Gerry McDermott is Happiest at High Altitudes

Our long-standing tradition of giving a member the mic before our keynote speaker helps us get to know what our colleagues are working on. Our 5+5+5 guidelines (5 minutes of backstory, 5 minutes to read, and 5 minutes of Q&A) help emerging writers polish their professional skills.

Gerry McDermott was in the Member Spotlight before our November speaker, Lyzette Wanzer. 

Gerry McDermott is Scottish by birth and American on purpose. He grew up in a small village called Holytown, located midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. A precocious child, Gerry made his family, teachers, and neighbors suffer by telling them elaborate, rambling stories and/or asking endless questions. These turned out to be life-long traits. 

Gerry came to America 30 years ago to complete a two-year research fellowship. He intended to return to his home country as soon as that ended. But he adopted two kittens partway through a year’s extension. This sealed the deal; he never went back to Scotland to live and probably never will. Scotland is a beautiful country populated by funny, warm people. But that doesn’t make up for the near-daily gray skies and rain, both of which are even worse in the winter.

Since the pandemic began, Gerry has spent most days at home or in a cafe reading, writing, and failing to resist the gravitational pull exerted by the kitchen or the pastry cabinet. Despite that, he still manages to haul his body up ‘big hills’ in the Himalayas every other year. He is happiest at high altitudes, which is odd, given his father was a coal miner, not a Sherpa.

NOTE: Gerry McDermott is one of our new board members! He helps the club with promotion and social media. On his work with the CWC he says, “Literary volunteerism. It’s an excellent thing to do. Other writers’ passion for writing is contagious. Being around it encourages me to produce work of my own.” Thank you and welcome Gerry!

Read Gerry’s Medium article about planning a trip to Mt. Everest!  His website is gerry.life.

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And now some questions…

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a chemist (maybe an alchemist, but I was too young to know the difference). Even as a child, I loved mixing flour, sugar, and anything else I could find in the kitchen cupboards. 

What’s the most important piece of writing advice that you could give to other writers?

Experienced writers probably already know this, but the best advice I’ve received is to “write interpersonal communication, not dialogue.” Words pale in comparison to body language, pauses, tone of voice, etc. Hearing this advice was a real “light bulb moment.”  And, like all the best advice I’ve been given, I struggle to remember it when I’m writing. 

Where are you in your writing career? Aspiring? Published?

As a research scientist, I routinely published papers, book chapters, public reports, etc. In terms of creative writing, I’m a comparative newbie. During the pandemic, our research lab was shut down. Once all the pending manuscripts and funding proposals had been written, I looked for something to occupy my time and mind. I considered following the trend at that time and learning how to bake sourdough bread. But, carbs are my weakness. So, I took a writing class instead. The old adage of writing what you know steered me towards enrolling in a memoir class. Plus, all the fiction classes were already full. From the get-go, I enjoyed the freedom of writing whatever came to mind rather than writing to tight constraints imposed by the subject. These days, I’m mixing memoirs and origin stories with short fiction pieces. I’ve yet to submit anything ‘creative’ for publication.  But, plan on doing so in the future.  Being a member of the CWC encourages me to keep writing. 

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Gerry’s writing is sharp, relatable, and interesting. read more on his website, gerry.life. 

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Thanks, Gerry, for opening for Lynette Wanzer’s talk about getting Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies.