Today we’d like to introduce you to Martha C. Lawrence.
Hi Martha C., it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Rancho Santa Fe, California, in a home filled with books of all kinds—history, science, finance, fiction, philosophy, religion and spirituality—you name it. Growing up surrounded by books eventually led me to a career in publishing and a life spent helping worthwhile ideas and stories reach other people. I’ve been privileged to work on books that resonated with large audiences and became multimillion-copy bestsellers.
Growing up, I had no idea that books would become both my profession and, at several difficult points in my life, a kind of lifeline.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Apart from the early challenge of trying to survive as a single mom on a small publishing salary, I was also the victim of two separate but equally terrifying violent crimes.
As an editor living and working in San Diego, I was assaulted in the middle of the night by a serial rapist who broke into the Hillcrest bungalow I was renting. Months later, he was arrested. I—along with the eight other women he had violated—testified at his criminal trial, where he was convicted and sentenced to forty-four years in prison.
That wasn’t the end of my encounters with violent criminals. I was stalked for two years by a former boyfriend who was abusing crystal meth and became increasingly unstable and dangerous. At one point, he broke into my house and nearly strangled me. He was eventually arrested, convicted, and given a maximum sentence.
Those experiences were horrific, but they forced me to tap into a courage I didn’t know I had. Eventually, I also found a way to transform some of those experiences through my fiction. I could write authoritatively about fear, survival, and the criminal justice system because I had experienced all three firsthand.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an editor and author who specializes in books that challenge conventional thinking and inspire people to grow and lead with love. I have two passions. The first is helping writers find their voices and get their messages into the world. The second is finding my own voice and writing stories that need to be told.
I began my publishing career in New York, working for the managing editor at Simon & Schuster in Rockefeller Center. Eventually, I returned to San Diego, where I edited books for Harcourt Publishers.
One night after dinner, I confessed to an author I was working with that, in my heart of hearts, I wanted to be a writer. I’ll never forget what he said: “Martha, if you’re a writer, the day will come when you won’t be able to keep yourself from writing that book.”
He was right, of course. I soon channeled the trauma of the assaults I’d experienced into a series of mystery novels featuring a highly intuitive private investigator named Elizabeth Chase. The books were nominated for all the major mystery awards, including the Edgar. Thirty years after their publication, you can still find them on Amazon. A premier e-book publisher has a plan in the works to reissue them soon. Stay tuned!
The most rewarding turn in my career was moving from life as a full-time author to becoming the writing partner and editor of Ken Blanchard, a world-renowned leadership authority best known for The One Minute Manager.
Last fall, Berrett-Koehler Publishers released my biography of Ken Blanchard, Catch People Doing Things Right: How Ken Blanchard Changed the Way the World Leads. I’m especially proud of this book, which won the American Book Fest Best Book Award for biography last year.
Many business biographies focus on ambition, power, achievement, and wealth. Ken Blanchard provides a refreshingly different role model: a leader whose life and work have been built around inspiring others and lifting people up. He’s the person who taught me, “You finally become an adult when you realize your purpose is to serve, not to be served.”
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I’m glad I didn’t know then what I know now: publishing can be brutally competitive!
The industry today is vastly different from the one I entered. Back in the 1980s, tens of thousands of new books were published in the United States each year. Today—with the explosive growth of self-published and independently produced titles—authors compete in a marketplace containing millions of new books.
Authors also compete for attention with Netflix, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, podcasts, games, streaming services, endless online news, and the entire internet. On the other hand, those same technologies can help a book find an audience—or even go viral.
My advice for today’s writers is to go within for your inspiration—the deeper, the better. Find your own voice. It’s fine to use the technical tools, but ultimately, your voice is the one that matters.
Find it. Trust it. Raise it!
Pricing:
- Catch People Doing Things Right – $32.95 hardcover, $33.00 audiobook, $16.15 Kindle
- The Elizabeth Chase Novels: Murder in Scorpio, The Cold Heart of Capricorn, Aquarius Descending, Pisces Rising, Ashes of Aries – Prices vary on Amazon
Contact Info:
- Website: https://marthalawrence.com and https://elizabethchase.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marthaclawrenceauthor
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthaclawrence
