Holly Shumas
Biography
Holly Shumas
I grew up dreaming of being a writer. I woke up after two semesters at an MFA program in creative writing. There are people who are born writers, I decided, people for whom it’s write or die. And for me, it just wasn’t like that. I could live without it.
So I did. I stopped writing and got my master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. I was thrilled to shift from dream to vocation. I’d still be immersed in people’s stories, but I didn’t have to do that pesky creation anymore. I’d have an office. I’d help people. And I’d be solvent.
As it turned out, a lot of people wanted my back-up dream. While I was paying my dues, I found myself incidentally inspired and started writing Five Things I Can’t Live Without. It was the kind of uninhibited writing experience I hadn’t had since I was a kid, and it was phenomenal. Then luck struck twice, and in addition to selling my novel, I soon had a therapy job that I continue to love. Helping people in an office while solvent is really all it’s cracked up to be. So is publishing your first novel.
When I wrote Five Things I Can’t Live Without --- the story of a serial monogamist and chronic overthinker who becomes a Cyrano of online dating --- I didn’t have much experience with online dating myself. My research was talking to plenty of friends as well as perusing the various websites. Belated thanks go to the unsuspecting Salon personals, Match.com, eharmony, and their myriad subscribers.
In my off-time, my favorite websites include www.salon.com (the magazine, not the personals), www.defamer.com (a delightfully snarky take on celebrity gossip), www.overheardinnewyork.com (pretty much what it says—a voyeur’s dream in the voyeur’s dream city), and www.blogger.com (if you’re ever in the mood for a cross-section of life, they have a feature that randomly presents blog after blog, both American and international.) As for books, I’ve been blown away by Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett and Man Walks into A Room by Nicole Krauss. My all-time favorite chick lit is The Big Love by Sarah Dunn, and for true inspiration, I go back --- way back --- to the source: Shel Silverstein’s The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. He told me all I needed to know about love and relationships when I was seven but it took a while to sink in.
Holly Shumas
