Photographer: Jack Rodman
On Tuesday, September 9th, North Broward had the privilege of hosting A.S. King, decorated author, speaker, and advocate of teenagers. Not only has A.S. King dedicated her life to writing, but she has also sought out to make the changes she wishes to see in our world. Outside of her writing, King spends her time teaching and leading her non-profit. Editor-in-chief Jordyn Weiss, and editor, Robin Spinola had the pleasure of interviewing King, and learning more about her process, inspirations, and accomplishments.
While we see many amazing products of King’s work today, she admits to having 11 unfinished novels in her attic. She explained that she wouldn’t revise them to be published, King said, “1997, Amy wrote those… 1997, Amy is a very different Amy than now.” When we asked her how she has improved as a writer to get where she is today she came to two conclusions. First, she learned to use her own variation of the surrealist process, “You put yourself in the most passive or receptive state you can, forget about your genius, forget about your talents, and just write swiftly with no preconceived subject. That’s pretty much how I hit my first drafts.” Her second conclusion was her time spent teaching a masters program. “The biggest growth I’ve experienced was when I was teaching in a master’s program. I learned so much from my students, from being in a community that only wanted to talk about writing and craft. That’s nerd heaven.”
To call A.S. King simply a writer would be short-sighted. She is a self-starter, creator, and change-maker, who will stop at nothing to make the changes she wants to see come to life. King shared with us that being a trailblazer has always come naturally to her. Advice she lives by is, “When you’re starting something, you have to kind of jump and then build the plane on the way down.” She also makes an effort to realize that success takes time. In her framework, “Year zero is when you’re thinking it out. Year one is when you’re trying it out. Year two is when you’re just finding your feet. Year three is when you really start to know what you’re doing.”
At the root of A.S. King’s values is her belief in the importance of volunteer work. Not only does it make a difference in one’s community, according to King, “You’ll meet people you never would otherwise, and it’ll change the way you see the world.” King’s latest volunteer project is her non-profit organization, Gracie’s House. King and her team work to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, mainly by hosting a yearly summer camp where all can feel included.
When we asked King what she hoped to leave readers of this article with she said, “Your voice is important. Most people struggle with that, but it’s true. People are going to disagree with you- who cares? They’re not your people.”