Secrets to Freelance Success by Award-Winning Author, Michelle Medlock Adams, part 1

When I asked award-winning author Michelle Medlock Adams to speak for our annual Ladies Tea, I hoped to squeeze in an interview. I’m grateful Michelle talks faster than an auctioneer right before a thunderstorm, because I had to fold my questions between the dessert and the door prizes. Can you tell by her answers that she used to be a cheerleader?

 

Jen: You’ve done newspaper-reporting, non-fiction writing for adults and kids, and children’s books. Do you have a favorite genre?

Michelle (without pausing to ponder): Children’s

Jen: What is your favorite book you’ve written?

Michelle: Whichever book I’m working on at the time—right now it’s Counting Cows, the first in a series of board books featuring dancing, counting cows. Next up is “Christmas Cows,” published by Ideals, which is a division of Guideposts books.

Jen: I once heard you admit on a teaching CD that you could never find a pair of scissors around your house. Yet you’ve authored or co-authored 42 books and thousands of articles, so you must have some kind of order to your home life. What are some of your time management secrets for keeping your family/home/career organized and running smoothly?

Michelle: Diet Coke and Peanut M & M’s! No really, I write best at night when everyone else is asleep. Also, when I worked for a newspaper, I learned to write super fast. I don’t answer the phone when I’m writing—that’s a real time-stealer. And I set aside only one day a week for errands. If you chop up your errand running into several days, it will use up more time than doing it all at once.

Michelle, me, and Michelle's lovely and gracious daughter, Abby

Jen: With Mother’s Day coming up, can you share a little about how your mom’s faith influenced you, and how we can give our kids a heritage of faith?

Michelle: Mom taught Sunday school—she never missed a service. In fact, I think I was born underneath a pew! And even though I didn’t always want to attend church, I’m glad my parents made me go. What inspired me most in my mom was her positive attitude. She chose to be happy. She was always singing, even when she messed up the words. She’d wake me up in the morning by flipping the light switch on and off, keeping rythym while she sang, “This is the Day the Lord has made.”

The best thing we can teach our kids is to have a grateful heart. Teach them to appreciate all they have. It goes a long way with God and others.

Please join me Friday for part 2 of our interview and a chance to win one of three prizes, including Michelle’s newest children’s book, Counting Cows.