An Interview with Aimee Zaring

Aimee Zaring is a certified Somatic Stress Release™ Practitioner and the award-winning author of Flavors From Home: Refugees in Kentucky Share Their Stories and Comfort Foods. She has been an English language educator and small business owner. A fourth-generation Kentuckian, she earned an MFA in writing from Spalding University and has received grants from the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Cutting Loose explores how body-based somatic practices helped heal her longtime struggle with nervous system dysregulation.

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Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

My book title was one of the last things I solidified in the book process. For years, the working title was A Deep Let Go, but then I realized that the book is about so much more than releasing what no longer serve us (shame, habitual patterns, etc). It’s about the entire embodiment journey, which includes the present moment, movement, integration, and flow. Cutting Loose refers to both release and the celebration that comes from breaking old cycles, growing into your authentic self, and living in the now.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

The book cover was almost as difficult to land as the title. But after many consultations and rounds of intentional design, my designer and I got there. It was the book cover I could never envision on my own but was everything I hoped it would be. As is the case for many authors, there was a mix of emotions when I first unboxed my book: a sense of disbelief (Did I really do that?); a sense of pride (I DID do that!); and, I must admit, a sense of disconnection. I don’t believe that’s a bad thing. It tells me that, for me, it wasn’t about the end product. It was about what I learned about myself and life along the way. And it also tells me that I was ready to “cut loose” with Cutting Loose. When I held the book for the first time, I had the sense it wasn’t mine anymore—if it ever was. I was (am) simply a conduit, ready to pass it into someone else’s hands.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I began writing stories at a very early age, but the first book I ever read that made me want to write professionally was Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. The main character is a young reporter, George Willard, who records vignettes about seemingly ordinary people in a small Midwestern town who have huge interior lives. Each has clung to some belief, memory, or fixation that has distorted them in some way, rendering them “grotesques.” I think I’ve always been drawn to the misfits and outcasts who long for deeper connection and a sense of belonging. Elizabeth Hardwick, another author I admire, also writes poignantly about those who are often unseen or misunderstood. Her Sleepless Nights is a master class in distilled, incisive prose. I also appreciate the writing of Anne Lamott and others who approach existential questions and spirituality through lived experience, humor, and grace. And I love women’s literary fiction, especially the work of Ann Patchett and Alice McDermott.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I’ve never been one to stay in one lane. I’ve been an English language instructor, a small business owner, and an outreach services director for the American Red Cross. I’ve also worked in a vineyard, served as a zoo docent, and even written and recorded a few songs. Something readers might not know about me is that, although I have a pragmatic side, I also believe in angels and spirit guides—and that I sensed I was visited by an otherworldly presence several times during my healing journey.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

Engaging with others. For so long, it was just me, alone, writing my story. But when I began working with Atmosphere Press and collaborating with a team, I felt a new appreciation and enthusiasm for the work. And when the book was finally published, it felt like placing the final piece into a puzzle. Art is never complete until creator and receiver meet.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

As a matter of fact, my book DOES have a soundtrack, and people can access it for free by signing up for updates on my website (www.aimeezaring.com). Here are a few of the songs:

Lose Control, Teddy Swims

Light On, Maggie Rogers

Time for Me to Fly, REO Speedwagon

Brave, Sara Bareilles

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I hope readers take away that they are never beyond help or hope and that they are capable of profound change, no matter how stuck they might feel. I also hope they might be inspired to become more attuned to their body’s innate wisdom and investigate somatic practices. My perfect reader is anyone who picks up my book, because I think Cutting Loose, though a very personal story, is also relatable and universal. Wherever anyone is in their healing journey (and we are all “in recovery” for something), I believe this book will meet them just as they are, right where they are.

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Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.