Becoming a published author & farmer, one woman's journey

Maven of the Week: Jeanne Blasberg

Jul 28, 2024

WSG 112

Please enjoy my interview with Jeannie Blasberg. When you read about what she has been doing with her midlife time try not to compare yourself to her. We as women can be our own worst enemies when it comes to our expectations and how we compare ourselves to others.

Jeanne is very high functioning and always has been. Personally, I do not expect myself to go start a farm and publish three novels in my midlife. But did I sit here all morning working on my Substack connections and read other women’s blogs about mid life and feel like a flop in comparison? I did. Is this productive? No. It is not. Do I need to get back to work so I don’t feel crazy anxious? I do.

Deep breath. Exhale. One more time.

My Midlife Warrior Women! The big takeaway from my interview with Jeanne Blasberg is perseverance. Relentless perseverance. And that one hard-fought battle will lead to success in another. We discover in this interview how she fought through self-doubt and kicked herself in the butt to keep going and finish her novels.

Nothing happens without this kick to our own butts. And, if nothing happens you feel lousy about yourself. And if you feel lousy about yourself you will be moody. And if you’re moody you will alienate everyone around you. And if you alienate everyone around you, you will be alone and then lonely. And if you are lonely you will be sad. And if you are sad, you might start to do something you’ll regret like eat a cake or drink a bottle of wine. Then you get fat, then you can’t fit into your clothes and you can’t sleep. Even your pets won’t snuggle because you’re so feisty.

This isn’t circular…it’s linear. To end it you just have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off with some kind words and get back to work. No excuses. Persevere!🍾

Onward.

In April of this year, I went to hear Jeanne Blasberg speak about her new (and third) novel, Daughter Of A Promise, at the local bookstore. Beacon Hill Books and Cafe is a Mecca for writers, readers, and anyone who loves beautiful design. In fact, soon, I will be interviewing the woman who created the five-story book store on Charles Street, Beacon Hill in Boston, Melissa Fetter, — another midlife Maven with a passion. But, back to Jeanne.

The audience was mostly women. There were thoughtful questions and sweet engagement about her new book. Jeanne used to live in the neighborhood but sold her house down the street from mine sometime in the middle of Covid. Our kids are different ages, so we didn’t run into each other while raising them in the same neighborhood, on the same street. But I knew her name, and I knew she had moved.

After she spoke, I went up to have my copy of her book signed and introduced myself as a former neighbor with friends in common. I asked where she went after Boston. She had moved to a 400+ acre farm in Wisconsin, about seventeen miles from U Wisconsin, Madison. Um. What?

You did what, now? She actually “bought the farm” 😂. Then I asked, “Did you publish your first novel after you turned fifty?” In fact, yes. My face must have lit up like a kid in a candy store. I wanted to hear more. I thought you’d want to hear more. My next question was: can I interview you for my blog?

I realized I had a bit of a unicorn on my hands with Jeanne. A double Maven? She published her first novel at fifty-two and bought a farm at fifty-six? This. Is. A. Story!

PS: Next week I will release the video/podcast interview with Jeanne for Premium subscribers. I hope you’ll join us!

MAVEN OF THE WEEK: JEANNE MCWILLIAMS BLASBERG

My Maven interviews are threefold these days: written, video and podcast. When I prepare an interview like Jeanne’s, I have already spoken to the subject a few times, sent numerous emails, researched online, and done two to three zooms which I then send off to get edited into one. I do more prep work now than I did at the beginning of WSG. I love the feeling of being up to my neck in my subject. Editing the piece down can be the hard part. While I was researching Jeanne, I came across an interview conducted in 2020 by a venerable Boston establishment, The Athenaeum.

In the article, they ask Jeanne, “What were the great struggles of working on Eden? The great joys?” Eden is Jeanne’s first novel, and I am so glad I read her response because, to me, it summarizes the experience of writing a novel — the struggle, the process, the failure and frustration and finally, the completion of her book. I can feel the energy and emotion in her words. Imagine how many people start something like a novel and never finish it.

Personally, I am driven to complete projects I start in part due to a spouse who won't finish writing his book(s) and for my daughters as an example of follow through. I want them to see me struggle and work and finish what I damn well started, even if it has to morph in the process. I was never like that before I had kids.*

Athenaeum: What were the great struggles of working on Eden? The great joys?
Jeanne: Being my first novel, the great joys of Eden were that I would write and write with abandon and get lost in the characters and scenery. I loved the writing life and the important themes I was able to express in my fiction. The great struggle came when I first showed the behemoth of a manuscript to an editor and realized it would need to be rewritten—several times! You can say I learned the craft of novel writing on the job. I started taking classes at GrubStreet and went through multiple revisions. Eden took me ten years to complete. In the midst, I was even so discouraged that I started writing another book. That would later become The Nine, my second novel, which came out last August.1

After reading the above, I sent her a flurry of questions. Below is our correspondence:

Kim Druker Stockwell: What drove you to write fiction?

Jeanne Blasberg: Why novel writing and publishing? You must understand as a painter, the human need to express oneself. Writing is my art and my novels are based on themes I’ve been obsessed with family dynamics and generational inheritance.

KDS: Were you always persistent in your goals or did you develop that skill over time?

JB: I do think I have always been a goal-setter and determined (manifested mostly through athletics) but having children, as you mention below raises the stakes. I was struggling to finish and was ignoring the project when my daughter taunted me about it. I was giving her a lecture about not quitting something and she threw it right back into my face!! Our kids make us better people and we really want to set a good example!

KDS: Did GrubbStreet provide the framework/support for you to cling to when your energy and commitment flagged?

JB: GrubStreet classes - are just that, classes… there will be some instruction on craft: tense, setting, point of view, character etc, and then we read and comment on each other’s work, which is known as workshopping. Definitely, constructive criticism, and so often, a teacher or fellow student would say, oh, I get the world you are trying to create… have you ever read x, y, or z? And then reading other novels in the same vein or with a similar voice was always thrilling because I would read with an eye as to how others accomplished something and knowing how my work would be different and additive and in converstion with other writing.

KDS: Did the struggle to complete your first book pave the way for the unforeseen difficulties in farming?

JB: With regard to paving the way for farming… I definitely felt like writing and publishing inures one to fear and familiarized me with a long slow process. So yes, I was primed to take on a new, difficult challenge.

KDS: On journalling: I have kept a journal on and off since I was 8. I recorded sad moments of a lonely little girl. I wrote dramatically about everything as a young teen, and of course, the diary fell into someone's hands, and that was so embarrassing and awful. But why write it down if you don't want anyone to know? I have dozens of diaries in my house. My kids may have read them. However, at some point I stopped writing things down I didn't want anyone to know. What are your thoughts on what you write about and how transparent you are in your journals?

JB: I also journal every morning, and when I die, there will be secrets in there people may discover, but also lots of very boring things, so if somebody has the persistence to keep reading them, God bless them. But overall, a reader of my journals would come away with a picture of a human just trying to figure shit out. Writing for me is a way to try to start making sense of things, to become objective about something instead of obsessing about something in my head…

KDS: Why farming?

JB: Why John and I made the move to farming — during the summer and fall of 2020, we were struck by the fragility of our society. Besides social issues, there was the tenuous nature of our food system and its unhealthiness. Our environment is in peril, and we are running out of time to fix things. John and I are intelligent, healthy, and are blessed with time and resources — we felt like we had a responsibility to attempt something meaningful and to connect with issues facing farming and food production.

KDS: I understand the reason for doing what you're doing, but it's the big why I'm not fully clear on. It's a huge leap from thinking something to selling your house and moving halfway across the country. When I think about it, the decision coincided with your kids being well out of the house. Your in-laws passed away, and you are not from Boston, so moving away wasn't as traumatic as it might be for someone like, say, me.

JB: The big why on farming is that we wanted to feel more purpose around the empty-nest era of our lives. We wanted to see if we could make a commercially viable farm model that could hold four principles at the same time — well-paid farmers, healthy soil, and delicious and nutritious food made available at an affordable price. We could be traveling and pursuing leisure activities with our time and money, but we felt a responsibility to do this.

Jeanne inspires me to get it done, whatever it is. I hope she inspires you, too. Maybe your project is getting the house painted, redecorating after your kids clear out of the house, or getting your real estate license. It is never going to happen unless you make it happen. A big thank you to Jeanne for her story!

FIVE MAVEN QUESTIONS!

What did you want to be when you grew up? A scientist

What are you excited about now? Incorporating livestock onto our farm. We have goats and sheep now and will be introducing cattle in 2025.

What books are on your bedside table? Persuasion by Jane Austen for an upcoming class, The Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Women & Other Animals by Bonnie Jo Campbell

What do you do to relax? Walk and swim

Favorite Recipe? I love to cook, but my recipes are simple and intuitive. Eating what is regional and seasonal is my thing these days. We just did a huge basil harvest and I love to do things with pesto. We have our own garlic on the farm as well. It’s amazing how I find anything and everything homegrown incredibly delicious!!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Funny AF series by CK Steefel
Discovering new sites like The Midst which is a lot like what I wanted to do at WSG but lacked the mental acuity to pull it off.
Congratulations to Bebe Stockwell and her first Newport Folk Fest!
My new show at OuiMillie! See below…also Instagram kimdstockwellstudio
New Show! Kim Druker Stockwell at OuiMillie!