Courage to Create

In this episode of Courage to Create, author Jess Rinker and illustrator Daria Peoples-Riley join host Bethany Hegedus to discuss their picture book biography GLORIA TAKES A STAND: HOW GLORIA STEINEM LISTENED, WROTE, AND CHANGED THE WORLD. Jess is also the author of the forthcoming SEND A GIRL: THE BRENDA BERKMAN STORY and a middle grade duology, THE DARE SISTERS. She has a BA in Social Welfare and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Daria Peoples-Reily is a former teacher with a BA in English and a Masters in Education, and now she is a full-time author and illustrator. THIS IS IT is her first picture book and a companion book, I GOT NEXT, comes out in July 2019.

During their discussion, the three women delve into the desire to be heard and how that desire fuels their own work just as it fuels Gloria Steinem's work. Daria talks personally about the frustration of wanting to be heard but not being listened to and how she took a stand against it in college by becoming the president of the university's NAACP chapter. Jess explains how she was already reading Gloria Steinem's work when her agent suggested she write about Gloria Steinem, a perfect subject for Jess because of her interest in social welfare. Daria was hooked by the project after reading Jess's manuscript and realizing she wanted to know more about Gloria Steinem, so the project felt ideal to her. Find out more about Daria at https://www.dariapeoples.com/ and more about Jess at https://www.jessicarinker.com/.

On this episode of Courage to Create, Bethany tackles the sticky subject of self-promotion through Jennifer Weiner's recent Publisher's Weekly article, "Deconstructing 'I Wrote A Thing.'" Writers, especially women, struggle to promote our own work without falling into the familiar trap of self-deprecating "humble-brags." How can we reframe self-promotion to remove shame and prioritize connection? How can women writers stop letting male writers be the confident ones? Listen as Bethany works through these questions by reflecting on both Weiner's article and her own personal life.

This Courage to Create episode is all about learning to be resilient and work with the negative aspects of ourselves and others while also learning to set boundaries. Bethany Hegedus discusses the fine art of critiquing your own work and the work of others and learning to accept what resonates with you and leave the rest. As writers, we must also guard who we let into our creative lives and set ourselves up to win as we come to understand our own limits along with who and what feeds us and who and what drains us. Bethany quotes from Robert Sutton on creativity and Brene Brown on resilience and courage. Lean how to protect yourself, your energy, and your writing time in this latest episode of Courage to Create.

ANGEL THIEVES took three years and countless hours of research to write even though Kathi grew up on the Houston bayou. Getting the history of the city and the people right and telling the truth as deeply as possible were vital to Kathi as she crafted this complex story. She and Bethany discuss the misrepresentation in history that has shaped us and continues to do so and why Kathi used sensitivity readers to help her represent the characters and world in this novel as honestly as possible. They also discuss the importance of place in fiction and how setting can be the backbone of a story. Both writers share their delight in seeing how children's literature, especially picture books, has expanded to include difficult subjects that, when handled well, can impact children's worldview and teach them empathy. They give a shout-out to friend and fellow author, Kekla Magoon, and her beautiful books and they discuss how the children they write for give them courage to tackle tough topics with honesty as Kekla and many authors do so skillfully in their work. Also, Bethany and Kathi talk about how long stories and ideas can live with us and reassure writers that not every idea has to be written right now. In fact, ANGEL THIEVES was really 25 years in the making rather than just three. Listen today to this inspiring episode with the talented and insightful Kathi Appelt and find out more about Kathi and her work at https://www.kathiappelt.com/

That's right! You heard us correctly, the Porchlight Podcast will now be fully folded under author Bethany Hegedus' Courage to Create Series. Listen to this quick episode to find out exactly what that means! Don't worry listeners, we still full intend to provide you with author interviews, literary life talks, and more.

You can also read more about the change on The Writing Barn Blog.

Do you have great expectations about writing and publishing and how much time your literary life should take? Are you constantly disappointed because your literary life isn't meeting those high standards?

In the tenth episode of Bethany Hegedus' Courage to Create series, she discusses how we can free ourselves from unrealistic expectations and focus on small steps rather than huge milestones. She reminds us that there are no shortcuts in having a writing career nor is there one specific path to follow. We each create that path for ourselves.

Bethany advises us to stop letting time matter and instead to embrace where we are now in our literary lives and look at where we want to go because that's all we can control.

She even walks listeners through the three act plot structure of the literary life: apprentice years, early career, and mastery. Listen today for insights and inspiration to let yourself realize that the time it takes is the time it takes.

Bethany Hegedus is back with episode 8 in her Courage to Create series. This is Bethany's most personal and forthright talk yet where she discusses how to create from personal pain and your unhealed places and how she herself has done this numerous times in her career. Delving deeply into the messiness of life, Bethany monologues on the struggle of good vs. great writing, allowing ourselves to have breakdowns, and examining what we are looking to heal from in our own life and how that shows up in our work. She talks about writers who have influenced her, namely Laurie Halse Anderson and the power of her new, revealing memoir SHOUT, which Bethany also reads aloud from. Tune in today and be inspired as Bethany bravely shares her personal pain to help listeners tap into, use, and heal from their own. Do not miss this lovely and moving episode!