Xtraordinary Woman of the Month
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Sit down and do it; to be a writer you need to write! Leave to marinate for a few weeks and come back as a critical editor who will cut out away the bad stuff and allow the kernel to shine through with new strength. You also need to read, read, read.
What advice would you give to women wanting to follow their dreams?
Find your passion. Believe in yourself. Listen to advice but don’t let other people’s negativity pull you down. And remember that it’s not a failure if you learn from it.
Your favourite quote:
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” Maya Angelou
Contact Information:
Website: www.roxannereid.co.za
@RoxanneReidSA
Roxanne Reid is an independent writer, author, editor and blogger. She did her BA Hons in English Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand, her Honours in History through Unisa and short courses in journalism and creative writing at Stellenbosch and Cape Town universities. She was editor of a food industry journal for a decade and won more than a dozen Pica Awards for journalism and editing. Then her real life began 16 years ago when she started ReidWrite, through which she works as a book editor, proof reader, blogger, health and travel writer. She writes about places like Namibia, the Kalahari and the Karoo heartland, as well as issues as diverse as nutrition, wildlife, Fair Trade, stress therapy, lifestyle diseases, malaria and waterborne diseases in Africa. She is author of three published books.
Please tell us a little more about yourself and your journey thus far.
Although I learnt a lot about publishing from working for a trade journal publisher for a decade, the best decision I ever made was to branch out on my own. My world view instantly became broader and I’ve been able to choose which projects to work on. That gives me enormous freedom and makes me much happier than I was in the corporate environment.