Hey Storytellers! Could you take a minute of your time to help me leave an honest rating and review by clicking here? Thank you so much for your help in increasing my podcast's ranking so that more listeners can find out about the show and add value to their storytelling careers and goals!
This episode is proudly sponsored by SCRIVENER. Click on the link for your special 20% off discount code that's available specially for our storyteller tribe!
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- How to find job opportunities as a writer
- The importance of consistently feeding your brain with words
- The benefits of having a mentor
- What Katie turns to for help and inspiration
- Katie’s one key take away on inspiring yourself out of a lull
“No matter how bad it gets, how many couches you’re surfing on, no matter how far away your goal seems- you can’t stop working.”
Learn More About Katie Wech
Katie Wech received her MFA in Screenwriting from the USC School of Cinema-Television and began her career in television as an assistant on the first season of Fox’s PRISON BREAK. A year later, she sold her first feature script to Jerry Weintraub for WARNER BROTHERS. In 2011, her black-list nominated feature script PROM was released by Disney. Since then, she has written and produced many hours of cable and network television, including the CW’s SECRET CIRCLE, ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND, and CBS’s VEGAS. She is currently a producer on the hit TNT series, RIZZOLI & ISLES.
Hey Storytellers! Could you take a minute of your time to help me leave an honest rating and review by clicking here? Thank you so much for your help in increasing my podcast's ranking so that more listeners can find out about the show and add value to their storytelling careers and goals!
This episode is proudly sponsored by SCRIVENER. Click on the link for your special 20% off discount code that's available specially for our storyteller tribe!
Hello from ASIA! I just landed in Taiwan and settled in a hotel with all my podcasting equipment laid out. Be sure to listen to today's episode to find out why I'm in Asia and to hear the names of the 3 lucky winners of the giveaway contest from Tyler Knott Gregson's episode. To check out photos of my trip around Asia, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and you can also check out #88CupsOfAsia!
I'm so thrilled to have Tess Gerritsen on 88 CUPS OF TEA! For my listeners who’ve been a part of my storyteller tribe since day one, you guys may recognize this episode. Thanks to you, this is one of the show's most popular and well received interviews. I hope you’ll be re-inspired by Tess’ journey and her actionable tips and advice for writers and storytellers.
There’s also been a jump in new listeners so a very warm welcome to 88 CUPS OF TEA and thank you for joining our storyteller tribe. I’m really excited for you to hear Tess' interview as it's one of my favorite chats, which is also one of the favorites of our storyteller tribe.
What better way to celebrate 88 CUPS OF TEA's huge milestone of reaching 20 episodes than by re-playing one of the most popular episodes that epitomizes what our show is about.
I've been a huge fan of Tess' work since reading her very first thriller novel HARVEST, her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. She has written 26 novels with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. Tess is also widely known for creating the RIZZOLI & ISLES book series that inspired the hit TNT television series. Our chat left me on an absolute high with adrenaline and Tess shares a ton of actionable tips and advice. I'm so excited for you to apply her knowledge towards your own writing careers!
This episode is proudly brought to you by SCRIVENER.
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"I always start (my novels) with what I call the-punch-in-the-gut, which is an idea that has a really powerful emotional resonance for me. I always start with 'Oh my God, and what happens next?'"
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
- What to do when you're struggling with resistance-- the dreaded writer's block
- What time in the day Tess finds the most inspiration to write
- What inspired the hugely popular series RIZZOLI & ISLES (You might be surprised!)
- How Tess schedules her writing so she makes it on time for her manuscript deadlines
- The benefits of publishing traditionally and the benefits of publishing online
- Tess' advice for writers who are interested in publishing novels the traditional way
- How Tess landed her literary agent
- Tess' take on the importance of the query letter and what to include so it makes an impression
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Learn More About Tess Gerritsen
Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.
While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. In 1987, her first novel was published. Call After Midnight, a romantic thriller, was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote a screenplay, "Adrift," which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.
Tess's first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her 26 novels include Gravity, The Surgeon, Vanish, The Bone Garden, The Silent Girl, Die Again, and Playing with Fire (Oct 2015). Translated into 40 languages, her books have been #1 bestsellers abroad and top-three bestsellers in the US. More than 30 million copies have been sold around the world.
She received the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon) and was a finalist for the Edgar award (for Vanish.)
Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series "Rizzoli & Isles," starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.
Critics around the world have praised her novels as "Pulse-pounding fun" (Philadelphia Inquirer), and "Scary and brilliant" (Toronto Globe and Mail). Publishers Weekly has dubbed her "the medical suspense queen."
Now retired from medicine, she writes full time. She lives in Maine.
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"If I see (my first draft) on screen, I want to edit it. It stops me cold. I use unlined typing paper. I can't have lines on it because I feel like it inhibits my creativity. 25 books, and it's been pen and paper."
Hey Guys, could you please leave an honest review for me? It's a huge help in increasing the ranking of this show so that more listeners have the chance to check it out. The following link will take you directly to the ratings/review page-- Thank you so much!
This episode is proudly sponsored by SCRIVENER. Click on the link for your special 20% off discount code that's available specially for our storyteller tribe!
Hey Storytellers! I’m so excited to share today’s episode with you. We have our very first poet on the show, Tyler Knott Gregson. He’s one of the most down-to-earth, grounded human beings that I’ve had the honor of chatting with. We get into the philosophy of life, surviving and thriving as an artist, and expressing our authenticity. We also had a fascinating discussion about social media and how it played a huge role in Tyler’s success as a poet and author.
We’re also having a special give-away for this episode! Tweet or post an image of a quote from Tyler’s episode that resonated with you and three lucky listeners will win his newest book “All the Words Are Yours: Haiku on Love”! Make sure to include #88CupsTKG so we can find your quotes! The deadline for this giveaway contest is Tuesday, October 20th at 6pm PST/9pm EST.
“The little moments, for me, have always been the big moments.”
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- How Tyler survives and thrives as an artist
- How social media heavily influenced the success of his first book “Chasers of the Light”
- Tyler’s advice on writing poetry
- The importance of creating an authentic community
- How honesty builds loyalty with fans on social media
- Finding inspiration for your work by exposing the little moments in your life
- Tyler’s experience as a freelance writer and a copywriter and how it shaped Tyler to love everything he writes
- How Buddhism impacted Tyler’s perspective of the world and its influence on his writings and photography
“Don’t ever stop fighting for that thing that you love.”
“If you’re hurting, hurt. If you’re happy, be happy.”
Learn More About Tyler Knott Gregson
Tyler Knott Gregson is a poet, author, professional photographer, and artist who lives in the mountains of Helena, Montana along with his two golden retrievers, Calvin and Hobbes. With wide-eyed fascination and a Whitman-esque appreciation of nature, and life, he began writing at a young age. Love, the dynamics of emotion and physical connections are common themes in his poems. When he’s not writing, Tyler Knott owns and operates his photography company, Treehouse Photography, with his talented partner Sarah Linden. They photograph weddings all over the world, and just like his writing, believe in capturing the silent moments, the hidden glances…Big things made small, small things made big.
Please say “Hi” to Tyler on Twitter, Instagram, andFacebook! You can also follow Tyler on Pinterest.
To check out the books and movies Tyler talked about in his episode, be sure to check out his shownotes page at 88cupsoftea.com/podcast/tylerknottgregson
Thank you for leaving me an honest review and rating!
This episode is proudly sponsored by SCRIVENER.
Hey Storytellers! We have award-winning and bestselling author Jean Kwok on the show today.
For the very first time on our show, we’ll be having a special give-away for this episode! Pay special attention to Jean’s interview and tweet your favorite quotefrom her episode and we’ll be gifting a copy of Jean’s newest book MAMBO IN CHINATOWN to two lucky listeners! Make sure to hashtag #88CupsJK so I can find your quotes! The deadline for this giveaway contest is Wednesday, October 14th at 10am PST/1pm EST. And the 2 lucky winners will be announced that same day.
This is a very special episode for me (listen to the episode’s introduction to find out why) and I’m beyond thrilled to share Jean’s interview with you!
“We are not competing with each other; we are all trying to speak some kind of fundamental human truth.”-Jean Kwok
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- Why writing about something that connects with you deeply allows you tocreate your best work, and how it attributed to Jean’s success as an author
- How to find the courage to write a book about emotional experiences in your life
- The importance of finding your balance of enlightening and entertaining your readers and how Jean goes about finding her balance
- How being an honest writer will allow you to create stories that will touch and change people’s lives
- How Jean prevents writer’s block
- How Jean withdraws from her daily life and places herself into a physical and emotional space to write
- The hardships Jean faced when deciding to speak up about her past and how it can inspire you as an author to not be ashamed of where you come from
- Jean’s advice on rejection and why you should never give up because there is someone out there who will believe in your writing
“Fix it on the page, don’t fix it in your head”-Jean Kwok
ABOUT ‘MAMBO IN CHINATOWN’
From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.
Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (American-born Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works— miserably—as a dishwasher.
But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie’s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed—something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. When Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds— eastern and western, old world and new—to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.
“Sweet and lovely, filled with old-world tradition, Chinese superstition, and the complicated dance of forbidden love.”—JAMIE FORD, NYTBESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET
Learn More About Jean Kwok
Jean Kwok is the New York Times and international bestselling author of the award-winning novels Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in 17 countries and taught in universities, colleges and high schools across the world. She has been selected for many honors including theAmerican Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award, and Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers. Jean’s writing has been featured in Time, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, People, Real Simple and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others.
Jean immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood while living in an unheated, roach-infested apartment. In between her undergraduate degree at Harvard and MFA in fiction at Columbia, she worked for three years as a professional ballroom dancer. Jean lives in the Netherlands with her husband, two boys and three cats, and is working on her next novel. A Dutch television documentary with English subtitles was filmed about Jean and her work.
Please say “Hi” to Jean on twitter and facebook!
Head over to Jean's show notes page here!
Thank you for leaving me an honest review and rating!
This episode is proudly sponsored by SCRIVENER. Click on the link for your special 20% off discount code that's available specially for our storyteller tribe!
“Gentle, unassuming style that taps into its troubled protagonist’s point of view… Proof of Krantz’ promise behind the camera.”-INDIEWIRE
Hey Storytellers! We have director-writer Morgan Krantz on the show today. His directorial feature film debut BABYSITTER world premiered at SXSW. Morgan shares his experiences making his first feature film and dives deep into the financials of it, including how he secured his film’s investors. Morgan also takes us behind-the-scenes in creating his wildly successful web series NEUROTICA, his passion project that landed him representation with WME as a writer and director, and shares how the web series got picked up for distribution. This is a super special episode for filmmakers and especially for first-time directors-writers!
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- Morgan’s creative designs for his “feel reel” that he found to be the most powerful when grabbing the attention of investors
- Why a video pitch is the way to go when attempting to gain investors
- Why searching for diverse investors helped Morgan fund his filmBABYSITTER and how it can help aspiring directors find the resources they need to produce their projects
- The pros and cons of guerrilla shooting and the risks involved
- The importance of clearly communicating the direction of where you want your film to go with future investors and how it helped Morgan succeed
- The positive impact frankness can have when you have the desire to re-shoot scenes
- The creation process of his successful web series NEUROTICA
- How NEUROTICA landed him representation as a director-writer with WME
Learn More About Morgan Krantz
Morgan Krantz is an actor, writer and director born and raised in LA. His feature directorial debut, BABYSITTER, premiered at SXSW 2015 where Morgan was named one of 12 breakout talents at by IndieWIRE magazine citing his “gentle, unassuming style that taps into its troubled protagonist’s point of view… proof of Krantz’s promise behind the camera.”
Morgan’s comedic web-series, Neurotica, which he co-created and stars in, was a viral sensation online and boasts several million views. The show was sold to Endemol Beyond and they are currently financing a 2nd season in association with acclaimed TV producers Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky (The Office, Hello Ladies).
As an actor, Morgan has appeared in countless TV shows including Girls, Doll & Em, House of Lies, The League and countless more. Most recently, he booked a series regular role on the CBS sitcom pilot The Half of It and co-starred in the independent feature film Shut Up and Drive, which had it’s world premiere at TriBeCa 2015.
Say "Hi" to Morgan on twitter, facebook, or instagram!
Be sure to visit Morgan's shownotes page at 88cupsoftea.com/podcast/morgankrantz