#116 Conversations with Abby: Ruminations on Writing Featuring Abigail Thomas

Abigail Thomas has four children,12 grandchildren, two great grandchildren, eleven books, and a high school education. She was asked to leave Bryn Mawr freshman year when she told the Dean she was pregnant, and she never went back.  She had always wanted to be a writer, but for a long time the closest she came was bopping around her kitchen to Paperback Writer, by the Beatles. When she was forty-eight, after an interesting adventure, when she got home, she left her ego outside, and began to write a story. It didn't work, but instead of crumpling it up saying "who do you think you are?" sat in a different chair, and another, and at the end of the afternoon, she had written a story. It was published in the Columbia Journal of Poetry and Prose. She had learned you have to keep at it. Writing is work of the best kind.   She has written two short story collections, one novel and four works of non-fiction, including the memoirs Safekeeping; A Three Dog Life; What Comes Next and How to Like It; and a book about writing, Thinking about Memoir.  Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing is her latest memoir, published by Scribners in November 2024.   In this episode: Abigail’s new book, Still Life at Eighty, now published by Scribner [1:11] What gravitas means to Abby [3:44] Why Abby’s go to reference is always the dictionary [3:59] The gifts Abby sees in aging [9:06] The meaning of ambition and weaving [7:04] How guilt grows up and becomes regret and how Abby really feels about guilt [15:02]  What compels her to write [18:27] Using a person’s voice as a framing device [25:43] The importance of vulnerability and creativity in your writing [27:22] The meaning of her two tattoos and the third one she wants to get [31:30]  Connect with Abigail Thomas: Website: https://www.abigailthomas.net Substack Abigail Thomas/What Comes Next?: https://abigailthomas.substack.com Abigail on the Joe Donahue podcast https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2024-11-20/abigail-thomass-still-life-at-80   Estelle’s prior Episode #83 with Abby  https://estelleserasmus.com/83-writing-your-way-into-an-engaging-and-enthralling-story-featuring-abigail-thomas/ Connect with Estelle Erasmus Check out Estelle's latest Substack post Debunking The Myths of Writing https://open.substack.com/pub/estelleserasmus/p/debunking-the-myths-of-writing   Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle’s help with.   ​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at  https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.   Sign up for Estelle’s Personal Essay Class for Writer’s Digest  https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals   Sign up for Estelle’s NYU Classes https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html   Get Her Book  Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0   Order Her Audiobook: https://shorturl.at/4uG2P   Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests   Follow Estelle: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/estelleserasmus.bsky.social