Meet Eric Ode | Author, Poet, & Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Ode and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I would like to believe that watching their two self-employed parents helped our children understand that you can create the life you want to live and that we are meant to discover the places where our interests and our skills meet the world’s needs.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I left teaching, I had some terribly vague dreams about working as a visiting author, providing high-participation writing assemblies and workshops for students. That first year of struggling to get published and land gigs was tough with a capital T. I’m sure my wonderfully supportive wife thought I was going to go off the deep end. 17 books later (with work in dozens of anthologies and multiple national awards), I can recognize that flexibility was key. (That and tenacity.) I hadn’t realized how much my interest in music and songwriting was going to play a part in finding work. Or how my love for poetry was going to open doors to finally getting more and more work published. We hear how important it is to set clear goals and define a path, but maybe it’s just as important to be open to new opportunities and to be ready to adjust those goals as we go.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As the editor and CEO of Meadowbrook Press, Bruce Lansky was the first to give my writing efforts a bit of time and support. His encouragement and his friendship kept me moving forward during stretches when I was very tempted to abandon any author dreams.

Website: www.ericode.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.eric.ode

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/EricOde