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Alyson Mead is the bestselling author of Wake Up to Your Stories and Wake Up to Your Weight Loss.  Her fiction, essays and articles have appeared in over thirty publications, and she has received the Columbine Award for Screenwriting, the Roy W. Dean Filmmaking Grant and awards from Writer’s Digest and USA Book News.  She lives and works in Los Angeles.

Thank you Alyson for answering some questions for us!  To start, please tell us about your latest project.

Absolutely! My latest book is Wake Up to Your Weight Loss, and came out in May of 2008. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of interviews and touring around the United States, giving workshops on this new way of approaching weight loss and body issues. 

Have you received any awards for your work?

I have. In the past, I've received the Columbine Award for Screenwriting, the Roy W. Dean Filmmaking Grant, and an award from Writer's Digest. Wake Up to Your Weight Loss was also chosen as a Finalist in USA Book News' Best Books Awards, which was amazing. 

Do you also do speaking engagements, or seminars?

Yes. I've been working with people for over ten years now, in formal and informal workshop settings. The work combines meditation and personal storytelling, to effect healing and personal transformation. I love the workshop setting, and working with people all over the world! But I also give online workshops, through my web site (http://www.alysonmead.com), which are less expensive and can be done in your own time.

How has your education, profession or background helped you in your writing career? Or conversely, how has your writing success helped you in your profession?

I studied art and psychology, but always wanted to write. To pay off my student loans, I started working in a packaging house in New York, helping to put textbooks together. That led to editing jobs in New York and Los Angeles, as well as ghostwriting assignments of all kinds. I suppose all this experience on the job helped me write books that can entertain and move simultaneously. In a way, I'm glad I didn't study writing, because I might have become formulaic about it, or grown sick of it, as many of my friends have done. And of course, the psychology minor didn't hurt when it came to writing about healing. My profession is currently writing, though, and it's always shaped by the experiences in my personal life, every time I sit down to write.

What kind of other works (books, scripts, poems etc.) have you had published? 

The first piece I ever published was a poem, in college. Since then, I've sold a few short stories and screenplays. I've also had two books published under my own name: Wake Up to Your Stories and Wake Up to Your Weight Loss. Other than that, I've had dozens of books published as a ghostwriter.

Is there any aspect to your profession that gets you in touch with your readers directly?

My work is very immediate that way, and comes out of the time I've spent helping others to identify what's hurting them, then dig it out and release it through meditation and personal storytelling. I love that part of what I do.

What will your next project be?

I'm nearly finished with my first memoir, about the time I spent working for a psychic line, while searching for new love.

Who inspires you on a personal or business level?

People who do what they're driven to do, no matter what the consequences may be. They're natural magnets for drama. The Dalai Lama strikes me as someone like that, as do most rebels and outsiders.

What type of work is the most rewarding or satisfying for you?

Personal, heartfelt, authentic.

What can you recommend for writers who are just getting started and are trying to make a name for themselves?

Spend as much time living life and gathering experience as you do writing. And by this I mean this in an authentic way, not in a "William Faulkner drank and therefore I have to as well" way. The style and voice will come as you experience life. Mirroring the style or voice of your idols will not support this. Whenever I read a piece by a beginning writer, the first thing I think, nearly every time, is, "You need to fall down, get fucked up, have your heart broken, feel like you want to eat glass, then start over again, and write it from that perspective."

How did you get started as a writer?

I started writing poetry in college because I thought it was cool (which is actually pretty uncool, if you think about it). True story. I wanted to be Allen Ginsberg.

Which is your favorite book/work published? Is there a favorite?

There's no way to choose one favorite, but the fierceness of Mary Gaitskill usually gets my blood moving. I also love Raymond Chandler, who's massively underappreciated, and Richard Price.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

I'm usually at my desk around 9:00 AM, reading and answering email. I write in the afternoons, do some yoga or go to the gym, then try to write a few more pages before dinner. At night, I close the door, so I can actually have a life. It also helps with my lifelong insomnia. If I leave my mind to wander all night, I do not sleep.

Have you ever had a mentor, or someone who sparked your passion for writing?

No, though for many years, I wish I'd had one.

Who is your favorite writer/author?

This is impossible to answer, though Raymond Chandler would probably be up there.

Finally, a most important question: what was the last song you sang out loud when you were by yourself?  :)

"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," by Neutral Milk Hotel. I found an old cassette, and forgot how much I love that song.

Thank you Alyson! Congratulations on your latest book Wake Up Your Weight Loss!