An Interview with Beca Salmon
Beca Salmon is an oncology nurse practitioner, a writer, a yoga teacher, and a world traveler living in Montreal. The pandemic placed her firmly in one place long enough to finish her first book, a memoir called The Third Option.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
I originally wanted to call the book Soft, but that didn’t feel right. I found the title after I completed the first draft and realized the chapter title The Third Option really encompassed what the book was about.
How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?
I felt shocked when I first held it in my hands. I could not believe six years of hard work was completed!
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
I wrote this book to help fill a gap in the divorce/recovery space. I didn’t see a lot of stories that were like what I went through. After I wrote and edited the book, I realized to my shock that I am most deeply influenced by the many, many mysteries that I have read. The pacing of a mystery lives in the bones of my writing, even though it’s a memoir!
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
I have done so many things over the years and still am deeply dedicated to working as a nurse practitioner in the oncology field. I will never not be a nurse and always want to keep my feet in the world of medicine.
What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?
Getting feedback! To hear people ‘devoured’ the book is so special to me. I aimed to write a book that would be a page-turner. It means the world to me that so many women are resonating with my story.
If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?
Todo Cambia by Mercedes Sosa and Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down by Margo Price.
How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?
Working with Atmosphere was incredible. Every single stage of the process I was so well supported. The staff and leaders there were so helpful. I cannot recommend them enough!
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