Meet Genevieve Gornichec | Novelist

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

Hi Genevieve, how do you think about risk?
I think it’s always a risk when you make something you love into a career. Plus, I’m a risk-averse person by nature, so deciding to put my myself out there in the first place was quite a leap. When I first started on my publishing journey, I had no idea that I would be fortunate even consider quitting my day job for a while – a risk in itself, on a practical level – to focus on writing, but I have been very fortunate in that regard.

On a creative level, sharing your art with the world can be terrifying because you’re opening yourself up to be rejected and criticized, sometimes in very bad faith, which can be demoralizing. But even if only one soul connects with my art – if sharing my work makes a difference in just one person’s life – then, to me, the risk was worth it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been making up stories since before I could hold a pen, so the actual writing has usually been easy for me. But in a professional capacity, everything that comes after that was a whole new world! Most people don’t realize how much work goes into taking a manuscript from a Word document to an actual honest-to-goodness book – I certainly didn’t, until I experienced it!

At the end of the day, traditional publishing comes with its own unique challenges and constraints. It’s sometimes felt difficult trying to find my footing in terms of “what’s next.” But I think that if you create from the heart and not for the market, you can’t go wrong.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were visiting the area, we’d definitely have to go for a long hike – Northeast Ohio has some real hidden gems when it comes to that. Some places, like Nelson Ledges, even look a bit like Middle Earth! We’d grab tacos at my favorite local taco place, and then maybe go see a movie or two at the drive-in if it were summertime. And if that’s the case, we’d also probably hang out with the local Viking Age living history group I’m part of, at one of our summer events or campouts.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to the 2021 Debuts, an old Facebook support group for traditionally published adult fiction authors whose first books released in 2021. If I hadn’t connected with so many of my wonderful colleagues there, publishing would have been – and would continue to be – a lonely career indeed. I’ve had the honor of meeting some of them in person, including Greta Kelly, who’s been featured on this site before. We even went to Emerald City Comic Con together in 2021!

Website: genevievegornichec.com

Instagram: gengornichec

Twitter: gengornichec

Facebook: facebook.com/gengornichec

Image Credits
Book covers by Adam Auerbach / Penguin Random House; big green ECCC photo is of me and your previous guest Greta Kelly at Emerald City Comic Con in 2021; photo of book signing is my own.