Meet Tiffany Clarke Harrison | Author, Author Mentor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tiffany Clarke Harrison and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiffany, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
The most important decision I made (particularly after my MS diagnosis) was deciding that I denying myself and my desires was a violence I was no longer available for. I was very much a “good girl” before my diagnosis. I allowed who others thought I should be drive my decisions instead of looking inward to see what I actually wanted. And that was to be in spaces where I was allowed to flourish as my full introverted, intuitive, non-linear, creative self.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My writing process is steeped in embodiment. Kind of like method acting (ha! I call myself a method author). I allow myself to “go there” into my hard memories and bring that energy to my character. This also allows me to get into the physical body of the character so they show up on the page as real people. I encourage my coaching clients to do the same in their work, allowing their emotional intensity to connect with that of the character. It’s why readers have said reading my work is like watching a movie. I do my best not to be precious about what I’m writing, and often just close my eyes and type what I’m seeing and hearing in my mind. I often give that advice to writers, too, the ones who say: “It doesn’t look like it does in my head.” Then write what’s in your head. I got an MFA (one of those desires I mentioned before that I’d been denying myself) when Blue Hour was on its second draft. I went less to learn craft and more to work with people who would see my vision with me and make it its most powerful. I was paired with an incredibly talented writer, and listening to him read his work I realized how literature could be a performance. It goes back to what I said about readers saying my work feels like watching a movie—literature can be an immersive art with cinematography and a score that you create through weaving words in a particular way. That said, film has had a tremendous influence on my writing. Films like Moonlight and The Danish Girl were simultaneously quiet and charged. They ripped your heart out and made you look at it, bloody and pulsing. I’ve only watched Moonlight once because it gutted me. This is a journey I take my clients on, too—the gutting. They actually hire me because they know I will take them to the dark places within themselves they’ve been avoiding.

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?
Many morning walks on one of the many Greenways in Charlotte. Coffee from the French press or English Breakfast Tea at home on the back patio watching leaves fall and listening to birds, chatting about The Bear or clothes we’re buying because it’s finally fall. Also, sour cream donuts from Trader Joe’s. I’d make us a soft egg with smoked salmon and goat cheese, and a side salad with balsamic vinagerette. Throughout the week we’d bring notebooks to write or books to read to Rosie’s Wine Garden for an herb tea or white wine. At some point, Amelie’s for a Croque Monsieur and salted caramel brownie, and later, Bar a Vins for a charcuterie board with Lays potato chips 90s hip hop. Paradiso Plant Shop at Optimist Hall, tickets to a show at Blumenthal, especially if an orchestra is involved.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to Dr. Michael Waters, my creative writing professor my senior year, way back in 2001. When he handed back our portfolios he said to me, “you will publish a book one day.” I never forgot that. 20 years later I’m a published author with my book (Blue Hour) on Vulture’s Best Books of 2023 list and Barack Obama’s 2023 Summer Reading List.

Website: tiffanyclarkeharrison.com

Instagram: @tiffanyclarkeharrison

Linkedin: Tiffany Clarke Harrison

Image Credits
image of book credit: Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Book signing image credit: Andrea Jasmin