Catriona Turner is a writer and editor currently living in Esbjerg, Denmark. A veteran of six international moves since leaving Scotland 12 years ago, she’s also lived with her family in France, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo. At her website, The Frustrated Nester, she writes about Danish living, travel, and the expat life. She has contributed a regular column to a magazine for internationals in Denmark, and her writing has featured in anthologies about international living. She also works as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. With a couple of to-be-completed novels on the shelf, she’s currently working on a memoir, due for publication in early 2022, while preparing for her family’s next big move.
Transcript:
Rachael Herron: [00:00:00] Welcome to “How do you Write?” I’m your host, Rachael Herron. On this podcast, I talk to authors about how they write, what their process is and how their lives fit together. I’ll keep each episode short so you can get back to writing.
[00:00:15] Well, Hello writers! Welcome to episode #253 of “How do you Write?” I’m Rachael Herron. I am so pleased you’re with me here today, because today we are talking to Catriona Turner, who is a friend of mine, but she is also an amazing editor and she is a writer and she is basically a professional expat. So in this interview, you will hear me pick her brain about moving as well as writing. And I have to say that I was just handling some of her edits that she did for a rereleased book that I’m working on right now. And she’s just brilliant. She really, really is. She’s completely delightful. And in this episode, we talk about looking for the everyday in the miraculous-ness of writing, and I know that you are going to enjoy it. [00:01:09] So, before we get into that, what’s going on around here? Well, so goddamn much. Holy crap! We’re out of MIQ, which was managed isolation/quarantine. We are out of it, and we are, I’m recording this on Friday, we have been living in Auckland for four days since Monday, and this is temporary. Actually, we leave on Sunday to go up north to a place called Russel where apparently we’re going to have a house which you can’t always drive to. You can only drive to it when it is low tide. So if it is high tide, you got to leave your car at the car park and perhaps wade through the ocean water to get to the house. So that’s going to be super cool and exciting. And I can’t wait to tell you about that, but that’s not right now. Right now, is Auckland. We have an apartment pretty, right between the central business district in Ponsonby. I’ve got a great view of the sky tower from our apartment, and we have just been doing so much stuff. We bought a car. In order to buy a car, we needed to set up a bank account. In order to set up a bank account, we had to do a million different things. It’s difficult to do any of these things, to do any of this red tape stuff when you don’t have an address. And when you don’t plan on having an address for a long time, how do you get a social security number? or here, they are known as IRD numbers. How do you get that without a permanent address? What you do is you talk the bank into accepting your old address, even though you don’t own that home anymore, and you are above board and you tell everybody what you’re doing. In the states, I can pretty much predict that the, somebody in those government official entity positions would say, nope, sorry, can’t do it. Here, they’re like, oh, okay, let’s make it work. If we do this and this, and then you cross off this and then I pull this for you, can you wait for 10 minutes? I’m going to go handle this. Okay. I’m back with you. I fixed it. That’s how new Zealanders handle things and it’s been wonderful and exciting. But it has just been a lot, a lot, a lot, and I’m not tired, I’m excited. [00:03:32] Every day, we get out and walk around. As soon as I record this, we’re going to go walk down to the promenade on the water and explore that area and it’s just been pretty great. Last night, it was for the first time in months, I cooked a meal in the kitchen that we have here. We have been subsisting on takeout before we moved. And then when we were in quarantine, they delivered our meals to us three times a day. So we didn’t even have to think about it. We just had to eat as often as possible, which was good and bad. But last night, I made a gorgeous salmon with radishes and peas in a Miso Dijon, caper sauce, lots of butter and it was delicious. Also, I’m very much enjoying grazing, again, you know, for breakfast might be a handful of peanuts and an apple kind of thing, rather than having a full meal delivered to you three times a day. And I’m one of those people who I just, it’s very hard for me to throw out a whole meal, a hot meal. So, it’s kind of nice not to have to eat that often, to be very honest. [00:04:37] What else? Oh, in terms of work, it’s been great. I’ve been getting stuff done. I have picked the next project that I am really focused on. And, I don’t know if I’ve said it on the air yet, but I am writing the book, 90 Days to Done, based on the class I teach. My goal is to have eventually a book, at a book price, and then a walk yourself through, a do it yourself, evergreen course at an evergreen course price. And then my hold you by the hand and take you through it, which is what I do nowadays at the higher price, so all three price points in the market for 90 Days to Done because I love teaching it. And I love nothing more than watching people finish their books, especially people who are finishing their books for the very first time and I want to help more people do that. So that is what I am focusing on right now. Hopefully get the first draft done in a couple of months. I could probably do it faster, but I don’t want to. We are in New Zealand to try to embrace some of their famous work-life balance and it is almost 3:30, so my day’s almost over. Cause that’s when I’m trying to finish right now, I don’t think I’m going to finish in the next two minutes. I’ll still have to upload this thing, but you know, I’m trying to not work until six and seven at night, which is what I did in the states. And I don’t want to do that here. [00:05:58] So, it’s been quite great. I love it. And it just feels good. It feels like the right choice and that is a huge relief and I’m sure that we will have ups and downs, times that we will think what the hell did we do. But right now we’re both really enjoying it. I want to shout out and quickly thank new patrons. Thank you to Lynette Carter and Elizabeth Adams and Isabel Peringue. I’m guessing on that name, beautiful. And Kate Havroq, thank you so much, you all for joining over at patreon.com/Rachael. Over there, you can get all the essays that I’ve written about living your creative life and right now I’m writing about doing something big, like making a move like this. And also, if you’re at the $5 level, which Kate came in at, then you get me for a mini coach, Kate. Thank you for your question. And I will be getting to that very soon. So, let’s jump into the interview with Katrina, cause it’s a little longer than most because I adore her. And you will too. She is delightful. Plus, she’s got that incredible accent. So please enjoy, please do your writing. I got a couple emails this week from people who say, okay, Rachael, you always want me to email you and tell you how I’m doing with my writing and here I’m doing it. And I love them. You can always reach out to me, Rachael, at RachaelHerron.com. You got to spell it right, but that’s the only bar, that’s the only barrier to entry. Please email me, tell me how your writing is going. Please be kind to yourself, be gentle to yourself. If you’re not writing, forgive yourself for every moment you’ve ever not written in your whole entire life. Forgive yourself right now. It’s all fine. It’s exactly right. It’s you’re in exactly the right place where you are supposed to be. And why don’t you fit in 10 or 15 minutes tonight or tomorrow morning? Don’t put it off anymore. Do a little bit of it. And then email me, tell me how it went. Okay. I know I’m speaking quickly because, got to get off the clock. Okay. Enjoy the interview, my friends, and we’ll talk soon. [00:07:54] This episode is brought to you by my book Fast Draft Your Memoir. Write your life story in 45 hours, which is, by the way, totally doable. And I’ll tell you how. It’s the same class I teach in the continuing studies program at Stanford each year, and I’ll let you in on a secret. Even if you have no interest in writing a memoir, yet, the book has everything I’ve ever learned about the process of writing, and of revision, and of story structure, and of just doing this thing that’s so hard and yet all we want to do. Pick it up today. [00:08:26] Rachael Herron: Okay. Well, I could not be more pleased today to welcome to the show, my friend, Catriona Turner. Hello, Catriona! [00:08:33] Catriona Turner: Hi, Rachael! Oh my goodness, the honor is entirely mine. [00:08:36] Rachael Herron: No. [00:08:37] Catriona Turner: This was like an author bucket list thing that I was going to do like in two or three years, but you invited me today. So, [00:08:44] Rachael Herron: I invited you and I’m also like strong-arming you into being here, just a bit. [00:08:50] Catriona Turner: Coaxing me, you coaxed me. [00:08:52] Rachael Herron: So let me give you a little bit of an introduction for people. Catriona Turner is a writer and editor currently living in Esbjerg, I already forgot how to say it, Denmark. A veteran of six international moves since leaving Scotland 12 years ago, she’s also lived with her family in France, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo. At her website, The Frustrated Nester, she writes about Danish living, travel, and the expat life. She has contributed a regular column to a magazine for internationals in Denmark, and her writing has featured in anthologies about international living. She also works as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. With a couple of to-be-completed novels on the shelf, she’s currently working on a memoir, due for publication in early 2022, while preparing for her family’s next big move. And everyone listening, I want you to know that Katrina and I have spent time together in Venice, Italy, and that’s how we really got to know each other. But it’s the honor has been mine and getting to watch and read your writing. You are a beautiful writer. [00:10:00] Catriona Turner: Thank you. [00:10:02] Rachael Herron: The way you write about your family and about the international living, when you made it official that you were going to write this memoir that you were writing this memoir, I was so pleased. So first of all, I want to ask about that. How is it going? How is the work going? [00:10:18] Catriona Turner: Okay. It’s going, so my mantra is inching onwards. [00:10:24] Rachael Herron: That is wonderful. [Read more…] about Ep. 253: Catriona Turner On How to Write the Miraculous in the Everyday