INDIGO EXCLUSIVE WITH Haley Cohen Gilliland
What’s your most unusual writing habit?
“I write while walking. I bought my under-desk walking pad a few years ago, when I had just had my second child and realized that between parenting, my academic job, and writing A Flower Traveled in My Blood, I wasn’t going to have much time for exercise. I expected to use it sparingly, when handling administrative tasks, just so my legs didn’t completely atrophy, but I soon found it to be an incredible writing tool. It is hard to be overly precious about what your fingers are doing when your feet are moving, so it greatly alleviated my writer’s block in the drafting phase. And I didn’t feel antsy to escape my desk in the way I do when I sit for too long.”
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever researched for your writing?
“Right before the pandemic, I was privileged to get a print assignment from National Geographic to travel to the Amazon rainforest. I was elated—until I learned the subject my editor wanted me to explore: phorid flies, which are no bigger than a grain of rice. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get readers interested in such tiny creatures, often considered pests. But as soon as I met the dipterists (fly scientists) I would be traveling with, my anxiety dissipated. Their passion for the insect world was contagious. It gave me a new appreciation for flies and allowed me to have one of the more fun reporting experiences of my life.”
What book title best describes your life?
“Oh, gosh, this is hard. Maybe It Goes So Fast? (A great memoir by NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly.) I am deeply grateful for my life and everyone in it. But especially as my little kids grow into not-so-little kids, this title definitely resonates.
“Another possibility is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I am working on being more present, but my mind has the bad habit of catapulting into the future.”
