Crazy Love Mentoring
A contributor piece about the AWC Mentoring Program by Geena Russo
I chose a different coffee shop today. The one we usually go to, Crazy Love Coffeehouse in Roswell, has tasty seasonal drinks, but their December offerings disappointed me. We went to Just Love Coffee in Alpharetta for our January meeting. In my first Substack article on mentoring, we were just getting started. I’m more confident in our meetings; I prepare better. It’s like Ikea furniture. Even though they came with instructions, you can look at them and not know what to do.
Both shops, ironically, feature love, as does my mentor Kim Conrey. It’s what she hopes readers take away from her books: that everyone deserves infinite love and light. The Georgia Romance Writer of the Year, Conrey, is working on her third book in her romance sci-fi series. An author of five books and the VP of Operations for the Atlanta Writers’ Club, she came into the coffee shop, ordered a latte, and shared what was currently troubling her—deep procrastination around her Reiki business. It was comforting to know that even with her success, the troubling torment we often put ourselves through was relatable. The resistance that’s truly behind the procrastination was our first fruitful discussion before I interviewed her for this article. Fear of failure frequently holds us back. I know it held me back, and that is why I signed up for the mentorship program. I thought it was what I needed to put my writing out there. If nothing else, I’m not scared of people reading my writing anymore.
On the theme of love, Kim and I are both empaths, and we seem to be hard on ourselves. It’s why her advice to new authors is often, ‘Don’t give up.’
She says, “Please don’t meet with 1-2 agents and think you’re not talented [if they don’t want your book].” She adds, “You need to let go of the perfect situation.”
That advice extends to the writing process, too. It won’t go perfectly, but perfection is the enemy of done. Or in the words of performance artist Taylor Mac, “Perfection is for assholes.” My writing through this process has been far from perfect, but I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned how I want to receive feedback, where my weak spots are, what I really need to focus on, and more.
We’ve passed the midpoint of my manuscript, or rather, the midpoint is with her as I type this. We agree that revising is one of the hardest things about writing. “If there’s a good line, scene, I don’t want to throw it away, but a critique group will say, ‘I don’t get it,’ and you’ll have to cut it,” she said.
The polarity of the revising process allows us to go back and see how much we’ve done and how far we’ve come. It’s reaching the summit of a hike and looking out at the vista. Kim calls this a gift, saying, “Damn, we can surprise ourselves, like I wrote that?” I didn’t think I would know what she meant, but rereading a short story I worked on with her, I felt like I was reading someone else’s work.
It’s hard to detach from writing, though. As a previous Atlanta Writers’ Club speaker said, the adage ‘write what you know’ isn’t only true; it will help your writing be richer. It’s why there is a piece of Kim in each of her characters, especially Harlow. Her heroine from her first Ares book. It’s no wonder I really liked the character while reading it.
The romance genre can have a poor reputation, but Kim makes a good point that it’s a metaphor for waking up and truly being seen and seeing one another. She called it resurrection. It ties beautifully to wanting each reader to see themselves as deserving of love and light.
It will be sad to close out this mentorship and not meet at a coffee shop with love in the title, but I can feel the progress I’ve made. I’m grateful for the structure of the program and hope to continue the momentum and not fall into deep procrastination. If I do, I know Kim is a text or email away to remind me not to let the fear win.
Read on for my rapid-fire question session with Kim!
What book made you cry?
Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
What book made you laugh?
Bridesmaid to Bride by Terra Weiss
What’s your favorite bookstore?
Poe & Company in Milton, GA
What’s your writing routine?
Getting cozy, usually in bed with lots of pillows
What’s your preferred beverage to write with?
Moscato or Iced Tea
Geena’s daytime work involves writing blogs, social media, and web copy. In 2023, Geena self-published a children’s book for ages 3-6-year-olds about a family trip with their dog called Sydney’s Adventure in New Mexico. Geena is currently in the Atlanta Writers’ Club mentorship program, working on a queer romance manuscript with mentor Kim Conrey.
To learn more about Geena, click here