7 Wheels & a Podcast: OSU-Cascades’ Wheels Cohort Talk Writing & Read Their Work-Ep.35

Today we have an epic, action-packed episode for you, so get ready to geek out on reading and writing. The Wheels join us to explore their work, motivations, writer’s lives, and craft and style choices. There are seven segments, each designed and created by a cohort member. Rachel reads the opening scene to her fantasy novel as it opens with a radio broadcast. It details the region’s landscape, mythology, and technology. Amaia Faressi is the lead lady in Kelsey’s science fiction series, Sabiak’s Creed, and she’s here to talk about the novel and the joys and frustrations of being an author’s muse. In her segment, Tiffany digs into what it’s like to live with a writer. Pamela’s segment is a “Quest for Genre” in which she reads a short piece of each of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry and reflect briefly on the writing process and the reason for the genre selection for the content. In her segment, Cheliss explores the role writing played in her relationship with her partner. Hannah engages a fellow artist on how writing, photography, and running intersect in their creative lives. Karen begins with a rhyming piece about negative capability and discusses with humor and gusto, some of the internal struggles and turmoil that a writing life entails.

Welcome to Read.Write.Repeat.

May’s giveaway is inspired by OSU-Cascades’ Wheel of Fortune cohort and their capstone project. This month we have sevem prizes to give away, each inspired by one of the seven Wheels. That means we will have seven winners! We explain more about how the giveaway works toward the end of the show notes.

Our totally awesome intro was created by Mike Fraedrich. You can find more from Mike at mikefraedrich.com & brighttowers.com. The first one points to his Twitter, the second his music. Thanks, Mike!!

So what is a Capstone?

• Capstone = creativity and community involvement. Risk taking and passion.
• Diversity of our group = a variety of voices and writing styles. We wanted to highlight the unique interests because we feel this reflects our beliefs about creativity and writing in general–everyone can and should be creative, it is as vital to health as running or eating all your vegetables. The last thing we need is homogenized voices. So we are exploring our work, our motivations, our writer’s lives, and our craft and style choices through the podcast.
• Seven segments, each designed and created by a cohort member.
• We need you, listeners, to be involved. We hope to inspire your own reflections and explorations and want to hear from you. Kaisha and Dylan will have specific prompts for each segment that you can respond to. We also want to see any comments or questions that grow out of the segments. You can join in by tagging us in your comments or using the #WheelsOnRWR. Every time you tag us or use the hashtag, you will be entered into this month’s giveaway!
• In June, we will be recording the second episode, in front of a live audience. In that, we will be exploring the themes and topics that arise out of this episode.

Rachel Wiley-Bard

Our first Wheel, Rachel Wiley-Bard. Rachel is a coffee-stained, star-obsessed, armor-wearing writer who has a love-hate relationship with adjectives, the hyphenate, and her name. She writes fantasy from low to high and stubbornly insists on a wider range of representation in a genre boxed in by tradition. A strong proponent of fluid sexuality and gender no matter the landscape, she thinks fantasy can stand to be queerer. Rachel reads the opening scene to her fantasy novel as it opens with a radio broadcast. It details the region’s landscape, mythology, and technology.

Listeners weigh in:

Now it’s your turn to participate in this project. What are your favorite ways to handle backstory and exposition? If you have questions or comments for Rachel, post them on your preferred social media and tag us or use the #wheelsonrwr.

Kelsey Stone

Most of you guys know Kelsey as one of our co-hosts here on the podcast. She’s also a speculative fiction author and poet. Kelsey has written three books in a science fiction series and is about ready to start hunting for an agent for the first novel, Sabiak’s Creed. Today we have Amaia Faressi on the show. Amaia is the lead lady in Sabiak’s Creed, and she’s here to talk about the novel and the joys and frustrations of being an author’s muse.

Listeners weigh in:

Remember that the Wheels want you to be a part of this project. What do you love to see when an author is characterizing? If you have questions or comments for Kelsey or Amaia, post them on your preferred social media and tag us or use the #wheelsonrwr.

Tiffany McFee

Tiffany writes fiction and is a founding editor of Townsend, a literary journal for long-form fiction. Her novel, Juxtaposed, is written as a three-part narrative that shifts the reader from a murder investigation, to the mind of the suspect, to the sordid past and deepest fears of its victim. In her segment, Tiffany digs into what it’s like to live with a writer.

Listeners weigh in:

What do you think? How would you feel if you a friend was writing a novel and you recognized yourself in one of the characters? If you have questions or comments for Tiffany, post them on your preferred social media and tag us or use the #wheelsonrwr.

Pamela Krueger

After decades as a writer of a more technical variety, i.e., writing legal briefs as an environmental lawyer, Pamela began a career transition as a writer after her near-adult son faced a life-threatening condition that had her by his bedside. She writes in multiple genres, depending on the mood of the piece, and invites you to travel along with her from genre to genre. Pamela’s segment is a “Quest for Genre” in which she reads a short piece of each of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry and reflect briefly on the writing process and the reason for the genre selection for the content.

Listeners weigh in:

Tell us, what is one piece of writing that you would love to see transformed into a different genre? Writer’s, if you were going to pick another genre to work in, which might you choose? Don’t forget to tag us with your answers, thoughts, or responses to any of this segment, or use the #WheelsOnRWR.

Cheliss Thayer

Cheliss is known for her short fictions that get at the heart of familial (dys)function. Both heartbreaking and strikingly honest. In her segment, she explores the role writing played in her relationship with her partner.

Listeners weigh in:

What role has creativity played in your relationships? In what ways do your loved ones nurture a love for reading, writing, or art? Tells us your creativity story, or respond to something you loved or were inspired by in Cheliss’s segment by tagging us in the comment or using the #WheelsOnRWR.

Hannah O’Leary

Hannah is a photographer and writer, sharing stories both in image and word. In her segments, she engages fellow artists on how writing, photography, and running intersect in their creative lives.

Listeners weigh in:

What different forms does your creativity take? What other activities is it tied to? Don’t forget to tag us in your responses to Hannah’s segment or use the #WheelsOnRWR.

Karen Jorgenson

Karen writes lyrical prose with an imaginative spoken quality. A fiction poet, who tackles big ideas with rhythm and imagery, she writes from a musical place, located between the heart and the mind: quite literally, this place would be the voice. In this segment, Karen is reading from her current work-in-progress, a (multi-genre, split perspective) novel. Karen begins with a rhyming piece about negative capability and discusses with humor and gusto, some of the internal struggles and turmoil that a writing life entails.

Listeners weigh in:

How do you engage with your creativity? Let us know or tell us about what you connected with, in Karen’s segment. Tag us in your comment or use the #WheelsOnRWR.

That was far too much fun! A big thanks to Oregon State Cascades for letting us host their capstone project. Until next time, Happy reading!

Connect and Win!!

• Remember that the project isn’t over. We need to hear from you, dear listeners.
  • Participate, and you could be featured in their June episode.
  • In the least, you will be entered to win one of our seven prizes, each inspired by one of the wheels.
  • To participate, tag us in your comments, or use the #WheelsOnRWR.
• You can find other Giveaways on the giveaways tab and in the Give us a Shout tab on our website. Be sure to check those out. We ship worldwide, so don’t hesitate to enter our giveaway.
• If anything sparked an idea for you, or you have thoughts or ideas about what we should discuss next. Let us know. Fill out our survey for a chance to win cool prizes!

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Thanks for listening to Read.Write.Repeat! Talk with you next time!