Little did I know at the time that Kacy was a good friend of one of my best friends (Topher's wife Lisa) so when my wife and I moved back to Utah last year we became fast friends with Kacy and her husband, Christian. Kacy recently embarked on a new journey, a daily blog about parenting from at Babble.com. I sat down with Kacy over lunch (I wish - it was via email) and asked her about being a parent, being a writer and being awesome.
Me: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, Kacy!
Kacy: These are fun questions. I wish people cared about me more so my answers were actually relevant to your readers--but since when do I care if anything I say is relevant!
Me: What would you be doing right now if you weren't answering these questions?
Kacy: If I weren't answering these questions right now I'd probably be working on my lats or my quads. (If you see me anytime soon and I'm less than tone, it would be rude to say something because it's your fault for asking me these questions during lat-quad time.) Or I might be watching TV while I answer these questions.
Me: How would you describe yourself as a writer/ Blogger
Kacy: I write about stuff that happens to me and things I like or hate. It might not seem like much, but it has kept me busy for the last 8 years.
Me:You recently started writing a daily post at Babble.com. What has that been like? And how do you come up with something entertaining to write about every day?
Kacy: Babble.com is a parenting website with a lot of information and blogs specific to different phases of parenting. I write for the Kid Scoop blog. I was nervous about writing every day, but once I started thinking about it and jotting snippets down I found that more ideas started coming to me. I've been doing this for two whole weeks so my process is very well-proven. The Babble editors don't assign topics, but they occasionally email newsy, parenting stuff out to the writers to see if we want to use it.
Me: Much liket the Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains and had their babies eaten by wolves, you were an early blogging pioneer with Every Day I Write the Book. What inspired you to start blogging in the days before sponsorships and blog conferences?
Kacy: I started my blog in 2004--I am the grandmother of blogging. Initially I started it to say funny things to my sisters. That's still one of the main reasons for it.
Me: You taught college writing for a while. Do you have any writing pet peeves? What writers do you admire?
Kacy: In terms of blogging, I hate it when people talk about how they haven't blogged for a long time and how they feel bad about it. I think people (myself included) use the words amazing and awesome too much. (Editor's note: Guilty.) I think it's boring when people use cliches to talk about how much they love their children. I'm. sick. of. this. thing. with. the. periods.
When I tell stories on the blog, I try to be like David Sedaris because he doesn't seem to care if an anecdote makes him look bad. I'm reading EB White's letters right now and I love his style. I admire his writing and thing the tone of his essays and non-fiction writing is really applicable to blogging. Also, when he was reading Charlotte's Web for a book on tape it took him several takes to get through Charlotte's death without crying. What a guy.
Me: You blog a lot about parenting. What is the best parenting advice someone has ever given you? The worst?
Kacy: My friend (who has wonderful adult children now) told me to make as many deposits in my kids as I possibly could because when they get older you ask more of them and sometimes have to be strict and make a lot of "withdrawals." I thought that was a great way to think about it. The worst? Oh, I don't know--anything that is crazy, elaborate, over-thought and overwrought--like making bento boxes for them every day.
Me: You are a self-admitted nerd. Would you rather spend the afternoon with Harry, Ron and Hermione, The Scooby Gang from BTVS or The Avengers?
Kacy: Depends. Am I a muggle? Do I have super powers? Am I just my normal self or do I take on the characteristics of the group I'm hanging with? Am I in trouble? Is there a mystery to solve? Am I undead? I would only want to hang out with Harry, Ron and Hermione if I were (somehow) an integral part of their story--if I were Hermione, for example. I certainly don't want to be the 4th wheel they've never met before! It's really difficult to answer this question without more information. Short answer: Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, and Pepper Potts is NOT invited.
Thanks, Kacy! If you don't already check out Kacy's blogs at Every Day I Write the Book and Babble.com
Some of my favorite posts of Kacys:
Say Yes to Giving Up
10 Things I Hate About (Raising) You
Your Mom's Pinterest Board
The Mechanics of Becoming Lame
My Peeps
Zombies, So Vexing
