Today we’d like to introduce you to Andra Watkins.
Hi Andra; please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I always dreamed of being a New York Times bestselling author. As a child, I poured my soul into my Holly Hobbie diary. Various teachers encouraged me to hone my writing talent through high school and college, but I wondered how I’d ever make money. I still wonder about money sometimes. I turned 40 during a major economic downturn. I lost a business I’d built from scratch the same year. With loads of angst and free time to burn, I returned to my lifelong dream of writing a book. I started blogging, a now-quaint, very 2010 mode of writing, and I quickly garnered a small following. I used my blog to test characters and scenes for a novel. In 2014, To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis was published. And the completely clueless person that I am, I decided to walk the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway to launch it. My father was the only person who could spend five weeks herding me around Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. And he was my worst option. We’d always needed to get along.
As one fifteen-mile day blurred into another, I finally connected to my then-eighty-year-old dad. I wrote my NYT bestselling memoir, Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace, to share our story and encourage everyone to make memories before it’s too late. Writing has given me extraordinary opportunities. I have been a writer-in-residence at prestigious programs in Ireland, Wales, Switzerland, Portugal, and Iceland. I headlined a writing conference in Ecuador, and I’ve been on the faculty of major US writing conferences. I’ve spoken for groups on three continents. I’ve met thousands of people who shared their stories along the way. We made memories at every stop, experiences that have enriched my life. Readers can find out more about me and my books at andrawatkins.com.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I dedicated every waking minute to promoting my small-press-published memoir, and I was lucky. It landed on the NYT bestseller list during a charmed internet window. I truly believed that accomplishment would launch me into another league. I was diagnosed with a chronic illness a few months later. Treatment for my illness robbed me of the ability to write or promote my work. I never realized how much I did to keep my books in front of readers until I couldn’t. Everything I’d spent years building was put on life support while I fought for my new normal. Pharmaceutical treatments, while necessary, changed me at a granular level. One morning, I woke up wondering who stole my skills and personality while I slept. It impacted my ability to think, process information, communicate, and write. I had to re-learn to be me, to accept I’d never be the “old” me. I clawed from the abyss and entered 2020 with many paid speaking engagements. It was going to be my year for public speaking. I don’t need to remind anyone what happened in 2020. I canceled my entire year and put further speaking plans on hold. But I kept writing. I kept putting my work out there. I landed a literary agent in early 2023. He is in the process of selling another memoir.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
If anyone knows me, they’ve heard of my NYT bestselling memoir Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace. I never wanted to write a memoir. I thought they were narcissistic and determined to focus on fiction. But during my trip with my father, we had universal and relatable experiences. Family dysfunction. Father-and-daughter drama. Feats of endurance. Understanding and love. I wrote a memoir to encourage readers to take our story and turn it into their stories, to make their memories before it’s too late. I’m proud to be known for encouraging people to “Turn I Wish I Had” into “I’m Glad I Did.” American women are constantly told to be “likable.” We can be confident but not assertive, ambitious but not aggressive. We can only complain when we make people laugh; otherwise, we are called shrill, needy, and unhappy. I don’t care about being likable. My authenticity sets me apart from others. As a writer and speaker, I’ve always tried to be authentic. I hope my authenticity speaks to others in a world where everything is curated to a high shine. Readers can learn more about my books at andrawatkins.com.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I am relentless. No matter how often life knocks me down, I get back up. I keep going. I see what I want and refuse to believe it isn’t possible. I’m still willing to dream, and I know how to take what life has taught me to make those dreams a reality. Related to relentlessness, creatives need to put themselves out there. Over and over and over again. The Magic Shine Your Light Fairy, will never ring the doorbell and say, “You’re hiding all this light under your bed. I’ll shine it for you! I’ll do the work!” Shining until she sets the world on fire is a creator’s job.
Pricing:
- Not Without My Father Kindle Version = $6.99 at Amazon
- To Live Forever Kindle Version = $5.99 at Amazon
- Hard to Die Kindle Version = $6.99 at Amazon
- I Am Number 13 Kindle Version = $6.99 at Amazon
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andrawatkins.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrawatkins/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrawatkins/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndraWatkins
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX15ysCPtiQaI-q8RouzI8w
Image Credits
Primary image: Andrea Weber, All other images by the author
