Bill Montgomery –  a businessman turned memoirist who enjoys summers on Lake Skegemog and whose best advice for writers is to just sit down and write and then write some more.
A Detroit native, Bill vacationed in the Traverse City area from 1949 until 2012 when he and Anne permanently relocated to Traverse City from Dallas. Bill has an honors degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard. Most of Bill’s career was in the Oil and Gas Industry as an operating executive and as a consultant. Bill and Anne live in Traverse City and summer in a cottage on Lake Skegemog. They have three adult children and five grandchildren in Texas and New Hampshire.
How did you become a writer?
That effort is a work in progress. I have attended many classes at Northwestern Michigan College through Michigan Writers, and the U of M Bear River Conference twice. In addition to being an avid reader, I have attended most of the NWS presentations. In spite of these educational efforts, there is no substitute for just sitting down and writing and writing and writing.
How do you write? What is your process?
The most important part of the process is to have a laser-like focus upon getting a first draft down on paper. Once that is accomplished, I spend seemingly endless time working on successive drafts. I work with a writing coach on the later drafts.
Who are your favorite authors?
I think that I have read all of Nelson DeMille’s books. I am now focusing my reading and writing in the memoir genre.
What authors have inspired you?
Emperor of all Maladies: A biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Second Wind by Dr. Bill Thomas and Moby Dick by Herman Melville
What books are on your bedside table?
Two books by Thomas Lynch because I will be in a three-day workshop with him during May.
What writing projects do you have planned?
I am gathering information for a second memoir.
What advice do you have for young writers?
There is no better training than to include writing in each day’s activity.
Latest book information
Pray for Time: A Memoir is available in softcover for $7.95 at Horizon Books in Traverse City and on Amazon in both softcover for $7.16 and e-book edition for $2.99.