Meet GA Anderson | Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with GA Anderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi GA, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I didn’t pursue a creative career or outlet purposefully. My degree is in Business Administration, and I’ve been lucky to work in many different industries. The writing came in steps, one thing leading to another. Friends often said my emails were weird, but funny, then suggested I turn them into a book. Once I began writing, I was hooked. I believe we allow ourselves to be categorized too easily as a business person or as a creative, without realizing how much these things co-mingle, so to speak. I have a client who likes to tell me that I’m using both my left and right brain because of what I do, but doing well in the business world requires creativity, and being successful as a creative requires more business acumen than most people realize. As far as what got me into writing, part of it was that push from friends, and when I lost my dad, I needed a way to honor and remember him…as I say in the beginning of the book. “This is how I keep you close.”

Once I joined a writing group, I became more motivated to finish the book. People enjoyed my writing, and the question turned from if I’ll finish to when I’ll finish.

What should our readers know about your business?
As I mentioned earlier, my degree is in Business Administration. Funny thing about a business degree is that it lands you in lots of different industries. After graduation, I worked in commercial travel and then as a manager for a Swedish company offering golf vacations in Florida. I learned a lot, including some choice Swedish words that I can’t repeat here. After that I took over my dad’s company – pharmaceutical research instrumentation in Bangkok, Thailand. I didn’t live there, but did travel there a few times, and learned that humidity is not good for my hair. Over the years I’ve also learned how to manage my time, and during a 3-week stint on jury duty, I accidentally (it’s a long story) got a part-time job as a flight coordinator for a private aviation company. This has been my favorite job, and in both South of Happily and Dream a Little Dream, you’ll see many references to my time working in private aviation.

For the last 10 years, I’ve been a biller and consultant for behavioral health providers in metro Atlanta. I have my own business, and all my clients have been referred by other clients, something I’m pretty proud of. What did I learn? Create a good relationship with your clients, work hard, be honest, do your best.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So many fun places to check out in Atlanta. If they’d never been here, we’d have to go to World of Coca-Cola and drink way too much of the samples from all the different countries. The sugar rush would propel us to the next few things, probably the Botanical Gardens and Zoo Atlanta, the Aquarium, and some of the cool restaurants downtown. Honestly, I’d drive them around all the historical places in the city. If you’ve never taken a wrong turn and ended up in some of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Vinings and Brookhaven and Chastain, then do it now. The city has incredible homes and architecture tucked away, and it’s worth finding. I’d take them to the Beltline, and visit Ponce City Market, also the Greenway if you want to head a little north on 400. Out that way, you can check out Avalon, lots of shopping and dining, and now Halcyon, where you can eat in one place, then go have a beer and dessert … just keep hopping. As far as an interesting dining experience, you have to check out Kurt’s Euro Bistro. It’s always an experience and the food is amazing.

I’d take them to Canton Street in Roswell, and downtown Alpharetta, and a little farther away, Athens. Always great for a day of fun. There are so many parks here, trails, restaurants and shopping…I’m sure a week would make them want to stay forever.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
So many people deserve credit. Let’s begin with my parents, both avid readers, and by that I mean they could stock a library with their collections. My mother always wanted to be a writer, but back in Communist Hungary, an aptitude test defined what field she’d be going into, and that was the sciences. My initial love of reading and books came from them. My brother, a writer himself, and movie director has always been supportive, and early on, he gave me great advice. “Use fewer words.” Huge credit goes to the Atlanta Writers Club and of course our fearless leader, George Weinstein. They taught me, week by week, chapter by chapter, how to write, and George is probably the most supportive human I know. He wants us to succeed, and we try harder because we want him to be proud of us.

My family – my husband and daughters. They’ve been incredibly supportive, and have listened with great patience as I go on (and on) about plots and lines and character development. My husband and my oldest daughter (both mental health professionals) help keep one of my characters (a therapist) in line. It’s important for me to show what good therapy can look like because I’m tired of the stereotypical “bad shrink”. My husband also reads my manuscripts out loud to me as the first unofficial edit. The same way he read Harry Potter to our girls when they were young, he read South of Happily to me while I took pages and pages of notes and made corrections I would have never have caught without hearing the words coming from someone else.

He’s already asking when he can read the sequel, Dream a Little Dream, which will be published in November of 2024.

Also, the Wild Women Who Write podcast, a spin-off from the AWC – has been instrumental in getting South of Happily out into the world. Atlanta has an incredibly supportive writing community, and I’m very grateful.

I’d also like to thank the book clubs. Hearing direct feedback is incredible. Everyone connects to a different character, everyone is left with something, and it makes me so happy to talk about it.

Website: https://www.anderson-author.com

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