Kathryn Vercillo

Being Honest as a Writer

Kathryn — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:48:32 +0000

Awhile back I was interviewed on the blog Kanelstrand: Simple Living Chronicles and was asked a really great question about sharing personal information with others as a writer. I wanted to share that excerpt from the interview with you today.

I was asked:

In your book you share yours and other women’s stories about healing through crochet. How easy is it to share private and possibly sensitive information in a book for all the world to see?

Here was my response:

I really believe that each individual person has their own unique story to share and that sharing it is valuable for both that person and those who read the story. I further believe that it is my role as a writer to honestly share my own individual story as well as to make it possible for others to share their stories. So in a sense it was easy for me to share because the value of it is something that I genuinely believe in.

On the other hand, it is tough to share your whole truth with people and I definitely had my struggles about what to share and how to share it in the right way. You know that this book will be read by your family, your friends, strangers … and somehow you have to put that out of your mind and still tell your truth.

What was a little tougher for me was finding the best way to honor the stories that the other women shared with me. I felt a great sense of responsibility to these women who had told me intimate details of their health and lives and wanted to really share in a compassionate, intelligent way. I used personal interviews to get information from them. I left questions very open so that they could share only as much or little as they wanted (and offered the chance to be anonymous). In writing their stories, I tried to use their own words a lot of the time so as not to lose the essence of their truths.

I hope it all came through honestly.

Read the entire interview here.

Related Article: Writers Must Be Brave

Danger: Inflammatory Literature

Kathryn — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:21:45 +0000

This is the most recent photo in my series of Dangerous Life photos, which are posted in spurts on my personal blog, Diary of a Smart Chick and can be seen in full as a Facebook album.

The sign is at a bookstore on Haight Street. Awesome.

My Indiegogo Experience

Kathryn — Sat, 11 May 2013 23:18:47 +0000

I recently used crowdsourced funding site Indiegogo to support my next project, Hook to Heal. I was asked to be part of a roundup of people who shared quotes about their Indiegogo campaign experiences.

Here’s what I had to say:

“In addition to allowing me to raise the money to produce my next self-published book, this campaign helped show me what aspects of it people truly are interested in and which should be let go in order to best meet the needs of my readers, fans, followers and supporters. Thank you!”

See what other Indiegogo campaigners had to say here.

I Received a Tweeting Award

Kathryn — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:07:42 +0000

I was the March featured publisher of the month for Sponsored Tweets. They interviewed me about my experience with Twitter and Sponsored Tweets, allowing me to answer some interesting questions.

Kathryn in 140 Characters

In my interview they asked me to describe myself in 140 characters or less so I said:

“Writer, crafter, storyteller, dreamer, San Franciscan. I love connecting with others especially around crochet, creativity and self-healing.”

Twitter Engagement

I was also asked what I do to encourage engagement through Twitter. I answered:

“I ask “questions of the day” around the specific topics that I’m known for (crochet and creativity). My audience knows that these questions will be posted and that their answers will be taken seriously, sometimes even used on my blog itself in other posts, and I think this encourages interaction around that content.”

Read my whole interview with IZEA here.

Twitter: What I Tweet

4 Things I Hope Crochet Saved My Life Teaches People

Kathryn — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:56:46 +0000

In an interview awhile back with Sylvia Browder I was able to answer the question, “Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?”

Here’s what I answered:

Yes, there are several!

No matter what problems you have in life, you have to continue striving to have the best quality of life possible. Only you can do this for yourself.
There is value in the sharing of personal stories. We each have a unique experience to share with others.
Activities that encourage relaxation, self-expression and creativity are activities that will aid you in healing from almost anything.
Crochet is not a lost craft; it’s alive and well and practice by both men and women as a hobby as well as a therapeutic tool.

Read my whole interview with this terrific businesswoman, one of the most amazing women to support my work.

Note, the above graphic is actually from Craftypod who did a podcast interview of me and the book that is for sale here.

Touched by a Teenager

Kathryn — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:18:28 +0000

I have received a few different requests from students who wanted to interview me about crochet since they’ve seen my experience in the field. Most of these have been college students but one that I recently did an interview with was a high school tenth grader. It was so neat to receive that contact.

The Initial Email

In the first email, the teen said:

“For my English 10 Honors Class I am working on a project where I choose a topic that interests me and pursue the topic. For my topic, I have chosen crocheting and hope for it to become a hobby of mine …

Through my project I will be learning the skills of crocheting scarves and hats. I will be crocheting nearly every day in hopes to gain experiences and dexterity required for some crocheting designs.

One of the requirements for this project is to interview two professionals in the field of my interest.”

And then asked to interview me. I was so touched, first that I was asked and then that it gave me the opportunity to help a teenager learn and explore this craft.

Follow-Up Email

I completed the interview via email. I really tried to put a lot of thought and care into my responses. Of course, I try to do this with every interview but I especially wanted to encourage this teen to enjoy the exploration of the craft.

I was so touched to recently receive the following follow-up email:

“Dear Miss Vercillo,

I would like to thank you for all the help you have given me. Your answers expanded to the volume I hoped to receive in the end. Sorry for the delay of this email, but I got caught up in life, in school, and in crocheting. You are a great inspiration and I am honored I could have interviewed you. Your book was a great inspiration to me and to my friends. We now are all learning crocheting and have gotten much better since we started.

Thank you again!”

Share Your Knowledge

It means so much to me that I was able to help this student in this small way. I would encourage any youngster to consider reaching out to crafters, authors and others that inspire them in this one-to-one way. And I would encourage crafters, authors and other professionals to be open and willing to share their time with the younger generation. I am definitely busy and I can’t meet all requests but I try to help where I can and this was one opportunity where it was easy for me to offer a little bit of my time to someone who is just starting out in a craft I enjoy.

Teen Boys are Crocheting Like Crazy

How Do You Decide What To Write About? (Interview Excerpt)

Kathryn — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:02:19 +0000

I was interviewed awhile back by Morgen Bailey. Morgen has recently updated that interview for a new blog. I thought it was a good time to share an excerpt from that interview.

How Do You Decide What to Write?

Morgen asked:

“You write non-fiction, how do you decide what to write about?”

I answered:

“I believe that each person in this world has her own unique experience and that all of the best writing comes from speaking directly from this experience. So my writing starts with me – my story, what I’m interested in, what motivates me. Then I try to take that and expand upon it to make it accessible to the widest base of readers. For example, my newest book, Crochet Saved My Life, is at heart my own story of dealing with debilitating depression and learning creative ways (such as crafting) to get through that. It is supplemented with the stories of others and a lot of research that helps explain why crafts and hobbies are healing for people with a diverse array of ailments.”

Read the full interview here.

The Next Book, The Same Approach

Morgen’s interview with me was originally done last year. I am now working on my next book, Hook to Heal. This book will help crocheters learn to use the craft to improve their relationships, self-esteem and quality of life. I am taking the same approach to this book. Each chapter will include:

Information on a challenge in life, such as the struggle to balance personal, work and creative life
True from-the-heart stories of how I’ve dealt with that specific challenge in my own life
Additional stories from others who have smart things to say about the same things
Tips, tricks, research and ideas for improving the situation

I am enjoying writing this and think that the approach is truly in line with my ongoing work and goals as a writer.

Interview with the Author

Smart Writers! Link Love for Writers, Bloggers and Entrepreneurs

Kathryn — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:46:34 +0000

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!

In Reading and Writing

Summer Writing Workshop for Artists. @surface_design shared info on a June Texas writing workshop for creatives.
How to Win More Readers with a Powerful Close. Via @writetodone.

In Blogging

5 Reasons I Won’t Come Back to Your Blog. The Blueprint Social (@blueprintsoc) hits the nail on the head with these five things you don’t want to do wrong as a blogger.

In Social Media

Interview with a Pinterest Professional. @problogger’s Pinterest consultant Jade Craven answers some questions about her work.
The Addiction and Cost of Social Media. Smart @HuffPostTech article by @samfiorella that discusses three key issues in social media.

In Productivity, Time Management and Organization

How to Find Energy to Achieve Your Goals. Via @_TheChangeBlog

In Business

5 Websites for Etsy Shop Owners. Via @armazey of The Steady Hand.
17 Declarations on Business Life. Some powerful statements (also available as a poster) via @daniellelaporte
12 Stages of Selling Your Website. A helpful infographic from @visually

Inspiration!

How to Choose Work that Will Continue to Motivate You. By @Larry_Keltto for Solopreneur Month.

In My World

Link love is here on the blog every Saturday to keep you on top of the latest in the web world. And if you want to see the best posts of the week in more creative, artsy, nerdy things then you may want to check out the link love over on my personal blog, Diary of a Smart Chick.

Crochet Klout: The Twitter Showdown

Kathryn — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:51:35 +0000

I really enjoy the Visual.ly site where you can easily create infographics based on your social media information and also get access to the infographics that many other people have created to share around the web. Last year for my crochet blog I explored how I compared on Twitter to other influencers in the crochet sphere. I thought I’d look at that again today, but with a specific interest in how I compared to other people who are high rankers on Klout.

About Klout

Klout is a tool that people can use online to see how they and others influence the world through social media in specific topic areas. You can “give Klout” to people you think do well in a certain area. Since I’m known for my work in crochet blogging, crochet is the channel where most people have given me Klout. Your Klout score is affected by a number of things. I don’t actually invest a lot of time in increasing my Klout but I check it every now and then out of pure curiousity.

About Visual.ly

Visual.ly is an infographics and data visualization site that offers tools allowing you to create and share your own visual information. One thing they offer is a set of tools where you can easily plug in your own information from a site like Twitter and compare it to one other person. I thought it would be neat to take a look at which other people have high Klout in crochet and then use Visual.ly to compare myself to them.