Miriam Drori is next in this series featuring fellow authors of Crooked Cat Books. I 
wanted to give the authors a bit of promotion on my website while getting to know them better.
I will let each occupy the top spot on this site for several days. Miriam Drori, who is also my editor, is the second. Her most recent book is Social Anxiety Revealed, published by Crooked Cat Books.
Here are Miriam’s responses to my 6Ws — who, what, when, where, how, and why. (How does end with a W.)
Who is author Miriam Drori?
Could I answer that with a poem?
I am – I am not
I am a wife.
I feel secure
With D in my life.
Long may it endure.
I am a mother.
Three children I raised –
Two sons and one other
Now adults. I’m amazed.
I am a sister.
Though he’s far away
With a different vista,
My family he’ll stay.
I am a dancer.
“How come you can?”
I don’t have an answer.
It’s just how I am.
I am a writer.
I hide away
And make my world brighter
With words I can’t say.
I am sensitive.
I fear that you see
All sorts of negative
Traits in me.
I am clever
Though most never know.
I hardly ever
Let that show.
My figure is trim,
Of that I am glad.
The battle to slim
I’ve never had.
I am outgoing.
“How’s that?” you ask.
That is by knowing
The other’s a mask.
I am a presenter.
My speech could reform
Your view. From the centre
I love to perform.
One thing I’m not
And I’ll continue to cry
Till the lie doth rot:
I AM NOT SHY!
(Alternative answer: I’m an author and an editor, and I grew up in the UK. Don’t forget the last point as you read on.)
What does she write?
Short stories, novels, novellas. And rhymes, of course. If you want to know about genre, that’s more complicated. Of the three books I’ve had published, the first is a romance and also a story that addresses several issues. The second, co-written with the very talented Emma Rose Millar, is historical and the first in a series of novellas based on a painting by Klimt. The third is non-fiction and is featured below.
When did she begin writing?
After I discovered social anxiety, in 2002, I realised the world would be a much better place for many people if it were better known, and I became passionate about raising awareness of it. I knew I could express myself much better in writing than in conversation, so naturally I went in that direction. The scope of my writing has widened since then, but I’ll always come back to my passion.
No, I didn’t write stories before that. I was put off long before, in English lessons, because I was never mature enough for what we were expected to write, making me think I didn’t have an imagination.
How does she write?
I’m sure the process would be much smoother without that niggly voice that says, “You don’t have an imagination,” and “Who do you think you are, posing as an author?” Yes, I do tell it to get stuffed, but it persists, albeit a little more quietly. So, I come up with a skeleton of a story and I have a few ideas of how to fill it in. I know that’s not enough, but I start writing and get through to the end. And I have about twenty thousand words – less than a third of a full-length novel. Then I go back and put in more dialogue and descriptions, think of more scenes and I have maybe thirty thousand words. That’s when I decide I need to do something drastic, like adding a sub-plot.
Don’t get me wrong. These additions don’t feel like add-ons when I’ve finished. They’re all important to the story, but I forgot to include them in the original twenty-thousand-word first draft because the niggly voice wouldn’t shut up.
Where does she write?
I can write anywhere – in a noisy restaurant, in the garden, on our roof now that we have stairs that lead to it, on a bus although I’d rather not. But mostly I sit at my laptop in my office/den.
Why does she write?
I love to write. I love being able to put my thoughts into words coherently, succinctly, in a way I never can when speaking. I love editing, taking a sentence and moulding it into something that gives me pleasure. I also write to raise awareness of social anxiety. Did I mention that before?
More: Social Anxiety Revealed is a book for someone who has social anxiety, or is related to someone who has social anxiety, or works with someone who has social anxiety, or teaches someone with social anxiety, or has a friend with social anxiety. In other words, it’s a book for everyone, because everyone will meet social anxiety in some way. It will help you understand yourself or someone close to you, someone you want to help.
The book makes extensive use of quotes from many people who have experienced social anxiety and who agreed for me to use their words anonymously. This enabled me to show how, despite the similarities, we’re all individuals and that social anxiety affects each of us in different ways.
The reviews call it a no-nonsense book that’s well-written and easy to read. I’m glad, because that’s how I meant it to be.
Social Anxiety Revealed is published by Crooked Cat Books and you can buy it online here.
Other works:
Miriam Drori on social media:
Amazon page: Author.to/MiriamDroriAtAmazon.