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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: October, 2018
Oct 18, 2018

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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Have your insecurities ever driven you to writer’s block? How can we use feedback, rejection, and self-encouragement to break out of writing-related anxiety? We unpack all of that and so much more with today’s guest Tamora Pierce.

Tamora, a #1 New York Times bestseller and recipient of the 2013 Margaret A. Edwards Award, is the author of Alanna: The First AdventureLady KnightWild Magic, and many, many more. Her most recent novel, Tempests and Slaughter, begins the journey into her new series called The Numair Chronicles and is out on the shelves now.

In our conversation, Tamora takes us on a journey throughout her life and describes the moments she first fell in love with writing, found her passion for crafting female heroes, what she’s learned from rejection, and much more. We talk about creative block and how we can encourage ourselves to believe in our craft. Her wisdom shines through as she discusses her research process into the world of magic, how she builds dynamic characters, and how she approaches writing more serious topics for young adults. 

Say 'Hi' to Tamora on:

Facebook at "Tamora Pierce, Fantasy Author" 

Twitter at @TamoraPierce

To access her shownotes page, head over to: 88CUPSOFTEA.COM/PODCAST/TAMORA-PIERCE

Oct 5, 2018

If you’d love to keep 88 Cups of Tea going strong, please consider supporting us through our Patreon membership. We added EARLY ACCESS TO INTERVIEWS for our Super Storyteller patrons in the $8.88 tier. Your kind support at any of our tiers is so helpful. A heartfelt thank you in advance.

https://www.patreon.com/88cupsoftea

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What exactly does it mean to be a '26-year overnight success'? How do we get through challenges of rejections both in our writing and at our day job? We get into all of it and so much more with today's guest Kwame Alexander.

Kwame is a poet, educator, and the New York Times Bestselling author of 28 books, including "Swing", "Solo", and "Rebound", the follow-up to his Newbery medal-winning middle-grade novel, "The Crossover". Some of his other works include "Booked", a National Book Award Nominee.

This conversation is full of wisdom and transparency as we discuss Kwame’s “26-year overnight success” and the challenges of writing-related rejections, being laid-off from a job, the daily personal woes of being a human being, in particular, being an African American man and how it challenges the view of humanity and of the world. Further into the conversation, we dive into Kwame’s journey writing “Rebound” and how it reflected his own journey writing that story and at the same time, learning to rebound in life while his mother was in the hospital. We talk about the inspiration that we need to keep us going through the challenging times of a writer’s journey, managing writing around day-time jobs, and writing groups. We go into detail about his newest novel “Swing” and what it’s like to work with a co-author. 

Say 'Hi' to Kwame on Twitter @kwamealexander

To access his shownotes page, head over to 88CUPSOFTEA.COM/PODCAST/KWAME-ALEXANDER!

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Click here to read our 3-year anniversary event summary by Olivia Liu weaved in with photos by Melora Chang!

Make sure you don't miss out on our feature article "Letting the Ghosts In" by J.C. Cervantes, click here to read it!

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