Author and Diner Owner Ellen Airgood

This week’s Writer Wednesday is author and diner owner Ellen Airgood from Newberry, Michigan!

Ellen is an air quality sleuth, a timber cruiser and has co-managed her diner in Grand Marais, Michigan with her husband Rick. There she serves multiple roles as waitress, pastry chef and bouncer. 

Meanwhile, Ellen has published three novels with Penguin Books: “South of Superior” (a Michigan Notable Book Award winner) and the acclaimed books for middle-grade readers, “Prairie Evers” and “The Education of Ivy Blake.” Her latest book is “Tin Camp Road,” set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The story follows a young single mother and her ten-year-old daughter who stand up to the trials of rural poverty and find the community they need in order to survive.

Read more about her below!

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Revising. Writing usually feels daunting for me, and I find it reassuring to have something I can make better rather than facing a blank page. Instead of nervous about the prospect of starting and creating, I tend to feel calm and at least a little hopeful when I’m revising.

What does your writing workspace look like?

I often sit in the corner of our couch in front of the wood stove. To my left, a 12-paned window provides a view of trees and a bird feeder. In front of me is an entry door with more views of sky and treetops. The room is 10 by 12 and holds the stove, a television, the phone and the couch. The walls are wainscoted in wide cherry boards we found up under the eaves of a local hardware store. Above the boards is antique wallpaper printed with a pattern of wood stoves, oil lamps, scuttles, bonnets and boots. 

I hung the paper on a winter weekend when I was home alone. I started the project full of confidence and cheer, but that mood swiftly changed. The paper was expensive, and there was no more of it. It was also incredibly brittle. I ruined the first piece I tried to put up and was out of leeway. I could make no more mistakes or I wouldn’t get around the room. 

Writing this, I see the paper hanging as a metaphor for how I often feel during the writing process. I’m pausing now to think, “Hmm.” Also, “Maybe I could change that by being aware of it and letting the wallpaper remind me: a panicky mood is no good for creation. And look — the papering job turned out more or less all right.”

What’s it like to balance writing and publishing while also managing a diner?

It’s a challenge. I always feel I’m giving short shrift to one of them. It’s a dilemma I have yet to resolve. I love both; both are very demanding.

What is your favorite non-writing hobby?

I can’t pick just one. I love to walk with my dog. Watch “The Great British Baking Show” with my husband. Cook. Read. Knit. 

What is your favorite piece of writing advice?

Again, it’s hard to pick just one. The top contenders: Read a lot. Be on the hunt for unexpected details from life to include in your work. Be humble and confident at the same time. Write about what you truly care about. Set a schedule and stick to it.

What writing projects are you currently working on?

We’re just coming to the end of a busy season at the diner, so I haven’t been writing. However, I’m looking forward to revising a memoir I’ve been working on over the last few years once winter comes.

Read more about her at ellenairgood.com/ and follow her on Instagram at @authorellenairgood.