Let Me Tell You About Vanessa Molden

DP: Who are you. We all want to know about you. Please tell us who you are. (by that tell me a little about yourself including personal stats like age, place of birth, etc...)

VM I have lived in Louisville, KY for most of my 25-year long life, so this is my home. This city has been good to me. I have a nine-month old son named Vincent, who is already smarter than I will ever be. And, I've wanted to be a writer since the first time I realized that people actually make careers out of it. I think that's all of the important stuff, right?

DP: What initially drew you to AC? Or, How did you hear of AC?

VM I honestly don't remember how I heard about AC. I used to work in a boring office-like setting, and my job was extremely easy and mind-numbing, so I was left with a lot of time on my hands. Writing on the job made me look busy to my bosses, so I would do Google searches for freelance writing jobs that I could complete while I was at work. When I found Associated Content, I was shocked that there was a place where I could make money writing whatever I wanted. This was two or three years ago, before the performance pay. Now, it's even better.

DP: What genre are you wanting to publish the most?

VM I was born to be a film reviewer, but the truth is--there's just not much readership in that, so I've been trying to write a range of articles for AC lately.

DP: What are your favorite titles so far?(Don't be modest.)

VM I like it any time I can write about my favorite parts of my city--because Louisville is a great town that doesn't get its due often enough, so I have written an article reviewing sushi bars in the area, and just recently, I wrote one that reviewed Louisville's coffee shops. Those are important to me.

DP: How has AC Treated you so far?(Support, that is)

VM AC has been great. Recently, I wrote an article that I was pretty passionate about, but I had one key fact that I had gotten completely wrong. I mentioned it several times throughout the article, and didn't even realize it until after I'd already submitted it. Thankfully, the editors caught the error, and fixed it every time it appeared in the article. I was so grateful. Now that article is my most popular. (I'd have been glad to put a link in for it.-DP)

DP: Where else have you been published?

VM Other than jobs I've picked up on elance in the past, and some of my fiction and poetry work that is in an array of small literary magazines, AC is my main publication outlet.

DP: Please tell us about your favorite pet.

VM My dog, Emily is pretty cool. she has so much energy. I rescued her from a shelter--that is so important to me. And I named her Emily Dickinson, because she seemed very thoughtful, and looked like her tail had been dipped in a can of ink.

DP: What would you do with a million dollars?

VM If I had a million dollars, I would invest it in such a way that it would pay me enough so that I could go to school for the rest of my life. I know that's boring, but I really wish I could afford to be a lifetime student.

DP: In 100 words or more; where do you want to be when you're 50?

VM Well, I'm halfway to fifty right now, so I suppose I want to go twice as far as I've already been. I'm finishing up my first novel right now. It has taken me about two years to write, so if I can write and publish about ten more before I'm fifty, that would make me happy. I also hope to still be teaching English, so that I can take credit for all of the novels that my students have published as well (hahaha). And then there's my son. I hope that he has graduated from college by then, and found something that makes him happy, and maybe someone to love. I'll probably have moved away from Louisville, but by the age of 50, I'll be heading back, because everyone who leaves this town comes back eventually.

DP: What is you're favorite quote about writing?(and who get's the credit?)

VM My favorite quote about writing is from John Cage: "Paper should be edible, nutritious. Inks used for printing or writing should have delicious flavors. Magazines or newspapers read at breakfast should be eaten for lunch. Instead of throwing one's mail in the waste-basket, it should be saved for the dinner guests." Someone else also said something to the effect of "todays news is tomorrow's fishpaper". These express a similar opinion. What we write is very, very disposable, in the grand scheme of things. It's good to keep that perspective.

DP: If you had any advice for newbies to get better exposure, what would you say?

VM My best advice is to have something strong to say. My most popular articles are those where I'm expressing a very distinct opinion, rather than just reporting the news. There's a reason why people like Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson get so much attention. Whether their opinions are popular or not, they have something very real to say. I'm not saying we should all be political pundits, but in whatever is important to you, you should pick a side and stick with it.