"How did you decide to be a writer?" asked Nacie Carson, author of
THE LIFE UNCOMMON. Here's my answer.
When I was growing up as an immigrant kid, reading fiction helped me understand myself as well as gain insight into North American mainstream culture. I kept scribbling stories and poems in my journals and reading children’s books, even while studying political science and public policy, and then teaching middle school, high school, and college.
I wrote my first novel, The Sunita Experiment, for fun after finishing my lesson plans and grading papers, and was stunned when Little Brown wanted to publish it. Although I was teaching at Pepperdine University at the time, I didn’t have a PhD. Was it time to get one? I enjoyed equipping my students with economic and political strategies in the battle against poverty and human rights violations, but was that what I really wanted to do with my life?
I took a silent retreat at a monastery in the Santa Monica Mountains to wrestle through this decision ...
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"How did you decide to be a writer?" asked Nacie Carson, author of THE LIFE UNCOMMON. Here's my answer.