Meredith Davis Is a Friend to Other Writers

And and it's not to say that I'm always really good at it, and I'm not always content, but I come back to that. Like, that's the thing that makes me feel better.

Rescue was published earlier this year. Here. In this episode, Meredith and I talk about her long road to publication, as well as her long standing practice of hospitality to other writers. Meredith Davis, I'm so glad you're here on The Habit podcast. Uh, your new book is just came out, I guess, last month.

He's got these two kind of extraordinary friends that are really gifted in what they do. And so he's wondering, like what? What makes him special. And then he finds out he has this superpower, but it's not an immediate fix. So he has trouble. Uh, trouble, like getting that power, and then he abuses the power. And so that's kind of the arc of that first book is, uh, how does this kid that finds out he's fantastic, uh, actually lean into his powers, and we're going to find out.

And one thing I love to talk to kids about is that we all have superpowers. And so while Noah kind of sees this ability to manipulate gravity as his superpower, it's the friendships that are really the most powerful thing in that book. And so then we take that with a minor rescue and we take those same friends, and

they end up in New York City. So we've got a bad guy that's escaped, and Noah's been given this mission to go to New York City and help track down the bad guy who just happens to be his uncle, Uncle Saul. So, um, that's where the adventure goes. And so one thing I try and do with both of these books kind of consistently is, um, I tie them to a particular superhero. So the first book, Noah, is, like, obsessed with Spider-Man. And there's this famous quote with Spider-Man,

with great power comes great responsibility. And I also put a Bible verse in the first in the beginning of each of these books. And so, um, embarrassingly, I'm gonna have to look at my book and remind myself, because I'm really bad with memory. But so it just kind of feeds into that. So it's John 1513. Greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for one's friends. So I felt like those dovetailed nicely,

the whole idea of great responsibility. And then with the minor miracle, the big superhero, um, tie in is the Hulk. And in this book, Noah's really angry. He blames himself, and he blames Uncle Saul for all these bad things that happened to his friend. And so he uses the anger to fuel his power. And so the whole arc of that book is Noah figuring out a different way to get to his powers. And so the verse with this book that the, the quote, the superhero quote is,

the angrier I get, the more powerful I get. And then the the verse is Proverbs 2911 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise person holds it in check. So yeah, that in a nutshell.

any minor. Like, what was the relationship between his name being minor and and the miracle?

and the ordinary. And so Noah Minor sounded great. So then I wanted to start it off with a bang. So, like you said, I started off with this prologue where he falls 16 stories as an infant and miraculously and mysteriously survives what happened. And I just thought that was a great hook. And then I was like, oh, it could be the minor miracle. So it kind of came with his name first, and then it came with the hook, and then it came with the title. So, um, yeah.

But what's been so cool about that? I didn't plan it in the beginning, but one of the things I love to talk to kids about is minor miracles. And I signed the book. We are surrounded by minor miracles. Keep your eyes open. And I've been able to, like, spread that and turn it into all sorts of interesting conversations. So I've loved how that's worked.

two book deal. But I had a paragraph when I started writing the second book, um, I had worked on The Minor Miracle for a really, really long time and meaning that I wrote the whole thing and then set it aside and worked on other projects, came back to it, revised it so it had gone through many iterations and changed a lot. Um, and that was that continued after we sold the book. So the book sold. And then I went through a lot, a lot of revision. It really,

really changed. And so it gave me the opportunity to kind of lay the seeds for what I thought the second book might be. Um, I really wasn't sure. Um, but but that was really fun. So I was like, okay, well, we got the bad guy has to be able to get away. That's got to happen. It made me start thinking about timing because I've okay, I've got a character who's 12. I want to keep him 12. I don't want to get into the 13 year old territory. That might bump me up into ya young adult instead of

middle grade. And so I was careful with that. And so that that put me into spring break. And so it was really interesting, all of those things. The other thing I think was interesting is the first book is really grounded in two worlds, and those worlds are middle school, seventh grade, and the top secret training studio, where he learns about his powers and how to use them, which are to manipulate gravity. They're called gravatars. There's an organization

called gravitas. So we've got the world of gravitas. We've got the world of middle school. Well, I really wanted to change that up with the second book. And so I was like, okay, what's going to happen? Do I take them? You know what's going to happen? Well, I laid myself, without even knowing it, this really cool seed of New York City because, like you said, the very beginning of the minor miracle Noah falls 16 stories off a balcony from his grandmother's balcony. And it's a balcony

that borders Central Park. And they're inflating the balloons for the next day, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And that's a really important, uh, location in book one. So I was like, okay, let's take them to New York City. Let's dig in there. And it was such a blast because I love New York City. In fact, right before the book came out, I went back to New York City with my husband and all these fun things that we did were these

secret locations. I did a lot of research, um, and found these, like, secret places in New York City that nobody knows about. And these could be the places where maybe the bad guy is hiding out. He's kidnapped some gravatars. And so he needs a place that's big enough for 26 gravatars. So there's, like, a secret, uh, floor that only certain people can get to on the Empire State Building.

And there's a secret subway line underneath Grand Central Station that, um. Yeah, that's just that was really, really fun to to find out all these secrets. And honestly, we all have these secrets in our towns. You know, we live in our towns and we don't ever take the tour that the tourists take. And so I kind of inspired me. I'm like, okay, I want to find out all the secret places in Austin where I live too.

that this guy built where he stored ammunition. And it's the only thing on the island other than a little house where his family lived in. And so I imagined that there was an underground bunker. I had heard this lore that during the time of prohibition, there were people that would go out to this island and they were bootleggers. So I was like, oh, perfect, there's going to be a bunker and all these things. So when we went to New York, I asked the tour guide, hey, is

there any like, underground places out here? And they're like, nope, it's solid rock. They couldn't even dig a well. And I was like, well, it's fine because it was fiction. I can do whatever I want. So to your to your point, take the facts, take the facts and then play with them. Just get enough. Don't be too specific, you know.

And so I think it's kind of like Nashville. It's a place where a lot of musicians, a lot of creatives congregate in Austin, and it's just a really great, fun city. And so maybe that's why I don't know. But but you're right. I love community and I'm so

energized by it. And so with the writing community, it started off pretty quickly with the scbwi here in Austin and, you know, over 100 people, lots of lots of spreading out and meeting a lot of people, then kind of narrowing down and funneling and having like critique groups with just a smaller group of people and really getting to know them well. Um, so I had that really since like 95, uh, but I, I started branching out and finding other groups as well. And so more recently, like,

I discovered the habit. I love the habit. Um, there's a faith in arts group at our church there where there's some just incredibly talented people in as part of that group. Um, and so what that allowed me to do is draw my faith into my writing, which has really been meaningful for me. It's been incredible to just, like, walk that journey. It was always personally part of the writing for me. Like from the very beginning, I, I felt like I was really called to write children's books.

I just, I felt it, but I wasn't seeing a whole lot of fruit in other ways. Um, other than the community, like the community was the first fruit that I saw for my writing. It wasn't a published book, it was the community. And so and I delighted in it. And so as time went on and I kept kind of pursuing the contract and pursuing the published book, um, I was leaning into community, and I was watching all my friends get published, and I was like, what's wrong

with me? And and so that was a real journey and struggle for me. The whole comparison, um, contentment, um, kind of being, like, diligently called to something and not understanding why. And so, um, that was just a really a big faith faith journey for me as well, even though I wasn't really writing in the faith space. And so and my first book, Her Own Two Feet, was not really in the faith space or it was a published by Scholastic, which was incredible. I loved working with them.

And then the second two books have come out from a faith based publisher that's part of Penguin Random House, so still part of a really big publisher. Um, but being able to kind of lean in and put some little carrots and nuggets in there that I can use when I'm speaking to to Christian schools, private schools, homeschoolers, things like that, where they are open to that and hearing it and and if not, it's still a book

that I can talk to with other people too. Um, he community has been, uh, huge also with allowing me to like, spread out and write other sorts of things. So the habit in particular, we were talking earlier, um, that I love to write poetry, but I'm not really writing poetry for kids, even though I'm a children's book author. I love to write poetry, and it's based on mostly

on scripture. And just like how I process that. It's been an incredible way for me to, like, stay focused on a chapter of the Bible at a time and write a poem for that. And so there's this incredible group of poets with the habit that are, first of all, super talented. Like the first time I met with them online, I was like, afraid to open my mouth. I was like, my jaw was on the floor with just their work. But then as I heard them like, critique and talk

about each other's work. I was like, oh, this is a safe, incredibly nurturing place. And so I'm growing like crazy. And so community is just fun for anybody out there. That's like leaning into community because it's going to help them get published. I'm like, you're missing it. Like it is a place to grow in your craft, to get encouraged, to just have fun with other people that are wired like you are wired and are processing things in words.

Or maybe you've got artists, whatever it is. Yeah, it's been a huge blessing.

of myself out there. So going way, way back before I ever published a book, the only thing I was really publishing was my Christmas letter. Every year I would send out a Christmas letter and my list had grown, and these people always would text me and say, Meredith, I love your Christmas letter. Like they were sincere. They were like, I saved your Christmas letter. I read it over and over. So I was really encouraged by those people. There's about 250 of them. So when the miner rescue

came out, I was like, you know what? Those were my first cheerleaders, and they have my back. And every once in a while in a Christmas letter, I'll talk about my writing. And so they know how long I've wanted to write, and that this has just been a huge deal for me. So I'm going to reach out to them. So I decided to do it through the mail. I honestly didn't have most of these people's email or

phone numbers. All I had was their physical address. And so because I have this top secret organization I like totally leaned into it. I had the letter come from gravitas. Um, I had it in an envelope sealed with wax that was pressed with the seal of the Earth, because the gravitas symbol is the Earth, because they protect and defend all that is true, good and beautiful on the earth. And so it was a game. And I told him I was like, hey, if you are interested, I had

a QR code at the bottom. I said, go to this QR code if you are interested in being part of spreading the word of something that's true, good and beautiful. And so I thought maybe 30 people, maybe 40 people would sign on and over 100 people like came and said yes. And the interesting thing about that was I really believed this. I was like, you don't have to be on social media. You don't have to be like an influencer for you to have influence. Like, we all

have circles. I've seen that in my life. Like I've got my church friends, I've got my writer friends, I've got book club, I've got pickleballers, I've got neighbors, I've got family, all these circles and we all have them. And so if you would just help me talk about this book with your circles, I don't care if it's online or not. And it was really like somebody if somebody asked me what was the metrics, how many books did that sell? I would be like, I have no idea.

But you know what? Like the joy factor was huge. The like satisfaction of reconnecting with people and the like, totally blown away with their willingness to like, help me. It made me really like help. It helped me be kind of bold and courageous and just kind of like asking for help, even with something I'm not really great at. So once again, like, community is huge.

there and just ask, like that happens too. And there's people out there that their whole sole purpose is to be a communicator, and they're good at it, like they're good at taking pretty pictures of a book on a really cool background and posting it to Instagram or Pinterest. And that's great. Like, I'll ask you to, hey, like, I will give you a book and you can make make it pretty for me if you want, so that's fine. But it doesn't feed me. It doesn't feed me like

in any way. And so I think the other thing is, is I've really leaned into like it's ultimately in God's hands. Like, that takes such a huge, like weight off my shoulders. So I just run, run, run, do everything I can, throw the noodles at the wall and and just be like, okay, God, now it's yours. Like, this is your deal now. And I've seen so many times. I mean, the letter was one of them where I didn't really expect a whole lot. Recently I had like a launch party at this bookstore

and it was like a horrible date. It was the date of our women's church retreat at our church. It was a wedding weekend. It was graduation. It was Memorial Day. It was everything you can imagine for someone to not come to a book launch on a Saturday at 2:00. And I just gave it up. I was like, you know what? I did everything I could do. I told everybody I blabbed about it like crazy on social media.

I told all those 200 people or 100 people that were on my launch team, you know, my gravitas, Operation Mobilize team and, and and my family. I even planned, like an engagement party at my house. That and I knew that family would be in town. So I was like, okay, I did everything I could, and I thought maybe again, I thought maybe 30 people and we had over 80 people show up. So that was totally God like. I

didn't know who could come. And so because of that, I when you let go of something, Then it's not your fault. It's my fault. And they weren't meant to be there. If they're not there. And there's some reason why. So I kind of look back on all those years where I was not published and really, really wanted it, and it just wasn't happening. It was a training ground for me. I was getting to be a better writer. I was getting to be. But it was also like a very much trust me season where God was like,

trust me, just trust me. Meredith and I have you. And I would pray like God, like, take this desire from me because I feel like a total fool when these people that have known me for ten years say, where's your book? And I'm like, on my computer in a file like it is printed in a box. It is not what I hoped it would be. Um, and I've talked to enough writers in the same place that I know that that must strike a chord with one

of your listeners. That and my you know, my encouragement is like, if you really feel called to do it, there's a reason and, and, and and so it became for me a prayer of like God, give me contentment in my season. And, and if, if all I'm here to do is to be a light in a place where maybe there's no light, Great. If. If all this is is for me to learn how to trust you. Help me to be content with that, because I'm not right now like being honest about it to with God.

And so like the same thing just continues to be my heart is like it's in God's hands. And and it's not to say that I'm always really good at it, and I'm not always content, but I come back to that. Like, that's the thing that makes me feel better. So yeah.

when did I really start writing in earnest? And that was part of my writing training ground as well, because we took our kids out of school and we traveled for almost. We traveled for nine and a half months, and our parents were like, you're doing what? Like you're going to take them overseas where you're taking my child to Cambodia. And so I promised that I would write

a blog and we would update it with pictures. And so faithfully for that nine and a half months, it didn't matter if it was like two in the morning and we had no internet connection. I was writing those blog posts, writing those blog posts, and we still have them like we have all of that season recorded. And it was such a great training ground for me, so I wasn't working on getting published at that time. Okay. Um, and another thing that I did when I came back and, um,

was I, I decided to take it seriously. I was like, okay, this is it. My first my youngest son is going to be in kindergarten. I'm going to have some dedicated time. And so this is when it's going to happen. And I wrote an entire book, a middle grade sent it out and it didn't sell. And I said, okay, then this is it. This is it. I'm done, I'm done. Um, but on the day, like on the days when I

was like, this is it, I'm done, I'm done. There was this there was this, um, an MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and at the time, there were only two that were dedicated to writing for children. And I knew some people at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and they had kind of bugged me over the years. Meredith, you really should come. You really should come. It was a low residency. You go twice a year for ten days. And I was like, I was not unusual.

vefa out of the blue. So I was like, okay, I'm going to look at this as an open door. And I missed the deadline for application. I have a really good friend. She's my mentor, Kathi Appelt. She was a teacher there. She said, Meredith, just submit and I'll make sure it makes it through. And I got in

and I look at that as another big touchstone. Uh, that two years, um, I had sent something to my current agent right before I entered the, the program, and I, she came back at me and she said, do you know, Meredith, I love your writing. I don't want you to send me anything for two years. And then I want you to submit, because you're going to grow so much as a writer in that time. And the one thing that I really credit for is at the time, they did

not talk about marketing. It was all craft, all the time, and you just really worked on it. And the other thing that they did that I found immensely valuable is they gave you, the skills to write in the industry. So I came out of you did a lot of they called them, um, oh gosh, you had your creative and then you had your, uh, it was like you

had to write about the craft. And so you were doing this for your advisor for two years, and you were writing about, um, you were writing about, uh, foreshadowing, or you were writing about writing a series or writing about character or whatever. And what that did is it gave me confidence to now go out and speak to you right now to speak on a podcast, to write an article, to post about it and feel like even though I didn't have a book out yet, I could

talk about the industry like I knew it. I knew children's books, I loved children's books, and so that has served me well. Um, so anyways, that was my touchstone. Then I went back to that agent after those two years and and she ended up, uh, signing me with the minor miracle. So that is just it's just a really I just look back and it's there's so many cool things that happened over those years.

at the time we had also decided to adopt. So we were in the middle of another big journey. And so, um, things were happening in our family. And I would just say this to you people that are listening, that are busy, that have young kids that are like working full time jobs, like they have other things going on, like it's okay if it takes a long time and don't don't quit your family. Don't quit your full time job to go

write your book because it will come in time. And when it does, it'll be so sweet because I, Catherine Patterson, has this amazing quote she said I could have published sooner, but I wouldn't have had anything to write about because she really, I feel like in some ways chose that same journey of really digging in with her kids when they were young. And so and some people I know have young kids and also publish, and I think they are superheroes. I don't know how they do it, but

if you're wired that way, great, I was not. I just had this kind of like one track brain. And I had a really hard time, especially with middle grade hanging on to all the threads of a story and then only getting small snatches of time, you know, 15, 20 minutes at a time. And so, um, and I'm not super organized. Um, anyways, it was not my time, and I trust that. So when it happened, it happened and it was good.

not just with our church. So I go to a church called Christ Church, but we have people from lots of different churches that have heard about it and come in and, and they and the other thing they do is excellent work, which I see on the habit as well. So like everybody is masterful whether or not they're actually even pursuing, uh, publication if they're a writer. We have songwriters, we have potters, we have, um, visual artists that do oil or all different kinds of mediums. We have, um, poets,

we have writers, all sorts of things. And so once a year we get together at a retreat and we get to we have a night where we just share. And it's not critique, it's nothing like that. It's just like a show almost. And it is incredible to see what everybody's been working on, and the artists get to kind of display their work throughout the weekend, so you get a chance to look at their stuff. So there's that support. But then like throughout the year we have um,

little groups. So like, I'm not I'm in I'm, I head up our writer's group which has been personally fulfilling. And they asked me the first time they asked me, I was like, no, I'm too busy, I can't commit blah, blah, blah. And it was such a mess. And so later, a couple of years later, they asked again and I was like, actually, I would love to do that because I had gotten

to know the writers and it's a super low stress. Uh, one of the things, if you're a leader, it's so great if you've got a group that's fairly mature, and so if you can't be there, someone else will pick up the reins. Now you've got buy in from everybody that's there. And the way that we structure our writing time has been really fun. So we get together, um, we talk about our update, we meet every other week, and so we're like, what's happened in the last two weeks?

What are you working on? Like what do you want to be working on? And some people like their teachers. They just got out of school and they're they'll say, I'm not working on anything right now. Like I'm working on just like decompressing. And we're like, great. What are you reading? You know, like, we all have our fingers sticky with something in writing. And then we take our last, um, usually about half hour, 45 minutes, and we'll I'll give a writing prompt. We'll sit and write for 15 minutes

at the top storey of Central Market. And, um, everybody's looking at us like, what are they doing? Everybody's quiet with their heads down writing, and then we just go around the table and share. And so what's been beautiful about that is it's kind of an equalizer. We're not sharing our work in progress with each other in that time. We're just writing and sharing what came out at the moment. And so those who feel like they're the ones that

answered nothing like I'm just decompressing. It is such a gift for them to have, like this compressed time where they're going to write and there's like no critique. It's just like, oh, I wrote this funny thing, or oh, this one didn't turn out well. And it's like, it's fine. Something makes us laugh, something we delight in. We might say a quick like, oh, I loved this little part, or that word was amazing. Okay. Next. And so it's very low stress. But then it also has connected us.

We talked earlier about community. Like now we've got this group, me, that we're on. And if anybody needs a read, can you read the first three chapters or, you know, whatever it is, we've got those groups that we can reach out and say, who's available for a trade, that kind of a thing. So that's been great. And so faith and art's big, these retreats and then small. We meet every other week and there's other groups meeting. And then once a month we meet at Katie's house and we

have breakfast. And so it's just a chance to sit down. We all eat together, and then 5 or 6 people will share their stuff. So she's an amazing leader. Um, has found a way to tie everybody together.

get trained in this kind of thing. And honestly, I think that Katie has talked to people that want to, like, reproduce that. Check out Katie Fox at Christ Church, but do it after the summer because she just went on sabbatical. But she's a great she would be so generous in telling you, just kind of like what it looks like in ours. And I think the thing is that it's really it depends on your DNA, you know, of your church. And so it's been incredible to me to see how

many artists there are in Austin. And that's also a gift. I think it's just we live in a creative community. But like with the habit, I meet online with zoom, with people through the poetry stuff and then also with the writing groups that you have, and that's been really fruitful as well.

it's been crazy. Just the little things, like there's a middle grade group on your on the habit that meets once a month and there's people that kind of are writing the same sort of stuff. And so I've gotten to hear what they're working on and I'll be like, oh, or somebody will be like, I just read the best craft book. You should read this thing. Like, you never know where you're going to. So the same as I, I think of my marketing is throwing noodles at the

wall and seeing what's going to stick. I throw my intentions at the wall of like, community and I'm like, what sticks? Where are the people? Where are my people? They could be anywhere. And so, like, I'm missing out if I just have it in Austin. And so it just it broadens my horizons. It broadens my perspective. Like it's such a cool thing that we can even do that, you know, that we can meet somebody in overseas even like the poetry. There's there's people that are calling in

from other countries. So yeah, it's just a gift. It's a gift. That and honestly too, I am an empty nester and so I have the time to do that too. And I couldn't have done that when I first started writing in 2019, or even when I first started, I mean, in 2095 or when I first published, like when I Kiss at home. I didn't have the margin. And so now I do, and I could spend my, my time in a lot of different ways. So like I've said, no to my, my girlfriends that are like play mahjong

with me, I'm like, no, I can't. I've got this zoom call or whatever, you know, like you choose where you spend your time. And so that's the place where I've just chosen and it's been fruitful. You know, I, um, there's some women, uh, they have a podcast called Writing Off Socials, and they, uh, have I just was listening to them recently and they said, we give everything a year. And that's kind of what I did with the habit.

I was like, you know what? I'm just going to sign up for a year and I'm going to see what happens. Like, do I find connection there? And I did. So I'll I'll hang on to it.

some sentimentality because I loved it as a kid. So Kate DiCamillo more recently, um, I love the Clementine books And her name is escaping me. Penny Griffin. Maybe. No. Uh. And then I love this. Oh, I'm going to forget her name, too, but there's a book called The Ogress and the orphans that I read fairly recently, and I can't stop telling people about it. Yeah. It's amazing. It's such a good book. And that writer I wish I could remember. I should have been prepared for that question.

But the ogress and the orphans, you can back backpedal and find out who wrote it and look for all her other books, because they're amazing. I love Elana K. Arnold. She wrote a young, younger book called The Boy Called bat, which is excellent and beautiful. I could just keep on going. There's so many. But, um, those are some.

Jonathan Rogers. More importantly, The Habit is a hub of community where like minded writers gather to discuss their work and give each other a little more courage. Find out more at the Habit Co.