Last May my friend Casey emailed Shauna Niequist after hearing she was going on tour for new book Bittersweet. She told Shauna how much she loved Cold Tangerines and that it had made a significant impact on the girls in our sorority. Shauna e-mailed her back and the planning began.
Tonight she came to Hope! First she came to the SIB cottage to meet with the girls. Everyone was so excited. They'd been wearing Shauna SIB shirts all day that said, "Friendship is acting out God's love in tangible ways. -Shauna Niequist" on the back.
She answered questions from the girls and gave advice.
Cold Tangerines has become "our" book. What was "your" book? Anne Lamot's "Traveling Mercies"
Talking about difficult things in her life, "it all makes my faith more durable."
"Invest in your friendships as much as you can because you never know
how long those friendships may last."
It was so cool to just be hanging out in the cottage with this woman that we admire so much as she sat there in her flannel and Toms wedges. The girls gave Shauna one of the SIB shirts and a ring of notecards. When the Seniors graduate every girl writes them a notecard telling them why they appreciate, love, and admire them. It was a great idea to pass this tradition on to Shauna.
We walked across campus to Maas auditorium for the formal book talk. As soon as we got there my friend Colleen had to use the bathroom and what do you know Shauna did too. While they were washing their hands Coll told her that if she ever needed a new agent that she should hire her because she's such a big fan and tells everyone about her. Shauna loved it and they became friends.
Then we were waiting for the program to start and I decided to just go to the room where Shauna was waiting with my friends Casey and Krissy. We had a long drive back to Indiana after the talk so it made sense to get our books signed ahead of time if we could. I'm so glad we went in to meet her.
Not only did Shauna sign our books but we got to sit and talk for about 15 minutes. We talked about camp stories- her banana wars from when she did program at Kanakuk and our banana death march at Tecumseh. We told her how much we love camp and she said, "Yeah. I think you either are a camp person or you're not." I told her about the puppies at camp and how I always read that story at the end of the session. She had just reconnected with two old camp friends and found out that they read "Swimming" before their swim meets every year.
She told us about her next book "Bread and Wine" and her blog. We talked about being books nerds and how she has read "The Hunger Games" and I told her to write down "Maze Runner", "The Scorch Trials", and "I Am Number Four".
Shauna took the stage and read the introduction, Grace Is The New Math and Twenty-Five (my favorite) before she opened up the floor to questions.
For those of you that wish you could have been there I wrote as fast as I could to capture everything she said. Enjoy:
A girl earlier asked me read 'Grace is the New Math' and I don't think I've ever read that before...I mean, I wrote it, I know what it says... ha, 'Oh what's this one about?'Your life my never be flexible again- do something not flexible. Go live in another country or take a job in a coffee shop for a year and spend time writing, painting, or taking pictures. I wish I would have realized after college that I had so few commitments and attachments. I wouldn't have been totally unresponsible but to have lived in such a way that my expenses were low so I could write.
I hope that I can keep saying THIS is the happiest, best, greatest year of my life every year.
I write in short form narrative essay because it's what made sense to me. One little idea and done. On to the next one. I respect what a great story can do.
After the third book I would like to try something like fiction.
If I'm writing about something very difficult and personal I write in the most barfy way possible (raw, bare, vulnerable).
I let it marinate for 6 months.
Then I can start shaping it into something that would be appropriate for other people to read.
My recipe for life: things I'm responsible for in the world that only I can do- being a good parent to Henry and being a good wife to Aaron. What are the stories only I can write?
It's really attractive to be the Savior but it's more attractive to be me and to know what I can handle.
I try to get 48 hours in every day and I'm surprised and heartbroken when I can't every time.
It's good for me to admit that I'm tired, right now it's a simple recipe, trying to focus on what's important.
Why did you do the marathon?
The driving goal was I am 34 and my dad, husband, and brother all run and I don't and my son said, "Boys run and girls don't," and that's true in his life.
If I had one of those shirts that says inspirational things it would say, "I'm running so my son knows his momma's not afraid of anything."
I have this sense of "I can probably do that..." that I didn't have a year ago.
If I did it, you can do it. I'm like the non-runner of the world.
Whenever I face a really difficult decision I don't make it on my own. I'm getting better at saying, "let me talk to my husband and get back to you."
Life list- more children (that would be such a deeply held answer to prayer), write fiction (give myself to trying), live in a big city right downtown, build our own house (the kind that people would get married there, celebrate their 20th anniversary, their graduation and we could share in those things)
What advice do you have for writers?
Publishers are looking at people's blogs. They want to know two things- Can they develop a readership? Can they keep an interesting voice over time?
This is a legit job in itself, bloggers are respected voices in the literary community. Have you ever heard of The Pioneer Woman? She's making $1 million a year.
Spending time with other writers is really important.
How is your life different now that you're a writer?
Now I travel when my book comes out but other than that it's totally normal- Target in my pajamas, no makeup, puzzles on the floor with my kid and taking him to preschool.
You can't just be a writer anymore. You're a writer, traveler, book signer, speaker...
Blogs you read?
I am by nature an optimist. You have to think about what's the one thing you want to say over and over again (you have to write it, proof it, edit it, talk about it). Right in the middle of the darkness there is still light and relationships can be repaired and babies still come into the world and I wanted to be a voice that talked about that. The only real, honest thing to do. My way of making peace with my own regrets. Love and hope and redemption are real life stories. I believe in a life of celebration even when things are breaking down.
Life is Beautiful.
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