Before Eleanor Henderson could write by herself, she would dictate stories to her mother. When she was older she would watch Nickelodeon shows or read books and retell them. It seems no wonder that Henderson grew up to become a writer.

“I don’t remember a time when I did not love writing,” Henderson said.She was born in Greece and raised in Florida. In high school, she was editor of her school newspaper. Even though she now writes primarily fiction, she recalls that writing nonfiction taught her a lot about her craft. She received her MFA in fiction from University of Virginia and has written and published multiple short stories. Despite this, it took her a lot longer to publish a novel than she anticipated.
“I wanted to publish by the time I was sixteen. And then I didn’t and I was heartbroken,” Henderson said.  She continued to set unrealistic deadlines for herself. “I now know good work takes time.”
In her case, nine years. Henderson’s novel, Ten Thousand Saints  was published on June 7, 2011. It was named one of the top ten books of 2011 by The New York Times. Writing a novel was a little different than her short stories.
“It’s similar in the sense that I do prewriting. [I fill] a couple of notebooks of notes. The act of imagining a world or story [the same.],” Henderson said. “To learn to write a novel you have to teach yourself [and] sustain that momentum. “
To get her book published, Henderson sent out a query letter to a literary agent. The agent then advertised to different publishers. It was fifteen months between the time was sent to the publisher and when it was edited. Henderson worked with an editor who gave her extensive notes on her drafts. The book also had to go through copy editing and fact checking processes.
“A lot happens to a book behind the scenes,” Henderson said. For her part, a good day of writing is completing a couple of pages. She typically gets up at 5:00 and writes for a couple of hours before her children (3 1/2 and 7 months) wake up. She struggles with finding time to write.
“I have so many stories to tell and not enough time to tell them,” Henderson said. In addition to her family Henderson’s time is taken up by teaching writing courses at Ithaca College in New York State. She has also taught at James Madison University. After the publication of her novel, she has also been busy touring.
“I love being able to talk with readers. [Writing] can be quite a lonely endeavor.” Henderson said. When Henderson talks to aspiring writers, she has several pieces of advice.
“Take your time. Try to be easy on yourself. I would encourage any teenagerto write anything and everything they can, and read anything and everything they can.” It is a formula that has propelled Henderson to success.