Follow Your Curiosity

CPT #68: Let It Go

We don't talk about it much in creative circles, but it's really important to know when and why to let go of your creative work. I'll tell you more in this short episode.

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

Join my free creative community, The Spark! We celebrate each other's creative courage, and I'll be sharing programs for subscribers and listeners there in the coming months.

Publishing and Patience with Hilary Hattenbach

My guest today is Hilary Hattenbach, a freelance writer based in LA. Hilary majored in magazine journalism but ended up working in entertainment marketing for studios like Disney and 20th Century Fox before a chance meeting in a bakery led her to do-author The Kitchen Decoded Cookbook. Hilary tells me about that meeting and the cookbook that resulted, why being in an “artistic adjacent” field didn’t work for her, and how she began working as a freelance writer instead. She also has some great insight and advice into how working with editors as a freelancer really works—some of which might surprise you—and the pros and cons of writing for others vs. writing on your own platform, like Substack.

Episode breakdown:

[00:08:10] Storyteller at heart, not traditional career writer.
[00:13:03] Family death prompted job switch.
[00:18:03] Consulting, marketing, and a surprise cookbook
[00:23:50] Agent vanished; publisher wants book decision.
[00:26:34] Be transparent about money in publishing; people often think authors make (much) more than they do.
[00:35:00] The discomfort of uncertainty hinders our progress.
[00:43:04] Questioning assumptions, discovering new possibilities, embracing change.
[00:49:56] Writing workshops and mentor leads to publishing as a freelancer.
[00:53:08] Essay collection explores impact of friendships with older adults.
[01:01:16] Old Hollywood and a piece on the retirement home for actors and industry insiders.
[01:04:15] Interviews cut, piece rewritten by someone else.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Threads and BlueSky!

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about how a surprise connection changed your life.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing.

If you'd like weekly updates, plus a chance to see where my curiosity is leading me, check out my new (free!) Substack newsletter.

CPT #67: Say No

You need a strong NO in order to have a strong YES in any part of your life, including your creative process. I'll tell you why in this short episode.

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about a time when saying no made a difference.

I'm experimenting with my own writing over on Substack! It's called The Spark, it's free, and I hope you'll join us!

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com, or say hello on Threads!

Writing and Resilience with Romana Hasenöhrl

Romana Hasenöhrl has traveled all over the world and is the author of several books, including two novels, the second of which is currently in progress. She also coaches writers, who call her "Romana Rocks," and is an astrologer. Romana joins me to talk about how travel has influenced her writing process and her creativity, how astrology is a useful tool to see ourselves in a new light (and to see our characters more completely, too), the biggest advice she gives anyone starting a writing project, and more.

Episode breakdown:

[00:04:57] An early story on airline differences was rejected.

[00:09:07] Driving a cab in Austria was lucrative, allowing for travel in Europe while studying at university.

[00:10:16] Exhausted, slowed studies, friends stayed, finishing lost work.

[00:16:18] Discovering email in 1989, a transformative experience.

[00:19:43] Passionate traveler explores multiple countries and cultures.

[00:22:04] Exciting solo travel led to successful business.

[00:29:07] Travel blog shared with unexpected success.

[00:32:03] "Long first novel gets condensed, spawns sequel."

[00:40:10] Astrology and tarot reveal hidden truths.

[00:47:49] Book writing is a soulful, pressure-filled task.

[00:50:40] Halfway through book, friend questioned astrology academy.

[00:55:58] Writers respect each other's ideas, collaborate respectfully.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about how travel has influenced your creative process.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Threads and BlueSky!

If you'd like weekly updates, plus a chance to see where my curiosity is leading me, check out my new (free!) Substack newsletter.

CPT #66: Make Lemonade

Life happens. Stuff goes wrong. It's a cliché, but when you're handed lemons, sometimes the best thing to do is to make lemonade. I'll tell you why in this short episode.

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about how you made the best of a bad situation.

I'm experimenting with my own writing over on Substack! It's called The Spark, it's free, and I hope you'll join us!

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com, or say hello on Threads!

Uncovering Forgotten Histories with Rahna Reiko Rizzuto

Author Rahna Reiko Rizzuto wrote the way many of us do as a child and teen, but didn’t truly turn to writing until she discovered, at the age of 30, that her Japanese-American mother, and her family, had been stripped of everything and put in an internment camp during World War II. The book she produced in her quest to understand these events, Why She Left Us, won the National Book Award. Her two subsequent books, Hiroshima in the Morning and Shadow Child, continue to explore themes of war, race, and historical blindness. Reiko also teaches writing; we met when she became my first faculty advisor in the Goddard College MFA program in 2007. We talk about Reiko’s start as a writer, including that pivotal discovery and the quest to learn more, her time in Japan just before and after 9/11 as she sought to learn from survivors of the Hiroshima bombing—and how 9/11 changed their willingness to speak—and how she taught herself to write and teaches her students those same techniques.

Episode breakdown:

[00:02:45] Family of writers encouraged reading, faced criticism.

[00:10:50] Multiracial Hawaiian culture with loose boundaries.

[00:15:19] Uncovering the family's history in the Japanese internment.

[00:23:33] Discovering the art of crafting a book.

[00:28:33] Learning from students' questions.

[00:37:37] Writing to convey human consequences of historical events.

[00:40:32] Nonfiction book about survivors of atomic bomb.

[00:48:58] Passion for teaching and nurturing writers' stories.

[00:56:07] Best job, supportive colleagues, successful publication.

[01:03:09] Caregiving, love, loss, hoarding: a personal journey.

[01:06:48] Open the portal, practice showing up.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about how discovering a part of your history changed you.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Threads and BlueSky!

If you'd like weekly updates, plus a chance to see where my curiosity is leading me, check out my new (free!) Substack newsletter.

CPT #65: Mr. Twinkletoes

What can a simple choice from actor David Tennant tell us about creative freedom? I'll tell you in this short episode.

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about how you might stop taking things so seriously.

I'm experimenting with my own writing over on Substack! It's called The Spark, it's free, and I hope you'll join us!

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com, or say hello on Threads!

Replay: ”Impro” with Nina Hart

[I'm on vacation this week, so I'm re-upping one of my favorite interviews from the last year. I'll be back with new episodes next week!]

My friend and fellow Kaizen-Muse creativity coach, Nina Hart, was one of my first guests, and she comes back to the podcast today. Nina is an author and performer—including being an original member of San Francisco’s experimental dance troupe, Contraband, and, playing a purple electric bass, recording and performing with numerous bands—and I invited her to dig into Keith Johnstone’s groundbreaking book on theatrical improvisation, Impro, with me.

I knew Nina would have a lot to say about how we unknowingly are our own biggest obstacles to our own creativity, which is a primary focus of the book. We talk about the role status plays in our lives and our perception of things like permission and perfection, how cultural and societal expectations create the fears that hold us back, the importance of feeling safe to let those fears go, and much more.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us when you feel most safe to express yourself.

Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my previous interviews with guests in acting and theatre!

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Post.news, Spoutible, and Mastodon!

If you'd like weekly updates, plus a chance to see where my curiosity is leading me, check out my new (free!) Substack newsletter.

 

CPT #64: Stop Making It So Hard

Odds are good you're making things harder than they need to be—and that's getting in your way more than you realize.

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about how you've made something less hard on yourself.

I'm experimenting with my own writing over on Substack! It's called The Spark, it's free, and I hope you'll join us!

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com, or say hello on Threads!

Empowering Authors with Michael Dolan

Writer, editorial director, and publisher Michael Dolan was a math whiz before he fell in love with writing and journalism in high school. After a career in magazine publishing and working as a professional writer, he decided to start Winding Road Stories, which aims not only to publish new authors, but to help those authors build a writing career. Michael tells me about his start in publishing, how ghostwriting led to the idea for Winding Road, why he wants writers to collaborate and help each other become the best they can be, and more.

Episode breakdown:

[00:05:10] Passion drives pursuit of creativity and skill.

[00:07:58] How kids develop bad writing habits from school.

[00:17:32] Unexpected career in publishing.

[00:26:07] Michael becomes a successful freelance writer.

[00:30:43] Career adapted to changing world, balancing independence.

[00:39:13] Michael starts a successful ghostwriting business.

[00:46:29] Print on demand revolutionizes book publishing.

[00:51:25] Obsession with "Get Back" documentary, collaboration.

[00:56:32] Incredible professor emphasized collaboration in journalism.

[01:00:53] Collaboration, support, and rewarding journey of creativity.

"How to Say Nothing in 500 Words" by Paul McHenry Roberts

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about your favorite collaboration.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Post.news, Spoutible, and Mastodon!

If you'd like weekly updates, plus a chance to see where my curiosity is leading me, check out my new (free!) Substack newsletter.