Follow Your Curiosity

CPT #70: Don’t Reject Yourself

Comparison and self-improvement are great ways to reject yourself. I explain why—and what to do instead—in this short episode.

Read the post from Dr. Kelly Flanagan that inspired this pep talk.

My previous pep talk on comparison and self-rejection.

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

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about a time when self-acceptance made life easier.

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.

Witness Underground with Scott Homan and Ryan Sutter

What’s it like to doubt the beliefs of the strict religious community you grew up with? What’s it like to leave? Where do you find the courage and strength to make that choice, and to adapt to your new life? Director Scott Homan and writer and musician Ryan Sutter have lived these questions, and collaborated to tell the story in the new documentary, Witness Underground. The film focuses on Ryan’s love of music and the musical relationships within the Jehovah’s Witness community that sustained him as a teen and gave him a safe place to land when he left. We talk about all these questions and the process of making the film, which is now running a Kickstarter to fund distribution to popular streaming services.

Episode breakdown:

[00:05:16] Scott: Wisconsin arts program shaped career in film.

[00:10:19] Change your environment for personal growth.

[00:14:10] Ryan: Creative kids form band with makeshift instruments.

[00:17:39] Creativity and emotional release through music.

[00:26:17] Other connections transcended religion, influencing change.

[00:30:07] Scott reconnects with Ryan.

[00:32:56] Ryan's wrestling with beliefs through writing, recording music, and live performance = enhanced creative thinking.

[00:40:22] How authoritarian regimes suppress artists.

[00:44:37] "Coming out."

[00:50:51] Seeing life through Ryan's eyes.

[00:57:20] Amazing connection to music; influential, undiscovered collection.

[01:03:08] Ryan: Therapy, new albums, and a goal: move on and heal.

[01:09:26] Music connects people in amazing ways.

[01:15:05] Scott: Filmmaker's struggle with distribution, potential exploitation.

[01:19:24] Kickstarter campaign funding distribution of the film, which has amazing perks including music and written work.

Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us how your creativity has given you strength when you’ve needed it most.

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

CPT #69: Mick Jagger’s Beginner’s Mind

The Rolling Stones have a new album, and Mick Jagger has some great creative advice for us all. I explain in this short episode.

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

You can read the interview with Mick Jagger here.

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. https://fycuriosity.substack.com

The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams with Kevin Jon Davies

Director, animator, and author Kevin Jon Davies grew up enthralled by Doctor Who and Spike Milligan’s The Goon Show. When he discovered the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio show, it seemed like the best of both worlds. Before long, he was doing animation for the TV series. Kevin tells me how he got into animation, how he moved from animation into directing—including directing 30th anniversary documentaries for both Doctor Who and Hitchhiker’s in the same year—and all about the process of writing his new book, 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams. 

Episode breakdown:

[00:07:22] Learning to direct through osmosis on set. Enjoyed being with others in live action. Lucky breaks in animation and directing.

[00:14:58] Early Doctor Who, Spike Milligan's comedy influence.

[00:17:53] Douglas Adams: famous for procrastinating.

[00:24:42] Making 30 Years in the TARDIS.

[00:28:48] The BBC's unfortunate habit of throwing things away.

[00:32:32] The Alchemists of Sound documentary and unsung genius Delia Derbyshire.

[00:39:20] Complex copyright issues for BBC staff artists.

[00:43:06] Following in Douglas Adams's footsteps while researching the new book.

[00:50:31] Adams's an increasing interest in science toward the end of his life.

[00:55:48] Last Chance to See.

[01:03:02] Adams's untimely death, and the continued celebration of his work.

[01:08:05] Readers' sense of connection with Adams's work.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us how a childhood influence has stuck with you.

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

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.