We were lucky to catch up with S. Kay Murphy recently and have shared our conversation below.

S. Kay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

Sometimes success has more to do with luck, being in the right place at the right time, than it does with hard work. I’m not saying I didn’t work hard on my first book; I did. Craftsmanship has always meant everything to me. But with that first book, I simply observed a need in the market, then wrote a how-to book based on that, pitched it, and the seventh publisher I reached out to sent me a contract. I was twenty-three years old, twenty-five when the book was released. I was young enough to be quite naive in thinking, “This is the way it will be for my writing career.” Turns out, not so much.

My second book, written many years later, was originally a True Crime book about my own great-grandmother who had been tried in Missouri for multiple poisoning murders. Since the genre is so popular, and my own personal angle to it felt unique, I thought this would be an easy sell. Nope. Not a single agent or publisher of the hundred or so I reached out to was interested. One publisher, however, did suggest that I re-write the book as a memoir. I spent an entire summer doing just that, and still no one wanted to take a chance on it.

Five full years had gone by since I completed the writing of the book, and I was ready to simply put the manuscript away in a drawer forever. Enter Madeleine L’Engle, author of the beloved children’s book, A Wrinkle in Time, a groundbreaking novel in children’s literature published in 1962. It remains a bestseller. At a bookstore one day with a friend, I discovered L’Engle’s little known memoir, A Circle of Quiet, in which the author recounts her quest to get Wrinkle published. Again and again she sent it out to publishers. Again and again she received rejection letters. She had all but given up when she finally connected with a publisher who accepted the manuscript but told her, “Don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t do well.” That year, the book won the Newberry Award.

What inspired me most in reading L’Engle’s memoir is certainly not that she was imbued with confidence that her work was strong and would be published eventually. Contrary to that, I was struck by the author’s self-doubt, her frustration leading her to consider quitting the creative aspect of her life altogether. I’ve been there a number of times myself, despite the fact that my first book was a bestseller for my publisher, despite the fact that my freelance work has always garnered praise. But… when no one else sees your vision, it’s hard to gather the strength to keep moving forward. Reading L’Engle’s honest words helped me do this. I didn’t give up, and The Tainted Legacy of Bertha Gifford was published in 2012. I have not been disappointed whatsoever in the sales.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

There was little love or light in my emotionally traumatic childhood. Making up stories in my head–especially when there were few books to read–gave me an outlet for my creativity. When a teacher encouraged my writing, I thought I would grow up to write books of fiction, stories of science fiction and fantasy. But as I matured into my teenage years and young adulthood, I discovered that writing provided an outlet for me, as an introvert, to have a voice in the world. In college, my personal essays received high marks, and I was encouraged further to pursue writing as a career.

Unfortunately for most of us, the income generated from published books and freelance writing isn’t enough to sustain a family. After a divorce, I became a single parent, and I knew that the responsibility for providing for my kids would land entirely on my shoulders, so I went back to school, obtained my teaching credential, and began teaching high school and college English and Journalism.

At first, I thought of my teaching career as a stop-gap measure; I would do this until I remarried, until a double income allowed me to return to my first love of writing full time. But as the Universe would have it, that never happened, and as it turned out, I absolutely loved teaching. During the school year, I was happy but exhausted. During summer breaks, I could pursue writing projects. Finally, after three decades, I could retire, and I am thrilled to now be spending my days back at my old desk, typing away. In the first seven years post-retirement, I wrote and published four books in a series for middle-grade kids, the Dragon Singer Series, and I am profoundly proud of those books.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I get fanmail. From time to time, someone will seek out the contact section of my website so they can send me an email. Or they will leave a comment on my blog.

These occasional but precious connections are not ego strokes for me. They are reminders that what I do matters. What I say touches people. There is power in the words I write, and I don’t take that lightly at all. I have an agenda, and that is to help people become more self-aware, more conscious of their own power to bring about change, whether that is in themselves or their society or the world as a whole. When someone writes to say, “This resonated with me,” it means more than I can say. It lets me know that all the hours and days and years I have spent perfecting my craft have paid off. Someone heard me. Someone listened.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission: Spread kindness. Make being kind as sought after as being influential or popular. In my young adulthood, I spent the majority of my hours wrapped up in raising my kids and trying to keep a dying marriage alive and oh yes, going to church–attending to hear the music, the very funny pastor, to see my friends–but these things were primarily for my own entertainment and enrichment. I wasn’t involved in anything that would help others. When I began writing seriously, I attended conferences and seminars on my craft, and time and again I met people who were kind and willing to mentor me, receiving no benefit to themselves but simply because, as they told me, “Someone helped me when I started out.”

Now, at seventy years of age, that’s what I’m doing as well. Helping the writer or creative who is just starting out, just learning the ropes in this complicated game of writing and publishing. And I want my words to convey kindness as well, to make my readers feel as if they are seen and validated. I was a child who grew up without a single advocate, without validation or acceptance. I know what it feels like to live with constant criticism. If I can be a person who affirms another’s value, whether through words or deeds, I have accomplished my mission.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://skaymurphy.blogspot.com/
• Instagram: @kayzpen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skay.murphy
• Twitter: @kayzpen
• Youtube: @onebrokenwriter

Image Credits

First photo courtesy of Jennette Yates. Last photo courtesy of Laura Watts.