November 4, 2024 • 28 mins
What happens when a childhood dream takes an unexpected detour through the world of speechwriting only to emerge as a vibrant career in adolescent fiction? That's what our guest reveals as she recounts her unique journey towards becoming an author, inspired by personal experiences and a flair for capturing diverse voices. Discover how her life as a mom, wife, and writer intertwines, offering a refreshing take on managing a bustling household while nurturing a passion for storytelling. Her books, "Hurricamp" and "Miscommunicamp," embody this lively blend of humor and heart, connecting with readers in ways that are both engaging and deeply personal.
As we explore the power of literature to forge connections, particularly with young readers, our conversation turns to the influence of literary giants like Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume. These authors have left an indelible mark on our guest, driving her belief in the importance of relatable characters that foster a lifelong love for reading. We also discuss the myriad ways books can reach diverse audiences, from traditional hard copies to e-books and audiobooks, ensuring every reader finds their unique gateway to the literary world. The impact of early literacy programs and creative strategies, such as brainstorming and journaling, also come to light, showcasing their crucial role in a writer's toolkit.
Navigating personal identity in the digital age can be as amusing as it is challenging, and our guest shares her humorous encounters with name confusions and the intricacies of personal branding. Through these tales, she emphasizes the importance of dreams and the excitement of future projects, offering a peek into her upcoming literary ventures and the supportive community that surrounds her. Whether you're a seasoned writer or an aspiring one, this episode promises a wealth of inspiration, laughter, and the anticipation of stories yet to come.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:04):
Welcome to the SJ Child Show, where a little bit
of knowledge can turn fear intounderstanding.
Enjoy the show, hi, and thanksfor joining the SG Child Show
(00:31):
today.
I am here, with.
Now.
I'm not going to say your firstname, right?
Because my last name isFrenetic and I can't connect
things like that.
So nice to have you here.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It's great to be here .
I'm so glad we get to start offlaughing.
That's a good way to startanything, I think.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
The truth.
I love that you said that.
Isn't that a beautiful thing tohave for yourself to share with
other people, especially toshare with your families, things
like that.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself, introduction, and what
brought you here today.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Well, I was trying to think of what's the most
efficient way to introducemyself because, like you, I wear
many hats I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm a writer and a whole bunch
of other things.
But I think you know.
Just for purposes of ourconversation, I'll tell you a
little bit about how I became awriter.
It was a very roundaboutjourney.
(01:27):
I knew when I was a little kidthat my passion was writing and
that's what I wanted to do.
But, like any practical child,you realize you can't just jump
in feet first and start writingbooks or whatever it is that
you're passionate about firstand start writing books or
whatever it is that you'repassionate about.
For me, I wanted to go tocollege and figure out exactly
(01:48):
where I could position myselfand, as it turned out, I went to
law school to realize, maybe Idon't become a writer straight
away, but I work on myprofessional writing skills and
legal skills and I got thewonderful opportunity to be a
speechwriter for many years at acompany called Deloitte and I
had an amazing person that I gotto support, even though he was
(02:11):
completely unlike me.
I got to figure out how to speakin his voice and over the years
, I think having that experiencereally helped me understand how
to write for other people'svoices, and then, eventually, I
got to write in my own voicewith the two books that I have
published, um, hurricamp andMiscommunicamp, which are both,
uh, hopefully funny adolescentseries, but they are designed to
(02:35):
make you laugh, designed tomake you think and hopefully
designed to see, uh, the thingsthat you have in common with
with these characters and, um,you know, see yourself in
different bits and pieces ofthem.
And you know, I think, all ofthose years that I spent
imagining what I would do if Ibecame a writer and then,
ultimately, I got to the placethat I'm so fortunate to be.
(02:57):
It's really just kind of anamazing dream come true to sound
a little cliche.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
No, it's wonderful.
I have the same experiences,almost like experiences.
Totally wanted to be a writeras a child.
Also wanted to be a reporter.
Oh, interesting Well how aboutthat.
Isn't that crazy how thingstranspire for you in ways that
(03:23):
you want them.
Oh yeah, so true.
And then just you know, laterin life I was a paralegal and
that the I love what you saidabout practicing your writing
that way, because I thatimproved so much in my
communication with everything inmy life.
(03:45):
It was that understanding thatlegal writing and having to, you
know, really research and digdeep into how to present things
in ways that people hadn'tthought of, or that's what I
like to do at least.
Yeah, it's.
I love that.
You said that, that that isfascinating that way, and then
(04:08):
to be able to finally come fullcircle and write your own
experiences and that is such apowerful journey to be on.
And you there's a lot of likeintrospect Tell us about what
was that like for you in thatprocess?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Well, I think you know, for me, and probably like
a lot of writers, you takeelements from your own life or
people that are close to you andyou sort of marinate in the
experiences, the feelings, theemotions, the senses.
You know what you see, what youhear, what you smell senses.
You know what you see, what youhear, what you smell, and you
know that all as I developcharacters and as I think about
(04:48):
a plot line, you know what isgoing to appeal to readers.
You know I think back to myyounger self and what I would
have enjoyed to read about.
And you know, just thinkingabout your audience and I'll go
back to being a speechwriter,like I got to see firsthand,
like telling stories is a superpowerful tool and seeing what
(05:09):
resonates with people and whenthey laugh at the right times,
when they clap, you know it'ssuper rewarding.
And so as I write, I thinkabout how would an audience
digest what I'm saying, what'sthe message I'm trying to get
across, what do I want tocommunicate?
And I think, just keeping thosesenses open in your daily life.
(05:30):
You know, I don't know if thisanswers the question exactly,
but you know having experiencesin life that you can relate and
put on paper, the more powerfulyour message will be.
And so you know, for me, allthose years ago, when I said I
wanted to be a writer you knowit was eight and a half at the
time, and while I thought I wasquite worldly, I had a lot of
living to do in between that andwhen I got to sit down and
(05:54):
actually write.
So for me it's just being likesomeone who can absorb their
world and then reflect back.
You know the distilled elementsto really create a powerful
message, a powerful story.
And you know something thatpeople enjoy reading and, for me
, laughing at, because I am oneof those big proponents of
(06:14):
finding humor in just abouteverything where it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Absolutely.
Well, let's talk about apractical thing for our
listeners.
Well, let's talk about apractical thing for our
listeners your mom, your wife,there's housework, there's other
work, work, work, work, work,work.
How do you tell us kind of whatyour day looks like when you're
going to write?
How do you set that time up foryourself?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I think, first and foremost, you have to sort of
visualize how you want your dayto go.
So you know I'm probablypreaching to the choir, but
there's a load of laundry in thedryer right now and I you know,
under other circumstances Iwould be like folding it or
starting the dishwasher.
But you have to really thinkabout OK, I'm going to sit down
(07:00):
at my desk, I'm going to beproductive.
I want to accomplish, whetherit's, you know, a certain number
of words, a certain number ofpages, a chapter, I think just
keeping in your mind you know Ineed to be productive, I want to
accomplish whatever it is.
It doesn't have to be ahumongous goal, like, if you
don't have enough time to, youknow, spend hours at your desk,
(07:20):
then for the next two hours Iwant to really be focused and, I
think, just giving yourselfthat creative mindset.
You know some people like tojournal or write to get warmed
up.
I've done that too.
There's a book that I readcalled the Artist's Way.
That was really helpful ingetting you focused on the
garbage out first.
(07:40):
Whatever you know, thoughts aregoing into your head and
distracting you from what youreally want to be writing about.
And then, once you get to sitdown with your.
If it's a blank page, it's ablank page, or if it's already
started, you know, justcontinuing the process and
building upon what you've done.
And for me, I'm a compulsiveeditor, so as soon as I finish
something I want to go back andfix it, and you can get very
(08:04):
stuck in fixing, fixing, fixing,and so sometimes you know it's
just good to get everything outand give yourself a little bit
of a break and then go back at alater time and see where it
could really be improved andwhere you you know you got
something really good down onpaper.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I love that you said that, because I am a serial
proofreader and I was when Iworked for a employment attorney
and tried to read Intel'semployment handbooks.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Those were fun to read, so enjoying reading kind
of took a turn after that.
And I was proofreadingeverything I was just talking to
turn after that and I wastrying to improve reading
everything.
I was just talking to someoneabout that.
That's hilarious, thatconversation, and it's been 20
years since that even happened.
So that's hilarious, but it isso.
Words are so powerful and theyhave.
(09:00):
Storytelling is so powerful andI think that we're in in
everyone doing a disservice whenwe don't tell our stories
because it literally couldrelate to someone.
The smallest things can helpbring community and bring this
togetherness for people.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
What have you found has been like the audience or
feedback that you've receivedfrom the books?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, I'm very fortunate that my children are
right around the age of mytarget audiences, which I'd say
is eight to 12 year olds.
They happen to be boys, but youknow, I think the messages that
I write about are fairly commonadolescent experiences, and one
of the best pieces of feedbackthat I got was quite secondhand.
(09:50):
One of my son's classmates readmy book over the summer and did
a book report about it, and shecame into the class and she
said this is the best book I'veever read.
Now my son was in this classand they heard about what the
book was about.
They saw the author's name onthe cover and they said, hey,
isn't that your mom's book?
(10:10):
And he says, oh yeah, it was.
And then he forgot to tell meabout it when he came home.
So I heard from a differentparent that this book was used
as a book report.
I was like that would have beenthe best, you know, piece of
feedback that I could everreceive about my book.
But someone said it was thebest book they ever read and my
(10:33):
son forgot to tell me.
But I don't hold it against himbecause a lot goes on in the,
in the classes during the dayand, you know, lunch is exciting
and recess is exciting.
But, um, just hearing aboutpeople enjoying my work and it
is, I think, to a great extentrelatable, and, as you were
saying earlier, it's findingthose commonalities in life, the
(10:55):
things that make us similar inour experiences, in our views,
in our thoughts, especially inadolescence, I think is such a
great superpower for kids tohave.
It's knowing that you're notalone, knowing that your
thoughts and your feelings areimportant and that other people
oftentimes have those samethoughts and feelings, and
(11:17):
reading it in a book, where inmy books I try and make it
positive in the end, so thingswork out nicely.
It's not always the case inlife, but having that sort of
trajectory where something goesup, something goes down in the
book and then all ends well,it's, it's a nice way to sort of
give children and, you know,grown up readers as well Just a
(11:40):
good, a good feeling that youknow there are others out there
in the world like you, and youknow I'm a big proponent of
finding commonality and that'show we connect as humans.
And that doesn't stop once youfinish middle school.
It doesn't stop when you finishhigh school.
It continues on throughout yourlife.
So you know, that's always thesearch of creating connections
(12:00):
in life and I hope to do thatwith my work.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Would you say there are any mentors, writers, that
you love, that you looked up toin your life, and what kind of
that maybe led you to come tothese?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
decisions.
There are so many influencesthat I'd like to say I borrowed
from as a child.
I really loved the quirkycharacters that Beverly Cleary
wrote.
Judy Blume one of my all timefavorites spoke in such
relatable voices that you feltlike you knew the characters the
(12:39):
Penderwicks which is like justa really timeless story, could
take place at any time.
And then I also have to refer tomy mom, who is not an author,
she's a retired teacher, but shereally taught me the value of
learning to read and lovereading, and as she read to me
(12:59):
when I was a child, she read inthese amazing character voices
which I adopted when I read tomy kids when they were little,
and it's just such a great wayto help bring characters to life
.
And so, you know, the morepeople can read out loud to
their kids, the better.
I think we make future readersfuture writers, because it
(13:22):
really helped me sort ofunderstand at a really early age
that powerful narrative thatcan come from a well-written
book.
But a well-read as in read outloud, you know, really makes all
the difference.
And you know I love literatureso much.
I mean I could go on and onabout different authors that I
love to read, but I don't wantto take up the whole show with
that.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
No, I'm really glad because those are some of my
favorite readers when I wasgrowing up as well.
I excuse me, really loved umJames Patterson.
Later, when I got into, youknow, adolescence, yeah, thrill
of reading and everything, but Idon't know why I think that I
think that job, yeah,experiences from then on.
(14:04):
But I love you know, I loveaudible.
I listen to books now, and youknow that's another thing, um,
and I think that probably you asa writer, and just as a reader
in general, can appreciate thatI love that there's
accessibility in so manydifferent formats these days
(14:25):
yeah yeah, you have, is your?
Uh, tell us about the formatsthat you have available.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Um, so far I have just the hard copy and then
electronic copy.
Someday I think I would love todo an uh, an audible like,
where you could do like a it'snot books on tape, but uh, where
you could listen to it whereveryou are.
I'm that's, that's a futuregoal to have, Because, again,
like you said, hearing a book isreally different than reading
(14:53):
it yourself and there are alldifferent types of readers.
You know, some people can puton an audio book and like
they're walking wherever theyhave to walk, or they're in the
car or you know doing laundry,and they get to listen to a
whole book that way.
I mean, that's awesome for me,Like I like to sit and turn the
pages and see the words and justabsorb all the stuff that's on
(15:16):
the on the pages and and read abook that way.
But now I've gotten to thepoint where I'll do it on a
Kindle, so I have like reallylarge font because I'm getting
older, so like it's three wordsper page and then I have to turn
the page.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I love it.
I love it.
It's great.
The accessibility factor hasmade it easier for readers
everywhere around the world.
You know accessibility toreading for for those who who
don't have it, and you know it'sexciting.
I always loved early childhoodeducation and so when do you
(15:56):
remember that your baby can readprogram commercials?
I bought them?
Yeah, I bought them.
Oh wow I actually used that onmy first my biological child,
and he was reading at one andwriting at two.
He was not speaking until four,so we used the communication
(16:19):
that he had learned Like I wouldhave never known that he would
have been profoundly autisticand couldn't speak.
Like I just thought it wasexciting to do the your Baby
Could Read program.
Like I was, I was a 30 year oldmom, I was just, you know, I
wanted the education and, wow,did it make a huge difference,
and not only in just obviouslyfor reading, but that we were
(16:43):
able to communicate and that wasso big.
If that wouldn't have been apiece, I can't imagine how far
behind or where we'd be at todayand not being able to have that
type of communication.
It's so powerful yeah.
Right Reading words and just.
It's also powerful that way.
Um, like you had said, you usejournaling.
(17:07):
What are some other kind oftools you might use to get
yourself ready for for writing,um, like brainstorm bubbles,
those kinds of things?
What do you do?
Um, you know, hand paper.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, Um, for me, I am an outliner I don't know if
there's like an outliner withlike five exclamation points,
Like I am an organizer, I am ascheduler, I am really type A, I
think.
So perhaps it's my law schooltraining, I don't know.
But before I sit down to writea book, I have like a humongous
(17:46):
thing that I put together, likeit's called a snowflake method,
where you start with like anidea and then you keep building
on it and keep building on it,and then you talk about the
characters and their story arc,and so I have like pages on
pages of notes and eventually Ihave to say this is enough.
I have a solid story, I knowwhat like the subplots are going
(18:08):
to be, I know how the book isgoing to end, and now I just
sort of need to fill in all thedetails.
And I'm in the process ofworking on my third book and
I've reached the point where Ithink I've outlined almost as
much as I can possibly outlineand it's time to take the plunge
and start writing.
But that's the scary part.
I'll be honest, like you can doall the prep work you want, but
(18:29):
you have to really like in mymind, I have to really be ready
to say all right for the nexthowever many weeks it's going to
take me and hopefully it's notyears.
But you know I've learned on mysecond book I could.
If I'm really focused, I can doit in like two and a half
months with some child care andlife.
You know interruptions.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
But it's really getting yourself psyched to
write.
And that's the scary part,because you know, once you've
done all the prep work, it's nowtime to execute.
And you know and that's a lotthat's perhaps more work than
the outlining.
I don't know, I'm still goingback and forth as to which is
more work, but you think aboutthe story a lot before, or
whether you sit and write thestory and then you and I are
(19:15):
both going to go back andrewrite the story four times
over before we're comfortablethat it's in a good place and
ready to take that next step.
So a lot of outlining, I guess,is the short summary of what I
just said.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I love that, though.
I love that you shared thatwith us, because I think that
gives everyone good ideas todraw from.
If they don't do something likethat, then they're like, okay,
maybe that will be a great wayfor me to start something new.
And, like you said, the hardestpart is the start, starting and
getting it in there.
You know, I remember gettingready to do the first podcast
(19:48):
and it was like the scariestthing ever.
And then you know I remembergetting ready to do the first
podcast and it was like thescariest thing ever.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
And then, you know, I had to get used to hearing my
voice and then I was like, oh,it's cringy.
And now I'm like, is that Sarahplaying on the podcast?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You have a great voice you have an awesome voice.
Mine is twangy, but yours isgood, mine is twangy, but yours
is good.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I love it.
I love how we can come togetherlike this and podcasting has
just been just life-changinglike beautiful experience for me
excuse me, my family, I'm surefor all my listeners.
And yeah, we're in like season12, episode 290, something right
(20:32):
now.
Wow, that's fantastic A lot ofknowledge on and, yeah, I think
that in every singleconversation there's always
something that I have learnedfrom them can integrate into my
own life to make it easier, likeorganization and writing lists
Like I know they work, but doingthem right.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
That's true.
I have lists for my lists, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I love it.
That's what I need to do.
I need to find myself with alist to look at the list.
Love that, that's see I'm.
I'm going to be better tomorrow.
This is great.
So you kind of answered thatyou're working on your next book
.
What's next?
Or do you do like book signingsand what's that look?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
like you know, for me I kind of do a little bit of
everything.
You never know what's going toresonate and what's going to
stick, and so I love doingpodcasts like speaking with
people like you, because howelse would I come to know you
and we're?
You know we live in differentplaces and it's very efficient
to you know go across thecountry from my home office to
(21:45):
your home office or to youroffice, and so I've gone to some
schools and met with students,and that is really fun.
I'll admit, though, the firstone that I did at a school, I
was so nervous and I was likereally just overwrought with
stress and anxiety of how it'sgoing to go, and I had this
(22:05):
presentation that I thoughtwould be fun.
But you never know with kids,and when I got there, I felt
like I was a celebrity, becausethey were just so enthusiastic
and they'd read my book and theyhad all these questions about
the characters and then somereally funny questions that the
kids asked me.
One that I remember particularwas do you know JK Rowling?
(22:27):
And you know I didn't know howto answer that.
We were in the same circle.
Yeah, I wasn't sure like whatwas she getting at, but I then
really quickly understood thatthat was her favorite author,
and, you know, I wish, Idesperately wish that I had met
her so that I could say, yes,we're very good friends and I
gave her some ideas.
(22:48):
But she was doing her own thingum.
But yeah, I try and meet asmany people as I can.
Maybe I'll meet JK Rowling, Idon't know.
We'll see um.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
But that's for SJ.
That was my like, why I wantedto go with SJ.
Childs was kind of a play onthat oh interesting.
Yeah, I thought, well, if jkcan do it, that's right, yeah,
and it rhymes too.
So you've got a definite andthe child was just a play on
(23:20):
words for children's book,because it's a children's book
genre that I write and so that'sand it just that.
I mean that has nothing to dowith the podcast, but hey, we
just speak, but you got to sharesome really fun facts.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
So when somebody's on , you know the 500th episode of
your podcast.
Do you remember in episode 290,something where I told you how
I got my name?
What's the answer?
And I will be the only one thatknows, as a guest.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I love it.
I love it.
Well, yeah, it's so much fun.
This is such a great medium tobe able to experience, and it's
been just wonderful getting toknow you too, and I'm excited
for what you have.
So you're working on booknumber three.
Is there a timeline?
My husband always says timelineaccountability.
(24:07):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
That which is measured gets done.
My goal is to start writing.
I think I'm giving myself likea few more weeks just to work on
my outline, a little bit more,and then I'm going to have to
cut myself off and say it's timeto get to work.
So my goal is to start writingbefore the end of the year and
then be in a really good spot byspring.
(24:31):
So that's the goal, fingerscrossed.
But as you know, life alwayshappens, so we'll see.
But now that I've said it, I'vecommitted myself to doing it.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
In a way.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I'm glad I've put it out there and you know you got
to manifest it to the world soyeah here it goes out there.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
You know you got to manifest it to the world.
So yeah, here it goes out there.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yay, you have book number one and book number two
next to you.
By any chance you could show usI do.
I wasn't prepared, but I wasprepared.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I love it Right, oh, I love that.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So, um, miss, community camp uhcommunicamp
just came out this spring andHurricane came out a couple of
years ago.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
So and how can we find them?
How, where does everybody needto go to find them?
Speaker 1 (25:18):
You can go to Amazon, you can go to Barnes and Noble,
you can go to any major onlinebook retailer.
Um, and you can see on mywebsite, uh, wwwstephkatsovicom.
Uh, there's a link to all thesedifferent retailers as well,
(25:39):
and I'll put in a plug for myblog, because that's one other
form of writing that I use toget energized about not only my
outlining, but also just gettingready for my next book.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
So Yay, is that right today?
Speaker 1 (25:52):
It's K-A-T-Z-O-V-I.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Oh, okay, see me and my.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
You're typing as you're speaking, though, so
that's that's how I doMultitasking.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Here we go.
Okay, there we go.
I see what I did I.
Here we go.
Okay, there we go.
I see what I did I was.
I was multitasking, which is myfavorite dangerous thing to do.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
That is correct.
Now, that's it.
Oh, dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's like a treasure hunt You'll find me somewhere.
That's it.
Just Google me, just Google me.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, so you know, sometimes the basketball player
Steph Curry comes up when you goGoogle my name.
But that's, you know.
That's great company to be in,you know, by the way, I love
that there's a.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
there's an English writer named Sarah Bradford,
with an H, which I never wouldneed an extra letter.
So, don't need that, but itcomes up when I Google my when I
so I always have to do SarahBradford, sj Childs.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, Otherwise it's just, I'mjust going to have to keep
plugging away.
That's right, exactly so.
You'll get your name up in thealgorithm.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
It's been so much fun talking to you today and the
books look wonderful and Ireally am so excited for all the
readers to have the experiencesthat are provided through those
.
So thank you for doing that,you know, for the readers and
for yourself.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Congratulations on having fulfilled that and making
your dreams come true Wellthank you so much, and may we
all continue to have our dreamscome true, in whatever form they
take, isn't?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
that the truth.
I love that.
Well, I look forward to stayingin touch and let us know when
book number three comes out andwe can do another little catch
up with you Sounds great, I lookforward to it.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Great Talk to you soon, thanks.
Welcome to the SJ Child Show, where a little bit
of knowledge can turn fear intounderstanding.
Enjoy the show, hi, and thanksfor joining the SG Child Show
(00:31):
today.
I am here, with.
Now.
I'm not going to say your firstname, right?
Because my last name isFrenetic and I can't connect
things like that.
So nice to have you here.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It's great to be here .
I'm so glad we get to start offlaughing.
That's a good way to startanything, I think.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
The truth.
I love that you said that.
Isn't that a beautiful thing tohave for yourself to share with
other people, especially toshare with your families, things
like that.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself, introduction, and what
brought you here today.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Well, I was trying to think of what's the most
efficient way to introducemyself because, like you, I wear
many hats I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm a writer and a whole bunch
of other things.
But I think you know.
Just for purposes of ourconversation, I'll tell you a
little bit about how I became awriter.
It was a very roundaboutjourney.
(01:27):
I knew when I was a little kidthat my passion was writing and
that's what I wanted to do.
But, like any practical child,you realize you can't just jump
in feet first and start writingbooks or whatever it is that
you're passionate about firstand start writing books or
whatever it is that you'repassionate about.
For me, I wanted to go tocollege and figure out exactly
(01:48):
where I could position myselfand, as it turned out, I went to
law school to realize, maybe Idon't become a writer straight
away, but I work on myprofessional writing skills and
legal skills and I got thewonderful opportunity to be a
speechwriter for many years at acompany called Deloitte and I
had an amazing person that I gotto support, even though he was
(02:11):
completely unlike me.
I got to figure out how to speakin his voice and over the years
, I think having that experiencereally helped me understand how
to write for other people'svoices, and then, eventually, I
got to write in my own voicewith the two books that I have
published, um, hurricamp andMiscommunicamp, which are both,
uh, hopefully funny adolescentseries, but they are designed to
(02:35):
make you laugh, designed tomake you think and hopefully
designed to see, uh, the thingsthat you have in common with
with these characters and, um,you know, see yourself in
different bits and pieces ofthem.
And you know, I think, all ofthose years that I spent
imagining what I would do if Ibecame a writer and then,
ultimately, I got to the placethat I'm so fortunate to be.
(02:57):
It's really just kind of anamazing dream come true to sound
a little cliche.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
No, it's wonderful.
I have the same experiences,almost like experiences.
Totally wanted to be a writeras a child.
Also wanted to be a reporter.
Oh, interesting Well how aboutthat.
Isn't that crazy how thingstranspire for you in ways that
(03:23):
you want them.
Oh yeah, so true.
And then just you know, laterin life I was a paralegal and
that the I love what you saidabout practicing your writing
that way, because I thatimproved so much in my
communication with everything inmy life.
(03:45):
It was that understanding thatlegal writing and having to, you
know, really research and digdeep into how to present things
in ways that people hadn'tthought of, or that's what I
like to do at least.
Yeah, it's.
I love that.
You said that, that that isfascinating that way, and then
(04:08):
to be able to finally come fullcircle and write your own
experiences and that is such apowerful journey to be on.
And you there's a lot of likeintrospect Tell us about what
was that like for you in thatprocess?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Well, I think you know, for me, and probably like
a lot of writers, you takeelements from your own life or
people that are close to you andyou sort of marinate in the
experiences, the feelings, theemotions, the senses.
You know what you see, what youhear, what you smell senses.
You know what you see, what youhear, what you smell, and you
know that all as I developcharacters and as I think about
(04:48):
a plot line, you know what isgoing to appeal to readers.
You know I think back to myyounger self and what I would
have enjoyed to read about.
And you know, just thinkingabout your audience and I'll go
back to being a speechwriter,like I got to see firsthand,
like telling stories is a superpowerful tool and seeing what
(05:09):
resonates with people and whenthey laugh at the right times,
when they clap, you know it'ssuper rewarding.
And so as I write, I thinkabout how would an audience
digest what I'm saying, what'sthe message I'm trying to get
across, what do I want tocommunicate?
And I think, just keeping thosesenses open in your daily life.
(05:30):
You know, I don't know if thisanswers the question exactly,
but you know having experiencesin life that you can relate and
put on paper, the more powerfulyour message will be.
And so you know, for me, allthose years ago, when I said I
wanted to be a writer you knowit was eight and a half at the
time, and while I thought I wasquite worldly, I had a lot of
living to do in between that andwhen I got to sit down and
(05:54):
actually write.
So for me it's just being likesomeone who can absorb their
world and then reflect back.
You know the distilled elementsto really create a powerful
message, a powerful story.
And you know something thatpeople enjoy reading and, for me
, laughing at, because I am oneof those big proponents of
(06:14):
finding humor in just abouteverything where it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Absolutely.
Well, let's talk about apractical thing for our
listeners.
Well, let's talk about apractical thing for our
listeners your mom, your wife,there's housework, there's other
work, work, work, work, work,work.
How do you tell us kind of whatyour day looks like when you're
going to write?
How do you set that time up foryourself?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I think, first and foremost, you have to sort of
visualize how you want your dayto go.
So you know I'm probablypreaching to the choir, but
there's a load of laundry in thedryer right now and I you know,
under other circumstances Iwould be like folding it or
starting the dishwasher.
But you have to really thinkabout OK, I'm going to sit down
(07:00):
at my desk, I'm going to beproductive.
I want to accomplish, whetherit's, you know, a certain number
of words, a certain number ofpages, a chapter, I think just
keeping in your mind you know Ineed to be productive, I want to
accomplish whatever it is.
It doesn't have to be ahumongous goal, like, if you
don't have enough time to, youknow, spend hours at your desk,
(07:20):
then for the next two hours Iwant to really be focused and, I
think, just giving yourselfthat creative mindset.
You know some people like tojournal or write to get warmed
up.
I've done that too.
There's a book that I readcalled the Artist's Way.
That was really helpful ingetting you focused on the
garbage out first.
(07:40):
Whatever you know, thoughts aregoing into your head and
distracting you from what youreally want to be writing about.
And then, once you get to sitdown with your.
If it's a blank page, it's ablank page, or if it's already
started, you know, justcontinuing the process and
building upon what you've done.
And for me, I'm a compulsiveeditor, so as soon as I finish
something I want to go back andfix it, and you can get very
(08:04):
stuck in fixing, fixing, fixing,and so sometimes you know it's
just good to get everything outand give yourself a little bit
of a break and then go back at alater time and see where it
could really be improved andwhere you you know you got
something really good down onpaper.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I love that you said that, because I am a serial
proofreader and I was when Iworked for a employment attorney
and tried to read Intel'semployment handbooks.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Those were fun to read, so enjoying reading kind
of took a turn after that.
And I was proofreadingeverything I was just talking to
turn after that and I wastrying to improve reading
everything.
I was just talking to someoneabout that.
That's hilarious, thatconversation, and it's been 20
years since that even happened.
So that's hilarious, but it isso.
Words are so powerful and theyhave.
(09:00):
Storytelling is so powerful andI think that we're in in
everyone doing a disservice whenwe don't tell our stories
because it literally couldrelate to someone.
The smallest things can helpbring community and bring this
togetherness for people.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
What have you found has been like the audience or
feedback that you've receivedfrom the books?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, I'm very fortunate that my children are
right around the age of mytarget audiences, which I'd say
is eight to 12 year olds.
They happen to be boys, but youknow, I think the messages that
I write about are fairly commonadolescent experiences, and one
of the best pieces of feedbackthat I got was quite secondhand.
(09:50):
One of my son's classmates readmy book over the summer and did
a book report about it, and shecame into the class and she
said this is the best book I'veever read.
Now my son was in this classand they heard about what the
book was about.
They saw the author's name onthe cover and they said, hey,
isn't that your mom's book?
(10:10):
And he says, oh yeah, it was.
And then he forgot to tell meabout it when he came home.
So I heard from a differentparent that this book was used
as a book report.
I was like that would have beenthe best, you know, piece of
feedback that I could everreceive about my book.
But someone said it was thebest book they ever read and my
(10:33):
son forgot to tell me.
But I don't hold it against himbecause a lot goes on in the,
in the classes during the dayand, you know, lunch is exciting
and recess is exciting.
But, um, just hearing aboutpeople enjoying my work and it
is, I think, to a great extentrelatable, and, as you were
saying earlier, it's findingthose commonalities in life, the
(10:55):
things that make us similar inour experiences, in our views,
in our thoughts, especially inadolescence, I think is such a
great superpower for kids tohave.
It's knowing that you're notalone, knowing that your
thoughts and your feelings areimportant and that other people
oftentimes have those samethoughts and feelings, and
(11:17):
reading it in a book, where inmy books I try and make it
positive in the end, so thingswork out nicely.
It's not always the case inlife, but having that sort of
trajectory where something goesup, something goes down in the
book and then all ends well,it's, it's a nice way to sort of
give children and, you know,grown up readers as well Just a
(11:40):
good, a good feeling that youknow there are others out there
in the world like you, and youknow I'm a big proponent of
finding commonality and that'show we connect as humans.
And that doesn't stop once youfinish middle school.
It doesn't stop when you finishhigh school.
It continues on throughout yourlife.
So you know, that's always thesearch of creating connections
(12:00):
in life and I hope to do thatwith my work.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Would you say there are any mentors, writers, that
you love, that you looked up toin your life, and what kind of
that maybe led you to come tothese?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
decisions.
There are so many influencesthat I'd like to say I borrowed
from as a child.
I really loved the quirkycharacters that Beverly Cleary
wrote.
Judy Blume one of my all timefavorites spoke in such
relatable voices that you feltlike you knew the characters the
(12:39):
Penderwicks which is like justa really timeless story, could
take place at any time.
And then I also have to refer tomy mom, who is not an author,
she's a retired teacher, but shereally taught me the value of
learning to read and lovereading, and as she read to me
(12:59):
when I was a child, she read inthese amazing character voices
which I adopted when I read tomy kids when they were little,
and it's just such a great wayto help bring characters to life
.
And so, you know, the morepeople can read out loud to
their kids, the better.
I think we make future readersfuture writers, because it
(13:22):
really helped me sort ofunderstand at a really early age
that powerful narrative thatcan come from a well-written
book.
But a well-read as in read outloud, you know, really makes all
the difference.
And you know I love literatureso much.
I mean I could go on and onabout different authors that I
love to read, but I don't wantto take up the whole show with
that.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
No, I'm really glad because those are some of my
favorite readers when I wasgrowing up as well.
I excuse me, really loved umJames Patterson.
Later, when I got into, youknow, adolescence, yeah, thrill
of reading and everything, but Idon't know why I think that I
think that job, yeah,experiences from then on.
(14:04):
But I love you know, I loveaudible.
I listen to books now, and youknow that's another thing, um,
and I think that probably you asa writer, and just as a reader
in general, can appreciate thatI love that there's
accessibility in so manydifferent formats these days
(14:25):
yeah yeah, you have, is your?
Uh, tell us about the formatsthat you have available.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Um, so far I have just the hard copy and then
electronic copy.
Someday I think I would love todo an uh, an audible like,
where you could do like a it'snot books on tape, but uh, where
you could listen to it whereveryou are.
I'm that's, that's a futuregoal to have, Because, again,
like you said, hearing a book isreally different than reading
(14:53):
it yourself and there are alldifferent types of readers.
You know, some people can puton an audio book and like
they're walking wherever theyhave to walk, or they're in the
car or you know doing laundry,and they get to listen to a
whole book that way.
I mean, that's awesome for me,Like I like to sit and turn the
pages and see the words and justabsorb all the stuff that's on
(15:16):
the on the pages and and read abook that way.
But now I've gotten to thepoint where I'll do it on a
Kindle, so I have like reallylarge font because I'm getting
older, so like it's three wordsper page and then I have to turn
the page.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I love it.
I love it.
It's great.
The accessibility factor hasmade it easier for readers
everywhere around the world.
You know accessibility toreading for for those who who
don't have it, and you know it'sexciting.
I always loved early childhoodeducation and so when do you
(15:56):
remember that your baby can readprogram commercials?
I bought them?
Yeah, I bought them.
Oh wow I actually used that onmy first my biological child,
and he was reading at one andwriting at two.
He was not speaking until four,so we used the communication
(16:19):
that he had learned Like I wouldhave never known that he would
have been profoundly autisticand couldn't speak.
Like I just thought it wasexciting to do the your Baby
Could Read program.
Like I was, I was a 30 year oldmom, I was just, you know, I
wanted the education and, wow,did it make a huge difference,
and not only in just obviouslyfor reading, but that we were
(16:43):
able to communicate and that wasso big.
If that wouldn't have been apiece, I can't imagine how far
behind or where we'd be at todayand not being able to have that
type of communication.
It's so powerful yeah.
Right Reading words and just.
It's also powerful that way.
Um, like you had said, you usejournaling.
(17:07):
What are some other kind oftools you might use to get
yourself ready for for writing,um, like brainstorm bubbles,
those kinds of things?
What do you do?
Um, you know, hand paper.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, Um, for me, I am an outliner I don't know if
there's like an outliner withlike five exclamation points,
Like I am an organizer, I am ascheduler, I am really type A, I
think.
So perhaps it's my law schooltraining, I don't know.
But before I sit down to writea book, I have like a humongous
(17:46):
thing that I put together, likeit's called a snowflake method,
where you start with like anidea and then you keep building
on it and keep building on it,and then you talk about the
characters and their story arc,and so I have like pages on
pages of notes and eventually Ihave to say this is enough.
I have a solid story, I knowwhat like the subplots are going
(18:08):
to be, I know how the book isgoing to end, and now I just
sort of need to fill in all thedetails.
And I'm in the process ofworking on my third book and
I've reached the point where Ithink I've outlined almost as
much as I can possibly outlineand it's time to take the plunge
and start writing.
But that's the scary part.
I'll be honest, like you can doall the prep work you want, but
(18:29):
you have to really like in mymind, I have to really be ready
to say all right for the nexthowever many weeks it's going to
take me and hopefully it's notyears.
But you know I've learned on mysecond book I could.
If I'm really focused, I can doit in like two and a half
months with some child care andlife.
You know interruptions.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
But it's really getting yourself psyched to
write.
And that's the scary part,because you know, once you've
done all the prep work, it's nowtime to execute.
And you know and that's a lotthat's perhaps more work than
the outlining.
I don't know, I'm still goingback and forth as to which is
more work, but you think aboutthe story a lot before, or
whether you sit and write thestory and then you and I are
(19:15):
both going to go back andrewrite the story four times
over before we're comfortablethat it's in a good place and
ready to take that next step.
So a lot of outlining, I guess,is the short summary of what I
just said.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I love that, though.
I love that you shared thatwith us, because I think that
gives everyone good ideas todraw from.
If they don't do something likethat, then they're like, okay,
maybe that will be a great wayfor me to start something new.
And, like you said, the hardestpart is the start, starting and
getting it in there.
You know, I remember gettingready to do the first podcast
(19:48):
and it was like the scariestthing ever.
And then you know I remembergetting ready to do the first
podcast and it was like thescariest thing ever.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
And then, you know, I had to get used to hearing my
voice and then I was like, oh,it's cringy.
And now I'm like, is that Sarahplaying on the podcast?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You have a great voice you have an awesome voice.
Mine is twangy, but yours isgood, mine is twangy, but yours
is good.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I love it.
I love how we can come togetherlike this and podcasting has
just been just life-changinglike beautiful experience for me
excuse me, my family, I'm surefor all my listeners.
And yeah, we're in like season12, episode 290, something right
(20:32):
now.
Wow, that's fantastic A lot ofknowledge on and, yeah, I think
that in every singleconversation there's always
something that I have learnedfrom them can integrate into my
own life to make it easier, likeorganization and writing lists
Like I know they work, but doingthem right.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
That's true.
I have lists for my lists, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I love it.
That's what I need to do.
I need to find myself with alist to look at the list.
Love that, that's see I'm.
I'm going to be better tomorrow.
This is great.
So you kind of answered thatyou're working on your next book
.
What's next?
Or do you do like book signingsand what's that look?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
like you know, for me I kind of do a little bit of
everything.
You never know what's going toresonate and what's going to
stick, and so I love doingpodcasts like speaking with
people like you, because howelse would I come to know you
and we're?
You know we live in differentplaces and it's very efficient
to you know go across thecountry from my home office to
(21:45):
your home office or to youroffice, and so I've gone to some
schools and met with students,and that is really fun.
I'll admit, though, the firstone that I did at a school, I
was so nervous and I was likereally just overwrought with
stress and anxiety of how it'sgoing to go, and I had this
(22:05):
presentation that I thoughtwould be fun.
But you never know with kids,and when I got there, I felt
like I was a celebrity, becausethey were just so enthusiastic
and they'd read my book and theyhad all these questions about
the characters and then somereally funny questions that the
kids asked me.
One that I remember particularwas do you know JK Rowling?
(22:27):
And you know I didn't know howto answer that.
We were in the same circle.
Yeah, I wasn't sure like whatwas she getting at, but I then
really quickly understood thatthat was her favorite author,
and, you know, I wish, Idesperately wish that I had met
her so that I could say, yes,we're very good friends and I
gave her some ideas.
(22:48):
But she was doing her own thingum.
But yeah, I try and meet asmany people as I can.
Maybe I'll meet JK Rowling, Idon't know.
We'll see um.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
But that's for SJ.
That was my like, why I wantedto go with SJ.
Childs was kind of a play onthat oh interesting.
Yeah, I thought, well, if jkcan do it, that's right, yeah,
and it rhymes too.
So you've got a definite andthe child was just a play on
(23:20):
words for children's book,because it's a children's book
genre that I write and so that'sand it just that.
I mean that has nothing to dowith the podcast, but hey, we
just speak, but you got to sharesome really fun facts.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
So when somebody's on , you know the 500th episode of
your podcast.
Do you remember in episode 290,something where I told you how
I got my name?
What's the answer?
And I will be the only one thatknows, as a guest.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I love it.
I love it.
Well, yeah, it's so much fun.
This is such a great medium tobe able to experience, and it's
been just wonderful getting toknow you too, and I'm excited
for what you have.
So you're working on booknumber three.
Is there a timeline?
My husband always says timelineaccountability.
(24:07):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
That which is measured gets done.
My goal is to start writing.
I think I'm giving myself likea few more weeks just to work on
my outline, a little bit more,and then I'm going to have to
cut myself off and say it's timeto get to work.
So my goal is to start writingbefore the end of the year and
then be in a really good spot byspring.
(24:31):
So that's the goal, fingerscrossed.
But as you know, life alwayshappens, so we'll see.
But now that I've said it, I'vecommitted myself to doing it.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
In a way.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I'm glad I've put it out there and you know you got
to manifest it to the world soyeah here it goes out there.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
You know you got to manifest it to the world.
So yeah, here it goes out there.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yay, you have book number one and book number two
next to you.
By any chance you could show usI do.
I wasn't prepared, but I wasprepared.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I love it Right, oh, I love that.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So, um, miss, community camp uhcommunicamp
just came out this spring andHurricane came out a couple of
years ago.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
So and how can we find them?
How, where does everybody needto go to find them?
Speaker 1 (25:18):
You can go to Amazon, you can go to Barnes and Noble,
you can go to any major onlinebook retailer.
Um, and you can see on mywebsite, uh, wwwstephkatsovicom.
Uh, there's a link to all thesedifferent retailers as well,
(25:39):
and I'll put in a plug for myblog, because that's one other
form of writing that I use toget energized about not only my
outlining, but also just gettingready for my next book.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
So Yay, is that right today?
Speaker 1 (25:52):
It's K-A-T-Z-O-V-I.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Oh, okay, see me and my.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
You're typing as you're speaking, though, so
that's that's how I doMultitasking.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Here we go.
Okay, there we go.
I see what I did I.
Here we go.
Okay, there we go.
I see what I did I was.
I was multitasking, which is myfavorite dangerous thing to do.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
That is correct.
Now, that's it.
Oh, dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's like a treasure hunt You'll find me somewhere.
That's it.
Just Google me, just Google me.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, so you know, sometimes the basketball player
Steph Curry comes up when you goGoogle my name.
But that's, you know.
That's great company to be in,you know, by the way, I love
that there's a.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
there's an English writer named Sarah Bradford,
with an H, which I never wouldneed an extra letter.
So, don't need that, but itcomes up when I Google my when I
so I always have to do SarahBradford, sj Childs.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, Otherwise it's just, I'mjust going to have to keep
plugging away.
That's right, exactly so.
You'll get your name up in thealgorithm.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
It's been so much fun talking to you today and the
books look wonderful and Ireally am so excited for all the
readers to have the experiencesthat are provided through those
.
So thank you for doing that,you know, for the readers and
for yourself.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Congratulations on having fulfilled that and making
your dreams come true Wellthank you so much, and may we
all continue to have our dreamscome true, in whatever form they
take, isn't?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
that the truth.
I love that.
Well, I look forward to stayingin touch and let us know when
book number three comes out andwe can do another little catch
up with you Sounds great, I lookforward to it.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Great Talk to you soon, thanks.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com