[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Welcome to who’s on fourth where we interview one member of the yeah write community and the interview will publish the fourth Monday of each month. Next in the series features Arden Ruth interviewing Lana of Superhero Lunchbox.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

yeah write on yeah write: Arden interviews Lana

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Around two years ago (we’re a little fuzzy on the details), Lana stumbled upon yeah write. Though our community was not something she would normally consider participating in, she gave it a shot. Lucky for us, she stuck around.

I tend to avoid writing groups, classes, workshops, communities, etc. My experience has been that pretentiousness and one-upmanship abound when you fill a room (even a virtual room) with writers. Yeah write has none of that. Folks at yeah write are supportive of one another’s efforts, and respectful in offering constructive criticism. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re putting words on paper, you’re a writer. You may not be Toni Morrison but, um, who is? Writers write, case closed. Yeah write seems to embrace that, which means I end up reading all sorts of writing, by all sorts of writers, and getting useful feedback from all sorts of people, who would never otherwise stumble upon my writing.

You can usually find Lana at the nonfiction challenge. As a writer in the not-for-profit sector, it’s kind of her wheelhouse, but you can find her dabbling in fiction as well.

I mostly go for the nonfiction challenges, but that’s because my blog is mostly nonfiction. The few times I’ve been moved to try my hand at the fiction challenges, I’ve enjoyed it. I find word limits much more of a challenge when writing fiction than nonfiction – probably because the writing I do for a living is nonfiction and almost always has to conform to strict word limits.

As always, my favorite question to ask is what advice Lana would give to any newcomers to yeah write or those out there lurking around the edges, waiting for the perfect moment to dive in.

Just do it. It’s not exactly sage advice, but it’s all I’ve got. We’re alive during a time when pretty much anyone can write and have their writing read by strangers. If that interests you, at all, you might as well do it in an environment that’s friendly and positive, and where you’ll get to read some pretty interesting stuff by other writers.

Nike would agree. Lana doesn’t recall when she started writing. It sure seems like forever, but she does recall some great advice from a stranger on a train that, after some time, ended up working out quite well.

I can’t really remember NOT writing. I do remember, though, meeting a lovely, old woman on an Amtrak train in 1987 who, on finding out I was an English major, said to me, “You know, the NY Times classified section doesn’t have a job listing for the author of the next great American novel. You might want to consider grant-writing as a career, to pay the rent while you get that novel written.” I tucked that piece of advice away. It took a while, but, after several years working in special education, it’s exactly what I ended up doing; writing grants for a living. It was great advice. Thank you, Lucy Romano.

Lana manages several blogs of her own, which I’m super impressed with as I can barely keep up with the one.

I have several blogs – some are more active than others. All they have in common is that they’re mine, and that they’re virtual versions of writing ideas down on little slips of paper and stuffing them in one’s pocket.  My main blog – The Superhero Lunchbox – is a place where I sometimes play with an idea I have for a more substantial piece of writing. A couple of short pieces I wrote for this blog a few years ago ended up becoming sections in a novella I’ve completed. I wrote the first few chapters of a novel several years back, and then dropped it, but I have it in the back of my head to finish it, one day. Maybe when the NY Times places that ad looking for the next great American novel?

When Lana isn’t writing for work or for fun, you can find her hanging out in San Francisco where she lives, though she grew up in Brooklyn, went to college in Vermont, and even spent six years living in New Zealand. As mentioned before, she works in the not-for-profit sector. She is the Director of Programs and Developments for a small disability rights organization where she writes grant proposals, copy for resources, as well as narrative reports.

I consider myself lucky to have landed in a career where I get paid to write. People assume this type of writing is dry and boring, but I don’t. This type of work (which I’ve been doing since the 90s) has made me a much stronger writer of both fiction and nonfiction.

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Thank you Lana for letting us get to know you a little better here at yeah write. We are so happy to have you in our community! Make sure you follow her blog, Superhero Lunchbox. You can also follow her on Twitter.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”30281″ alignment=”right”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text]Oh, you want more? Well here are five things you never knew about Lana:

1. She’s a sleepwalker
2. She has a deep-seated phobia around anesthesia, and the possibility of being stuck under its influences, but being able to feel everything and/or not being able to come to again. As a result of this phobia, she underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy with nothing but a local.
3. She loves Star Trek.
4. She’s seen both the northern and southern lights.
5. She comes from a culture steeped in superstition, and is very superstitious herself. She believes in rituals, talismen, good and bad omens, ghosts, and precognition.

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”29855″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Are you ready for the yeah write #280 weekly writing challenges opening this week? We hope so! Your badges await in the sidebar. Grab the code, paste into the text or HTML view of your post, then submit your post to the grids for a little friendly competition. We’re glad you’re here.

Finally, the results of the final round of our first nonfiction super challenge are up! Give a round of applause to all our contestants, and throw out some love for our top 3. They deserve it. Stay tuned in the next coming weeks for announcements regarding our next super challenge. This one will be for all you fictioneers out there so don’t miss out on any updates. Sign up for our mailer today![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]