Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to MJ Moores. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
MJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
Writing is often a solitary endeavor; one where you imagine a person sitting typing away at a keyboard or scribbling ideas by hand in a well-used notebook, by themselves in a quiet nook somewhere. The biggest thing I’ve learned along the way when developing my craft and my business is that none of us are in this alone. Over the years, I’ve joined several writing groups and critique groups, all of whom have helped me in my life-long journey to publication. One lucky day, about five years ago, I attended a master class on marketing. The speaker, J. L. Madore, opened her life and ledger to show a packed room full of authors how it was possible to earn a living doing what you loved. One of the simplest pieces of advice she gave that day was to join the Facebook group 20Booksto50K (TM). It took me about a year before I listened and followed through. I mean, it’s just a writing group. There are tons of them on Facebook and other social media platforms. Why would this one be any different? What made it so special?
It’s run by Indies for Indies… and those at the helm of the ship surveying the “tide that rises all boats” just happen to be six-figure earning authors who once started with only two pennies and an idea to rub together. The entire group is riddled with authors who have made it or want to learn how to take their business into their own hands and steer their ship to fruitful waters. Now, you might be asking, “Why all the sailing metaphors?” That’s a 20Books vision. It’s all about sharing the ups and downs and telling the story of how you succeeded… whether a tiny or a giant step. The focus is on the accessibility of information, not prescribed or cookie-cutter advice. It’s shared knowledge available for all writers to learn from.
What does this have to do with the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me?
Everything.
In 2021, Craig Martelle, the current CEO or Supervising Manager of the group 20Booksto50K (TM), set up a scholarship fund for Indie authors to be able to attend the biggest and most impactful writers conference North America has seen. Among the scholarship options were conference tickets, hotel stays, and the full-Monty: airfare, hotel, and conference ticket. I was nervous about travel after the big COVID-19 scare, and had never travelled outside of my province (I live in Canada) alone. Before I did anything, even let my mind wonder if I could possibly win such an extraordinary opportunity, I had a serious conversation with my husband about the realities of leaving him alone for an entire week with our 8-year-old son and travelling to one of the farthest destinations in the USA to us (Vegas). We batted the idea around for a good week, looking at all the angles until, finally, I asked if I should submit the proposal I’d drafted to the scholarship review committee; if this thing, this idea of writing full-time was something he could support me with. His response… “You’d only have to pay for your meals and a taxi, right?” I’d nodded, and he told me to enter.
The day I found out that I was one of the few Full-Monty scholarship winners, I not only floored myself, but my husband. To this day his words of, “I never thought they’d pick you. It’s just not our luck,” run through my mind. But Craig and his team did pick me. They heard my plea about the efforts and learning I’d done for the past seven years, how difficult it was to fund a trip like this, and how necessary it was to be a part of something as wonderful as this conference to continue to help me learn and grow and find a way to meet my goals. And that’s what I did. I braved flying to Vegas on my own, pushed myself to attend as many lectures and seminars and panels as I could, talked to speakers I’d only ever seen on webinars and in virtual courses… and shook the hand of the man that made all of that possible for me. To say it was an honor doesn’t do the moment justice. Being there was life changing.
And now, two short years later, I’m pulling together everything I learned from that amazing conference and from that supportive Facebook group, and I’m wading into new waters with a new book series and high hopes for fair winds and plentiful seas.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Imagine procrastination and stubborn perseverance getting together and procreating – that would be what I face when I look in the mirror every day. My stubborn mind-set has gotten me into trouble more often than I’d care to admit. The best example being when I was told that students at my university never did a double practicum with a Theatre Production Major and a Bachelor of Education, but that was exactly what I intended to do. No one ever said I couldn’t do it, just that I shouldn’t – I threw down the gauntlet and challenged the powers-that-be that it was possible, and I accomplished it as the second student ever in the history of the school.
That spunk and tenacity shine in my eyes when you speak with me, and it carries in the excitement of my voice. Get me talking about writing and the world of publishing, next thing you know I’ve outlined the manuscript of your life and you can’t wait to write it. Granted, the instant I’m required to do something I’m not particular about, those procrastination tendencies creep in like assassins in the night. I am also not without varied battles with anxiety as I have a bad habit of always saying “yes” when someone is in need of help. I know what it’s like to struggle on my own trying to figure out this convoluted writing thing, I even built a blog and wrote about it for several years. After editing freelance and then working for a number of small presses, I realized that the more time and energy I gave to everyone else, the less I had for myself and my own goals. The less time I had to write and work toward making a living doing what I loved. Finding balance in all that we do is so terribly important. It took nearly running myself into the ground to finally set limits, boundaries, and new goals. This theme, among others, often crops up in my books as I continue to grapple with it in my life.
My love of reading and writing at a young age drew me to adventure books of all genres. Indiana Jones was my hero, and I was determined to start my own band of Goonies. Finding stories written for younger people with that kind of spirit wasn’t easy… so I started writing them myself. While I currently enjoy writing upper YA science-fiction and fantasy, my focus is on the balance between the internal and external journey my characters make as they learn about themselves and face their darkest fears – this might take place on another planet, in a magical realm, or your very own backyard. Regardless, there’s always a touch of romance to my writing, I cannot call myself a romance writer though at one time I tried very hard to be.
These days, I divide my time with writing, mentoring, volunteering, running workshops, working at the library, and offering to teach Indie publishing skills to new and emerging authors who can’t wait to cut their teeth on the mountains of this big bad world. I still very much want to give back and help other writers and I have found that by offering coaching sessions on Indie publishing, I can help guide writers along the path that best fits them — there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to our hopes and dreams. Occasionally, though, my body compels me to shove all that chaos aside and simply read a good book. Luckily, I now have that procrastination thing under control – at least most of the time.
How’d you meet your business partner?
Do you know that over-eager, over-achieving kid in school who never knew when to quit or when they were being a bit, well, much? They tended to over-share and become clingy?
This is where I humbly take a bow (lol).
As I grew older (into my 20s!), and attended college and university away from my high school friends, I slowly began to realize that I had this tendency to need other people more than they every needed me. In fact, both my high school best friend and my college bestie declined being my maid of honor due to prior engagements. Luckily, in that instance, my favorite cousin bailed me out and was the most fantastic maid of honor I could ask for. But I digress. Getting along with people has always been relatively easy for me because I keep an open mind and I’m genuinely interested. However, by the time I reached my thirties, I realized that anyone new I tried to make friends with would already have a bestie or core group and I would forever be on the outside because I was too scared of being… over-the-top and clingy. So I settled into observational mode and tried to ingratiate myself with others by being helpful instead.
I fist met my writing partner (for the urban fantasy D.E.M.ON. Tales series) at a critique group started by a work friend’s husband. In fact, we continued to be a part of one critique group or another for several years before another writing friend of ours turned to us at a workshop one afternoon and asked if we’d be open to collaborating with her on a series project similar to Nancy Drew — where multiple authors contributed to a central world or story idea but essentially wrote their own books all under a shared pen name. She sparked out interest and we started discussing how we’d be able to contribute to this idea. Well, after more than a year, the woman who planted the idea in our heads decided not to go through with it. We were disappointed to say the least. But then, I turned to my now-partner and asked her about that crazy story idea she had about going through the alphabet and writing adventures about supernatural monsters, demons, and cryptids, and if she was still planning on writing it. She said she really wasn’t sure if it would ever get off the ground as she had so many other projects on the go. At which point, I threw caution to the wind (having assessed that her disappointment at not doing the collaboration on the other project, and the energy and glow she got while talking about this wild idea) and asked her if she was open to having me write the series with her. To my great surprise, she said yes and we’ve been partners in crime ever since. It took six years, but I knew I’d finally made a friend who found me equally as important and fun to be around. The funny thing is, I always assumed she was only maybe a decade older than me, but it turned out she was basically the same age as my mother… who has always been my biggest friend and supporter. ;)
Eight books and two special episodes into D.E.M.ON. Tales and Nanci and I are still having a blast make up crazy stories together.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Not all editing is the same, and not all writers require the same kind of editing.
You know, my teacher wanted to hold me back in grade two because I had difficulty spelling. That’s it. My reading was at or above grade level, math and social studies and gym and everything else was no lower than a ‘B,’ but because I struggled with spelling, she felt justified to hold me back. My mother, however, did not feel this was justified and with a promise to work with me over the summer to get me up to speed for grade three, she forced my teacher to pass me. It wasn’t until post-secondary that my communications prof (my creative writing professor) discovered that I was dyslexic. Talk about skirting under the radar! From that moment on, I worked extra hard to figure out not only how to spell stuff, but what all this grammar nonsense was about, all while honing both my essay and creative writing skills. My view of the English language became highly linear and totally unrealistic. When editing in my writing classes or participating in critique groups, I applied the same rules for essay writing and proper grammar across the board (insert cringe here).
It wasn’t until after university, when I started attending writing workshops and conferences that I grew to understand how voice and style also influenced word choice and the use of “proper” grammar or not (as the case may be). I also learned about the four different types of editing (content, stylistic, copy, proofreading) and how editing done by a friend or teacher wasn’t the same as editing done by a professional editor or even an acquisitions editor; and how each person/position brought a new level of expectation and experience to the table. By the time I started freelance editing (on the outside of the publishing gatekeeper doors) and then progressed to acquisitions editing (inside those doors), I could only cringe at my younger self and any new editors who were currently tearing apart innocent manuscripts without realizing what they were doing.
This hit home the most with one of my early clients. She came to me after discovering my Indie author journey blog on Infinite Pathways Press (my personal micro-press). She had gone to a highly rated online editing company to have her book copyedited and proofread. They sent her manuscript back nearly completely rewritten in Oxford English. They destroyed her story. HER story. A black woman who survived a crazy upbringing, who sold drugs to put food on her table and clothes on her son so that he didn’t have to live on the streets. It was a story of survival, beating the odds, becoming a nurse and helping people. The prose she chose held her voice and her experience. You could hear her cadence and feel her words. That company? They handed back a sterile essay that perfectly adhered to what the grammar books said was “correct” all while annihilating this heart wrenching story so full of blood, grit, and truth. Had she come to me five years earlier, before I experienced what storytelling was meant to be, or before I attended all of those craft and editing workshops, I know I would’ve done the exact same thing.
Not everything you learn in school is how it’s done. Understanding comes from experience and an open mind. I’m just glad I knew when to pivot and not dig my heels in — for the sake of all stories.
Contact Info:
- Website: mjmoores.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorMJMoores
- Twitter: twitter.com/AuthorMJMoores
Image Credits
Photos courtesy of MJ Moores and the WCYR (Writers’ Community of York Region).