by Bethany | Nov 7, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
Welcome back listeners to The Porchlight Podcast, we couldn’t be happier to start off Season 3 with the one and only Jamie Swenson. Jamie teaches Picture Book classes at The Writing Barn and is a celebrated picture book author. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. And tune in next week for our brand new segment: Living the Literary Life with Bethany Hegedus.
Jamie A. Swenson, author of the newly released picture book A FALL BALL FOR ALL, joins Bethany on this episode of The Porchlight. Jamie has an MFA from Hamline University and is the author of four picture books and two chapter books, including BIG RIG and MEET WOOF AND QUACK. She’s also an associate librarian and early literacy story teller who lives in Wisconsin and is teaching an online picture book class via The Writing Barn beginning in January 2019.
During their conversation, Bethany and Jamie discuss the challenges of writing rhyming picture books and the importance of punctuation and page turns in the picture book format as well as how a writer can leave room for the illustrator. They share their mutual love of author Phyllis Root and discuss how much they learn not only as students but also as teachers of other writers. Jamie shares how she makes time for her writing amidst her busy work and life schedules, and Bethany calls Jamie’s commentary a master class in living the literary life. To learn more about Jamie, visit her website at www.jamieaswenson.com
by Bethany | Sep 7, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
In this latest episode of The Porchlight Podcast, Writing Barn Founder, Bethany Hegedus, speaks with author, long-time friend, and Austin’s own SCBWI Regional Advisor, Samantha M. Clark. Listen as they discuss the release of Samantha’s debut novel, The Boy, The Boat, and The Beast (Simon & Schuster 2018).
This inspiring episode touches on craft, creation, and the long, sometimes arduous road your book must take on its way to publication. But as Sam points out in this episode, the only thing we can control is the creation itself, all we can control is finding the heart of the story, making sure it beats with intention and power. If we do this, then we have done enough.
Samantha M. Clark loves stories about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances because if four ordinary brothers and sisters can find a magical world at the back of a wardrobe, why can’t she? Until she finds her own real-life Narnia, she writes about other ordinary children and teens who’ve stumbled into a wardrobe of their own. She grew up in different countries around the world and now lives with her husband and two funny dogs in Austin, Texas. Samantha is the regional advisor for the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and she explores wardrobes every chance she gets. Visit her online at SamanthaMClark.com.
by Bethany | Aug 22, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
In this newest episode of The Porchlight, Writing Barn Founder, Bethany Hegedus, talks with poet and novelist Carrie Fountain about her debut novel I’m Not Missing (Flatiron Books 2018).
I’m Not Missing, is a coming of age novel set in Las Cruces, New Mexico and follows the life and trials of protagonist, Miranda, as she navigates her senior year and the sudden disappearance of her best friend.
In this episode Bethany and Carrie discuss all things I’m Not Missing, from creation to release, and also touch on aspects of the writer life, including the process of transitioning from writing Poetry to Young Adult Fiction and the power and honor behind being a woman writing for younger women. Carrie and Bethany even reminisce on the books that changed them as young readers, from Judy Blume’s Tiger Eyes, to Tolstoy’s War and Peace. This is an episode not to be missed!
Enjoy our latest episode of The Porchlight, and don’t forget to pick up your own copy of I’m Not Missing by Carrie Fountain, on shelves now!
Carrie Fountain’s poems have appeared in Tin House, Poetry, and The New Yorker, among others. Her debut collection, Burn Lake, was a National Poetry Series winner and was published in 2010 by Penguin. Her second collection, Instant Winner, was published by Penguin in 2014. Fountain’s debut novel, I’m Not Missing, was published in July, 2018 by Flatiron Books (Macmillan).
Born and raised in Mesilla, New Mexico, Fountain received her MFA as a fellow at the James A. Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. Currently writer-in-residence at St. Edward’s University and Visiting Professor at the Michener Center, she is the host of NPR’s This Is Just To Say, a radio show and podcast where she has intimate conversations with America’s most influential poets.
Fountain lives in Austin with her husband, playwright and novelist Kirk Lynn, and their children.
by Bethany | Aug 7, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
Dianne White is the award-winning author of Blue on Blue (S&S/Beach Lane Books), illustrated by Caldecott medalist, Beth Krommes. She holds an elementary bilingual teaching credential and a master’s degree in Language and Literacy. In 2007, she received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
After 25 years teaching students of all ages, Dianne now writes full-time from her home in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. Two new picture books are forthcoming in 2018 – Goodbye Brings Hello, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Who Eats Orange?, illustrated by Robin Page (S&S/Beach Lane Books). Visit Dianne online at diannewrites.com.
by Bethany | Jun 21, 2018 | Courage to Create, Podcast
Author Natalia Sylvester joins Bethany at The Writing Barn for this interview in which they discuss Natalia’s first novel, CHASING THE SUN, as well as her recently published second novel, EVERYONE KNOWS YOU GO HOME. Born in Lima, Peru, Natalia came to the U.S. at age four and has lived in Florida and Texas. She received a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Miami. A former magazine editor, Natalia now works as a freelance writer in Texas and is a faculty member of the low-res MFA program at Regis University.
During their conversation, Natalia and Bethany talk about the revision process, and Natalia mentions some methods she uses to revise. She and Bethany also discuss the question of whether talent can be taught or not and whether they think talent is more important vs. the desire to write and the commitment to it. They also delve into the complexities of the shift between public life as a published author and private life as a writer. Natalia then details some of her experiences as a Latina writer and how she and her work are perceived. To find out more about Natalia and her novels, go to https://www.nataliasylvester.com/
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