We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Robert Gwaltney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Robert below.
Robert, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
There are moments I wish I had begun my writing career earlier, but I have no significant regrets. I am a disciple to the belief that life unfurls with intention and purpose. From the time I was a little boy growing up in Cairo Georgia, I wanted to be a storyteller. I wasn’t certain within which medium I might accomplish this until I met a local author when I was in the third grade. It was this encounter that opened up the notion I could be a writer, that authors could live in small towns, that they didn’t have to dwell in far off places like New York City. In 2000, after moving to Atlanta Georgia, I knew if I did not begin to seriously pursue writing that it would never happen. I did not want to be at the end of life without having attempted to make my writing dream a reality. I signed up for writing classes at the Margaret Mitchell House, joined the Atlanta Writers Club, joined a critique group, and began playing in the creative sandbox. In February 2022, my debut novel, THE CICADA TREE, was released.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am an author of Southern fiction. By day, I serve as Vice President of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., a non-profit organization strengthening children and their families at the most critical times in their development. Through my non-profit work, I am a champion for early childhood literacy. In all the hours between, I write.
Raised alongside three feral, younger brothers in the rash-inducing, subtropical climate of Cairo Georgia, I am a lifelong resident of the South. A circumstance, no doubt, leaving an indelible mark upon my voice as a writer.
My debut, THE CICADA TREE, was released February 2022. It is a work of Southern fiction with gothic tendencies and elements of magical realism. 2022 has been a tremendous year, with the novel having received the Somerset Award for Literary Fiction along with being named Global Authors on Air Network’s Best Debut Novel of 2022.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
There are four books which have been of great inspiration to me on my journey as a writer: 1) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, 2) Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and 3) The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron, and 4) My Reading Life by Pat Conroy.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My creative journey is driven by a quest to make and find beauty in this world, to tell stories that resonate and entertain. To provide opportunities for readers to consider life from the point of view of others.
Along with my passion for storytelling, I feel it is important to be good citizen in the literary community, supporting and embracing other authors. My heart’s desire is to be allowed to continue to tell stories, to be better than I was yesterday. To have a seat at the table within the creative community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://robertlgwaltney.com/
- Instagram: @robertgwaltneyjr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.gwaltney.9