Author Spotlight // Rachel Kovacs
Author Rachel Kovacs is a writer with a drive to inspire. As she puts it, “if it’s not there for me to walk into, I create it.” Her career has taken her from teaching to freelancing to creative writing, and today she’s focused on building strong connections. When Kovacs realized the lack of support groups for writers in her home town of Indianapolis, she founded one herself. The Indianapolis Writers’ Group now boasts an impressive 42 members and is growing in an atmosphere of collaboration and encouragement.
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When did you first know that you wanted to write?
Well, let’s see, what age was I? In the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. When I was a child, I really loved the English classes we had. I remember once the teacher gave us paper that was shaped like an elephant and we were supposed to write a story about elephants. I turned in ten elephant pages when everyone else turned in one. So, I’ve always had that passion for writing.
When I was a teenager, I started writing stories for newspapers and contests and stuff like that, and I won several of them. I majored in English when I went to college, but I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. A lot of people are really realistic about writing, and they know it might not work, so they have a backup plan. With that in mind, I went ahead and went to college for English education and I started teaching. I’ve feel as much passion teaching and helping students to improve and work on their writing as I do writing myself, so for a long time, writing ended up the back burner. I wrote in my spare time, but it was never really a focus.
When did writing start becoming more of a focus for you?
While I was in college, I had a work study job in a library and I absolutely fell in love with it. I was surrounded by books at all times and it was fantastic. So, I went back to college later and I became a librarian and that really allowed me more time to write because I wasn’t spending all my time on grading and everything else that being a teacher entails. When I first started focusing on my writing more, I was thinking more dollars and cents, so I started doing a lot of freelancing. It brought in money, but it didn’t stir within me what I wanted to do. About a year ago, I finally decided that this is who I am, to stop fighting it, and embrace that my passion is writing, whether that means I’m a millionaire or I’m in the poorhouse.
How did you go about this shift to a focus on creative writing?
I had a lot of people encouraging me. I wrote a lot and shared it on websites and blogs and that sort of thing, and while I did get a lot of feedback, I was struggling trying to find other writers. I knew if I was going to put myself into this, I would need real feedback from writers, so I started looking around. I was invited to join a group on the opposite side of the city, and I was really excited about that, but there were some geographical difficulties there and the group wasn’t really active. Sometimes I’d make the trip and I was the only one who showed up, and it didn’t have that component where we were really sharing and discussing writing as an art form. It was more, “Hey, this is what I wrote this week,” and that’s that. I wanted something more. I’m the kind of person where if I don’t I don’t see it there, if it’s not there for me to walk into, I create it. That’s how I came to develop the Indianapolis Writers’ Group that meets at IUPUI.
So it sounds like to you, it’s important for you as a writer to have a strong support group. Tell us about how you formed the Indianapolis Writers’ Group.
I took all my own money, advertised on Facebook, worked the rounds talking to people, made the arrangements to find a place for us to meet. We have 42 members now, and it’s going well. A lot of my friends call me a “Writing Dominatrix,” because if I don’t hear from you for a while, I’m cracking out my whip and pulling your feet to the fire because I think we need that sometimes to stay focused. So, a lot of people have told me they really benefit from the Writers’ Group, but it’s just as much for me as it is for anyone else. It’s a support group. It allows me to share what I’m passionate about, you know, not just my own writing, but the whole art of writing. It gives accountability not only to me but to other people and I like to encourage other people, I like to listen to their ideas.
What else have you done to grow that support group and build your career?
Social media is huge. I created my author page on Facebook, and I’m working now on getting all the content up on there. I joined LinkedIn, joined Twitter. Following certain people on Twitter has been really important and it’s gotten me connected to so many other things. For example, I recently participated in a charity auction for a writer that was in need. All these other writers and publishers and agents put up services and I won a couple of auctions, so Maya Banks now has my synopsis and my query letter. So, when they say that you really have to promote yourself, it’s true. Nobody is going to come and find you. You have to take the initiative to go out and do that. I’m always posting stuff and asking for feedback and other than going through Smashwords and posting stuff elsewhere online, I haven’t even attempted to go through a traditional publisher for anything. I think the mistake that a lot of people make is they create the product and then they try to find a network, but it really has to be the other way around. If you don’t have your network established, you’ll have a product and you’re not going to get anywhere with it.
What kind of writing do you do?
I don’t always just write to entertain. I like to take on heavy topics because I want people to think about the human condition and the choices they make. I address domestic violence, stereotypes, infidelity, body image, how people deal with grief, how much we rely on other people and technology instead of doing things for ourselves and really thinking. I don’t necessarily write comedy. A lot of my stuff is pretty dark, but I want people to walk away wanting to think about things.
What inspires you?
I am a constant reader, and it doesn’t really matter what. When I was a kid, they all teased me because I read encyclopedias. I’d pull out “M” one day and read it, pull out “F” one day and read it. I just love to read and learn new information. As far as fiction is concerned, I love crime thrillers the best. I’m not really into the horror genre very much (although I did enjoy The Green Mile). Probably my most influential authors have been Catherine Coulter and Sandra Brown. One of the things I do with my writing is I really analyze other writers. When I read a book, there’s stuff written in the margins all over the place. I’m looking at their style, looking at how they address conflict, and really seeing what I can take away from them. I compare it to what I’m doing and say, “Yes, I do like this,” or , “No, I don’t like this.”
What advice do you have for other authors out there?
Be an active participant in your life. Don’t just wait for things to happen. You’re going to have bumps along the way, but you are going to have to promote you. Other people aren’t going to do that. Even if you do find an agent and a publisher, you’re going to have to promote you. Look for ways to get involved, look for people to get connected with and stay active. I think the biggest mistake that so many people make is just clicking a button on a group somewhere and saying, “I belong to a writers’ group,” but they don’t participate and they don’t write. Take the bull by its horns and create what you’re looking for. You’re creative people, you know, you’re writers.
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As you can see from her interview, Kovacs is all about connecting with other people and getting the most out of social media and the web. Beyond her own website, she’s active on Twitter and on Facebook, and you can find her most recent short story, Quicksand, online at Smashwords. If you’re a writer in the Indianapolis area, be sure to check out the Indianapolis Writers’ Group on Facebook for a growing support network.
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