I normally don't know the AvantGuild members of the week from Adam, but I wanted to give a special shout-out to today's. She is the editor-in-chief at Absolute Write, which is a great site that has helped me out very very much as a blogger and a writer.

Age: 30

Location: Long Island, NY

What are you working on now?
Two co-authored books and one ghostwritten book. The co-authored books are a Christian memoir and a book about bullying, and the ghostwritten book is... ack! I hate not being allowed to tell.

I'm also working on publicity for my two most recent books. The Street-Smart Writer is a book about how to avoid sharks and scams in the publishing world, and Hattie, Get a Haircut! is a whimsical picture book.

What's the most helpful thing you've learned about writing?
You make your own opportunities. I spent the first five years of my career sending out letters and clips and resumes to anyone I thought might possibly hire writers at any time-- magazine editors, greeting card companies, book packagers, e-zine editors, etc. I looked for needs I could fill. When I got an assignment, I pretended I was being paid a million bucks (even if was peanuts at first), and put in a ton of work every time. I met all my deadlines and went above and beyond consistently. So now I've spent the last few years reaping the rewards of all that pavement-pounding. If you prove yourself to be reliable and a hard worker, editors will keep you really busy!

What's been the worst career advice you've ever received?
I remember early in my career when I had some concerns about the marketability of an idea I was considering writing, and a writer chastized me, saying, "Write for writing's sake." She was telling me that I was, in essence, a traitor to the craft if I cared about making money with my writing.

There's the same sort of snobbery on both sides of the argument: There are those who believe that you must be a "starving artist" to be a "real" writer, and there are those who will tell you that you're a traitor if you work for free-- because they believe that teaches editors they don't need to value writers. You know what? We could debate both sides and every shade in between for days on end, but it all comes down to this: You decide what's right for you. Everyone else can decide what's right for them. No one has the right to make anyone feel bad about trying to make a living, trying to follow a dream, or both.

Here is a self-serving question: how do you continue to find topics to cover on Absolute Write that are of help to writers, without running out?
Some months, I'm amazed that there's still more to say. I mostly get my inspiration from correspondence with other writers. The Absolute Write forums are very active, and they keep me in touch with the "newbie perspective." We have a wide range of experience levels among the writers there, and I keep getting re-reminded of the challenges at each stage. The newer writers ask questions, and I realize, "Hey, I didn't know that when I started, either. Maybe I need to write about this..." And the newsletter subscribers are not shy about asking me for advice about their own writing, so I pay attention to the kinds of questions they ask to see if their specific situations bring up broader issues.

I try to mine my own experiences pretty relentlessly. For example, the first time my book was orphaned (the acquiring editor left the publishing house), I was scared of what would happen. It was something that had always been in the back of my mind before, because I know that editors play musical chairs a lot, but I didn't know how to prepare myself. I figured maybe other writers didn't know, either, and might be curious what happens. So that became a good excuse for me to write to some authors I admire, and ask if this ever happened to them-- and what happened to the books.