International Women's Month Collection: Irene Lyla Lee

Meet Irene, she's one of my writing mentors and beta readers. But mostly, she's a mentor and accountability partner outside the group I started. I love it. 

Kaylyn Gabbert: We met when I joined the Brooklyn Women's Writing Group that you host via Zoom that I joined last year. I heard you guys started meeting in person first. When was the group founded?

Irene Lyla Lee: Oh gosh. I think the group was founded in 2017, but I joined in the summer of 2019. The leaders have changed over the years. 

KG: When did you first fall in love with writing?

ILL: Oh my God. That is such a sweet question. I'm an only, so I've, like, always been making up stories. I don't know when I started to write my dreams at the age of nine. Then I started to write every day. I think it helped me ground myself to the world. Without my seventh grade teacher seeing me as a writer I probably would not have seen myself as a writer. 

KG: What started your love affair with in-home gardening?

ILL: *laughs* I always tried to keep plants, but this was fairly recent. Here's the deal, I used to have a basement apartment with no real light but in this apartment [3rd floor] can have some plants. Five years ago, my old roommate gave me a pothos [a plant that grows on the window], and when I saw it growing I noticed I can take care of plants. Also you bring plants back if they are dying.