Full-Time Writer and Prescott Woman Magazine Contributor Finds Her Best Life Through Connecting
By Tara Fort • Photo by Blushing Cactus
Prescott Woman Magazine writer and editor, Hilary Dartt, who’s also an author, recounts how her writing career began twenty years ago. “I had just graduated as a Creative Writing Major from Cal State Long Beach and was looking for a job there. My brother had moved to Prescott on an Embry-Riddle wrestling scholarship and my parents followed. On a whim I applied for a position at the Daily Courier, and they ended up hiring me.”
Later, when a former Prescott Woman Magazine writer moved, she gifted Hilary her freelance accounts, one of which included writing for the now 20-year-old magazine. “The timing was perfect serendipity for launching my full-time freelance writing career.”
Formerly a marathon and half-marathon runner, Hilary misses the sport that, she said “was such a huge part of my identity at that time. I now know that the universe was pointing me in the direction to spend more time on my author career. Running demands so much time, and now I could use that energy to focus on writing books at a more accelerated pace.”
Most beneficial has been the hiring of a business coach. Hilary said, “What’s so fun is that my coach has given me a clear path to where I want to go, when I had previously struggled with balancing different elements. There is accountability to stick to the plan and to show up.”
With a schedule that demands launching a new book every two months, diligence is paramount. “I read once that ‘You can’t steer a ship that’s not moving’ so you have to take some action and then you can adjust. That has worked really well for me.”
A natural writer from a very young age, Hilary won writing awards in grade school and said, “I loved to read, and that’s what really inspired my writing. It came naturally to me to put words on paper.”
Now, the mission-driven driven mother of three structures her day with a consistent writing schedule, allowing flexibility to carve out personal time while managing an active family life. She said, “I’m so grateful that my husband supports me and that he’s okay with my doing what I need to do to make this writing career happen.”
“Coming from a bigger city, I wasn’t sure Prescott would be my permanent home. Now that I have a family, I am so grateful that this community has provided us what it means to become closer and connected.”
She added, “People get emotional in almost every single interview. I love that we’re sharing something really special. The more people I interview, the more I find we are all so similar and we all have something in common. I feel like I make a new friend every time.”
To find out more about Hilary Dartt and to sign up for her newsletter, visit HilaryDartt.com and look for her ebooks and paperbacks on Amazon.