Episode 72 – Following Your Writing Dreams – 2nd Career with Reyna Marder Gentin
Reyna Marder Gentin was a practicing lawyer when she decided she did not feel fulfilled. She wasn’t happy in her career and knew she wanted something else. After taking a writing class, she realized what she wanted more than anything was to be a novelist. So she set off to do so. In this episode, we discuss her writing and publishing journey.
Reyna left a career in the law and discovered her passion for writing. She was fortunate to fall into several classes and writing workshops that were supportive and fostered a sense that she could write and put herself out there in a positive way.
In this show we talked about:
- following your dreams to be a writer and writing her first novel at age 50
- trying to find an agent (unsuccessfully) and pursuing other options
- hybrid presses and why this might be a great fit for you
- traditionally publishing with a small press and the pros and cons of publishing with a small press
- Struggling with promoting her books
- Whether paying for a publicist is worth it.
- How much she loves interacting with readers
Reyna Marder Gentin grew up in Great Neck, New York. She attended college and law school at Yale. For many years, she practiced as an appellate attorney with a public defender’s office before turning to writing full time. Reyna has studied at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, and her work has been published widely online and in print. Her debut novel, a romantic legal thriller entitled UNREASONABLE DOUBTS, was named a finalist for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association Star Award in 2019. Her first novel for children, MY NAME IS LAYLA, (TouchPoint Press, January, 2021) is the story of a young teen with undiagnosed dyslexia. Reyna’s latest novel, BOTH ARE TRUE, is contemporary fiction set in New York City, was released by Moonshine Cove Press in October, 2021. Reyna lives with her family in Scarsdale, New York. To learn more, please visit reynamardergentin.com.
Learn more about Reyna here:
reynamardergentin.com.
bit.ly/botharetrue
https://www.facebook.com/reynamardergentin
