Writing and Activism

And An Interview with YA Author Melissa Walker

Photo credit: Jolene Siana 

When I imagine myself as a writer, I see myself tucked away all on my own in a quiet corner scrawling away at my stories with pen in hand and reams of paper spread over my desk. Of course, mostly I write on my laptop, but nevertheless I don’t mess with my fantasy of my writer-self. And I shouldn’t. After all, it’s that fantasy and a whole lot of butt-in-chair that allowed me to dream, write, revise, and then finish the manuscript that will be published in May of 2025 as my debut YA novel Kat’s Greek Summer.

What I never imagined in my writing dream was that along with writing my own stories, I’d spend many an hour scrawling words on postcards encouraging people all over the country to vote. First off, I never imagined I had to encourage people to vote. I vote in every election, considering the right to do so the bedrock of democracy. What I didn’t understand is that in many US states, it is difficult for many citizens to vote for a host of reasons too great to number here. I also learned that receiving a handwritten postcard with voting information has major impact at the polls. I won’t go into stats and details about that, but it’s true. The various postcard projects around the country have encouraged thousands upon thousands of Americans to show up at the polls and vote, and many elections from the most local to statewide to federal have been won by the often slim margins galvanized in part by that hand-written postcard encouragement. Postcard activism fits well with who I am (an introvert) and I am grateful for the ability to spend a bit of time each week reaching out to voters in many, many states.

That said, I was introduced recently to a writer who has made quite a different choice around her writing and her activism. Meet Melissa Walker, a well-published author of YA fiction, who has chosen to pivot (at least for now) from her successful fiction writing career to work full time in political activism with a fascinating organization called The States Project. In a nutshell, The States Project is an organization that connects the importance of state legislatures to every aspect of our lives, and brings together communities to help build a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future for all. Their electoral work focuses on winning governing majorities in the states—as state lawmakers do drive every issue that impacts daily life—by making state legislative campaigns more effective and better-funded.

Recently, Melissa took time from her very demanding work—not surprising especially in this presidential election year—to participate in my interview series.  

What is/was it like for you being an author? Talk about any aspect of that time/journey. 

I love writing books and losing myself in another world. And when I was writing full time, I also understood that it was a full-time job. Once I had an idea for a novel that excited me, and a very quick sketch-outline, I'd begin to focus every workday — 5 days a week — on getting 1,000 words on the page. They didn't have to be good words, but they had to be there. Doing that 5 days a week meant I could get to a very, very rough draft of 60,000 words (about the length of most of my novels) in just 12 weeks. Of course, some days I would play hooky in the park or have a lunch date or some other distraction that would mean I'd only write 300 words, but I opened the doc every work day. I was consistent with the 1,000-word rule, though, and when I return to writing, I plan to return to that math.

How/why did you decide to shift to The States Project?

In 2016, my career was writing young adult novels. But after seeing the election results that November, I knew I had to do something tangible to fight for our democracy. That December, I attended a publishing holiday party where then New York State Senator Daniel Squadron spoke. The things he said that night blew me away. Everything that I was worried about in my daily life — from education funding to climate change to healthcare to civil rights — was being decided in state capitals. And state legislators? They’re the ones who control the future of our democracy. They write our voting laws. They draw the district maps that decide who goes to Congress and to our state capitols. I started to understand that every issue that impacts our daily lives was being decided by the lawmakers who held the majorities in Lansing in Phoenix in Harrisburg in St Paul, but so many people focus on Washington DC. 

So, I decided to focus on state legislatures, where it's often cheaper to change the balance of power in an entire state chamber than it is to win a single competitive congressional seat. I got my friends, family, and colleagues to focus with me and we started a Giving Circle to fund competitive state legislative races. And when Daniel Squadron resigned from the NY State Senate to start The States Project, our Giving Circle became the model for a full program to help other people plug in here too – not where the glamour is, just where the power is. There's a ton more to say about our work, but you can learn more here.

Are you still writing? If so, what?

I write here and there, but because I work full time leading the Giving Circles program at The States Project, I have nothing like the 1000-words-a-day discipline I used to. However, I dream of returning to writing, and I even have a plan that in my retirement-age era, I'll go live in another city or town for 3 months of the year, soaking up the new place and letting my mind wander . . . and then I'll come home to Brooklyn and set a book in that new spot. I could see a lot of the world that way and return to writing — it's a dream I have. I miss writing so much, but as my writer friends remind me, books will always be there.

What role do books play in your life/work now?

I'm in a book club for the first time in my life — which is awesome. I read more than I ever have, probably 4-5 books a month, maybe because I'm not writing and I'm soaking in as much as I can while I have this different relationship to literature. I'm more on the outside as a writer, but somehow I've found myself more engaged as a reader, and that is a treat!

I also find myself reading books about state legislative power of course. If folks are interested in the rightwing takeover of states, I recommend a few titles including Dark Money by Jane Mayer, Ratfu**ed: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count by Dave Daley, People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door by Sayu Bhojwani, and the incredibly detailed and insightful Laboratories of Autocracy by David Pepper.

This video is the 1-min version of why Melissa does the work she does—and why she had to move from books to strategic political work in this moment when democracy is truly on the brink.

Melissa Walker is the author of 10 novels for young adults and children. A former magazine editor, she now enjoys gathering people together to share stories about how they can form Giving Circles like SGCC and pool their resources to change the balance of power in state legislatures. Melissa works as the Head of Giving Circles at The States Project, where she oversees a team that works with 200+ circles across the country. She is a graduate of Vassar College who hails from Chapel Hill, NC.

And to close, a Book-Ku of Melissa Walker’s Why Can’t I Be You? RL: suggested 8-12, but I think 10+

Turning twelve is tough

And Walker’s story gets that.

Authentic kids rule.