"Just be who you’re meant to be on this world and don’t be afraid to take up space. Just do the thing. Just try, whatever that looks like. Claim your space."

-Alanna Rusnak

Alanna Rusnak is a pragmatic romantic carving space in the publishing industry. I’ve been inspired by her award-winning publishing company and magazine, and her warmly persistent support for authors is infused in everything she does. Her podcast reflects both her own creative journey and stewardship toward aspiring writers, using her own experiences to inspire, hold herself accountable, and reach a broader audience.

In this episode, we talk about how she navigated motherhood and creative entrepreneurship, from getting back into writing through socials and blogging, to now having her own Chicken House Press headquarters to write and pursue her entrepreneurial vision. We discuss how her strategies have evolved while honing her creative discipline and intuition.

"The discipline that was created in that month-long journey of writing a draft really kind of set me up for now, years later, doing the work that I’m doing.

… I would have to break, put the little ones to bed, and then come back and finish the word count. I was determined to get it done, no matter how tired I was, because I knew this was the only time I had to make real progress."

Participating in NaNoWriMo helped Alanna develop a committed writing routine. She achieved her goal, completing a 50,000-word draft and sparking excitement to continue writing. This draft later became her first novel, launching her into self-publishing and eventually guiding other writers in their process.

We talk accountability and motivation, what she’s learned from parenting and how that helps inform her creative process, and how she grew her writing goals from dreaming big to bringing books to life.

"Parenting really lit up for me when I did start taking care of myself in the sense of making space for my need to be creative."

• chickenhousepress.ca

• alannarusnak.ca

• Instagram: @alannarusnak and @chickenhousepress

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alannarusnakauthor

• Alanna’s Podcast: https://www.chickenhousepress.ca/writers-chat-podcast

Alanna Rusnak lives on a little patch of untamable land in small town Ontario with her husband (of more than two decades), children (two of which still live at home), a rude cat (who thinks he is a bird), and a vintage camper van she's far too excited about.Her debut novel was a finalist for the 2018 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and named one of the top reader-recommended titles of 2017 by cbcbooks.ca.She writes fiction in her office, an old chicken coop that has been renovated into a beautiful work space where she also runs an award-winning publishing company (for which she was named Most Influential Ontario Indie Publishing Businesswoman of 2024 by Acquisition International) and a Canadian literary arts magazine called Blank Spaces.