We are so thrilled to chat with Cindi Michael, author of The Sportscaster’s Daughter. She shared a few facts about herself and the four books that have inspired her writing most!
I started writing The Sportscaster’s Daughter in 2009 when my father was still alive in the hopes of helping him remember the father he had once been, before he became the famous sportscaster. I thought it would help him realize, that in spite of everything between us and the pain he had caused me, I forgave him and never stopped loving him.
My book club book, family photos, and lavender oil – it helps me sleep.
If I could get the screen light to work right on my laptop or iPad, it would be pool side or beach side or anywhere outside. But I can’t. So I write wherever I can – much of my memoir was written on planes, in hotels, or in corridors at long swim meets, and only occasionally from the quiet of my home living room. Business books, I write at my desk, but for creative writing, I have to get out of my cage.
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I have always written about my family and our story, but often fictionalized it; this was the first book that made me consider writing my story as a memoir.
Football Hero by Tim Green. My son is not an avid reader, but he read this book while we were traveling abroad and was so engrossed in it. I had to read it to find Green’s secret; how had he tapped by son’s interest? Green writes in a way that is fun and action packed, making the reader cheer for the main character and dream the impossible. I hope that my next book will be as engrossing to young adult readers as Green’s books are to my son.
On Writing by Stephen King. In high school, I was an avid Stephen King reader and most of my English classmates looked down at me; they read more literary works such as Sartre and Dickens for leisure. Twenty years later, when I was taking a writing workshop, the facilitator suggested this book as a way of crafting my memoir. I felt validated!
All The Light the We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. His prose is so lyrical. My prose used to be more descriptive and lyrical, 20 years ago, but I feel it became dryer after decades of writing technical books. I had to reawaken those dormant skills.
These are my top four!
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