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88 Cups of Tea

Love all things upbeat, warm, and uplifting? Welcome to 88 Cups of Tea, an online platform and podcast for creative writers who look for guidance in their storytelling journey and connection to a community, fostering year-round conversations around the personal and professional life of a writer. Our podcast episodes and online essays and articles explore and unpack conversations that touch on topics like overcoming rejections and challenges, querying tips and crafting advice, lifestyle habits that support the heart and the soul, what it means to be Human while navigating a creative path, and more. We pride ourselves in nurturing a supportive environment that aims to encourage, inspire, and entertain. Check out our website 88cupsoftea.com for essays, articles, and access to nearly 200 podcast episodes!
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Now displaying: April, 2016
Apr 28, 2016

Hey Storytellers! Vermont College of Fine Arts and I are so thrilled to inspire you with today's AWESOME new episode! We have #1 internationally bestselling author Karin Slaughter on the show! Karin is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers with over 32 MILLION copies sold around the world.

Karin unpacks her writing process, shares how she transitioned from Renaissance poetry to writing crime novels, her thoughts on writing workshops, and we dive into the thought processes and technicalities behind her newest book ‘PRETTY GIRLS’Novelists, crime writers, and loyal fans of psychological thrillers—YOU'LL LOVE THIS EPISODE!

If today's episode helps you in any way, please share it with someone you think it can also help or inspire!

Please leave a review about the podcast by clicking here. Your honest feedback helps to shape the show. Thank you for your time and for helping with the ranking of the show when leaving a review and rating!

If you'd like to stay up to date on our latest episodes, updates, and giveaways, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter :)

“I want to have some sense that there is such thing as survival.” -Karin Slaughter (Click here to tweet)

 

“You’re going to be a published writer some day, you just have to find your right story.”

-Karin Slaughter (Click here to tweet)

 

 

“What does ‘successful’ mean to you?” -Karin Slaughter (Click here to tweet)

***

ABOUT ‘PRETTY GIRLS’

With PRETTY GIRLS, #1 internationally bestselling author, Karin Slaughter, dazzles with an explosive and chilling standalone psychological thriller. Delving into a buried history of dangerous secrets, cold vengeance, and forbidden truths, estranged sisters must come together to search, finally, for the horrifying details about two harrowing tragedies, perpetrated twenty years apart, that devastated their bond and even their attempts to lead separate lives.

Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, PRETTY GIRLS boasts Slaughter’s masterfully created, three-dimensional characters, who wrestle with genuine moral dilemmas and the parameters of their own humanity. Here, once again, Slaughter crafts wildly unpredictable plotting that cast light into the darkest corners of our lives, and challenges the very boundaries of suspense fiction, as she perfects all the tricks and tropes of the genre. This is a haunting and viscerally unforgettable thriller from one of the finest suspense writers working today, and her most riveting novel yet.

***

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

  • The inspiration behind the story of ‘Pretty Girls’

  • Advice on character development
  • The importance of having distinct voices for the characters and how to develop them

  • How Karin balances light and dark themes throughout her books and the importance of having that balance
  • Why you need to understand if writing workshops are the right fit for you

  • How to define ‘success’ for yourself

  • Why it’s beneficial to have a strong grasp of your own writing method and finding out what works best for you

 

Learn More About Karin Slaughter

A #1 internationally bestselling author, Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 33 languages, with more than 32 million copies sold across the globe, her fifteen novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and her first psychological thriller, Pretty Girls. A native of Georgia, Karin Slaughter currently lives in Atlanta.

 

Karin’s Recommended Books & Resources:

Flannery O’Connor Short Stories 

Say ‘Hi!’ to Karin
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
FACEBOOK

Apr 21, 2016

Today's episode is proudly sponsored by GOTHAM WRITERS! I'm so excited to partner with them as they've spent over 20 years building an incredible writing community that offers sought-after writing classes in NYC and online. To learn more about why they have an amazing reputation within the writers' community, click here!

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We're doing a SPECIAL GIVEAWAY to 3 lucky winners for today's episode! Read below for more details!

***

Hey Storyteller Tribe, I’m SO beyond honored to feature R.J. Palacio on today’s episode! R.J. is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of WONDERa middle-grade novel that sold over a million copies in just 18 months.

Entertainment Weekly says “Palacio has written a crackling page-turner filled with characters you can’t help but root for.”

R.J.’s book is now being adapted into a movie by LionsGate. According to The Wrap, Jacob Tremblay, the young star in “Room”, a movie nominated for best picture during the Oscars, is in talks to star in “Wonder”. It’s also mentioned that the studio has its sights set on Julia Roberts to play the main character’s mom.

In today’s episode, R.J. and I discuss a whole lot about “Wonder”, what it means to choose kind, and we dive into invaluable writing advice. It’s an honest and inspiring discussion that everyone will benefit from listening!

XO,

Yin

PS. Did today’s episode help you in any way? Please share it with someone you think the episode can help!

Please leave a review about the podcast by clicking here. Your honest feedback helps to shape the show. Thank you for your time and for helping with the ranking of the show when leaving a review and rating!

 

“We’ve all known, most of us at least, what it’s like to feel like the outsider.” Click to tweet!

 

“Always remember to be grateful because that’s what authors should always be, is grateful.” Click to tweet!

 

“We deal with what we get.” Click to tweet!

 

***

 

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY CONTEST ANNOUNCMENT!

We’re doing a special giveaway to 3 lucky winners! We have a signed copy of 3 different books by R.J. Palacio: WONDER, AUGGIE & ME, and 365 DAYS OF WONDER.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY CONTEST: 

  1. Listen carefully to R.J.’s episode and pick your favorite quote.
  2. Post your favorite quote from the interview on your Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
  3. Be sure to tag @88CUPSOFTEA and include #88cupsoftea in your post so I can find you! If you have a private account, remember to temporarily unblock it so that I can see your entry. 
  4. Deadline for the contest is Wednesday, April 27th at 3pm EST (12pm PST).
  5. The lucky winners will win one of R.J’s autographed books!

 

***

About ‘WONDER’

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

***

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

    • What it means to be kind and why we should choose ‘kind’ over being ‘right’ 

    • The importance of creating a writing routine and committing to it

    • How to create characters using inspiration from the people in your own life
    • How to include multiple points of views from different characters that will enhance the main character’s story

    • R.J.’s journey as a storyteller and her transition into being a full-time author

Learn More About R.J. Palacio

R. J. Palacio is the author of Wonder. She lives in New York City with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

R.J.’s Recommended Books & Resources:

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Leo Tolstoy 
The House of Asterion by Jorge Luis Borges
Blaise Pascal
Thomas Mann
Heinrich Boll

Say ‘Hi!’ to R.J.
TWITTER

Apr 14, 2016

Today's episode is sponsored by VCFA.

Hey Storyteller Tribe, I’m honored to introduce #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline on the show! Christina’s awardwinning book‘Orphan Train’ has spent over 2 years on the New York Times Bestseller list and is published in 40 countries. Today’s episode is a very special treat for storytellers focusing on writing their own novels. Christina walks us through her writing process, her journey as a writer, how she breaks through lulls, her thoughts on writers’ retreats, and what she’s currently working on. Novelists, pay special attention to how Christina reads books to specifically help her writing. We get pretty technical on writing advice so be sure to tune in!

PS. Did today’s episode help you in any way? Please share it with someone you think the episode can help!

Please leave a review about the podcast by clicking here. Your honest feedback helps to shape the show. Thank you for your time and for helping with the ranking of the show when leaving a review and rating!

“You have to trust the process. You have to trust that you’re moving forward.”

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

    • Why a writing community is crucial 

    • How to organize and keep track of your thoughts to carry out the main plot without digressing

    • Why it’s important to find your own way of mapping out a story and how to find what works best for you
    • How MFA’s can help you, especially when it comes to networking and meeting literary agents

    • How to break out of your lull and find motivation when you’re feeling ‘stuck’

    • How Christina reads books and how it’s helped her with her own writings in a technical aspect

Learn More About Christina Baker Kline

Christina Baker Kline is the author of six novels, including Orphan Train, which spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list, including five weeks at # 1, and has been published in 40 countries. It has been chosen as a “One Book, One Read” selection by more than 100 communities and colleges, has been published in 40 countries, and has been shortlisted for, and won, various literary and historical fiction prizes. Christina’s past novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines and Sweet Water; she has also written and edited five nonfiction books. Her new novel, based on the iconic paintingChristina’s World, by Andrew Wyeth, will be published in Winter 2017. She is on the board of Roots & Wings, a foster-care support organization, and does many events with CASA, a foster-youth legal advocacy group. She splits her time between an old house in Montclair, New Jersey, and an even older house in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

 

Christina’s Recommended Books & Resources:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Middle March by George Eliot
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Say ‘Hi!’ to Christina
FACEBOOK

Apr 7, 2016

Storyteller Tribe! Man, do I have a SUPER special episode for you today. We have actor Katie Lowes from ABC’s “Scandal” on the show with us! We discuss the entertainment industry and what kind of work it takes to be a successful actor, writer, producer, and director.  Katie’s journey will resonate with all listeners. Whether you’re transitioning into a screenwriting career, or you’re in the midst of launching a new business, today’s episode is packed with hard-hitting wisdom on being successful.

Thank you Vermont College of Fine Arts for sponsoring today's episode! 

I'm really excited to hear your thoughts about this episode, let me know on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram! :)

Totally loving what Katie's saying? TELL HER ON TWITTER!

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“There’s a little bit of fate & magic involved.” (Click here to tweet Katie's quote)

“I’m constantly, constantly, pushing myself to make the most out of my time.” (Click here to tweet Katie's quote)

“You are going to have a much better ride in this journey of your career if you come from a place of plenty.” (Click here to tweet Katie's quote)

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM TODAY'S EPISODE:

    • The kind of work you need to put in to be a successful creative (writer, actor, director, producer)

    • How Katie constantly pushes to make the most out of her time

    • Why it’s crucial to take care of your mental and emotional health to succeed when an opportunity arises
    • Why you need to work at least 8 hours on your craft each day

    • Katie’s lowest moments throughout her acting career and how she pulled through

    • How she landed the role of Quinn Perkins on ABC’s “Scandal”

LEARN MORE ABOUT KATIE LOWES

Katie Lowes is the co-artistic director and co-founder of IAMA Theatre Company. She can be seen starring as Quinn Perkins on ABC’s Scandal, which is in its 5th season. Lowes is a native New Yorker and just celebrated her 10 year anniversary moving to Los Angeles where she resides with her husband Adam Shapiro. Katie is also in development on a TV show with Shondaland and ABC Studios and working on a book. She has written for Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letterand she’s challenging herself by writing more! Lowes is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts and studied at RADA and the School at Steppenwolf.

 

KATIE'S RECOMMENDED BOOKS & RESOURCES:

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
Girls by Lena Dunham

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