E723 - Terri Lewis - Terri Lewis - From Ballet to Authorship - Words That Dance, That Fly

EPISODE 723 - Terri Lewis - From Ballet to Authorship - Words That Dance, That Fly

In this author conversation, Terri Lewis shares how dance, history, and family have been woven through every stage of her life and writing. Now speaking from Florida while her Colorado garden sleeps under snow, she reflects on the two passions she held in high school: ballet and writing. Knowing a dance career had a limited window, she chose ballet first, becoming a professional dancer and choreographer, then gradually transitioned into writing while honing her craft, learning how to truly tell a story and build a novel.

Terri describes the importance of literary community and feedback, encouraging new authors to join critique groups, attend workshops and conferences, and bravely share their work even when it feels vulnerable. She emphasizes kindness and reciprocity in the writing world, urging writers to really listen when asking others about their work rather than talking only about themselves. For her, repeated feedback is a signal: if two people say the same thing, pay attention; if three do, you have a problem to fix. She also shares how one early mentor’s simple note affirming that she could write a publishable novel became a treasured encouragement that she still keeps.

Her love of history and research runs through her novels. Her first book, inspired by a medieval woman abducted by King John and later reunited with her original fiancé, grew out of her fascination with the everyday lives of people in the Middle Ages rather than just kings and battles. Her second novel began with a candy box of family artifacts: letters, photos, and documents about her grandfather’s World War One service, shell shock, and the long fight her grandmother waged to secure his pension. That story, told through both grandparents’ perspectives, deepened her understanding of their courage, especially her grandmother’s strength in an era when women’s choices were tightly constrained.

Terri’s latest ballet-centered novel draws directly on her own experience as a dancer. It follows two friends and rivals in a 1970s ballet company whose pregnancies unfold on opposite sides of Roe v. Wade, exploring how legal, bodily, and artistic choices shape their careers, relationships, and identities. She aims to show the behind-the-scenes reality of dance: exhausting rehearsals, painful lighting calls, and the emotional strain beneath the glamour, while also portraying the different strengths of her two dancers and how their friendship is tested over time.

Throughout the conversation, Terri returns to the idea that mastery in any art takes about ten years, and that you never truly arrive. She is still revising a novel she began a decade ago, recognizing how much she has grown as a writer and how each revision makes the work stronger. She encourages listeners to capture their own family histories with simple tools like audio recorders at gatherings, preserving stories that might otherwise be lost.

Key takeaway: Terri’s journey shows that creativity is a lifelong practice of persistence, community, and curiosity, where every experience, whether on stage or in the archives of a candy box, can become meaningful story material if you keep showing up and doing the work.

https://terrilewis1.com/