Cindy La Ferle

Tell us a little about your background and how you got into column writing.
    I got my degree in English Literature from Michigan State University in 1977. Just as everyone had warned me, it took a while to find a “real” job in my field. I finally got a job in reference book publishing at Gale Research Company, but I wasn’t able to write as much as I’d hoped, so I left to start freelance writing at home.
    That was a key turning point – realizing I wasn’t comfortable in a corporate environment. So I started writing arts features and reviews for several local papers, including The Metro Times and The Daily Tribune, and eventually landed a job as editor-in-chief of Innsider, a national travel magazine.
    When Innsider folded, I went back to freelancing. I developed a real love for the short personal essay, and column writing was a natural extension of the short essay. It was ideal to do from home, too, since I had a young child by that time. I wrote regular columns for The Daily Tribune for about 10 years and roughly two years for The Oakland Press. Meanwhile, I also wrote pieces for magazines and national papers, including The Christian Science Monitor.

What inspires you to write a column?
    Real life. At the risk of sounding boring, I’m not much interested in celebrities or trends or high drama. I think the real challenge is slowing down long enough to record the human interest stories going on immediately around us. Sometimes, too, I like to use writing as a tool to help me work through issues and problems – aging, the empty nest, and other quality of life issues. Not all of these pieces are worth sharing publicly, though -- unless they help others find their way too.

Do you have a particular voice or theme to your work? Has that changed over the years?
    I believe most Americans waste time chasing after empty dreams, always wanting more, which is why we tend to be depressed. So I am always searching for what makes us authentic or makes us feel at home in our skin.     Someone also pointed out once that a lot of my essays are about overcoming grief and loss, and that’s partly true. Life is about overcoming loss. My father died suddenly when I was in my thirties, and it left a real void. It forced me to look around at what really mattered to me. Middle age does that to you, too!   
    Being a travel writer also exposed me to many wonderful places in this country, and yet I would always come back home and realize how lucky I was to be living where I was at the time.

How do you keep your sense of enthusiasm?
    I try to take breaks and switch to other kinds of creative work – cooking, gardening, or making a collage, for example. If I don’t leave my desk and stop living in my head, my writing gets boring. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way and The Sound of Paper, suggests going on “an artist’s date” where you get out and do things that fuel your creativity – I think that’s great advice!  And I read all the time, everything I can get my hands on.  I also try hard not to take myself TOO seriously.

Where did you get the idea for the book and how did you go about selecting columns for it?
    I always love reading “slice of life” essay collections, so naturally I wanted to put together one of my own. The pieces in Writing Home are the ones that most of my readers related to most when they were first published. (I keep all the letters people write to me, which helps.) Even though the stories are personal, they cover several universal themes. I wanted the book to contain reflections that could be read and enjoyed for a while, and that wouldn’t seem out of date later on.

What's your connection to homeless causes - have you been active in that area in other ways?
    Through my church and other organizations, I’ve done volunteer work with the homeless, but not nearly as often as I would like to. Since my book is about the concept of “home” – something I care deeply about – it is only right and natural that I should use my proceeds to help others who don’t have homes.
    I believe it’s very important for writers -- and others whose work is visible -- to be socially responsible. As a parent, I also want to set an example for my son and his peers.

What do you hope this book "says" to people? Is there a central message?
    First, I hope readers will feel uplifted or validated after reading the individual stories. I hope they see themselves reflected in the experiences I’ve written about. Secondly, I hope it inspires others to write or share stories about their own families and defining moments.

Who have been your life and writing mentors and how have they influenced your writing and life choices?
     That’s hard to answer because I have many favorites, but I admire the work of Henry David Thoreau as well as modern-day spiritual writers including Thomas Moore, Marianne Williamson, and Kathleen Norris. I admire Anne Lamott’s irreverent humor; Mary Oliver’s beautiful poetry and Billy Collins’ wry poetry. I was influenced several years ago by Sue Monk Kidd’s nonfiction work, including When the Heart Waits. Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, which is really a memoir, had a huge impact on me when I was much younger, and its magic has stayed with me.

Do you have additional projects going on now?
    Lately I have been writing literary essays for various Web sites, including Literary Mama, www.literarymama.com. I continue to write pieces for various regional magazines, including The Healing Garden Journal, which is distributed throughout Michigan. I also have plans to work on a novel, but I don’t want to say too much about that yet. (If I talk about new projects, I seem to jinx them!) I’m also resuming a teaching schedule this spring and fall. I’ll be leading local workshops in writing memoirs and personal essays, which I’ve always enjoyed doing. My schedule will be listed on my Web site, www.laferle.com