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“I would like to think that I have a lot going on – different layers that aren’t apparent at the surface,” explains native Houstonian and author, Quinn Holladay. Every woman has an identity comprised of her many facets, all of which should be celebrated. Empowering a woman “is not about choosing between these different facets, but creatively finding a balance for all of them,” she continues. Both firefighters and survivors by nature (one taking on the demise of a 30 year marriage head-on and the other beating cancer into remission for more than 25 years), Quinn’s grandmother (also named Quinn) and mother were a strong feminine influence that helped shape the woman’s voice we hear written today.

Yet, Quinn’s unique and refreshing worldview isn’t just the result of two, but many individuals and experiences.

Raised by both a mom and dad who didn’t give a second thought to gender stereotypes, there wasn’t a time during childhood where Quinn heard, “you’re a girl; so, you can’t do....” Whether playing alongside her brother with her own superhero in tote or sitting in front of a computer “hacking away,” it simply never occurred to her that society thought that little girls and such things didn’t mix. “That’s not to say that I didn’t love girly things; it’s just I didn’t have to choose. I could be outside playing soccer and then come inside and play Barbie.”

A few years down the road, armed with some additional life experience under her belt (including a tumultuous romantic relationship and a full dose of graduate school), Quinn learned more than her share of life’s lessons. “Someone can only tear you down if you let them,” she explains. But, with experience as the teacher, she learned that the only person she needed to please was herself. And, with graduate school, came self discipline. “I gained what I was willing to put into it.” Realizing her self-set timelines mattered; she used them as motivation to get things done. Eventually earning her doctorate in psychology, she says it was a natural fit for telling a story - drawing on observations to make characters and situations more relatable. The truth is, “sometimes real-life is more outrageous than fiction!”

Described by her best friend as “loyal and driven, with a taste for expensive shoes and junk-food,” the sometimes sarcastic and always independent woman behind Dropping the Other Shoe, believes that while succeeding doesn’t depend on a man, she admits a good support system can help. “Having a man doesn’t make you less strong, but losing yourself or your dreams can.” Proud of her ability to balance independence with a genuine connection to other people, Kate Hayden, the focus of Quinn’s novels, was born from her own experience. With strong bonds to her own group of girlfriends and inspired by accomplishing women of the world, Quinn’s literary alter ego is a personality we all know fondly, an independent woman struggling to find a balance in her life.

Always guilty of finding out how a movie ends before she has seen it and assuming the name Bellaire Slim during a round of poker, Doc Holladay admits she may not have what it takes to be a blonde (she says highlights were an utter disaster), she is definitely a feminine spirit of the most inspiring kind. Treasuring her stilettos, explaining she always feels better in a pair, she continues by saying, “being a woman doesn’t define me, but it is a defining characteristic.”

~ dusty gilbert, editor