Creatrix Rising, Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Stephanie Raffelock.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Creatrix Rising, Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women. She Writes Press, August 24, 2021
What’s the book’s first line?
“This is an extraordinary and significant time in feminist history.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”
The book is about the emerging archetype of the Creatrix in midlife women. The word Creatrix means “a woman who makes things.” Women in midlife are beginning to recognize and embrace the creativity and power of midlife, thus shining a positive light onto our older years. Creatrix Rising, Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women encourages women to find their personal story, their own feminist history and embrace the arc of transformation that has brought us to this evolutionary moment.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I’ve always been interested in women’s issues. After the 2016 election, I began to see that there was a shift in consciousness happening with midlife women everywhere. The Women’s March of 2017 was filled with women donning “pussy hats,” wearing it as their power and refusing to be the butt of the joke. In the following year, more women over the age of 50 ran for local, state and national office than ever before in our country’s history. And finally, the #metoo movement unburdened millions of women who were now ready to move forward united in their power. All of that made me realize that I was witnessing a historical moment in our collective feminist history. And it’s still inspiring me to realize and witness just how resilient and creative midlife women are. This is our time!
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Read it to be inspired by the personal story within you that asks to be heard, to be felt, to be shared in our culture. Read it to be inspired by how far we’ve come and how much our ancestors paved a way and paid a price for us. And read it to know that the woman’s story is important and significant and that each of us has within us powerful stories of love, loss and transformation that are, in fact, making our world a better place.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
Oh please, please, please let me be played by Meryl Streep.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I was a closet writer for a lot of my life. In midlife, I finally began to own that I had a voice and I had things to say. Now, I write full time, and while most days I wrestle with the process, I find the results extremely satisfying.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
My first book was called, A Delightful Little Book On Aging, a gentle prodding that asks the reader to view older age as a remarkable and noble passage.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I don’t work at anything else but writing, though I am a devoted dog mom.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
When I’m working on a manuscript, I work two to three hours every day. When I’m just writing blogs, essays and articles, I work about six hours per week.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Learning to be a marketer and the cost of being a marketer.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
The same advice that I give myself everyday — believe in yourself and don’t expect it to be easy.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I would certainly consider a traditional publisher, just because it’s on my bucket list – and I also have this fantasy of getting an advance that I could then invest in marketing.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
My motivation: writing is a doorway into the examined life, to which I am committed.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Norah Ephron. She was a classic essayist, a compelling novelist, an excellent memoirist, and a stellar screenwriter. I love that she just wrote everything.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
I wish I could have written Girls Like Us, by Sheila Weller. It was great storytelling, great journalism and wonderfully entertaining.