From Singer to Writer with Louisa Morgan

  Subjects covered Author Louisa Morgan talked about how she was influenced as a young woman by the feminist social science fiction writing of Sheri Tepper. Louisa enjoys writing in multiple genres, including historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Louisa talked about how, as a former music teacher, opera singer, and college music professor, her experience with music informs her writing, drawing parallels between novels and symphonies. Similarly, because as a singer she was already used to the discipline of living an artistic life, the transition to being a writer wasn’t much of a shock. Regarding the writing life, Louisa noted that a life in the arts requires structure; otherwise the work does not get done. Likewise, Louisa explained that she is not a fan of waiting for inspiration; instead, she believes in sitting down and expecting inspiration to come. Regarding the downside of the writing life, Louisa described the challenges of recovering from a traditionally published book that suffers low sales—and the joy of finding success again. Louisa emphasized the need to "do the work," as well as loving it.