Today we’d like to introduce you to Monette Chilson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Monette. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Poised here at mid-life, I don’t know a lot of things for sure. Certainty, in fact, seems to be a slippery beast these days. Instead of articulating a perfectly crafted platform of why I write what I write, I will tell you that we are all stories unfolding and none of us knows what’s around the corner. Themes that are working their way into my reading and writing these days are grief, the sacred feminine, and racial tensions. I can’t tie them all up with a pretty bow and tell you what I’m going to do with them, but I do promise to keep exploring.
A dozen years ago, I was a public relations writer running my own business. When I gave that up, I began my exploration in earnest, writing what my soul calls me to write. In 2013, Sophia Rising: Awakening Your Sacred Wisdom Through Yoga, my book on yogic spirituality was published by Bright Sky Press. Bridging the gap between religion and the spiritual heart of yoga, I wrote this book to help people like me meld their faith with their yoga. It was also a coming out of sorts in which I reclaimed the most feminine part of God, calling God “She” and invoking Sophia (Greek for wisdom) as the book’s divine imagery.
This year I traveled further down the road of the sacred feminine, with the release of My Name is Lilith, a children’s book published by The Girl God and illustrated by the inimitable Arna Baartz. I am editing an anthology on the same subject titled Original Resistance: Reclaiming Lilith, Reclaiming Ourselves, bringing this ancient tale of female strength to the world in the words of a diverse group of women. Next up? A multi-generational novel set in deep South Texas, where I grew up. Stay tuned for more as the story develops!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggle for me was claiming my identity as a writer even though I was making very little money at it once I left the PR world behind. When I was doing PR, the income legitimized me. When I decided to become an author, I had to find my legitimization within. It’s way healthier, but it wasn’t easy.
The currency of this world is cash, and writers don’t often find their work well rewarded monetarily. It helps me to remind myself that I write not to get rich, but to use my way with words to connect with others. I get validated every time I capture something on the page that I know is bigger than my own experience. Hearing from a reader about how my book spoke to them or seeing a new review pop up is tangible evidence of that connection. It’s the currency that keeps me going!
Author of Sophia Rising: Awakening Your Sacred Wisdom Through Yoga and My Name is Lilith – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am most proud of my commitment to speaking my truth in my work. Developing a project around another person’s idea of what I need to write has never worked out well for me because I lose my voice and go into “should” mode—”What should I be writing? What will sell? What does my publisher/agent want me to write?”
My first editor Lucy Chambers reminded me that “author” comes from the same root as “authority.” Being an author means claiming one’s inner authority. That was hard for me. Through my writing, I have learned to differentiate my truth from others’ truths.
A hallmark of my work is an integration of the feminine into the way we talk about and experience the sacred. For thousands of years, theology has been communicated in exclusively masculine language. The more comfortable we become with feminine imagery of God, the more we normalize non-patriarchal discourse on God/Goddess.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moments to me are those when a reader reaches out—either by email, blog comment or a review—to let me know that my words made a difference in their life. Your affirmations mean so much to those of us pecking away at our laptops! Also, holding each of my books for the first time was a source of huge pride for me. In that moment, all the hours, the words tweaked over and over, and the doubts about how it would come together melt away. It is a book, and it is a miracle each and every time.
Pricing:
- Sophia Rising: Awakening Your Sacred Wisdom Through Yoga ($19.95)
- My Name is Lilith ($19.99)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MonetteChilson.com
- Phone: 713.320.8474
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @MonetteChilson
- Twitter: @MonetteChilson
Image Credit:
Colleen Lastrapes Photography
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