Claudia Horwitz

Claudia Horwitz is a leader in national efforts to integrate the power of spiritual practice and the work of social justice. In 1995 she founded stone circles, a nonprofit organization committed to sustaining activists; the organization recently created The Stone House, a center on 70 acres of land in Mebane, North Carolina that welcomes people of all traditions for training, retreat and fellowship. She is the author of The Spiritual Activist: Practices to Transform Your Life, Your Work, and Your World (Penguin Compass). Even though she is Stuart’s sister, she was no easier or harder to work with than anyone trying to express their life’s vision in less than a million words while under a publishing deadline.

The Sixty Second Interview with… Claudia Horwitz

1. How do you take your coffee? With my tea.
2. What’s the best piece of publishing advice you’ve ever received? If you can’t enlist a publisher the first time around (which I couldn’t) try self-publishing and put your best energy behind that. Good things will happen.
3. Of all the metaphors by which writing has been portrayed, which is your favorite (i.e. bricklaying, marathon running, etc.)? Not sure if it qualifies as a metaphor, but I love Annie Lamott’s advice to take it “bird by bird” (in the book of the same name). That has left its imprint on me.
4. Do you have any writing tics or blind spots that you had to conquer the hard way? I write easily but I hate revisions. Once I finish my second draft, I feel kind of done… With help, I find ways to put some distance and time between myself and the material, which enables me to go back to it with a fresher and more enthusiastic eye.
5. What is your mantra for handling rejection? Every gal’s gotta kiss some frogs…
6. What’s next for you? Dinner, a good night’s sleep, a new role in my work and a house at the beach. In that order!

Our (current) favorite sentence of Claudia’s: “Allow for chaos and do not attempt to control everything.”