(31 of 40) The Next Fifteen Minutes

http://www.authormagazine.org/interviews/interview_page_kircher.htm

I'm a big fan of Author Magazine, and of its editor, William Kenower. This interview, focusing on Kim Kircher and her first book, a memoir titled  The Next Fifteen Minutes,  is 24 minutes long, but I want to recommend it in particular.  In a nutshell, Kircher has written a memoir about how her work on Ski Patrol at Crystal Mountain prepared her for what she would face during her husband's battle with cancer.

The entire interview is wonderful, and includes lots of good advice about writing a memoir. The title, however, is what grabbed my attention. Every fifteen minutes her husband -- in his hospital bed -- can push a button that will result in the delivery of more painkiller. When his pain is at its worse, the goal becomes to get through the next fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes is relevant in Kircher's work on a ski mountain, too, as fifteen minutes (her example in the interview) is how quickly they need to transport an injured skier to the base lodge.

So, reaching all the way back to the beginning of my 40 days of blogging, and yesterday's post, and maybe my ski post from two days ago...writing may not be life-and-death, like liver cancer is, but it can feel impossible. But what if all you had to do was get through 15 minutes of writing?

You can do that.

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