by Bethany | Dec 12, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
In episode three of the new Courage to Create series, Bethany Hegedus takes us through the agent/client relationship, including what it should and should not be, how to make sure it’s a fitting partnership on both sides, and how to be your own boss.
How can you know yourself first as a client before entering the relationship? How can you be wary of “schmagents” who are not in it to be your advocate? What do you need and want from an agent? Bethany answers these questions and more on how you can find the right agent and build a professional relationship based on communication and conversations, even those about the tough stuff. Plus she reminds us that continuing to do the work and study the craft and seek our own approval matter more than awards and reviews. Learn and be inspired by Bethany’s wisdom and guidance as you navigate your own literary life path.
by Bethany | Dec 5, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
On episode 35 of The Porchlight, Bethany Hegedus speaks with debut author Lucia DiStefano about her YA novel BORROWED, a genre-bending book about the mysteries of cellular memory in a teen girl who receives a heart transplant. Lucia is a first generation Sicilian and the daughter of an olive farmer. She grew up in Connecticut and now lives near Austin, TX. A former high school English teacher, Lucia now not only writes fiction, but she also works as an editor, ghost writer, and writing coach.
Bethany calls this episode a master class in creativity as she and Lucia delve into what Norman Mailer calls “the spooky art” of writing and the magic and mystery of the creative process. They discuss how the seeds of ideas are first planted in a writer’s mind as well as the many iterations ideas can go through as they evolve into a book. Lucia talks about how much she loves to ask the big questions, the ones that don’t have easy answers, and how she explores that in her work along with the question: how much control do we truly have over who we are? She and Bethany also ruminate on the importance of feeling excited over a good day’s work and remembering to enjoy the process of writing. Find out more about BORROWED at https://elephantrockbooks.com/ya-contest/ and find Lucia on Twitter @LuciaDiStef
Check out Lucia’s recent Blog Tour , which includes interviews, essays, review and more all about her debut novel.
Lucia DiStefano: A former high school English teacher, Lucia DiStefano currently works as an editor, ghostwriter, and writing coach. First-generation Sicilian-American and daughter of an olive farmer, she admits to having recurring pasta dreams. Hailing from central Connecticut, Lucia lives near Austin, Texas with her husband and an old bloodhound named Waffle.
by Bethany | Nov 28, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
In episode two of The Porchlight’s new series, Courage to Create, Writing Barn founder and author Bethany Hegedus asks listeners to answer the question why were you called to live this literary life? Bethany was called because she wants to be heard and believes we all deserve to be heard.
She discusses the importance of finding your community, not just those who will read your work but also those who are living their own literary life and will support you on your journey. Why is it we want an audience and how do we find one? How do we keep going even when that ugly internal editor voice tells us to quit? Bethany gives listeners tips, tools, and inspiration on how to answer these questions and more as we become” literary lifers” who are fully committed to our creativity.
by Bethany | Nov 21, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
Join Bethany Hegedus as she interviews friend and fellow author, Cate Berry, about Cate’s debut picture book, PENGUIN AND TINY SHRIMP DON’T DO BEDTIME (Balzer + Bray 2018). The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books has said that “The story is a smartly comedic entry in the genre of the anti-bedtime story, and the exclamatory dialogue-only text adds energy and humor. This will be a joyous bedtime read.”
Cate is a seventh generation Texan with an MFA in Children’s Literature from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also teaches at The Writing Barn and is a longtime member of SCBWI and The Writer’s League of Texas. Cate speaks at schools, libraries, and conferences year round. Visit her online at cateberry.com.
In this entertaining and inspiring episode, Bethany and Cate discuss the circuitous journey of the literary life, the walls women must scale to break into comedy, and they even sing a little! The episode also touches on how important inclusivity and diversity are in picture books and how all children’s writers need to be aware of avoiding stereotypes in their work. Both writers agree that children love to feel empowered, and a good book can do that. Finally, they discuss how they find time to squeeze writing in, even at the most unlikely places.
by Bethany | Nov 14, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
Hello listeners! While we love our “Insight and Ah-ha’s” segment of The Porchlight, and the wonderful authors we interview who grace us with their voices and stories, we also understand the personal journey of living a literary life — the up’s and the down’s, the triumphs and defeats, the everyday wonders of putting words to the page. For that reason we’ve created a new segment called “Courage to Create.”
(This new segment is all about living a literary life. How do we engage with our craft on a day to day basis, and how do we sustain that engagement in a world filled with distractions. Hope you enjoy our first segment of Courage to Create with Bethany Hegedus.)
Sam Bond Photography
Writing Barn founder and director, Bethany Hegedus, launches her Literary Life series of talks on this episode of The Porchlight. Bethany’s goal with these episodes is to delve deeply into what leading a literary life means to each individual and how we can keep ourselves inspired and engaged in our work without neglecting the many other areas of our lives. This series grew out of a talk Bethany gave years ago, and then it evolved into the Write. Submit. Support classes offered both in-person and online at The Writing Barn. The next evolution of Bethany’s idea is this, the podcast, where she monologues on how we can engage with ourselves and our work as well as with the community of creators around us in order to lead our best, most fulfilling creative lives. In this pilot episode, Bethany goes through Elmore Leonard and Zadie Smith’s Top Ten Rules for living a literary life as well as her own list. Hoping these talks will serve as a creative tool for listeners to get in touch with their own goals and make their own lists, Bethany is sure to encourage, educate, and inspire in this new podcast series.
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