guess Icould.
I could venture a little bitfurther.
And by that time, all of theapplication windows for programs
in the States had closed, butthere were some applications
still open for the UK and so Iapplied to a handful of schools.
I got in and didn't tell myparents until I was in and
(11:49):
matriculated like, Hey, I'm justgonna gonna go ahead and quit my
job and break my lease and moveto England.
It is cool.
It's cool.
It's gonna be okay.
And that's how I ended up inEngland.
And when I got there I was like,what am I doing?
What?
Yeah, it was a bit of a cultureshock, but that's how I got
there.
And it was great.
I'm really grateful for theexperience.
(12:09):
I'd never studied abroad beforeand so it was nice to experiment
and see something different and,yeah.
Ariana (12:17):
And so what were on then and what you were working on at
in Hurston Wright, is that thesame book?
Camille (12:26):
Yes, It's trying to.
Avoid spoilers.
So there is some Jamaicanfolklore and obeah, the very
watered down version that I giveis that, it's like Jamaica's
version of voodoo or hoodoo.
It's.
Infusing a lot more of that, alot more of the dark and like
(12:48):
magical elements into themanuscript.
Which also requires just moreresearch on my part and more
fun.
I feel like it's one of thosethings that you, it's fiction,
so you just get to make it upand so I trying to allow myself
the freedom to do that.
Then there is a love story inthere, and I think I would, I
(13:10):
was just like chronicallysingle.
And so I just skipped toheartache.
I was just like, we're justgonna start at the point where
things in the relationship goawry.
Meryl (13:20):
Oh, I um, tend to do that myself.
Camille (13:22):
Yeah.
And my agent was like, let'snot, and I was like, oh, you,
oh, you want their story?
I don't know, love honey.
And so I'm like, at that point Ijust, I've been out the datin'
game.
I was just like, what are thebutterflies?
What am I supposed to, what am Isupposed to write?
And so that was, it's been a bitchallenging.
So definitely more of a lovestory in there.
(13:44):
The dark and like magicalelements.
But it has changed.
It has changed quite a bit andyeah, I'm excited for one day
when I can have beta readers toactually,
Ariana (13:57):
I'm excited.
Camille (14:00):
you like sign me up.
Thank you.
Ariana (14:01):
Sign me up.
Oh, that's great.
Yeah, I i've de, I've decidedI'm gonna write a novel, so I
just keep saying it.
Right?
If you keep saying it, it'llhappen, right?
That's manifestation.
Camille (14:14):
Do you primarily do short stories?
Ariana (14:16):
I have been, because a novel seemed like a, like too
big of a mountain to climb.
But I was sick of revising myshort stories and sending them
out, so I just thought maybe Ijust do different.
Camille (14:30):
Try something different.
I also think, I think shortstories are so hard
Meryl (14:37):
I agree.
Camille (14:38):
'cause it's so self-contained.
Not that every line doesn't haveto count in a novel, I just
don't think it has the sameweight as it does in a short
story where it's just, it'sdoing such heavy lifting and you
have this contained space andthere's a lot you gotta do in
that space where whereas with anovel, you have room to kind of
breathe and ramble.
Meryl (14:59):
There's so much pressure I think on short stories.
Like, oh, okay.
Did that ending work?
Yeah.
Whereas with the novel sometimesI'm like whatever the ending
was, who cares?
I enjoyed the ride.
Camille (15:11):
Yeah.
When I think of short stories,I'm like, okay, and where was
the hook and what was thetakeaway and the moral?
And I'm like, Ooh.
It just, it does feel like a lotof pressure.
Meryl (15:26):
Would you say that you're a plotter?
Have you heard these terms, theplotter or pancer?
Camille (15:32):
I would say a little bit.
A little bit of both.
I have to have a general ideaof, what's happening in the
story the like.
Letting myself go wild.
Like the, Post-its behind me.
That's, I started using Post-itsbecause I, was intimidated by
Scrivener, intimidated by Worddocs and I was just like, I just
need to be able to fill apost-it.
(15:54):
And so that is the extent that Iwill let myself like ramble is
however many post-its I can fillup.
But I'm not typically a, let'sjust see where this story goes,
kind of gal and feel I'm Toomuch of a type, a kind of
control freak to let that flagfly.
yeah,
Ariana (16:11):
its that your corporate girly coming out?
Camille (16:13):
it is.
I need a little bit ofstructure.
I would love to be a freethinker and be like, oh my gosh,
whatever comes to me, like no.
would drive me crazy.
Meryl (16:21):
So these these post-its, you write down what a scene's
gonna be about or what the nextmove in the plot is.
Camille (16:29):
Yeah, like I will say a good third, at least a third of
my book was written on Post-itnotes because I just got so
scared of the process.
And I, and that's one thing withgetting an agent before your
book is done, it feels likethere's a lot of pressure and,
and then you get introduced tothe publishing world.
(16:52):
Not like deep in it, but alittle bit earlier, especially
like with the mentorship schemeand you're looking at, I think
at my agency they, they showedus, the maid who the author
assigned to her, I think it'sNita Prose, assigned to the
agency and they showed like allthe different versions of her
books and all the ways that itwould like in the different
countries.
(17:12):
It was translated.
And so there became this kind ofcommercial pressure of oh, my
book needs to sell and it needsto sell well, and my voice needs
to be such so that it will, andthen it just.
It just killed whatevercreativity I had inside of me.
I could not write.
And so I'd start with okay, Ihave an idea, and then it'd be a
scene and then I'm fillingthese, I'm just filling these
(17:33):
Post-its.
And that was the only way Icould write.
this,
Ariana (17:37):
So you're writing in prose on these, like you're
writing, I thought you werewriting little notes.
Camille (17:41):
No no no girl it, is full sentences.
It is.
If I fill it, I go onto to thenext one, and then I put my
little story together and it'sjust, it's less intimidating
than like an angry cursor,blinking or Scrivener and the,
that side panel.
Good grief.
Meryl (17:56):
And so at what point do you transfer that onto the
computer?
Camille (18:01):
I'm like, looking at it now I would say once they're
like full scenes, I'll starttranscribing them.
Meryl (18:07):
I love that.
I, so I have never tried that.
I do sometimes go with anotebook, no computer, and then
I like type it up later that daygenerally, but I can barely read
my handwriting.
So it's like I'm making up andit's like I've already thought
about it when I was writing theinitial draft.
And then I look at the scratchand new sentences has come up,
Camille (18:29):
of it.
Yeah.
even a notebook can beintimidating for me.
Like I, I don't know what it is.
It's just when you get into yourhead and you start thinking like
anything, any and everything Iwrite.
Is going to be crap.
But if I write a post-it noteand in my head I'm like, it's a
trash post-it note that it's notthat big of a deal.
Ariana (18:57):
What you been up to lately?
Camille (18:59):
Working full time., I had my revision call with my
agent and she didn't realizethat I had two jobs and she was
like, oh, I'm never getting thisbook.
And I'm just like no.
I'm gonna prioritize it.
That was April.
Oh God.
But yeah, I have a full-timejob.
And a part-time job both doingcommunications, one for an
academic publisher and the otherfor an education nonprofit.
(19:24):
And I will say that my full-timejob is they are warming up to
the idea of infusing internalcommunications with storytelling
which is cool, but also wild tome because they hired me as a
storyteller.
And so when I came in and theywere like, so we want you to
work on all this strategy.
I was like, that's cool.
When I, when do I get to tellstories though?
(19:45):
Like when do I, and so it hasbeen an interesting journey of
trying to get the buy-in of canwe tell employee stories and
have that be part of ourstrategy for engagement?
And so it's writing adjacent notreally the writing that I love
to be doing.
Ariana (20:04):
And how do you, I don't wanna say how do you balance it
all, but We've talked in thepast about sometimes having a
job forces you to write'causeyou have less time.
Like when you have all day towrite.
I I don't write for reason.
Camille (20:16):
Yeah.
That's true.
I will say that.
I will.
You're right.
I will find everything under thesun to do except write when I
have time.
It does help to know that I'vegot like a good hour and a half
after job two to do something sothose moments of I've got an
(20:37):
hour, what can I get done?
I can usually produce something.
I haven't been great with havinga practice though, really having
a daily practice or even aweekly practice.
And that's something, as much asI love structure, I don't have
routines, I'm just out here freeballing.
I'm just doing the best that I'mdoing the best that I can with
what I got.
And so maybe it'd be.
(21:00):
Nice to have some sort of looseroutine where I could, actually
set aside time to write becauseit does for me it gets the short
end of the stick because once Ifinish job two, if I'm tired,
I'm not opening, I'm anotherprogram or a book or a notebook.
Yeah,
Ariana (21:18):
no, that's wild.
Meryl (21:19):
You're doing
Ariana (21:19):
three jobs.
Meryl (21:21):
especially if I feel like it's hard when you have jobs
that are writing and using thatpart of your brain.
You're like, oh my yeah.
I've done this.
Camille (21:30):
Yeah.
You've been writing, you've beenlooking at Word documents all
day.
You've been, and yeah.
No, and it, it is a differenttype of writing, but it's just
the time that I think to turnthat part of my brain off to
really focus on this.
A lot of the times it's just notthere.
When they have icebreakers andit's what do you do for fun?
And I'm like, what is that?
Ariana (21:50):
I don't.
Yeah.
What fun?
Camille (21:51):
We are out here working.
I'm like, what things that I do?
I had a very strongconcerningly, strong, according
to my mom true crime periodwhere I would unwind with just
death.
Like I would just I think maybehe should look at something
else.
But I write dark stuff and yeah,but that's how I would unwind
Ariana (22:12):
What's a show that you particularly like?
Camille (22:15):
I was on a very strong dateline kick ever since I found
out that Samsung tv.
Samsung TV had a whole Datelinechannel and it was like 24/7
Dateline.
And my mom was like, oh my god,please.
So Dateline, I love a 20/20.
There was a show called,Phrogger, which I didn't know
(22:38):
what a phrogger was.
It is someone that inhabits ahome, unbeknownst to the owners.
So like just somebody living inthe walls, someone living in
the, and I was like, this iswild.
It's not funny, but it is.
'cause I'm just like, what doyou mean you were in the walls?
What do you mean?
Ariana (22:56):
The audacity,
Meryl (23:02):
do you get inspired by news stories or true stories?
Does that make its way into yourwork?
Camille (23:09):
News stories?
No, experiences and and storiesfrom my family and retellings of
things.
Yes.
I'm good for taking some sort ofghost story that my parents have
shared and finding new, a way toput that in my work.
I had a really I am laughingbecause of the love part that I
(23:29):
have to write.
I tried dating last fall and Ihad a really bad date and he was
very.
Obsessed with my being a writerin a way that really made me
uncomfortable.
He was always talking about mywriting and I was just like,
Ooh, can we just not?
And during the date he revealedthat he was so concerned with
(23:50):
impressing me because I'm awriter, that he used chat GPT
for all of our textconversations.
Meryl (23:55):
Wow.
No.
Wow.
Camille (23:57):
that made it into the book because.
I couldn't make it up because Iwould've never thought that
something as labor intensive ascopying and pasting a text
exchange and chat chat GBT issomething that someone would do.
And so that made it into thebook as just like a one-liner of
kind of the losers that my, mymain character was dating.
Meryl (24:19):
It's so interesting because I feel like when I'm
trying to connect with someone,i'm hoping that they will like
me.
So the idea that they would likea robot from my computer, that's
just insane.
Camille (24:31):
And it was just so wild because he wasn't able to carry
a conversation in person and soI was like, okay.
I.
Ariana (24:36):
That's telling.
Meryl (24:37):
This is the future by the way
Camille (24:38):
It's, it's, you it's, it's, scary how much people rely
on chat GPT.
I'm like, not for dating, notfor the conversations.
That's wild.
And but he was also very fixatedon the types of things that I
wrote about and my livedexperience, making it into my
stories, which it doesn'tnecessarily, but that had to go
(24:59):
in because why would you dothat?
Meryl (25:01):
Wonder.
So bizarre wonder if he wasattempting to be amms, but he
was not
Camille (25:06):
Yeah.
Meryl (25:07):
that.
Camille (25:08):
Do you write about guys that you date?
And I'm like, I don't even dateenough to write, but like this.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to,
Ariana (25:13):
it.
Meryl (25:14):
You made it congrats!.
Ariana (25:21):
I remember you telling me a story about a residency you
did in I think Martha'sVineyard.
Would you share a little bit?
Camille (25:29):
Yeah, so it was the Renaissance House.
I don't know if it's still goingon because the organizer has
since passed, but it was.
It was very interesting, andagain I had deemed 2023 as like
my year of writing.
I was gonna apply to all of thethings, and so I'd applied to
this residency and it had moreof a mom and pop feel to it, but
(25:54):
unbeknownst to me when I wasapplying, and then after being
accepted, I got this list of dosand don'ts, like no sex will be
had in this house.
No drinking, no drugs will betaking place in this here home.
And I was just like, what did Isign myself up for after having
already paid, like the money isgone, child.
Like she got it.
And so I was like, oh my gosh,what have I signed myself up for
(26:16):
Usually when you see rules likethat, it's because somebody was
doing those things.
Somebody was in that woman'shouse making love and walking
around naked and doing like justwild things.
There was so many rules that Iwas just like, I'm just gonna be
a good writer girl and I'm gonnabe in the house.
The way that it was phrased, itmade it seem, and Martha's
(26:37):
Vineyard, I guess is small andlike people do know each other,
but it just felt like she's goteyes all over this island.
So you're not having a pint atthe bar and coming home.
'cause she's gonna know.
And so it's like like she putthe fear of God in me.
Meryl (26:50):
So you literally weren't allowed to drink even off
premises.
Camille (26:53):
Even off-premises.
We, no, yeah, that was, yeah.
She was not having,
Meryl (26:57):
As adults.
Camille (26:58):
yeah,
Ariana (26:59):
As adults,
Meryl (26:59):
like
Camille (27:00):
I don't care if you gro you came here to write and so
there will be nothing.
There will be no mind alteringsubstances.
You came here to write.
But it was fun.
And it was very homey because westayed in her home with her, but
yeah, it was definitely one ofthe more interesting residencies
that I've done.
Meryl (27:17):
I love it.
Did you get a lot of work done?
Camille (27:20):
Yes, because we had a man, we had mandatory writing
time.
I think it was three hours inthe morning, just like, and no
talking.
I think one day, like some, Idon't know, we weren't even
talking that much, but shecalled from the other room are
those voices I hear?
And I said, oh my God, I willshut up.
When you're like, you're notabout to get me in trouble.
(27:41):
Shut up.
That what it was
Ariana (27:43):
did you feel like you were like eight years old?
Camille (27:46):
You did feel like you were living in Big Mama's house.
And I was just like I'm justgonna respect Big Mama's rules
because she doesn't play.
But she's also really quirky andfun.
She had this picture with aclose friend and this Andy
Warhol like album of photos andshe's naked in a tub.
And so she had fun, like shelived a good life.
(28:08):
You know what I mean?
So it was just very funny forher to be like, and y'all will
not be doing the same on mywatch.
It was like, okay.
Alright girl.
But it was fun.
It was a good time.
I would say it's all right ifyou can't hit 1000 words, and
all you can do is fill up aPost-it note.
Ariana (28:30):
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
That's our podcast.
Thank you so much.
Camille (28:35):
Of course.
No, thank you.
This was fun.
Meryl (28:43):
We'll be dropping new episodes every other Tuesday.
You can find us on Instagram atIt's All Write pod and you can
drop us a line at,isallwritepod@gmail.com.
Write, spelled W-R-I-T-E.
Ariana (28:56):
Make sure to, subscribe, like all those things.
Wherever you get your podcasts,Tune in next time.
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