Victoria Benton Frank, MY MAGNOLIA SUMMER
[0:02]Hi, I'm Zippy Owens and you're listening to moms don't have time to read books.
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[1:03]Victoria Benton Frank is the author of my Magnolia Summer, a novel.
[1:07]Victoria was born in New York City, raised in Montclair, New Jersey, but considers herself
[1:11]to have dual residency in the low country.
[1:14]She is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute.
[1:18]Victoria worked in restaurants in New York before returning to Charleston, South Carolina,
[1:21]which she considers home with her husband two kids and two dogs when she isn't writing,
[1:25]she is reading, cooking, or chasing her children.
[1:28]Some of you may know her late mother Dorothy Benton-Frank.
[1:32]Welcome, Victoria.
[1:33]Thank you for coming on momstone of time to read books to discuss my Magnolia Summer,
[1:37]which for those who are just listening, I'm holding my multiple copies.
[1:40]I even have more of these books.
[1:42]I am overflowing with copies, so it is amazing because I love the color pig and this fabulous
[1:49]fun cover.
[1:50]And so it's a perfect summer book and cover and thing to have around the house.
[1:54]So there you go.
[1:55]Sorry.
[1:56]It's cheery.
[1:57]So tell listeners what my Magnolia Summer is about, please.
[2:00]Okay, so my Magnolia Summer is about a girl named Magnolia who decided to pursue being
[2:07]a chef in New York, which is loosely based on my life.
[2:11]So she inherits a restaurant from her grandmother, which is on Sullivan's Island in the
[2:16]low country of South Carolina.
[2:18]And it's a multi-generational story about women who rise to the occasion in normal events
[2:24]through trials and tribulations, relationships and balancing work life and home life.
[2:32]And there's a little bit of a love story in it.
[2:34]And I think, you know, I went on friends in fiction and they asked me what my book is really
[2:40]about.
[2:41]And I think it's about succumbing to your destiny.
[2:43]I think no matter what you do in the end of the world, like you can make your choices,
[2:48]but you're really not driving the boat.
[2:49]So sometimes like that's how it is.
[2:52]I feel like that's what happened to Maggie.
[2:54]And that's kind of what happened to me too, becoming a writer.
[2:57]So, you know, some of my autobiographical without even needing to be, I mean, it's hard
[3:02]to get completely away from ourselves.
[3:04]So we are who we are.
[3:05]I mean, it sneaks in and what are we going to do?
[3:09]Absolutely.
[3:10]I think you just surrender.
[3:12]I have to copy friends in fiction.
[3:16]What is your book really about?
[3:17]All right.
[3:18]I'll try to practice that question.
[3:19]I like that question though, because you know, when you give your elevator pitch,
[3:22]it's a multi-generational story.
[3:24]Southern fiction about a girl coming of age in her late 20s.
[3:27]And that's all nice.
[3:29]But like what it's really about is surrendering to your destiny.
[3:34]It's true.
[3:35]OK.
[3:36]How have you surrendered to your destiny?
[3:38]And how did you fight it?
[3:39]Becoming a writer.
[3:40]I think I was a storyteller my whole life.
[3:44]I started out as a dancer and then I was an actress and then I was a chef.
[3:48]All the while my mother was telling me you're going to be a writer.
[3:51]You're going to be a writer.
[3:52]You're going to be a writer.
[3:52]And I fought it by trying other things.
[3:55]But in a way, I was always telling a story.
[3:57]You know, you can tell a story with dance.
[3:59]You can tell a story, obviously, as an actor.
[4:01]I did a little play writing.
[4:03]So obviously, that was telling stories, even as a chef, you know, food tells a story about
[4:08]place and where you come from and how you live your life.
[4:12]And so I think when I sat down to write my book, it was like I should have been there
[4:16]all along.
[4:18]So when I started it, I didn't think I'd be very good at it or that anyone else would
[4:22]think I was good at it or that I would even really enjoy it.
[4:26]But here I am really into it, really loving it.
[4:29]And I'm in love with that.
[4:30]I don't think I could do anything else.
[4:32]And my mother always knew I'd be a writer.
[4:35]Well, your mother is not just an all knowing mother, but was the beloved treasured Dorothy
[4:42]Benton Frank, Dottie.
[4:44]And by the way, my husband, Kyle, used to live in Charleston and actually live on Sullivan's
[4:50]Island and said that it was with I was reading The See Other Night.
[4:54]And he said, oh my gosh, you know, I met a famous author on Sullivan's Island once or
[4:59]I met her somewhere and a friend that he had been with had brought her to your mom's house
[5:03]and she was on the porch.
[5:05]And he like was like, okay, an author, he's like, that was before I knew you and I didn't
[5:09]really care about books.
[5:12]But anyway, he met her on porch and so cool.
[5:15]That's great.
[5:16]Yeah.
[5:17]She was a cool lady.
[5:18]Yes.
[5:19]By all accounts.
[5:20]I read the tribute book that everyone was, oh my gosh, last year I was crying last year
[5:24]or two years ago.
[5:25]Two years ago, I think a year ago, a journey is like, I mean, I can't believe, look, losing
[5:34]your mother is horrible, right?
[5:35]And I don't think anyone really truly grows up until you do because you lose your safety
[5:39]net.
[5:40]But having the world, the professional world, my professional world, not only welcomed
[5:45]me in, but helped me send that off to see was was really lovely.
[5:50]And I don't know of another situation where other authors came together and what a testimony
[5:55]to my mother for being such a lovely person that some of those people could even be considered
[5:59]her competitors.
[6:01]They all instead turned and they were like, no friends, you know, were friends, what arises
[6:05]all boats.
[6:06]Let's honor this woman who paved the way.
[6:09]And I think my mom challenged other people with her work and inspired other people and
[6:14]warmed their hearts and was such a good friend and an ally to other female writers that
[6:20]when she passed away, everyone's like, let's do this.
[6:22]And I just, you know, I gained friends from that like Adriana is a really good friend of
[6:27]my now.
[6:28]And it was through that storytelling that we became friends.
[6:31]It's just I love that books bring women together, not just in book clubs, but also, you
[6:36]know, through things like this, which is so cool.
[6:38]It's amazing.
[6:39]You couldn't read that book or look on social or look anywhere without feeling the intense
[6:45]love everybody.
[6:46]Love reverence for you really got a sense of who your mom was, which most people only
[6:51]get.
[6:52]You know, if you pop into someone else's funeral or something, you know what I mean?
[6:55]Like, yes, the, it's like a eulogy forever.
[6:59]And I left feeling like I really knew her, which is wonderful because I mean, what else do
[7:04]you want?
[7:05]I'm sorry for your loss.
[7:06]And so, oh, thank you.
[7:07]Paul, I know what happened quickly and I'm just seeing them very sorry, but it's okay.
[7:14]You know, I feel like, you know, in my situation right now, which is really unique,
[7:18]I get to herald on the legacy, which is so cool.
[7:21]And what a privilege to be able to do that.
[7:23]I think I'm keeping her alive this way.
[7:26]So it's actually, I'm not sad anymore.
[7:28]I mean, of course, I'm sad, but I'm more peaceful with it.
[7:32]I feel like my grief and I have a understanding, you know, I deal with it when I mean,
[7:37]like, even yesterday, I had a moment that I got misty, but I'm with her and she's with
[7:41]me and it's cool.
[7:43]It's good.
[7:44]It's a positive thing.
[7:46]So were you afraid?
[7:47]I'm just projecting here.
[7:48]Were you afraid to step into her shadows or try to fill her shoes as a writer yourself?
[7:55]Do you feel like that had anything to do with you're not wanting to admit that deep down
[7:58]that to you are?
[8:00]Or do you think it was just, you know, writing needs experiences to feed it and you just
[8:05]had to get out there and do stuff?
[8:06]Yeah, I think a little bit of both.
[8:08]I mean, I think we're all afraid of turning into our mothers at some level.
[8:11]You know, although like, thank God, I'm kind of like dotty because she's amazing.
[8:16]And I think I also didn't feel like I had lived enough.
[8:20]I kind of wanted to go, I feel like writing, I've always been such a reader.
[8:24]I'm such a reader before I'm anything else.
[8:26]I'm a reader.
[8:28]And that's how I fill my cup.
[8:29]So I respect books.
[8:32]And so I felt like I was such a young punk, I didn't know anything.
[8:36]And I needed to live and experience things a little bit before I sat down to write a novel
[8:40]that other people could, you know, connect with.
[8:43]You're also a supporter of other authors, perhaps, you know, inheriting your graciousness.
[8:51]But even on your Instagram, we're just constantly calling out other people from Beola
[8:55]Shipin to Kristin that brand new author who I love going as well.
[8:59]I mean, you're just, it's really wonderful.
[9:02]Well, you know, I think it's a sorority in a way.
[9:04]It's a sisterhood.
[9:05]I call it the COVID.
[9:06]I mean, like we are all like really linked a lot of, especially with your situation.
[9:11]Moms don't have that.
[9:12]When I learned the name of your punk, I was like, that's me because I struggled.
[9:18]How is that going to read with these little kids, these monsters running around and meeting
[9:22]me all the time?
[9:23]So I got into audiobooks because I couldn't give up reading.
[9:28]And I think certain authors probably don't need my plug like Alice Hoffman, who I worship.
[9:35]Her book came out yesterday, she only in my plug but I'm going to give it to her anyway
[9:37]because I love it so much and I want other people to fall in love with reading.
[9:41]It does.
[9:43]It's, I'm such an evangelist for reading in general because I just think it is so beneficial
[9:48]to us and it gets us away from screens and it gets us time to be quiet.
[9:53]It's personal time and as a mom, you really need that time to shut up.
[10:00]just like brain bloom. Yeah, if we can call the timeouts from parenting blooming brains. I mean,
[10:06]that's like on a good day. That would be nice. That's a goal. That's the goal. That's the
[10:10]goal. Mine's usually melting out of my hair. Right into my wine glass. Like I just can't
[10:16]God, some days or so. Today was my daughter's first day of school and myself in the garden
[10:22]on Monday. And last night, he lost his first tooth. And I feel like bombarded with milestones
[10:28]right now. You know, and I remember you did a post at the beginning of the summer where you're
[10:32]like, I am so overwhelmed. There's so much to do. I decided that post really inspired me that
[10:38]we don't schedule our weekends. I refuse because I was like, you know what? We're on the birthday
[10:44]party circuit. It's ridiculous. We're on the activity circuits. It's ridiculous. These kids are
[10:48]over scheduled and overstimulated. I have too many expectations of myself and others of me in this
[10:55]category of my life. It's really hard to balance both. So we don't do weekends anymore. Amazing.
[11:02]I'm so glad I've just screamed you. That's what I'm like. I want to go to skies. I'm like, no,
[11:07]we're going to be lazy today. We're going to sit down. I let them read. We're going to play outside.
[11:13]We're not doing. If we all decide we want to go somewhere cool. But like it's a last minute thing.
[11:19]It's not the schedule like really started overwhelming me. I felt that post.
[11:25]Thank you for sure. Well, I'm glad it resonated. And yeah, I feel like there's a lot of pushback in
[11:30]that, you know, like sometimes I'm like, am I doing like it's a disservice. But we do we do end up
[11:35]doing like nice fun things. Even if it's just going out to dinner in the neighborhood and like hang
[11:39]out or seeing friends. Making dinner together or making or taking a walk or just like slow time.
[11:46]Like I love all my kids or my mom used to tell I've been like on board. Just like good,
[11:51]that's when creativity blooms. Like that's, you know, that's how you figure out how to make something,
[11:56]you know, and yeah, you can we have to let our kids get bored. Like we can't constantly stimulate
[12:02]them. They have that in school. It's enough. We do have best and worst at dinner thing. I don't know
[12:08]if you ever do. What was your best day? What was your worst today? Yeah, at the hardest and
[12:12]something else. We haven't done it. So I can't remember time. Most challenging sometimes when we're
[12:16]just like going about our business, I call out like this was my best today, even while it's happening,
[12:21]you know, and that was the other day like all of us took the dog on a walk like after dinner,
[12:26]which we don't usually do or there would be the best. But like my I have four kids,
[12:30]four kids, my husband, I would just like went on this nice walk and it was beautiful. I was like,
[12:35]you guys, this is my best thing, you know, and it's nothing. And it's structured. But like that's
[12:40]what I live for. All that stuff, you know. Yeah, and it sounds a little moment. It's a little
[12:45]moment between the big moments that I think you you save her. But certainly what I remember about
[12:51]my mom, like I don't it's funny when she passed away and talking about memories that you keep,
[12:56]I remember the birthday parties. I remember the Christmas's, but I also remember like
[13:00]the colors of nail polish you paint her toes are like her favorite perfume or, you know, how
[13:06]she'd always get excited around Christmas to make a fruitcake, even though everyone hated it.
[13:10]And no one wanted to eat those. Those are the situation. It's little moments that you keep with
[13:14]yourself. And I think like just an unplanned evening walk with the dogs. P.S., how are you alive with
[13:21]four children? I can barely make it with two. I haven't got it. They're not little anymore. I mean,
[13:30]those little days were really, really hard. And I do have a big gap. So my older kid
[13:36]is 16. I have 16 year old twins. And then I have a 10 year old and an eight and a half year old.
[13:41]And the younger kids are super mature. And yeah. And then in the younger two or 17 months apart,
[13:46]what about your own language? But what do you have? I have six and three and a half. And so
[13:51]there are two years, they're almost to the day two and a half years apart. And they are,
[13:56]it's hot. I'm in the trench. It's hard. I mean, it's just, yeah. Although it is changing,
[14:01]is now like, I can really talk to my son who's six, Teddy. And we can have like real conversations
[14:07]about the day, like we're starting. What was your best and worst day? And he's starting to learn
[14:11]to read, which is so cool. I know. And he said that there's like books are boring if they don't
[14:16]have pictures. I was like, nah, because you can make your own pictures in your mind. You can go anywhere
[14:20]in the world and go to outer space. And he was like, you can go to outer space. It's like, yeah,
[14:25]you're imagination. He's a cool. So now he like wants to read space books. That's really awesome.
[14:31]Yeah, it's so cool. I just, I love watching these little kids become people, you know, it is cool.
[14:38]But bedtime is brutal. It's traumatic. I need like a whole bottle of wine to get over at every night,
[14:44]you know, we went on to sleep over once. I'm sorry, we're totally off the topic of your book here.
[14:48]But we barely like all stay with another family because they're like so many of us and it's such
[14:53]an imposition of whatever, but we actually did one time at these, you know, family friends. Anyway,
[14:59]we stayed there. And the, the dad was actually the one putting the kids to bed. And he put two
[15:05]kids to bed. And he was just like, okay, good night. And then he left the room. And I was like,
[15:09]wait a minute, my prize is like an hour now. And I have to like sit there. And I'm on the floor
[15:15]and I'm reading books. And I'm like, you're, you're, they're just going to go to bed now.
[15:19]And he's like, yeah, they're just going to go to bed. That's dad versus mom.
[15:22]And it's the rudest thing in the world. It's like my, my husband had the kids. So I could go
[15:28]have a drink with my girlfriend that I hadn't seen in a while. And I came almost like,
[15:33]was it okay? And he's together sleep. I'm like, what do you mean? There's no blood. There's no
[15:38]salt for in the air. I don't understand. You know, like, it's just like so strange to me that it's
[15:44]just, they just listened to him. For me, I've got to like sacrifice a baby animal and sing a song
[15:48]and do a rain dance for my children to go to sleep with like melatonin and promises of ice
[15:52]cream in the morning. Like, it never works. And it takes an hour at least to put two of them down.
[15:58]And now we're like wrestling. Teddy wants to take a shower. So he's out of, we're out of the dual
[16:02]in the bathroom because, you know, he's six. It's time. And so getting him in the shower and not
[16:07]like waterboarding him is also challenged to like, I'm drenched in water. The kids are screaming at
[16:12]each other. You know, I know this going to sound so dry, but it's going to get a lot easier really
[16:17]like before you turn your around. It's like, you know, even the best to shower transition is a huge
[16:23]one. Right. It's a huge leap. Yeah. Teddy can make us on cereal in the morning. That's a huge leap.
[16:28]Like he makes me a cup of coffee in the morning, which is amazing. And I love that he does. He's like,
[16:33]this is for you mommy to start. He's a sweet. He is. It's really nice. No, my thing is a lot of
[16:38]daughters. Yeah, my daughter's violent, but he's lovely. She has red hair. She's the Sagittarius.
[16:46]She doesn't take any SHIT from anybody. You know, they should make t-shirts instead of like,
[16:57]they should make like Sagittarius mom. Or like, you know what I mean? They don't have that. Do they?
[17:01]I have to go look. I'll look after this. We could probably get somebody to make you on. I feel
[17:06]like Sagittarius and Capricorns are the kind of moms you just don't mess with. You just don't
[17:11]don't mess with them. I'm a Scorpio. And I'm so emotional. So like, I'm definitely like a mom,
[17:17]like, and I've got a cancer moon if you really want to get into it. So I'm a triple water sign,
[17:22]which means I'm like, super. If you're feeling something, I'm going to sit there. I'm going to
[17:26]work it through. But I am very not. I'm not an emotional person, but like inside I am. So I can
[17:32]channel that really well, which is I think how I'm a writer and a mom, but like, I compartmentalize
[17:38]everything. Like I don't cry. And so like, when I'm less something really sweet happens. However,
[17:46]I cried two days ago when my daughter decided to cut all of her hair off right before school started.
[17:52]She took all of the back of her hair and just chopped it. I was sobbed. I'm sorry. I handled that
[18:00]well. Oh my, you know, everyone tells me all little girls cut their hair. It's going to grow that
[18:09]my older daughter did the same thing. I was like out. Yeah, it was it was not as extreme,
[18:15]but I know of these moments. Well, head to the book, right? I am by the way, a total
[18:23]cryer and FY a Leo, but anyway, I don't know what moon I'm in. I could figure it out. I haven't
[18:28]because you need me to. Oh, great. Oh, you can just take your charge. I did have my current red by
[18:35]somebody who came with this podcast. They were like, can we do a whole reading for you? And I was like,
[18:38]I'm not going to turn that down. Yeah. Okay. So part of this book is a love letter to the South,
[18:46]right? It is a place based love letter. I don't know what to say. It is very evocative. It's immersive.
[18:54]You feel like you're there. Like your hair is, you know, I can feel it like the humidity. I can just
[18:59]feel like and you feel like you feel like a transplant, even though you're born in New York, New
[19:04]Jersey and all that and tell me about that and like wanting to put in seen environment as character
[19:09]essentially. And then also the development of these very deep personal relationships and what the
[19:16]effect of loss is on a family loaded question. Okay. So part one, space is a character,
[19:21]place is a character. I think is really important. I think in the South, it's exceptionally
[19:27]prevalent in other books. I feel like because the South and the low country especially is so
[19:34]multi-central, you can't not write about it. Like I can't just say it's hot because it's not just
[19:40]hot. It's like boiling your inside's hot and it's so humid. You feel like you're cloaked in it.
[19:45]I mean, I feel like I could lift off and climb through it today. It's 110 heat index. And
[19:50]I hope it is my gosh, brutal. Like it's I go outside. Like today's, I took the first day of
[19:56]picture, you know, on my phone and it fogged up from going outside.
[20:00]side. I had to keep wiping it brutal. Also, when it's not so hot, it's beautiful. We have these
[20:07]tropical flowers and Spanish moss and warped oak trees and like beautiful oceans and beautiful
[20:14]beaches and the people are slower and humbled. I think by the surroundings, I think it makes you
[20:22]live at a different pace. And I also think everyone, including myself, wants to be southern
[20:28]and it was a little bit obsessed with the south. We all are because good food, pretty women,
[20:34]you know, family-oriented, a lot of history here, and it's gorgeous. So like, why wouldn't we want to
[20:40]be southern? You know, and there's something charming about the south too and the way we hold on to
[20:46]architecture and we hold on to buildings and gardens and all that kind of stuff. I mean,
[20:53]not to mention it has a dark twisted, awful path in history in it too, but that makes it spooky and
[21:00]something to think about and something to feel. So I think that's why I have to write about the
[21:07]south as a character because it is a character. It's what motivates people and shapes people here.
[21:13]I grew up in the Northeast, but my family's been in the low country for 300 years. So I have
[21:20]every time I was at home, I never really felt like I fit in and I came to college here,
[21:25]which is called to Charleston, and I was like, I'm home. This is what home feels like,
[21:30]and I felt like I felt my roots sort of like dig into the earth and lock me in. I came back to
[21:36]New York to go to culinary school, met my husband, and back to the south. I was like, screw this,
[21:42]can't do it, can't do it. So yeah, and I think what was the second part of that question was how
[21:48]loss affects the family? I mean, you start the book with an accident that has deeper
[21:53]vibrations and how we process that, how it affects different siblings, like how you know, filters
[22:01]down. So I think like everybody grieves in their own way. I think everyone handles calamity and
[22:07]like crisis in their own ways. Some people are, I have a girlfriend who describes it as in the room
[22:13]and out of the room. People like people who are like, okay, someone's dying. I'm going to walk out
[22:17]here and I'm going to make sure dinner's ready. That's an out of the room person. And in the room
[22:21]person's like, let me clean up the vomit. Let me sit there with you. I say, I'm in the room
[22:27]person. I'm like, take the reins handle it. My brother is an out of the room person. He's like,
[22:31]I can't, I can't do this. I learned that when my mom is in the hospital, most people are out of
[22:37]the room. People because I can't take it. But I had started this novel way before my mom was
[22:42]even diagnosed. So I have always found it funny how milestones affect families,
[22:48]differently like weddings, baptisms, funerals, sickness, accidents, death, whatever. And I think
[22:54]you can tell a lot about a person by how they handle a crisis. And so it brings out these real
[23:00]inside character descriptions that you wouldn't normally know about someone. So I thought it would
[23:05]be interesting to see how sisters would react to their matriarch going down. When I developed
[23:12]these characters and their relationships with each other, I did opposites of what I normal.
[23:17]Like the next question with an interview is, oh, is where did you, you know, did you have a,
[23:21]I don't have a sister. I didn't know my grandmother. My mom and I were close. So I wrote a bad
[23:26]relationship with your mother. What it would be like to be raised by your grandmother. And what it
[23:30]would be like to have a sister. You know, so I kind of played with those relationships because I
[23:36]I know it was dreamed about those on another wavelength. So it's a funny hit dinner literally
[23:42]last night. We were talking the only person at lunch, not that this matters. Anyway, my daughter,
[23:50]my younger daughter was the only one in this group of us was eating that has an older sister.
[23:55]And we were like, what does that feel like? Like, tell us more. It feels like what does
[23:59]everyday life like having an older sister blah, blah, blah, blah. Because if it's so close in
[24:04]your midst, if you don't like put yourself in it, like you and like envision the relationship and
[24:09]all that, you just don't know. Yeah. I think you're lucky if you have a sister, because I think
[24:15]my mom had this great phrase where she would say if you want something done right, do it yourself
[24:19]or ask another woman. So I think that you haven't built an ally and a teammate for life.
[24:25]You have a general in your army forever. Like girlfriends relationships that you have with them can
[24:30]be like chosen family. But if you have a sister, like they're not going anywhere, they're
[24:34]always going to be your sister. So I have a brother. We're very different. He lives in Oklahoma.
[24:41]I live in Charleston. We're like, totally different people. It's different having a brother.
[24:46]But I think it would always be special to have a sister. He always wanted what you don't have.
[24:51]But I love my glasses. I was green. I have a brother too. And his name actually is Teddy like your son.
[24:55]Oh, I've never met a Teddy. I didn't like that's why I named him daddy. Oh, I have to introduce you
[25:01]sometimes. Teddy's a great name. It is a great name. I love it. Are you working on another novel?
[25:09]Yes, ma'am. Every single day. Oh my gosh. It's a sequel to the first ones. I've decided to make
[25:16]it a series. Which is exciting. That is exciting. And it's a it's this violent story. So it's her
[25:23]own coming of age story. And it's I'm loving it. And I'm I'm really loving how it's coming
[25:29]together. And I'm hoping to finish it very soon. So I can publish next year or hopefully.
[25:35]So that's that's the goal. All right. Better get back in. I hope I do because my husband
[25:40]says if I don't publish next year, he wants another kid like Jesus. We just got him on a diaper.
[25:47]Oh my gosh. Okay. Yeah. So then it's not going to get easier soon.
[25:50]Wait. So you just mentioned every single day. So what is your process? Are you like sitting at
[25:54]your desk at a certain time? Do you have hours you clock in? What do you do? Yeah. I said I
[25:59]sit at my desk every day 10 to four. That doesn't mean I'm always getting stuff done. I mean,
[26:02]realistically, like I would love this to be like an assembly line, but creative process just isn't
[26:07]like that. And sometimes I'm not getting the words. And when I don't get the words, I try to do
[26:12]something else related. Like I'll reread what I wrote the day before or I'll work on my outline or
[26:19]I'll do some research or I'll read another author. Sometimes that kind of gets me going. But you
[26:26]know, it's hard. I mean, it's it's I think I show up at the altar. And I hope I have a religious
[26:33]experience every day. The altar being my computer. God doesn't always show up though. Sometimes
[26:37]you're there and you think your prayers aren't going to be answered. When I am working with my
[26:42]editor, it's much more structured. And I seem to do much better if I have accountability. So if
[26:47]I have somebody around me, I can do pretty well. I can get it done. I have an outline. I have an
[26:52]overview. I work. It's a loose outline, but at least I know where it's going. And I try to do
[26:59]three to six pages a day. That's great. That's yeah. That's great. Good for you. But and I almost feel
[27:07]like I can put garbage on the page because you can always clean it up. Never can't clean the
[27:11]blank page. So you got to put something down. Well, I was just about to ask for advice, but that was
[27:15]great advice. Do you have any other advice for aspiring others? Other advice? Yes. So this I just
[27:20]learned with this book, which I think is really, it was really helped me. When I get to a part in a
[27:25]scene that I'm blanking, like sometimes I'm in a flow and I'll say, oh, I don't know the medical
[27:30]term for that. I'll just type in medical term and I'll move. I don't stop and then research it and come
[27:36]back. I just write it in red. So then I know the next day or when I'm having a day where I'm not
[27:40]being creative, I can go back and fill that in. Sometimes I'd even expand and I'll be like
[27:44]inter scene here with conversation between Maggie and Violet about this and I'll just move on to
[27:51]the next thing because a lot of times I find with writing is about maintaining your momentum.
[27:56]If I take too many breaks, like if I take three days off of writing, it's very hard to get back
[28:01]it. It's like exercising. It's very hard to get back into the cycle of it. So if you find something
[28:06]that's tripping you up, just write a note for yourself, come back later. I think keep removing
[28:11]pressure is what makes it easy for me. Love it. That's all I got. I'll take it. It's good.
[28:21]Victoria, thank you so much. This was so much fun. I really hope I get to meet you in person. I
[28:25]feel like we should sit and have a fun lunch or something. I feel like there'd be a lot to talk
[28:29]about. Absolutely. I would love it. I'm already going. Congratulations on your book. Thank you for
[28:36]having me. This was such an honor. Thank you. All right. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to this
[28:44]episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at
[28:49]Zebioans and at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Also sign up for my newsletter at
[28:53]Zebioans.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week.
[28:58]Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texture Sound for the Sound Editing. And thank you to
[29:03]Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and outro music.