Meet a Redbuddy! Interview with Naomi East
This winter, we’re doing a series where we introduce you to our Redbud students! In this, our inaugural post in this series, meet Naomi East, who recently completed Ben Murphy’s Writing the Novel class. Naomi is originally from New England but she’s lived in Raleigh since she was five. Her hobbies include traveling to all the cities she can, reading quite literally every single day, taking long walks with her husband, and curating her Bookstagram account (find it on Instagram, FictionDweller). Besides writing she is a stay-at- home dog mom, but she also helps her husband run his house painting company. Her first book is out now; it’s called Whatever We Are by Naomi East.
Redbud: Tell us about your work: what are you writing these days? A novel, a memoir, short stories, something else?
NE: I am currently working on the second novel in what will be a trilogy. The first book will be coming out soon, which is extremely exciting for me! They are what I would consider contemporary romance. The first book is based loosely on a lot of my own personal life experiences and therefore I chose to write under a pseudonym. I would like to try my hand at a mystery/thriller story soon and would use a different pseudonym for the different genre.
Redbud: Tell us a little bit about what your work aims to accomplish: are you exploring certain themes or identities? Positioning your work within a particular genre?
NE: For me honestly, I just want my story to make someone feel something. Smile, laugh, love, maybe even cry a bit. I read for relaxation and entertainment so I would like to provide that for my readers. Writing is simply a personal passion for me, I do this for joy, pure and simple.
Redbud: Tell us about a recent book you’ve read that you would recommend and why.
NE: A recent book I enjoyed was All The Feels by Olivia Dade. I loved every adorable minute of it, along with Spoiler Alert (the previous book in the series). I think what Olivia Dade does with having plus size heroines is important in this day and age, especially for younger women who are still very impressionable. The world’s hyper focus on physical appearance can be very damaging, so love stories like this make my heart glad.
Redbud: What does an ideal writing day look like for you? What does a realistic writing day look like for you?
NE: An ideal writing day for me involves me and my laptop in one of Raleigh’s many charming coffee shops. I like starting early when the world around me is bustling off to work, I just sit in a corner and let inspiration come. This ideal is often realistic for me because I don’t have to work other than writing so I am fortunate in that way. But more often than not I end up writing at home and although I try to be disciplined, I have to write when I feel inspired, so it can be a bit sporadic.
Redbud: Share a few sentences/brief paragraph that you're particularly proud of and tell us why you're proud of it/how you honed it.
Eventually, as we work he starts. “How did you know Ollie was the one?”
I think on it for a minute before answering him. “I guess I just couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else anymore. No one ever understood me or cared for me the way he did. We never had to pretend with each other, from the first time we talked we were so open with each other. It was like I found a matching puzzle piece and all the edges I had slid into place next to his. Does that make sense?”
Sitting down against the wall, Milo puts down the box he was assembling and starts playing with the roll of packing tape. “Yeah actually it does. But doesn’t it ever scare you? How can you commit to someone forever?”
“What exactly do you mean?”
“I mean, you may be crazy about him now, sure, but say you meet some hunky rugby player out in New Zealand that gets your heart racing…what then? I understand that people fall in love of course. I just don’t get how they think that’s it for life.”
“It isn’t about never seeing another attractive person again. I’m not naive, I know that is going to happen, for him too. There is so much more to love than that though, Oliver is irreplaceable for me. There will never be anyone who can come close to him in my heart. I’m not going to let some fleeting attraction mess that up. I have been hurt enough and treated bad enough times to know I have something of extremely high value with your brother. You don’t just trade that in for something of no value.” I go and sit down next to Milo, taking his hand in mine. “If you never let yourself really love someone, really be open and fully vulnerable with them you will be missing out, Milo. That’s what it takes to get to the point where you know they are the one. It is scary of course, because in doing that you give them the power to potentially hurt you. Life and love involve risks, but they are worth it.”
Taking in a deep breath he blows it out slowly. “I’ll think about it,” he says finally.
I love how this came out because it reflects how I feel in my own life about my husband. It feels real and honest. I wrote from the heart and it worked great for the story, something that feels magical when it happens.
Redbud: What’s your biggest writing challenge and do you have any advice on how to tackle it? (Even if it's advice you don’t always follow yourself.)
NE: Overthinking! That is the biggest challenge for me. I have an obsessive and perfectionist personality, so no surprise there. I used to let the need to have everything be planned out perfectly to a tee stop me from even getting started. I had to learn to just sit and write, don’t stop, don’t obsess if it isn’t perfect. A first draft is just that. The most important thing is letting it flow unrestricted. You can always hone and improve the story later. Just write!
Redbud: Tell us something you learned from your Redbud class that you found to be especially helpful.
NE: The class I took was very insightful into character development, and not necessarily following all the rules we think we need to follow in traditional writing. It helped me broaden my viewpoint a lot! All the discussions and interaction with my fellow students was amazing and super helpful.
Redbud: Tell us something fun about yourself that isn't connected to writing.
NE: Something fun about myself…..that’s a hard one!I am a big fandom geek with quite a few things, Marvel included, so when I saw that there was an Iron Man car I simply had to have it. That’s me though, when I love something I love BIG! My motto is – I don’t like, I obsess!