The write stuff

It's not easy to write a book. Three authors from Beverly tell me how they do it.

As someone who has written thousands of stories, most of them under 1,000 words, I’ve always admired anyone who has the perseverance to write and publish a book.

There were two rooms full of such people over the weekend at the Beverly Public Library, which hosted its fourth annual Local Author Meet & Greet on Sunday. Twenty-eight authors sat at tables in the Sohier Room and Barnet Gallery with their books on display.

I ended up talking with three of them, all Beverly residents, about what it’s like to write a book, get it published and try to sell it, all while working their ‘real’ job.

David Mahood

David Mahood is following the advice you often hear for authors — write about what you know. Mahood is a sustainability consultant and environmental writer and lecturer. The company that he started, Olive Designs LLC, also serves as the publishing agent for his two books — “One Green Deed Spawns Another,” which chronicles his 20-year quest for sustainability, and “Kings of a Lonely Kingdom,” which includes 10 years of Earth Day essays and original nature poems.

In 2023, Olive Designs also published “Johnny and Me,” a children’s book by Mahood’s now-92-year-old mother, Bobbi Mahood.

Mahood, 63, said he spent a lot of time traveling to interview his “environmental mentors and heroes” for his first book. Friends then said to him, “Why don’t you tell your own story?,” which led to his second book.

I later emailed Mahood to ask him why he writes.

The easy answer is that I enjoy the craft of writing. The more in-depth response is that as a nature and ecology writer, it is a means of sharing my concern for the declining health of our ecosystem. And as overwhelming as the problem can seem, we writers have to expose this in as thoughtful and honest manner as we can. We all owe it to future generations to be better stewards of the planet. Maybe someone will read one of my books and be inspired enough to influence the behavior of someone else, and so on. Of course that is the hope. As I wrote in my first book, "It has become substantially more important since I've become a father and stepfather. I'll never have to shrug my shoulders in their presence. I've done something, and I feel grounded knowing that I've shared my sentiments and knowledge with as many people as possible."

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Betsy Ellor

It takes a lot of discipline to write a book, and Betsy Ellor has that in spades. She gets up at 5 a.m. and writes for 90 minutes every day — yes, seven days a week.

“It’s the only time I can get away from my kid, my job and my house,” she told me. “But I like writing so it doesn’t feel like a job.”

Ellor has written three books, “My Dog is NOT a Scientist,” “Heroic Care: 35 Writers & Artists Show What It Means To Care,” and her latest novel, “Hera: Kingdom of Lies,” which she describes on her website as “a goddess story for working moms everywhere.” She has also written a musical, “Sara Crewe,” which has been performed across the United States.

Ellor’s day job is working as an interior architect for Endicott College.

Ellor, 47, said there is a strong writing community on the North Shore, with authors exchanging ideas and editing each other’s work.

“We have a lot of talent in the area,” she said.

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Chris Wrenn

It took only two words to turn Chris Wrenn’s business into a success — Yankees Suck! Now he’s written a book about how it all happened.

“Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball’s Greatest Rivalry,” tells the story of how Wrenn started selling Yankees Suck! T-shirts and bumper stickers outside Fenway Park to fund his record label business.

Wrenn told me the T-shirt business, under the Sully’s brand, was making $1,000 per night within months. Soon after they were having what he called “six-figure summers.” The money helped pay for over 300 albums for dozens of bands under Wrenn’s Bridge Nine record label. Wrenn opened the Bridge Nine record store on Rantoul Street in 2022.

Wrenn told me a great story about the code enforcement officer for the city of Boston who used to harass him for selling on the streets outside Fenway. The two ended up being friends and attending each other’s weddings.

Wrenn, 50, said he doesn’t consider himself a writer. He hired an editor and a literary agent. His book was published by Hachette, one of the Big Five publishers.

“‘Yankees Suck’ and releasing music,” Wrenn said, summing up his story. “Only in Boston.”