Today we’d like to introduce you to Elise Gallagher.
Hi Elise, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In my house I have a room of my own that I have converted into my own writing space. The shelves along the walls are lined with trinkets and mementos of the people and places I love and that inspire me. There are also two bookcases filled with books that I have read, and many I have not, and nestled among them is the first book that I wrote when I was in the second grade. It is thin, the cover wrapped in brown sticky paper with a drawing of my family on the front. The pages inside are written in pen with illustrations drawn in crayon, chronicling my life, and on the very last page are the words “When I grow up, I want to be a writer.” What I didn’t know then was that I was already a writer. During my elementary and middle school years, I was always writing stories on the back of my classroom assignments, jotting down ideas on a separate piece of paper, and writing them out when I got home from school. When it came time for high school, I was fortunate enough to attend Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson where writing was my major, and every day I was able to learn craft and shape my stories. I often think of my time at Carver as an artistic Hogwarts with a staff dedicated to enhancing the talent of its students, and the students just as eager to learn and grow. My literary arts teacher, Mrs. Boto, completely changed my life and my approach to writing. She not only taught me craft but dedication.
After high school, I attended Washington College, drawn to their well-known creative writing program, and received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in English. During college, I knew that I needed a job while I wrote, so I decided that I would work in publishing. I can’t tell you how many people responded to this with “It’s very difficult to get into publishing,” but I was determined. Shortly after graduation, my husband and I moved to Boston, MA. This was back in 2010 when jobs for graduates were scarce. I took a job bussing tables at a restaurant while I applied to any publishing job or internship that I could find. After six months, I was offered an unpaid internship at a small academic press called Hackett Publishing. The commute was an hour and a half long via commuter rail and subway, but it became experience on my resume that then led to my first full-time job with Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Between 2011-2019 I worked with three different publishing companies in their production/editorial departments, received my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Baltimore, wrote a novel and a short story collection, queried agents, began my own freelancing business copyediting/proofreading/developmentally editing clients’ work, and taught English courses at Stevenson University. It wasn’t until I had my first daughter (and then my second) that I decided to work from home, caring for them full time, while building my freelancing business, and turning my short story collection into a novel.
As my daughters went from babies to toddlers to little kids, the time that I had for my work shifted and grew, so that I am now currently working for a publishing company again and writing my way through a family saga novel.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Before I had my kids, my struggle centered around finding my first job in publishing, staying persistent and not being discouraged by rejections from magazines/literary agents, and also feeling like I was writing alone without a community, which is why I went to graduate school to receive my MFA in Creative Writing. The people that I met there have shaped my life, and we continue to meet weekly.
After I had my first daughter, the struggle to maintain my writing practice centered around time and responsibilities. Like most new parents I was sleep-deprived but determined to write and in my foggy haze, I would sit down to either journal or write a paragraph for ten or twenty minutes while my daughter (then a baby) napped. This was difficult because I was tired and worried about whether I was producing my best work, and before I had kids I was able to spend as much time as I wanted on the weekends writing. So going from having four-five hours at a time to write to ten-twenty minutes was a new challenge.
When my daughter turned one, I went back to adjunct teaching at Stevenson University and decided to start my freelance editorial business. At first I only had a few client requests, which I had to complete between lesson planning, being with a toddler, and working on my own writing projects. Slowly but surely, one project at a time with good client reviews, I had more client requests coming in. It got to the point where I had to reject requests because I didn’t have the time to take on all of the projects.
About eight or nine years ago, I went to a talk between fiction writers Emma Straub and Ann Patchett. They were discussing their work and Emma Straub described her time and dedication to the different areas of her life like burners on a stove. She said that she can’t have all burners turned up to high all of the time. Meaning, if she puts her energy and attention onto one or two things, the others don’t receive the same amount of attention. This really stuck with me because I am the kind of person who likes to have “all of my burners turned up to high all at the same time” but after becoming a mother that wasn’t possible anymore. Adjusting to this new lifestyle and accepting that any amount of time spent writing or editing is a good amount of time, was and still is a journey.
I look at these “struggles” as mountain climbing. Climbing a mountain is hard and tedious work, sometimes you have to make stops along the way, but if you take time to pause and notice you will see some beautiful things, and once you reach the top, the view will be all the better.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
When I think about my work, I think of three different categories, which of course always intersect: my work as a mom, my work as a writer, and my work as a publishing professional. I find that I can’t talk about one without talking about the other.
I specialize in literary fiction, mostly exploring the themes of family dynamics, generational trauma, motherhood, female relationships, and the adversities that women face. My inspiration for my writing comes from dysfunctional legacies and patterns that I have observed passed down through the generations of my family and those who have broken these cycles. My family is filled with strong, vulnerable, complicated, women who have influenced my female characters. Becoming a mother and all that it entails has added a new depth and demention to my work that wasn’t there before.
For freelance editing, I specialize in copyediting, proofreading, and developmentally editing adult fiction and fantasy. My time working with publishing companies has been in their editorial/production departments helping shepherd manuscripts through the publishing phases.
When I think about my writing journey so far, there are several moments that come to mind that I am proud of: my short stories being accepted into literary magazines and graduating from my MFA program. Most recently, though, I have made more time and space for my writing. This summer I was a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and attended the One Story 2025 Summer Writer’s Conference. I also submitted a pitch to Stoop Story for their February oral storytelling show. My pitch was accepted, and as a first time Stoop storyteller, I shared my story about the bond between me and my dog (who passed away two years ago) in front of an audience of two hundred people. I have also worked on reshaping my mindset about what writing time looks like and viewing rejections as “passes.” As one of my professors told me, you have to stay in the game longer than anyone else, and I am still in the game of writing and submitting since I mailed my first submission to a magazine when I was seven.
For my professional publishing industry career, I am proud that I built my freelance client base and maintained client relationships while having two young kids, and that I was able to return to working with a publishing company.
When it comes to writing, I am patient, persistent, and determined. I find joy in the process of the journey while not solely focusing on the end goal of publication. With my freelance clients I work with them as a mentor, guiding them to strengthen their manuscript instead of telling them exactly what to fix.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think many creatives are grappling with AI and what to do with it. I am not sure how that will impact short-story or novel writing, but I believe that people will still be the ones behind writing these printed stories. AI in terms of freelancing does concern me as I frequently see ads for using AI to edit written work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reedsy.com/elise-gallagher
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aegallagher4
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-gallagher-02416291
- Other: https://stoopstorytelling.com/story/elise-gallagher-at-more-room-in-a-broken-heart-stories-about-loving-losing-and-rebuilding/
