Deborah J. Levine has most recently written Going Southern: The No-Mess Guide to the South. She is from Bermuda and works as a cross cultural trainer. She has been working as a professional writer for 20 years and writes nonfiction.
In this recent book, “My personal journey through Southern culture is captured in the book along with stories that I collected along the way that can guide other New Southerners. All of the stories in my books are true, and the perspective is my own. However, I credit my family, about whom I often write, with alternately inspiring and harassing me to combine history, anthropology, and storytelling into an engaging mix.”
Levine decides what to write from “Culture clashes {that} are like to sign posts that say ‘Write about this!’ Cognitive dissonance generates creativity.”
Levine finds her sense of humor and its reception to be a bit of a challenge. “I have to be careful that my quirky sense of humor doesn't lead me too far from my goal to inspire and instruct. Writers need to remember that it's about the reader and not self-indulgence, and I'm not excused from that rule.”
Levine’s favorite author is “Lawrence Durell and his Alexandrian Quarter, which he describes as having been written around the theory of relativity: 3 parts time, 1 part space. Different universes revolve around a place and the writer's job is to coordinate them while moving between and among them, ending at the assigned destination like a complex symphony.”
What is interesting and unique about Levine is that she “was a dancer, teacher, and choreographer with my own dance company. I specialized in the Baroque period and got my start as a writer during an academic fellowship pursuing a 17th century French dance master. My next step was writing in the field of religious diversity. Religion & the arts are among the most accessible windows into culture.”
She advises aspiring writers to “spend as little time aspiring and as much time writing as possible. Choose where you would like your work send and start writing with the goal of publishing in that venue.
When I first began writing, I had mentors who pushed me and if you can find a mentor, let them push you as hard and often as they like. I am indebted to the many mentors I've had along the way who urged me to dream big, something I'm still working on today.”
Levine’s works can be found on her site as well as the major self-publishing outlets:
Religious Diversity Kit: http://www.americandiversityreportshop.com/Religious-Diversity-Kit-23.htm
Inspire Your Inner Global Leader: http://www.americandiversityreportshop.com/Inspire-Your-Inner-Global-Leader-Handbook-9.htm
Matrix Model Management System: Guide to Cross Cultural Wisdom:
http://www.americandiversityreportshop.com/Matrix-Model-Management-System-Guide-to-Cross-Cultural-Wisdom-17.htm
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