I am so honored to be part of the new team at Southern Literary Review. For years, I’ve admired SLR and their support of Southern authors and literature and their compelling book reviews and author interviews and profiles. When I left my career in the financial world (fifteen years of banking), everyone thought I was a madwoman. “You’re going to do what? Write?” And yes, you do have to be a little mad to be a writer. It was risky leaving the security of the steady paying job, and I was scared. I wondered if I had it in me to switch directions halfway through my life. I wondered if I would I be accepted into the literary and writing world.

So, I got my MFA in creative writing, and I was off to the races, right? Not so much. I learned that my MFA was only a key; it was up to me how I used that key. I used it by opening doors that were challenging. I said “yes” to opportunities when “no” would have been so much easier. I deliberately made myself uncomfortable. Everyone at the literary conferences seemed so much smarter than me. It was intimidating. But “uncomfortable” is a good thing and it fades. At the end of the day all those writers at conferences are thinking the same thing. What matters is that you have a common love for literature that you want to share with others. And now I get to share that common love at Southern Literary Review as one of the new associate editors. I feel so validated for making a leap of faith and thrilled to be working with such talented women–Donna Meredith and Clare Matturro.

Interested in being a contributor and sharing your love for Southern literature? Visit SLR Guidelines.