Little Pieces and Parts
Parents that Write #18 Q&A with Carley Moore
Welcome to this weekly interview column.
When we talk about parent creatives ~ writers, artists, content creators ~ the focus often lands on the chaos of balancing creativity and parenting. Let’s CUT THROUGH THIS NOISE:
—> Parents publish books, drop albums, option screenplays, and create art + content every day.
How? That’s what we’re here to uncover. Let’s find out as my guests answer eight quick questions, plus a few they handpick from a list. Before we meet today’s guest, here’s a tiny look into my own creative life:
No-Fluff Notes from my Writing Life
Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared how I researched the best book cover designers globally, whittled down my list, and interviewed incredible talents. Today, I’ll tell you who I chose, why, and what that decision meant for NOISE.
Three book cover designers - all world-renowned - made it to my final interviews.
The first designer, whose portfolio I adored, surprised me by being cooler in conversation than I had expected. She was what I’d call transactional, professional but not creatively passionate. It felt more like ticking boxes than connecting. For me, the chemistry just wasn’t there.
The second interview was a complete turnaround. This designer asked insightful questions, shared brilliant ideas off the cuff, and made me feel as if they truly understood NOISE. We got along famously. But then, the conversation took an unexpected turn. When she asked about my interview list I mentioned the names of the other designers. She told me she knew them each personally. It turns out she had trained with one of them, who was, in secret, my number one dream designer.
And then the air shifted. She suggested that perhaps her former mentor might be the better fit. I left the conversation unsettled, wondering if the mentor-mentee dynamic might complicate things.
The third interview, with Rodrigo Corral, was everything I hoped it would be. Personal, funny, and connecting. Rodrigo demonstrated both his iconic expertise and excitement for the project. He was also the most expensive of the three—of course—but I knew that wasn’t the deciding factor.
I had given all three designers a short brief: avoid hackneyed, ‘mumsy’ motherhood and lean into originality. Rodrigo not only understood that but brought a level of mastery I couldn’t ignore. Despite the amazing second interview, my choice was clear. I HAD to go with the Master.
Rodrigo’s ideas had a confidence and originality that aligned perfectly with what NOISE needed — a cover that would demand attention while staying true to the book’s bold essence.
Next week, the story continues as I share how we began shaping a cover that would become the face of NOISE. I’ll also be in conversation with my guest, about her writing and family life.
Today, I’m thrilled to bring you . Her Substack My Subby is a lively and intimate space where she shares poetry, essays, and unfiltered musings on the writing life. Equal parts playful and profound, My Subby is a beautiful peek behind the scenes of a writer who’s always got something meaningful and a little unexpected to say.
Share a broad snapshot of your life. Who are you parent to and/or have caring responsibilities for?
I'm a Clinical Professor of Writing and Critical Creative Production at New York University and a writer. Clinical means contract faculty (not tenured) though my job has been stable since I landed it 23 years ago. Contract faculty are sandwiched between adjunct and tenured faculty and we finally unionized, so we're all hoping for some much needed raises and protections in the next couple of years. I've published five books, Heart Less (a poetry collection), Panpocalypse (a novel), The Not Wives (a novel), 16 Pills (an essay collection), and The Stalker Chronicles (a young adult novel).
I'm a single, queer, co-parenting mom to one kid, my 16-year-old daughter. She lives with me half the time and her dad the other half. We also have two somewhat unaffectionate cats, Pippi and Marina. Lately, I started doing stand up which I totally adore and making tiny tencho songs which are now on Spotify.
Where can we find you?
Tiny Techno | Instagram | My Books
Can you share favourite praise for your writing?
The blurbs for my debut poetry book are pretty cool. Here's one:
“Bring your heart, your sweet heart, tender and busted, and “step through” into Carley Moore’s dazzling new poems. Heart Less gifts readers good intimate company on a city street, in a bar, and on the page—whether one’s heart is hurt, on ice, or thawed out. Moore takes us on a wild razor scooter ride through NYC and to a Time portal: to a garbage dump for the past self, or “all horizon, all vista” for the future self. And, for those with a hard heart, hag heart, smarting heart, Moore’s poems offer a poem ritual to survive middle age, dating online, and parenting. Carley’s own heart, a “waterfall” of worry and desire, charmed and crushed me in these poems, full of word-and-sound play, role play and foreplay. Step through all lovers, misfits, parents, dreamers, and rioters! Heart Less is the book for you” - Camille Guthrie
I've been a finalist for a few literary prizes and though I would have loved to have won, it was lovely to be a finalist. A few of those include Panpocalypse which was on the Short List for the Brooklyn Public Library Prize, The Not Wives was a finalist for a LAMMY in Bisexual Fiction and won an Indie Foreward Award for Literary Fiction
Why do you write?
Sometimes I really don't know. I've been writing since my parents bought me a diary with a lock and matching little pencil from the hospital gift shop when I was in the third grade. I was very sick as a child, and writing gave me a sense of purpose. I read my first diary entry out loud at the kitchen table to my parents and brother, so I suppose I understood early that writing was a way to be seen and heard. I write to make sense of the world. I write to make sense of my own life in relationship to the world around me. I write as a form of protest and activism. I write to figure out the truth of a situation or get closer to the truth. I write to entertain people. I still write to be heard, seen, and read I suppose. I write novels because they are companionable puzzles that keep me engaged. That said, I've been taking a break since May from working on any books, and that has been wonderful. For the last 16 years, I've always been working on a book, and truly I have needed a break.
What does the inside of your writing mind look like?
Oh this is a hard one. I can't really envision what's going on in there. I have a rare movement disorder and I don't make enough dopamine so I take synthetic dopamine. I also have depression and anxiety and take Lexapro and Wellbutrin. What a mystery my brain is to me and even most neurologists!
My writing mind is busy and super connective. She's always looking for a joke, a pun, a silly song, and/or how to put together evidence, texts, and ideas that don't seem to go together at first. I suppose it's quite elastic. I do love my brain, though I often wish it would calm down a bit.
How is your ability to write affected by being a parent and your ability to parent affected by your writing?
Parenting has made me a better writer in so many ways--I have more lived experience and so I think my characters are more complicated which is not to say that non-parents don't have complicated characters. It's just been good for me to have to really see another human living with me who is so so different than I am. I have learned not to fetishize big chunks of time and to write in little pieces and parts. I have my kid every other week since she was four, so I also have had a lot more time to write than many parents and moms in particular. I'm very lucky that way.
I can also say that lately parenting, teaching, and writing together have become exhausting, and I realize I need to take more breaks. Since I've published five books, I'm getting more comfortable slowing down. Sometimes I dream of not writing any more and just doing regular human things or having a lot less work to do. I don't think that would be a bad thing honestly.
How often do you write with your child around or not, and what kind of writing do you get done when your child is nearby?
Up until a few years ago, I didn't get much writing done when my kid was with me. Because I have her only half the time, I tried to just be with her as much as a could and not write when she was with me. Now that she's 16 and a big writer and reader herself, we actually go to cafes together and read and write across the table from each other. That is a dream come true honestly! I never imagined such a possibility! She's much more disciplined than I am at the cafe. She wants to write for longer, and I'm like let's go look at the desserts and go into the bookstore.
What is your best writing habit and how did you discover it?
I mostly write in the morning when I wake up, but I'm not strict or religious about it. A few hours of writing a couple of times a week is about what I can manage. But if I'm writing, I'm strict with my distractions. I really do an intense two or three hours and try not to look at anything else. When I was working on The Not Wives and had to do a huge revision, I wrote for long days for a few months and I really made myself sick, as in I had a small nervous breakdown. So I don't do that anymore. I don't want to or need to.
What are the three most important characteristics of being a writer who is a parent?
➡️ Play
➡️ Flexibility
➡️ Managing many moving pieces and parts
What or who is your secret writing weapon?
I can write anywhere and in any small chunk of time. I wrote my first book, The Stalker Chronicles during nap times.
What or who has been the most significant creative influence in your life?
Maybe too hard to answer, but some of my earliest poetry professors, like Milton Kessler, Ruth Stone, and Sharon Olds. Now it's my creative community. My close friends who are also writers, Amy Shearn, Matt Longabucco, Philip Kain, James Polchin, Lynn Melnick, and Megan Milks (to name a few of my closest writing friends).
What are your coping tactics for being (constantly) interrupted in your thought process?
Giving up and letting stuff slide, yoga or Pilates if I can get to a class, being kind to myself about it. Like sometimes it's just not going to happen, and forcing it can make you crazy.
What’s your best writing time?
Mornings.
What motivates you to write amongst the flurry of family life?
The desire to connect with readers and have books out there in the world.
You’re a writer: name 3 of your procrastination techniques.
1. Napping 2.Instagram reels 3. Teaching (it's hard for me not to put student work before my own, especially when they're drafting and it's a busy time of the semester).
How much torture/pleasure is involved in your writing life and in what form does it come?
I try to keep it pleasurable. I love first drafts and hate revision, so revision is just not as fun for me. The slog of it gets to me sometimes, but when I'm revising I can usually get into it if I keep at it. Also, I believe in a treat system.
If your writing discipline was a food, what would it be?
This is too hard lol.
Do you use any productivity hacks like toggling, Pomodoro, Focusmate?
No
Which three (parent) writers make you think, “Damn, I wish I could write like this”.
I try not to envy anyone because everyone is different. But I wish I could have the readership of say Miranda July or Lily King.
What unfinished writing projects do you have lying about?
I am querying agents for a new novel called Paramour. I also have two older novels I'd like to find homes for, but it's hard.
If you could have a conversation with any writer throughout history (who was also a parent) about their writing routine and creative process, who would that person be, and why?
Oh my god, these are such good questions, but so hard. My brain is so fried from teaching this week (I workshopped so many student essays and had so many student conferences and answered so many student questions and I had my teen who is kinda having a week), so my first thought was, "Who is a parent from history that wrote things?" I can't think of anybody. Okay, I had to google for this one. But I'd say Ida B. Wells, though I wouldn't want to ask her about her creative process or writing routine. I think I'd just thank her for investigating and reporting on lynching in America, and then let her be. Apparently, she had six kids. Holy hell, what a woman!
What is the favourite sentence you’ve ever written, and why?
I don't really have favorite sentences of my own, though readers tell me their favorite sentences and that's a great joy!
Share a picture of what ‘A Room of One’s Own’ means to you, and why.
I have no room of my own lol. I live in a one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. I gave my daughter the bedroom. I'll take a photo. It's sad, but I'm happy to have this apartment and my little desk area by a window.
What are your favourite/preferred writing conditions in terms of clothes, environment, food you eat and anything else that helps you write?
Soft pants is my main requirement.
What music do you listen to while writing?
I don't listen to music when I write. It's too distracting for me.
What’s your favourite quote from a writer?
“Writing requires maximum ambition, maximum audacity, and programmatic disobedience.” - Elena Ferrante
Closing out this Column with:
“You get the first line, then it’s like riding a bull…either you stick with it or you don’t.” - - Bob Dylan
Love to know — do you have any lucky writing ‘charms’? Maybe it’s something you always keep nearby or something you just can’t write without. Share yours in the comments!
I hope this week’s column hit the spot for you!
Loads of Love,
Danusia x
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