Magic in the Mundane
Parents that Write #16 Q&A with Douglas Weissman
Welcome to my 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
When it came to designing the cover of NOISE, I knew this wasn’t the time for shortcuts or to pretend I could DIY my way to brilliance. Book cover design isn’t just about slapping on a pretty image; it’s a niche craft, demanding mastery of storytelling, psychology, and marketing, all distilled into a single, compelling moment.
For Triumph Press, I was determined to work with a leading-edge designer who could take all of that and turn it into a cover that stopped people in their tracks.
I approached this like I approach most things: with forensic focus. My first move? Compile a list of THE top book cover designers globally. Yes, globally. I wasn’t about to limit myself. I needed a designer with a rock-solid track record, award-winning covers, and a style that stood out in a crowded market. The idea wasn’t to find someone who would execute my ideas—I didn’t even have a vision for the cover yet. I wanted someone who could shape that vision with me.
Here’s a list of mega star book jacket designers of mainstream bestsellers, as well as niche imprints: Janet Hansen, Grace Han, Oliver Munday, Pablo Delcan, Arsh Raziuddin, Na Kim, Alex Merto, Rodrigo Corral, Peter Mendelsund, Vi-An Nguyen. There are more, this is a starter list in case you fancy checking their insane talents out.
The deeper I got into the process, the more fascinating it became.
I started recognising specific designers’ work instantly, picking out their covers from shelves and digital lists. That clarity was exciting, but it also reminded me of an important truth: I’m not the expert here. The designer would lead the process; my role was to find the person whose style and skill fit NOISE best.
And no, I didn’t narrow the search based on demographics or personal experience. NOISE is about motherhood identity, but that didn’t mean I needed a designer who was a mother or even someone who’d worked on books about motherhood. What I needed was artistry, bold thinking, and someone who could bring NOISE to life.
Next week, I’ll share how I went from my short list to interviewing designers and choosing the one who would deliver the cover that NOISE deserved. It was fraught, and thrilling. I’ll also be in conversation with my fab guest .
Today, I bring you Douglas Weissman, award-winning novelist and travel writer based in Los Angeles. His works, including Girl in the Ashes and Life Between Seconds, explore morally complex narratives set against rich historical backdrops. A graduate of the University of San Francisco's MFA program in Creative Writing, Weissman has lived in cities such as Florence, Rome, and Sydney, experiences that inform his storytelling.
Share a broad snapshot of your life. Who are you parent to and/or have caring responsibilities for?
I am parent to Eloise, a feisty and assertive five-year-old who will play from sun up to sun down. My wife works part time at the office and part time at home so having always worked remote, I generally drop off my daughter at school, pick her up, make her breakfast and lunches, and visit the nail salon to get my nails done in radiant sparkles once a month (by nail salon, I mean nails done by my daughter). I'm a travel writer content manager, and novelist. I do get many ideas from my daughter. I am the general breadwinner for our family and I do piece together my day job with two or three other jobs to make sure we're thriving rather than just surviving but sometimes it still feels like the latter.
Where can we find you?
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
Can you share favourite praise for your writing?
One of my favorite reviews for my novel, Life Between Seconds:
One of my favorite reviews for my novel, Girl in the Ashes
Why do you write?
I write stories of friendship, of finding beauty in the grotesque, of finding magic in the mundane; stories about building bridges, about burning bridges, about growing trees, about turning trees into bridges, and the ways strangers find common ground.
I also write essay about parenting, screenplays about archeologist, and lots of guides on traveling around the world.
What does the inside of your writing mind look like?
Have you ever seen a room covered in crisscrossing lasers?
How is your ability to write affected by being a parent and your ability to parent affected by your writing?
I use 10-minute sprints rather than trying to get all my writing down in large chunks of time. I don't even know what that large chunk of time would look like anymore.
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?
I usually write right after I put my daughter to bed, which generally means an extra 30-40 minutes of putting her back in bed and the 10 minutes I put aside for writing turns into an hour. But it gets the job done--both her getting to be and me getting something on the page.
What is your best writing habit and how did you discover it?
My 10-minute sprints. I found during covid I only had the mental capacity for 10 minutes at a time, so I stuck with it.
What are the three most important characteristics of being a writer who is a parent?
➡️ Showing up for writing and parenting
➡️ Understanding what to prioritize
➡️ Knowing you can always use the experience later
What or who is your secret writing weapon?
Listening.
What or who has been the most significant creative influence in your life?
My family—grandparents, parents, and now wife and child—because they always know how to tell stories that inspire the stories I want to tell.
What are your coping tactics for being (constantly) interrupted in your thought process?
Music without lyrics or retyping the same paragraph over and over again to get back into the rhythm of working.
What’s your best writing time?
between 7.45 and 8.30 pm.
What motivates you to write amongst the flurry of family life?
I have stories I have to tell.
You’re a writer: name 3 of your procrastination techniques.
Pastries
Movies
Walking
How much torture/pleasure is involved in your writing life and in what form does it come?
Pastries, tea, and writing the same paragraph over and over again are tortuous and pleasant. But most writers are masochists.
If your writing discipline was a food, what would it be?
An entire pizza. Because it starts out with guilt, then feels great, then goes back to feeling awful about the whole thing.
Do you use any productivity hacks like toggling, Pomodoro, Focusmate?
The only one that has worked for me is 10-minute sprints. It can go up to 20 but now it's a blessing and a curse, so if I have more than 10 minutes I often don't know how to keep going.
Which three (parent) writers make you think, “Damn, I wish I could write like this”.
Barbara Kingsolver, Kim Stanley Robinson, Haruki Murakami
What unfinished writing projects do you have lying about?
A screenplay that's Godfather in Space, an essay on how Fantasy Sports leagues are just Cosplay, a novel that blends the Great British Baking Show with Jewish Summer Camp, a novel that blends Indiana Jones, Casablanca, and the language of Tarantino.
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?
Ursula K. Le Guin. Her ability to create worlds and concepts outside of the norm that turned the way we view society upside down while also standing up for what she believed in and being committed to her family is inspiring.
What is the favourite sentence you’ve ever written, and why?
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." - The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
What are your favourite/preferred writing conditions in terms of clothes, environment, food you eat and anything else that helps you write?
Clothes don't matter but prefer a cafe with a pastry and a delicious steaming cup of tea. If it's raining outside, even better.
What music do you listen to while writing? Share a playlist!
What’s your favourite quote from a writer?
“We accept the love we think we deserve.” —The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Closing out this Column with:
“The only way you can write is by the light of the bridges burning behind you.” - – Alice Munro
Loving 10 minute sprints. I've tried 20-30 minutes sprints but 10 is even more manageable!
I love the cover of Ann Napolitano’s „Hello Beautiful”. I love the book, too. Great interview, Danusia - and the idea of sitting in a coffee shop on a rainy day, writing, is the definition of absolute bliss.