Photo by Ivan Solis http://ivanimages.com/

NG: This month, I’m happy to introduce you to award-winning journalist, writer, ghostwriter, book coach and editor, Kelly Hartog. Kelly and I met when she served as my editor-coach during the first offering of a 2016 Story Genius writing class. I’d been struggling to get a handle on my Dream Stalker novel, and Kelly turned out to be a wonderful help—supportive, yet calling out what wasn’t working. I’ll never forget the two key questions she kept asking, variations on “Why is this happening?” and “What triggered this?”

NG: As an award-winning journalist, your articles have been published by NBC News, The New York Post, MarketWatch, The Jerusalem Post, and more. Tell us a bit about your motivation for writing about a particular subject.

KH: As with any form of writing, it’s about having a passion to tell people’s stories (although sometimes it’s about your editor saying, “go cover this!”). However, I’m obsessed with how people tick. What motivates them, what makes them do the things they do? If I’m interviewing someone directly, I love digging into people’s psyches and finding an innovative way to share their truths with the world, because whether you’re interviewing a celebrity or the local shop owner, we all have the same emotions. If I’m covering an event or a trial, I’m drawn to how people behave in specific circumstances. If it’s a think piece, it’s because I have a strong connection on a certain level with that subject and can bring a unique perspective that others don’t. (I’m British and Australian and Israeli!). It comes down to this incredible feeling in your gut where you have something to say and need to say it! And I think that’s true for any writing form, or any artistic pursuit.

NG: As an editor and reporter for The Jerusalem Post, you survived and wrote about an Al Qaeda suicide bombing in Mombasa, Kenya . How did that terrible experience change you? http://www.kellyhartog.com/m-is-for-mombasa/

KH: How much space do you have? In a nutshell, on its most basic level, I wouldn’t be here in America were it not for that event. After surviving that, Israeli standard trauma testing a year after the event made it clear I would not recover from my PTSD if I continued to cover the things I covered in Jerusalem. And this was at the height of the second Intifada. ALL I was doing was covering terror. So, I came to Los Angeles because I wanted to be in a place where the news didn’t matter, and LA seemed perfect, where all I did for a couple of years was cover red carpets and say, “Who are you wearing?” I needed that.  

While I had empathy prior to this, it increased tenfold. It made me able to do my job better. I can speak with subjects who have gone through traumatic events open up to me. I understand how to listen more. I understand the triggers and signals of PTSD. Oddly, despite that experience, I continue to run to traumatic situations. I covered the Pulse Nightclub Shooting, I went to Pittsburgh the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting, the San Bernardino shootings, to Puerto Rico to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Being able to cover huge events from a very personal angle is a way to get people to connect—and see the individuals rather than just the bigger picture.

On a personal level, it has restored my faith in people. On the one hand, what I witnessed in Mombasa was pure evil. I say often, “Evil has a face and I’ve seen it.” On the other hand, I saw the enormous support and love that came out of that event. People are compassionate and loving and giving in the wake of a horrific tragedy.

NG: Your journalistic style doesn’t shy away from personal reactions and anecdotes. That style draws me in. Which articles have you most enjoyed writing? Least enjoy?

KH: As above, it’s about connecting with readers. It’s about “putting them there.” Drawing on what you’re thinking, feeling, seeing in that moment allows people to be there with you. I truly don’t have an article that I haven’t enjoyed writing, but I cherish the ones where I get to share an intimate view of an enormous event or if I break a story no one else has or if I get a unique perspective from someone. In that vein, I loved interviewing Frank Gehry (for which I won the First-Place prize in the Southern California Journalism Awards), because he’s always been such an enigma, and he really opened up.   

https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/296316/frank-gehrys-vision-for-the-worlds-jewish-museum-in-tel-aviv/

I loved writing about the British Class system and Meghan Markle for NBC THINK. It kind of broke their website, and I got a lot of love (and hate) for that piece. But as we say in the biz, “You’re only as good as your ‘letters page.’” These days, reactions are more likely to appear on social media.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/culture-lifestyle/meghan-markle-letter-pelosi-schumer-backing-paid-leave-exposes-class-d-rcna3644

I’m also proud of the piece I wrote about Robert Durst for NBC THINK, because it highlighted the complex intersection of whether a murderer is entitled to adequate medical care, and also because I got to sing the praises of my nephrologist!

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/robert-durst-dead-78-convicted-killer-i-shared-doctor-i-ncna1287336

I am so proud of breaking the domestic abuse history of Steve Bannon for the NY Post before Trump was elected. I spent three days in the LA Court archives digging through testimony to discover who this man really was. That was epic! Everyone else picked up that story, but I had it first.

https://nypost.com/2016/08/25/trump-campaign-ceo-accused-in-divorce-papers-of-attacking-wife/

And I loved doing a deep dive into the history of LA’s famed Chateau Marmont. I’m a research nut, so this was an absolute blast. Plus, I got to swan around the hotel for a bit doing said research!

https://nypost.com/2010/12/19/in-the-no-tell-hotel-of-the-stars/

There are so many more, but if I had to pick two, it would be covering Hurricane Maria and the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh. Again, it was about shining a light on the personal stories in the aftermath of national tragedies. The Pittsburgh shooting, in particular, was so traumatic. These aren’t easy to do, but I feel an obligation to share these stories with the world.

https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/236028/bringing-hope-healing-puerto-rico/

https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/241129/community-comes-together-wake-tragedy/

NG: Tell us a bit about working with Jennie Nash and Lisa Cron to train authors on how to write fiction according to the neuroscientific research on what triggers a reader’s engagement. Did that experience influence how you run your editing business?

KH: Shout out to Mao Zedong for coining the phrase, “Women hold up half the sky.” If there are two women who have championed writing and made it accessible to writers everywhere, it is Jennie and Lisa—both as a team and individually. They have done so much for the writing community, and I am indebted to them both. To put it succinctly, Jennie opened my mind to how to really dig deep into writing and coaching, and Lisa came along, took all that and then blew my mind wide open. I cannot stress enough how extraordinarily talented and generous and whip smart they both are. I owe my coaching and editing career to them, and it has made me a better writer. They took the mystique out of writing. They help you sift through the dross and pinpoint what really matters. They are also both amazing motivators and let’s face it, motivation is key when you’re writing a novel! It’s a long, hard slog, and I come back to their work repeatedly when I’m working on my own things and when I’m helping others. And of course, it helps that they are both just wonderful people!

NG: You grew up in Australia. What was that like? In a news article you wrote that Olivia Newton John was a “real Aussie battler.” Tell us what that term means to you.

KH: I grew up in England and Australia. Australia is the most extraordinary country. I just wish it wasn’t so far from the rest of the world. I was privileged to grow up there, and perhaps the best way for me to describe it is via a piece I wrote in the wake of the devastating bushfires in January 2020, because this piece is an ode to my childhood and captures everything about what it was like to live there. You can read it here: https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/columnist/309320/my-country-is-burning/

An “Aussie battler” is someone who has weathered incredible storms, who has literally “battled” endless adversity. I am still in awe of how Olivia battled cancer for 30 years. That requires some real stamina.

NG: I’ve never met a ghostwriter before. What are the pros and cons of ghostwriting?

KH: I love being able to shape stories for people who can’t write them themselves as they are not writers per se but have something they need and want to share. I love the collaborative process; of working with someone else and getting to know what’s important to them, what needs to be shared in their story and the best way to get that across. I love how proud they are to see their name on a book or an article. It’s their story, their ideas. I’ve just put it together for them. The cons? Well, you don’t get a byline and you’re sworn to secrecy. You can’t say, “Hey, I wrote that!”

NG: Now a surprise for animal lovers. What would you like to share about your good friend, Bronte?

KH: This entire post should be about her! She is my service dog, my right and left hand. She is an 11-year-old Golden Retriever. She loves and is loved by all who meet her. And here is the most beautiful story about her I can share with you. On November 28, 2002, I survived that Al Qaeda suicide bombing in Mombasa, Kenya. On November 28, 2010, Bronte was born. She allows me to both commemorate that awful day but also celebrate her birth. She allows me to balance the light with the dark. She is my everything.

NG: Your novel “Chasing the Limelight” won a Golden Acorn award. What is the story about?

KH: It’s about a British-born tabloid journalist living in Los Angeles who travels cross-country to track down a mystery novelist who has disappeared.

NG: Is there anything else you wish I’d asked that you’d like to mention?

KH: That I just had a kidney transplant five months ago! What does this have to do with writing? Good question! Well, were it not for meeting fellow writer Pamela Stockwell via Zoom through our daily write-ins with the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, which began at the start of the pandemic, I would not be here right now. I suffer from Polycystic Kidney Disease, an inherited genetic condition that ultimately shuts down your kidneys. My dad died from PKD when I was a teenager (he was 46). Both my siblings have had transplants, too.

Pamela said she wanted to get tested for me and was a match! She lives in New Jersey and I live in Los Angeles. She had her surgery in NJ and her kidney was flown out to me. We have met on Zoom, and FaceTime, but never in real life. We will finally meet this month at the Women’s Fiction Writers Association retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico and CBS Sunday Morning will film our meeting and share our story. So, it was writing and writers that made it possible for my life to be saved. And I want to encourage everyone to consider becoming a living kidney donor because thousands die every year waiting for a kidney. Pamela literally saved my life. https://pkdcure.org/living-with-pkd/transplant/about-donating-your-kidney/

NG: Thanks, Kelly! For more information about Kelly’s editing services here’s the link: https://www.kellyhartog.com/editing-services/

Kelly and I would love to hear from you in the comment section below.