6 pack on ICE with the boss lady
So today I get the pleasure to interviewing my boss lady, the founder of GenZ publishing, Morissa Schwartz. Ever since I signed the dotted line, well it was actually a solid line but you get the idea, this girl has been an inspiration. There isn't anything she can't do. She has done so much in her short life that she is a guiness book record holder. Yeah I know it’s awesome. The Schwartz is strong with this one.
1.Now that you are a killer author and a biz wiz, what else is up your sleeve? Anymore books?
1. I never stop writing. I write in my notebooks every day and for a number of websites and magazines (Nextstep, WriteHackr, Fiverr, the Entertainment Weekly Community, etc.) So although, I do not have any solid plans for a new book, I would love to release another in the near future. My main focus, though, is GenZ. We have many readings and festivals this spring and summer (many exciting announcements about those coming soon) and a lot of great books being released and in the works.
I am also a grad student, so I am working on earning my Master’s Degree at Monmouth University, while also working on my current project through Monmouth and the Urban Coast Institute called CoastalNJSmallBusiness.com, in which I interview and feature eco-friendly small businesses on the NJ coast to promote community engagement.
I am also releasing an EP with pianist Ian Green of songs that I wrote and that he composed.
Needless to say, I’ve completely given up on the idea of sleep at this point, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
2.Who influenced you most, authors and life?
2.For authors I would go all the way back to childhood and say Ann M. Martin. I loved the books as a child, and wrote her a fan letter. And she actually wrote back (I still have the letter), so having such a nice letter from someone that I really admired like that really influenced me. Authors who influenced me more later in life are: Anthony Burgess, Richard Matheson, and Tina Fey. Each has a writing style so different than my own, but they write and look at the world so uniquely that I have to admire them. As for life influences, my mother, who is my best friend, has always supported me and helped me in every way possible. My father is also a huge life influence. He would read to me every single night, as a child, until I fell asleep, and encourages everything I do. My writing and GenZ would not be possible without him. My final life influence would me my great-grandmother, Memom, who was my best childhood friend. At 82 years old, she would play hide-and-seek with me, tell me stories, watch me perform ‘talent shows’ in the living room…really anything to keep me creative. She inspired me to follow every dream and sparked my creativity. Even after her death twelve years ago, I think of her every day.
3.What are you reading right now?
3.GenZ books of course! Or I should say upcoming GenZ books. No spoiler alerts, so I will just say we are adding some new genres to the GenZ catalog, and they are really great. But my last non-GenZ read was It is heartbreaking but a must read in the same way that was.
4.When writing/working do you prefer seclusion or a packed house?
4.Seclusion from the ‘real world’ and emersion into ‘writer/working world.’ I keep the main lights dimmed and keep five monitors on my desk: one for MS Word, two for Twitter feeds, one for web browsing, and one for a looping kaleidoscope video with music. I also keep a color changing aroma therapy humidifier with different scents in it every day and multicolored lights hang over everything. I keep notes, my favorite quotes, and photos hanging around the room and shelves littered with books and pop culture memorabilia. It’s a fun, creativity inducing space for sure.
5.If you could spend the day with any book character who would it be and what would you do?
5.This is a much tougher question than it seems, because so many great book characters are ‘messed up.’ You have ultra-violence enthusiast Alex DeLarge from who I would never ever want to meet let alone spend the day with, but gladly read about. Then, you have someone like Holden Caufield where it’s the same sort of issue: he resonated with me for a while but I think hanging out with him would be such a downer. Same thing with a role model like Katniss Everdeen, where she is a strong role model but not someone I would really want to hang out with. Perhaps I am overthinking. I will say Hermione for now. My fifth grade teacher used to call me Hermione because we have a lot in common, and I love how smart and strong she is. Plus, knowing someone who knows so many spells would be pretty awesome…unless she used them against me.
6. I need book characters for answers: Who would you like to have coffee with, be trapped in a room with, and unfriend?
6.Coffee with Tyler Durden, or I suppose Jack, would be interesting. He is completely psycho, but would definitely put a new spin on how to view our culture. If I had to be trapped in a room with someone it would be Ma from Being trapped in a room like that would be such a nightmare, but she makes the best of everything and truly inspires. Finally, if I could unfriend any literary character it would be Millie Montag. Talk about an annoying ignorant lady. I can definitely picture some unwarranted political views being plastered on her Facebook wall.
Thanks for your time Morissa and I can’t wait to see where you take GenZ and its authors next.
If you want to check out what she is up to you can do it by clicking on any of these links:
Website: MorissaSchwartz.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorissaSchwartz?lang=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morissa.schwartz?fref=ts
