Meg Waite Clayton

New York Times Bestselling Author

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Professional Writer or Amateur?

I had the great pleasure of paneling with Richard Bausch – who is not only a wonderful writer, but also a kind and generous one – at the AWP conference last weekend. This morning, I just came across this quote on SheWrites (a site I commend to writers of all genders), and thought I would share it here.
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” – Richard Bausch
The many things we as a panel talked about – on the dais as well as over dinner the night before and breakfast the morning of the panel – was the difference between published writers and unpublished ones: stubborn belief in your work far beyond the time any rational person would have given up, and a little luck. – Meg

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Meg Waite Clayton

Meg Waite Clayton is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, a Jewish Book Award finalist based on the true story of the Kindertransport rescue of ten thousand children from Nazi-occupied Europe—and one brave woman who helped them escape. Her six prior novels include the Langum-Prize honored The Race for Paris and The Wednesday Sisters, one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. A graduate of the University of Michigan and its law school, she has also written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, Runners World, and public radio, often on the subject of the particular challenges women face. megwaiteclayton.com