ALLISON POTTERN HOCH

A white female person with short, dark hair and a big smile, wearing a blue-green sweater.

 

 

 

Allison Pottern Hoch is a writer and marketing coach with nearly 15 years of experience in writing, marketing, publicity, sales, and event planning. She spent four years promoting academic titles at The MIT Press before she went to work for Wellesley Books as a bookseller and event coordinator. During her tenure, she organized, hosted, and promoted over 150 events with veteran authors, celebrities, and debut authors alike. She now teaches workshops at GrubStreet and other writing centers, coaches authors on manuscripts and marketing strategies, and co-hosts the Speculative Fiction Variety Hour discussion group at The Writer’s Loft. Allison is currently working on her second novel, drinking many cups of tea, and chasing after her two young children.

Learn more about Allison on her website.

 

SESSION: Writing Like a Parent, Parenting Like a Writer

It can be hard to balance book babies with actual babies. How do creatives find the time and mental energy to continue artistic pursuits when parenting demands so much of both? How do we hold space in our lives for these dual identities of “writer” and “parent”? One way is to use tools from each identity to inform the other. Using excerpts from other writer/parents as a springboard, we will talk about the challenges we face as parenting writers/writing parents and brainstorm fresh approaches to time management, staying inspired, re-aligning expectations, and being artistic role models for our kids. Julia Cameron’s words will be our guide: “Taking care of ourselves, we give ourselves the energy and clarity to take care of our children.”