88 Cups of Tea

Y'all. The 88th episode has arrived. Dun dun DUN!

Today’s milestone episode is proudly sponsored by Sun Basket and BookCon. It features eight incredible listeners from our 88 Cups of Tea community. I remember when I first launched this podcast, the 88th episode seemed so far fetched. I can’t believe the day is finally here.

Thank you all for getting us to the 88th episode, without listeners like you who tune in to kick it with us each week, we would not have made it this far. The selection process for this episode was incredibly difficult. We had a flood of listeners submitting applications that averaged 40 minutes to complete. There was a lot that I threw at you and I’m blown away by your thoughtful and lengthy responses.

All of the guests you’re going to hear from today have been long-time listeners and are a huge part of our community. They have all been so active, engaged, and vocal in our community. It was so nice to talk to each of them and getting to hear their voices for the first time!

I hope you have a fun time learning about your fellow tribe members in today’s episode! You’ll learn about how much you have in common with each other. We’re all going through similar paths where you can see it’s quite natural for us to be empathetic of each other’s struggles, and for us to celebrate each other’s accomplishments as if they’re our own, no matter how big or small.

Happy listening!

Xo

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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Join our loving community over in our private facebook group by clicking here!

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“Writing gave me my own identity, it gave me something outside of my family, something for me.” -Tia Bearden

“Part of our conflict drove my desire to write a very honest portrayal, I wanted a voice out there that discussed this cultural gap in a very raw way that other people could relate to.” -Gloria Chao

“You have to put in the work to get better and its something that you will constantly get better at for the rest of your life.” -Tara Creel

“It has always been my job to tell stories that are not my own and to try and do them justice and to be respectful even when there are people or perspectives that I either don’t necessarily agree with or know that I can’t fully understand.” -Amanda Connolly

“I put so much into my character’s life that’s from my own.” -Kristy Mauna

"This book is a love letter to my imagination." -Megan LaCroix

“What I really do try to do is that even if I’m not actively writing usable words down for the story that day, that I’m thinking of the story. So I’ll open up the document. If I’m not inspired to write, I’ll go and find a scene that I love and I’ll just read it.” -Kat Cho

“When I come home from work and I’m tired, I don’t feel like writing half the time and I sit down and make myself do it. It’s like going to the gym when you haven’t gone in a long time.” -Alyssa Colman

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Learn More About: Tia Bearden is an admin assistant by day. By night she is a part time writer and a full time fangirl. She resides (with her husband, daughter, and cat) in Alabama. She comes from a small town where the accents are thick and the tea is sweet. Tia loves Thin Mints and oversharing. She is always up for making new friends, so you can find her angsting about writing on Twitter.   Gloria Chao is an MIT grad turned dentist turned writer. She currently lives in Chicago with her ever-supportive husband, for whom she became a nine-hole golfer (sometimes seven). She is always up for cooperative board games, Dance Dance Revolution, or soup dumplings. She was also once a black belt in kung-fu and a competitive dancer, but that side of her was drilled and suctioned out. American Panda is her debut novel, forthcoming spring 2018. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world here and find her on Twitter.   Tara Creel lives in Utah with her husband and four boys. She is an editor for WriteOnEditing and Month9Books. She also reviews books for The Deseret News. You can find her blogging and on Twitter. When not writing books for children, editing, reviewing or reading, she can be found hard at work at a DIY project or out in nature.   Amanda Connolly is an award-winning Canadian journalist covering federal politics and national security. After having lived across the country, she is now based in the Canadian capital of Ottawa where she can be found either chasing down politicians or with her nose firmly stuck in a book, usually involving some kind of magic or superpowers. She is represented by Kristy Hunter of the Knight Agency. Find Amanda on Twitter!   Kristy Mauna: Outside of being a mother and eating lots of Chinese food, Kristy’s passion has always been writing. Through her work, she hopes to help others find their own voice and help people embrace our differences by learning from the art we share. Kristy is currently working on her first YA novel. Until then, you can find her writing about life in her 20s, motherhood, and more on her blog.

Megan LaCroix is a reader, a writer, a lover of the outdoors, and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She loves lush books with literary slants and hooky voices, and is currently revising a young adult fantasy that was chosen to participate in Pitch Wars 2016. Megan lives in Virginia with her handsome husband and their two adventurous daughters. You can visit her website and stop by her Twitter.

Kat Cho used to hide books under the bathroom sink and then sneak in there to read after bedtime. Her parents pretended not to know. This helped when she decided to write a dinosaur time-travel novel at the tender age of nine. Sadly, that book was not published. She loves anything that encourages nerding out, including reading, blogging, K-dramas, K-pop and anime. Currently, Kat writes YA sci-fi and fantasy and is represented by Beth Phelan at the Bent Agency. You can find her here and on Twitter.

Alyssa Colman holds a double degree in English and Theatre from Wake Forest University. As a playwright, she was a winner of the 2013 ESPA new play competition at Primary Stages in New York and was a semi-finalist at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference. When she’s not writing, Alyssa loves reading every book she can get her hands on, baking bread from scratch, and hiking with her husband. You can find her on Twitter.

 

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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I’m thrilled to share this week’s new episode featuring Victoria “V.E.” Schwab, the #1 NYT bestselling author of 12 books. Most of you know Victoria from The Shades of Magic series where an Entertainment Weekly article describes her writing as “addictive and immersive.”

Click here for Victoria's shownotes page! A quick heads up, this episode has adult language.

In Victoria’s episode proudly brought to you by BookCon, we cover a whole lot about life and non-writing related topics including sexuality, tea, the fear of speaking, serial killers, etiquette camp, and S-Town.This magnificent being is queen.

A bit more about what we cover over in the writing related avenue: We discuss why it’s crucial to create as few parameters as you can around your writing, and how working with a flexible schedule and freeing yourself from a strict writing place helps with productivity.

Victoria breaks down how she’s able to read 100 books a year and you’ll be able to apply her tips to your own habits to up your reading game. We touch on reading different genres and styles of writing and how that helps to strengthen your writing.

For my craft-focused listeners, this episode is a d-r-e-a-m. We unpack the differences in writing multiple genres, writing morally ambiguous characters, discovering the voices of your characters, and writing multiple points of views.

Say "Hi" to Victoria on Twitter by clicking here.

Happy listening!

Xo

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support. You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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Don't forget to join our private Facebook group :)

If you like behind-the-scenes stuff, check out our Instagram stories where you can see snippets of our podcasting world.

We have Sandhya Menon with us this week! A refreshing new voice in young adult fiction, her debut, "When Dimple Met Rishi", is a charming romantic comedy that celebrates first love, and at the core, explores one’s own independence and voice in the world. Click here for Sandhya's shownotes page!

As you’ll learn in our conversation, Sandhya moved from India when she was 15 years old and she shares how she adapted to her new surroundings in America, and how she was able to draw from those experiences for her book. Sandhya shares in detail how the idea of “When Dimple Met Rishi” was originally pitched to her by her editor.

Sandhya walks us through how indie publishing brought the world of traditional publishing to her, and how her agent discovered her.  You’ll also learn how Youtube and Pinterest played critical roles in Sandhya’s research for the setting of her book. We also discuss arranged marriages and what it was like for us to date when we were growing up. This is a really fun episode and I’m so excited for you to hear it.

Say "Hi" to Sandhya on Twitter by clicking here.

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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“OWN voice is people. We’re not a monolith. There are so many different experiences.” -Sandhya Menon (Click to Tweet)

“It was a conscious and constant dialogue that I had to have with myself and just say ‘Hey, just do your best and let it go’.” -Sandhya Menon (Click to Tweet)

“We contain multitudes just like the people who have been getting those stories. It’s okay for us to not have ‘the issue’ book.” -Sandhya Menon (Click to Tweet)

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Click here to get your limited edition 88 Cups of Tea mug!

Don't forget to join our private Facebook group :)

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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:

• How avoiding the query trenches led her to indie publishing
• How indie publishing brought the world of book-length publishing to Sandhya
• Sandhya shares how her literary agent discovered her through her indie published contemporary adult novel on Amazon
• How the idea of "When Dimple Met Rishi" was pitched to Sandhya by her editor
• How Youtube and pinterest played critical roles in her research for the setting in her book
• We discuss arranged marriages and dating

 

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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We have the legendary Jerry Spinelli of the Newbery Medal winning “Maniac Magee”, and the Newbery Honor winner “Wringer” on the show with us this week. Jerry is the New York Times bestselling author of over 30 novels including “Stargirl”, a Publishers Weekly 'Best Book of the Year'. "Stargirl" is also being adapted into a movie directed by Catherine Hardwicke from the films “Thirteen” and “Twilight”. 

In describing Jerry’s writing, The New York Times says, “No writer guides his young characters, and his readers, past these pitfalls and challenges and toward their futures with more compassion.”

In Jerry’s episode proudly brought to you by Sun Basket, we jump right into his childhood stories that paved the way to his journey as an author, and we touch back on the experience that led Jerry to realizing he could make a career out of writing. We dive a little deeper to discuss how he created a writing life that involved a full-time job and raising a family.

Further into Jerry’s episode, he brings us behind the scenes in writing “Maniac Magee”. He also shares the inspiration behind his newest book, “The Warden’s Daughter” and the important differences between writing “for” the audience and writing “about” the audience.

Jerry shares his take on writing honest stories for your readers and how to craft authentic voices for your characters.  He also walks us through his loose writing structure and shares tips on financially supporting yourself as a writer that works with your lifestyle.  If you’ve been feeling stuck with your writing lately, look out for the part where Jerry explains what the “miserable middle” is, and his advice on coping with those moments and why it’s crucial to not give authority to writers’ block.  For listeners who are about to send off query letters to literary agents, you’ll want to pay special attention to Jerry’s querying tips and why writing short query letters will help to show that you’re an effective writer.

For a list of Jerry's recommended resources, we have them listed out on his shownotes page. Just click here!

Happy listening! 

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support. You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

Ann Brashares is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series, which has sold over 8.7 million copies. Booklist hailed Ann’s newest book "The Whole Thing Together" as “quintessential Brashares”, it’s a story that explores fractured families, first love, and loss.

Click here to go directly to Ann's shownotes page where we list the resources mentioned in her episode. 

In Ann’s episode, we jump right into the inspiration behind “The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants” and how she made the transition from the original "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" to "Sisterhood Everlasting". Ann also shares the inspiration behind her newest book and we discuss how she explores the emotional complexities of her characters.

We discover how reading became a refuge for Ann throughout her childhood and how she now finds time to write with a busy family schedule. We also get into the fundamentals of writing challenging and personal scenes in your stories and why it’s so important to surround yourself with trustworthy accountability partners. Ann shares tips about joining a book club and how to approach it in a way that specifically helps to improve your craft at writing.

For listeners working on query letters, Ann walks us through how being personal and specific in your query letter can attract literary agents.

Click here to say "Hi" to Ann!

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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“In order to get going, I just need to write.” -Ann Brashares (Click to tweet!)

“You really just have to liberate yourself to try things, take risks, and write really badly sometimes if necessary.” -Ann Brashares (Click to tweet!)

“I was a reader certainly before I was a writer and I just loved getting involved in stories” -Ann Brashares (Click to tweet!)

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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:

• How reading became a refuge for Ann during her childhood
• Ann shares a snapshot of her new book "The Whole Thing Together"
• How Ann explores the emotional complexities of her characters
• How to write challenging and personal scenes in your stories
• The importance of surrounding yourself with trustworthy accountability partners
• How joining a book club can help improve your craft at writing
• The inspiration behind "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"
• How to find the time to write with a busy family schedule
• How Ann made the transition from the original "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" to "Sisterhood Everlasting"
• How being personal and specific in your query letter can attract literary agents

Click here to go directly to Ann's shownotes page where we list the resources mentioned in her episode. 

Jack Cheng’s debut novel “See You in the Cosmos”. earned high praises from the likes of Entertainment Weekly and The Wall Street Journal, describing his book as “stellar” and “life-embracing”.

An Entertainment Weekly article describes Jack as an author with a knack for creating unique characters that stay with the reader long after the story has moved on. I’m thrilled to finally share Jack’s episode as we jump right into the nitty gritty about developing themes in your stories from the relationships and experiences in your own life.

Click here to go directly to Jack's shownotes page where we list the resources mentioned in his episode.

We discuss how a country-wide road trip led Jack to self-discovery, and how that eye-opening experience inspired the story idea for “See You in the Cosmos”. Further into our conversation, we explore why being understanding about the people around us helps to create the groundwork for our stories.

Before writing his traditionally published debut novel, Jack successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his self-published book called “These Days”. We go into detail about his Kickstarter journey and the community that showed up to support his writing dream. We also talk about his background as an entrepreneur and what the transition was like from self-publishing to traditional publishing.

We unpack the importance of following your passions first and making sense of it all later. For listeners working on query letters to send out to literary agents, Jack shares his take on writing a successful letter by being honest, kind, and gracious. He also shares his advice on making money as a writer, and how journaling helps you reach your writing goals the way it did for him.

Click here to say "Hi" to Jack!

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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“I try to follow my passions and afterwards try to make sense of it and try to make meaning out of it.” -Jack Cheng (Click to tweet)

“One of the most important things is to have that writing practice, and I find that sometimes, when I haven’t written in awhile, how I’ll get going is I’ll just try to journal.” -Jack Cheng

“I turned to the novel as a way to reflect and in some cases just like vent about the things that were frustrating me about my day-to-day work.” -Jack Cheng

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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:

• How Jack used Kickstarter as the vehicle to help self-publish his book These Days
• How Jack’s family supports his writing career to create deeper and more meaningful connections with one another
• The importance of acceptance and sensitivity towards others’ dreams
• How your relationships and experiences can be used as themes in your stories
• The inspiration behind Jack’s country-wide road trip that led to self-discovery
• How attempts at trying to understand the people around us helps create the groundwork for our stories
• The importance of following your passions first and making sense of it all later
• How grace, honesty, and kindness can make a successful query letter
• Ways to survive financially as a writer
• How journaling will help you reach your writing goals

 

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Content note: Hey listeners, as a heads up, this episode contains discussions about sexual violence. If you're not in the right head space for those kinds of conversations you can always come back to this episode later or skip it all together.

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Kami Garcia is a #1 New York Times-bestselling and Bram Stoker nominated author, and the co-author of the "Beautiful Creatures" and "Dangerous Creatures" novels. Her solo series, the "Legion", includes the instant New York Times bestseller "Unbreakable" and its sequel, "Unmarked". Click here to visit Kami's shownotes page where she lists a tremendous list of helpful resources!

In today’s episode proudly brought to you by Sun Basket, we learn what drew Kami to write in the YA and Romance genre and the inspiration behind her novel "The Lovely Reckless". We discuss the inner workings of writing for a fandom and all about Kami’s experience writing "The X-Files Origins" book.  We also discuss Kami’s work as a teacher for 17 years and uncover the inequalities in the public school system and she shares advice that will help create change.

She talks about why we’re responsible for speaking up and stepping in to help one another, and how the YA community’s support of diversity creates new normals. We also touch on the underlying theme of fitting in and embracing your differences throughout all of her novels.  

For our craft-focused writers, Kami walks us through writing POV characters with authenticity and why it’s crucial to understand your characters’ past when you’re crafting dynamic villains in your story. Kami shares powerful advice on creating solid query letters and how to effectively pitch your book to literary agents.

Say "Hi" to Kami on Twitter!

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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If you'd love to support our show and rock your Limited Edition 88 Cups of Tea mug (signed by yours truly), click here for more info. Thank you so much in advance for showing your love and supporting our show!

If you're looking to feel right at home with a close-knit group of encouraging and supportive writers, join our private Facebook group by clicking here. We have weekly check-ins about our creative work, book recs, and live Facebook videos of unboxing book packages. We also share previews of upcoming episodes and you can submit listener-questions for upcoming interviews.

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“I think that the key is to write either what you know or you have access to.” -Kami Garcia (Click to tweet)

“Books give us the chance to be other people and go other places.” -Kami Garcia (Click to tweet)

“The willingness to stand up for other people and speak out when something is wrong is very prevalent in the YA community.” -Kami Garcia (Click to tweet)

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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: 

• What drew Kami to the YA and Romance genre
• The inspiration behind Kami’s novel The Lovely Reckless
• Kami discusses our responsibility for speaking up and stepping in to help one another
• The importance of acting on your intuition and trusting your gut
• The themes of fitting in while embracing your differences in Kami’s novels
• How the YA community’s support of diversity creates new normals
• Why research and personal connection is crucial when writing diverse characters
• How to write POV characters with authenticity
• Kami discusses the inequalities in the public school system and advises steps to create change
• Understanding your characters’ past when crafting dynamic villains in your story
• The inner workings of writing for a fandom and all about Kami’s experience writing The X-Files Origins
• Tips for creating a solid query letter to land a literary agent
• How to effectively pitch your book to literary agents
• How reading craft books will immensely strengthen your craft and help you write an addictive read
• Ways to  earn  income to support your writing dreams

LEARN MORE ABOUT KAMI GARCIA: 

Kami Garcia is a #1 New York Times-bestselling and Bram Stoker nominated author, and the co-author of the Beautiful Creatures and Dangerous Creatures novels. Her solo series, the Legion, includes the instant New York Times bestseller Unbreakable and its sequel, Unmarked.   Kami was a teacher for seventeen years and co-authored her first novel on a dare from seven of her students. If she isn’t busy watching Supernatural, Kami can teach you how to escape from a pair of handcuffs or bake a Coca-Cola cake. She has never raced a car, but there is still time. Kami lives in Maryland with her family and their dogs, Spike and Oz.

I’m delighted to have Irena Brignull on the show! Irena is a renowned screenwriter and novelist. She wrote the Oscar nominated movie, "The Boxtrolls", starring Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning and Simon Pegg. Irena was nominated for Best Screenplay for "The Boxtrolls" at the Annie Awards. Her adaptation of "The Little Prince" was directed by Mark Osborne and stars Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, and Marion Cotillard. Earlier in her career, Irena was a Script Executive at the BBC and then Head of Development at Dogstar Films where she was the script editor on hit films including "Shakespeare in Love" to name a few. She recently debuted "The Hawkweed Prophecy", a novel about identity, friendship, and romance.

Click here to go directly to Irena's shownotes page that lists all of his awesome recommended resources.

In today’s episode, we discuss Irena’s career as a screenwriter and her experiences writing and adapting The Boxtrolls and The Little Prince. We also discuss what it’s like to be a female screenwriter in a male-dominated industry, and Irena shares advice for women discovering their voice and authority in their own profession.

We unpack the inspiration behind "The Hawkweed Prophecy" and what it’s like to transition between screenwriting and novel writing. For our craft-focused writers, Irena walks us through how to find inspiration for character traits, how to overcome writing difficult scenes, how to validate and grow your story ideas, and how to build balanced characters to create authentic and genuine relationships in your story.

Say "Hi" to Irena on Twitter!

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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“The more you write the more you find your voice.” -Irena Brignull (Click to tweet)

"It’s a great thing to be able to go back and have the chance to make it better." -Irena Brignull (Click to tweet)

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Click here to grab your Limited Edition & signed 88 Cups of Tea mug! Thank you in advance for your love and support for our show! 

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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM IRENA'S EPISODE: 

• Tips on learning the art of screenwriting
• The importance of collaboration and teamwork in screenwriting
• Irena walks us through her transition between screenwriting and novel writing
• The inspiration behind “The Hawkweed Prophecy“
• Where you can find inspiration for character traits
• Advice on building balanced characters to create authentic and genuine relationships in your story
• What Irena’s flexible writing structure looks like
• How to overcome writing difficult scenes
• Irena’s experience as a female screenwriter and her advice to women on finding their voice and authority in their profession
• How to find time to write with a busy schedule
• How to validate and grow your story ideas
• Irena’s experience as a screenwriter for "The Boxtrolls" and "The Little Prince"
• Learn how to discover your voice and writing style
• The importance of moving past your first draft and being open to the editing process

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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I’m so excited to collaborate with Quarterly to bring you today’s episode featuring Beth Revis! Beth is a New York Times bestselling author most widely recognized for her book series "Across the Universe" which was selected as a Teen Top Ten novel by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), long-listed for the Carnegie Medal, and featured as a Book of the Month from Seventeen Magazine. In her latest title, "A World Without You", Beth guides us through a complex look at loss and grief through a lens of mental illness. Lucasfilm tapped Beth to write the backstory of Jyn Erso in her newest book "Rebel Rising" releasing in May. Beth also had the honor of being the very first curator for Quarterly’s YA fiction subscription box. They are the only book subscription curated by authors just for readers like you and I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that Quarterly created an exclusive special just for our 88 Cups of Tea community where you’ll save $8 off your subscription box by entering promo code “88cups” at check-out!

In today’s episode, we dive right into how Beth drew inspiration from her career as a teacher for her book series "Across the Universe". We also take a closer look at the inspiration behind "A World Without You". We discuss how being a part of online writing communities can instill confidence for your writing, and we explore how to cope with the far-too-common mindset of not feeling like we’re good enough, and moving past that imposter syndrome as a writer. Click here to go directly to Beth's shownotes page that lists all of her amazing recommended resources. 

For listeners who are all about getting down and dirty with the technical topics, you’re going to LOVE Beth’s writing tips. We dive into her research methods for crafting science fiction novels and how to write strong background characters. She guides us in approaching emotional scenes that are difficult to get through, and step-by-step advice on the world building process. Beth even jumps in with tips for writing unreliable characters, how to send out query letters, and earning income while pursuing your art.

Say "Hi" to Beth on Twitter!

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

---

If you'd love to support our show and rock your Limited Edition 88 Cups of Tea mug (signed by yours truly), click here for more info. Thank you so much in advance for showing your love and supporting our show!

If you're looking to feel right at home with a close-knit group of encouraging and supportive writers, join our private Facebook group by clicking here. We have weekly check-ins about our creative work, book recs, and live Facebook videos of unboxing book packages. We also share previews of upcoming episodes and you can submit listener-questions for upcoming interviews.

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“Make sure that your world is just not pristine, make it dirty and make it really lived in.” -Beth Revis (Click to tweet)

“The more new experiences you have, the more stories you’ll have to tell." -Beth Revis (Click to tweet)

"There’s a value in failure that I think people often ignore and forget because failure teaches us to not give up." -Beth Revis (Click to tweet)

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What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• How Beth drew inspiration from her career as a teacher for her book series Across the Universe
• How online writing communities instill confidence for you as a writer
• How to overcome imposter syndrome as a writer
• Finding value in failure and how it sustains a long-term career for your art
• Beth’s research methods for crafting science fiction novels
• What it means to make your story’s world dirty and how this writing tip can help your world building process
• How to write strong background characters
• Advice on writing unreliable characters
• How to approach emotional scenes in your story
• Beth shares her experience as Quarterly’s first YA fiction curator, from the thought process in carefully selecting the books and goodies for her subscription box, to the thoughts she had when writing annotations throughout A World Without You
• How and why to send out your query letters in batches
• Advice for earning an income while pursuing your art

Learn More About Beth Revis:

Beth Revis grew up in the Appalachian mountains with a cemetery in her backyard, which is probably why she prefers her stories to be dark and full of twists. She’s the New York Times bestselling author of the Across the Universe trilogy, which has been translated into over twenty languages. Beth lives in a house full of boys—her husband, son, and two massive dogs—and she forces them all to watch reruns of Firefly and Doctor Who.

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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I’m so excited to have Jeff Zentner on the show! Jeff is the William C. Morris award-winning author of his debut novel “The Serpent King”. His debut was also selected as a New York Times notable book, and an Amazon Best Book of the year. Both Buzzfeed and Mashable named “The Serpent King” as one of the Best YA books of 2016! Click here to go directly to Jeff's shownotes page that lists all of his awesome recommended resources.

His second novel, “Goodbye Days” was recently released to rave reviews. Time magazine selected “Goodbye Days” as one of the five new books that guide young readers through hardships and struggles with lessons in resilience and hope.

In today’s episode, we dive right into the inspiration behind “The Serpent King” and “Goodbye Days”. Jeff walks us through his thought process while writing authentic voices for his characters. We dive even further into step-by-step advice on building strong characters and improving character development.

Jeff shares tips on approaching difficult scenes that challenge readers, and how to write about grief in fiction. We also discuss how storytelling inspires empathy and why it’s necessary for writers to carve out protected time for their writing.

Happy listening!

Xo,

Yin

PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! 

PPS. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page!

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"Write what fascinates you, and write who you love." -Jeff Zentner (Click to tweet)

"You can be creative around the edges of a normal life." -Jeff Zentner (Click to tweet)

"You’ve got to commit to getting words on the page and you have to commit to finishing what you started." -Jeff Zentner (Click to tweet)

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Click here to grab your Limited Edition & signed 88 Cups of Tea mug! Thank you in advance for your love and support for our show! 

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What you'll learn from Jeff's episode:

• Why it’s absolutely necessary to create protected and sacred writing time
• Jeff’s insight into writing authentic voices
• Step-by-step advice on building strong characters
• How to improve character development
• Jeff’s thoughts on the connection between tragedy and comedy
• How to approach difficult scenes that challenge your readers
• How storytelling inspires empathy
• Why it’s crucial to show different cultures coming together in literature
• How to write about grief in a story
• Small manageable steps to take to accomplish your writing goals

Learn More About Jeff Zentner:

Jeff Zentner is the acclaimed author of The Serpent King. In addition to writing, he is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who has recorded with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, and Debbie Harry.  “Goodbye Days” is his love letter to the city of Nashville and the talented people who populate it. He lives in Nashville with his wife and son.