Work Stew Podcast

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Athena Lark was a 17-year-old about to graduate from high school in Newark, New Jersey when her mother told her she had a choice: Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines.

In this interview, I spoke with her to learn how she reacted that day, how her career path has unfolded since then, what she thinks of her mother’s decision in retrospect.

About Athena Lark: After retiring from the U.S. Navy, Athena Lark graduated from the University of North Florida with a B.A. in Communications. She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California in Riverside and has has been published in literary journals including Gently Read Literature, Hippo Reads, and Whistling Fire, as well as many newspapers (The Florida Times Union, Jacksonville Business Journal, Jacksonville Advocate, The Albany Herald, UNF Spinnaker, and UNF Alumni Magazine). She is an adjunct professor in Texas and is currently writing her memoir, Sailor Girl, about her life in the U. S. Navy. Her debut novel, Avenue of Palms, was published in 2013.

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Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below.

When I ask people that pesky question, “What do you do?,” I often get more than one answer. When I spoke with author Amy Hale Auker, I learned that in addition to the writing life, she also lives the cowboy life,  camping out for days at a time in the mountains where she works. Notably, there seems to be very little tension between her riding and her writing; what I heard instead is that each feeds the other.

About Amy Hale Auker: Amy Hale Auker cowboys on a ranch in Arizona. She is the author of Rightful Place, 2012 WILLA winner for creative non-fiction, published by Texas Tech University Press. Her first novel, Winter of Beauty, was released by Pen-L Publishing in 2013. Her new novel is due out this fall. Find out more at www.amyhaleauker.com

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