Married to a Writer : An Interview With My Husband

We sit at our kitchen table, the left over turkey burgers and cucumbers not yet sealed in foil and put in the fridge. Mr. Bell wears a red and white “ugly Christmas” shirt with a science theme. I’m rocking my rainbow skirt.

How many times have you wished I would stop talking about disemboweled bodies during a meal?

At least thrice. Wait, don’t say thrice. You can say at least three times that I can remember. I’m sure there were others.

We are pretty different, wouldn’t you agree? Are there any advantages to having a creative as a spouse, especially as a more analytical person?

You’re more imaginative, and when it comes to making decisions, you can see possibilities that I am not able to consider. For me, things are typically one way or the other. For you, there’s a thousand different options. So I feel like, between the two of us, we’re checking all the boxes.

Also, you’re way better at words. It takes me hours to write an email. Literally, hours.

Do I have any writer quirks? Is there anything I do, or a certain way I act, when I'm writing? Any signs that say "go away, I'm busy"?
You get really focused and I can tell when your brain is somewhere else. You’re in the zone, especially if your brainstorming a new story. Sometimes I’ll ask you a question and you’ll give me a short quiet answer. That means I should leave you alone.

Will you allow me to buy another dog?
Nooooooo…. I won’t. You won’t trick me this time.

What's the biggest frustration of being married to a writer?
Seeing you get frustrated, because I want to help and I know I can’t. I want to get you unstuck, but obviously, I don’t want to influence your ideas. Plus, I can’t always relate to your thought process.

Let's play a game. I'm going to use some publishing terms and we're going to see if you can define them:
Query : Is that the cover letter you send when you’re trying to get a publication noticed?
WIP : I think that’s work-in-progress
Proposal : Before you write something, like an outline of where you want the story to go, to try to get someone to pay you to write it.
Slush pile : That’s where the literary agent people put the stories that they don’t accept.
Comps : Like, compositions?
ARCs : A character’s flow, journey throughout the story. How they change and grow.
Blurp : When another author gives you a quote to put on your book cover

Well, thank you so much for sitting down with me. I know you’re not a huge fan of being in the spotlight so I appreciate it.

No problem.

Thanks to Mr. Bell for his time and insight!