Time Well Spent: An Interview with Annie Seyler, author of The Wisdom of Winter

At various times, Annie Seyler has lived in a train car, studied at an Ivy League university, dumpster dived, traveled with governors’ spouses, hand-milked goats, lost hope, kept secrets, and seen ghosts. Annie grew up in Connecticut, fled to San Francisco in her twenties, and touched down in Washington, D.C., in her thirties before landing in Vermont. Two decades later, she appears to have stopped running. The Wisdom of Winter is her debut novel. Connect with Annie at www.annieseyler.com.

You can buy The Wisdom of Winter here.

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

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

The title for my novel landed in the same way my rescue dog’s name had. I thought long and hard, wrote down a zillion names, then crossed them all out. Wrote down a zillion more and crossed them out. Then one morning I awoke in a haze from a silly dream and there it was, written in skywriting across my mind.

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

When I first held my book in my hands, I felt proud, awestruck, and accomplished. I took a selfie. I think I petted the cover.

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

I remember writing in my diary as a young girl, pouring my heart out while living in fear that my older sisters were at that very moment jimmying the lock with a butter knife and reading every fragile word. As a teenager I plastered my bedroom walls with lyrics by Prince and Springsteen, quotes from Henderson the Rain King, and excerpts from Rolling Stone Magazine. I adored what could be expressed through the written word. Dreams. Fears. Soul. Writing has always been a safe haven. Even if my words weren’t read by another human, I always felt they were being received by something.

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

Something my readers wouldn’t know…I broke the javelin record in high school track & field. I make killer focaccia bread. Wildlife finds me—I’m like a magnet in the best sense of the word. I drink too much kombucha.

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

The feeling that they had received something they needed—even if they couldn’t put it into words. A sense of time well spent.

You can buy The Wisdom of Winter here.

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