Introducing Carla Damron
Sean Glatch | September 16, 2024 |
Carla Damron is a social worker, advocate, and author. Her crime fiction novel, The Orchid Tattoo, about domestic human trafficking, received four literary awards, including the 2023 NIEA Award in suspense. Her women’s fiction work The Stone Necklace (which deals with grief and mental illness) won the 2017 WFWA Star Award and was the One Community Read for Columbia SC.
Damron is also the author of the Caleb Knowles mystery series. The fourth installment, Justice Be Done, a mystery set during race riots spawned by a hate crime, was released in October and received the Literary Titan Silver Award.
Damron holds an MSW and an MFA in Creative Writing. She lives in South Carolina with her husband Jim and a large family of rescue animals.
What existing writing inspires you to write?
This journey began with a love of stories. As a teen I read Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and learned the power of writing to transport the reader, to open their eyes to view the world from a very different perspective. This is something I try to do in my writing now. Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge taught me the beauty of language and the power of character—especially one as cantankerous as Olive. I’ve reread that book many times because it’s like taking a master class in narrative. Another exceptional storyteller: Louise Penny. The Inspector Gamache series is brilliant; she has character arcs that stretch across NINETEEN BOOKS and still keep her readers engaged. I’ve learned so much from her.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
The most critical piece of advice: BUTT IN CHAIR. You can’t write if you don’t make time for it. I also love this from Ursula K. Le Guin:“The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time.” Giving myself permission to write “very badly” until I learned my craft was important, because it helped me not give up.
What made you want to be a writer?
I’m a reader. Early on, I marveled at how someone could scribble on a page and someone else could look at those scribbles and be transported by it. It’s like magic. Also, the social worker in me has a strong, strange desire to emulate Maya: I write about things that matter to me, in hopes of helping others see things from a different perspective. My work in mental health taught me so much, and in suspense novel The Orchid Tattoo, my protagonist has a mental illness—I wanted readers to see how she struggles and how she recovers, how she manages a complex life around her symptoms—just like millions of people do all around us.
What are your current writing projects?
It’s funny how characters remain in your head even after you’ve completed a book. I’m working on the sequel to The Orchid Tattoo, which uses the suspense genre to explore the devastating effects of the fentanyl crisis.
What do you like to do outside of writing?
We have a large family of poorly behaved, entitled shelter animals that run our household. They keep us busy. Also, I love doing crafts—poorly. I’ve messed up knitting, crochet, and macrame. I’ve beaded a zillion necklaces, but only a few I actually wear (cats are GREAT help when beading). My current effort: making leaf bowls out of resin, which means I have resin on my floor, my table, my shirt… Seriously, doing something with my hands is a great balance for writing. It’s another way to flex our creative muscles. I highly recommend it.
Check out Carla’s upcoming course!
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