Anne Germanacos, author of In the Time of Girls, is lighting up the blogosphere with her recent interview, featured on ph.d. in creative writing! The interview, in which Germanacos explores her own beginnings, maturation, and inspirations as a writer, received more than 10,000 hits soon after it was posted, and has more than one hundred commentators who empathize with Germanacos' intimate relationship with writing. The author and teacher reflects that writing offers "another body (in words) that could hold the many shifting parts, adding new ones when they [occur]." She says of past writing experiences: " It allowed me to go my own way, holding out the possibility even in situations that required me to go against my own grain." While Germanacos affirms the liberating and clarifying opportunities that writing offers, she also acknowledges the frustrations and uncertainties that often accompany the craft. Her message to other aspiring artists, reminiscent of Desiderata, is poignant and encouraging: "Minimize doubt... You will most likely always be working alongside it, so best to have some way of repelling it. I write against it, a little like diving into a pool of water-- scary but invigorating...  Be gentle with yourself." For Germanacos, the daily practice of writing has been more than a honing of skills; she claims that it gives her "a sense of the human community we're all a part of, and written companions," which makes her "want to write something worthy of that conversation." By accessing her own inner dialogues and emotions, it seems that Germanacos is certainly crafting a conversation to which readers and writers can all relate. Read her poignant (and helpful) interview in its entirety here! Check out titles by Anne Germanacos at the BOA Bookstore.