Wednesday, May 5, 2010

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.


19 comments:

  1. Great interview! She sounds like a fun person.

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  2. This is such a heartwarming interview! Thanks, ladies. Eagerly awaiting part 2. :)

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  3. Oh, I so agree that teaching kids to have a grateful heart is huge. Working on this in our house a lot right now.
    ~ Wendy

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  4. Good morning~

    I loved your interview with Michelle. I also agree that it is so important to teach children to have a grateful heart. I see and hear so many children and they are never happy with what they have or grateful that they even have anything!

    I look forward to the next part of your interview!

    Blessings~
    Laura

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  5. Good interview, thanks for sharing:)

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  6. Very interesting! I liked the part about how she uses her time. Thanks for posting this.

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  7. Awesome interview. Hope you are doing well. Hugs, love, and prayers,
    andrea

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  8. Lovely interview, Jen! You must have had an amazing Ladies Tea. Point well taken - choosing a positive attitude was what inspired Michelle the most about her Mom! Note to self - work on cultivating positive attitude! Looking forward to part 2 or your interview. God bless!

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  9. Nice interview and nice person.

    Why don't you come over to Oklahoma and I'll interview YOU.

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  10. HOW FUN! I got your e-mail and will dig into it after I: plant my garden, fix dinner, finish my proposal, clean out my car...
    I'll stop now!!
    LOL

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  11. Great interview and I like her nutritional writing foods! :)

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  12. Hi Jen -

    Ha! I need to consolidate my errands. My only problem: how do I squeeze three workouts into one day. (Ouch, I don't think I could handle that much exercise.)

    Great interview!

    Blessings,
    Susan

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  13. She sounds very witty (just like you!). I'll look forward to Part 2!

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  14. Great Interview!

    I really need to follow her advice for keeping one day a week for errands. Simple, but what a time-saver.

    Thanks. Can't wait for pt. 2

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  15. Girl I was thrilled to read this interview with Michelle. What an amazin' woman. Thanks for the great read and I'm lookin' forward to part 2.

    Ya'll have a fantastic day filled with sunny blessings!!!

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  16. Michelle sounds like such a lovely person... and has a beautiful smile, matched only by yours, Jen. I sure agree with her that modelling a positive attitude and setting a good example for our family is important. Society and our lives have change over the years but that's something that hasn't.

    Looking forward to Part 2. :)

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  17. Jen:
    This is a neat interview. I need to figure out how to train my husband to limit my errand running to one day a week. Any ideas?

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  18. Do you have a link to Michelle's website or blog? I may have missed it on here. I think I would like to buy her cd on writing.

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