Meet Betsy
Welcome to my virtual studio. As both a writer and designer, I’m driven by a curiosity about the world. In my studio, I take that curiosity and use it to create new worlds. I write for kids and adults as well as a good deal of freelance non-fiction. Explore to find out more about me, my books, and my thoughts on writing as well as the thoughts of friends who stop by the studio. If you’ve got something you’d like to share reach out to me through the contact form. I’d love to hear from you. Scroll down to read what’s been happening in the studio.
Polis Loizou: Bringing a Collage Into Focus
When I heard he had a new book out next month I thought it was the perfect chance to revisit a great interview. I loved Loizou’s insight into the creative process, especially about using journals as a way to create a novel.
Meet Lori Snyder & The Writer’s Happiness Movement
The Writers Happiness Movement offers free happiness tools for writers such as free weekly online yoga, breathwork, and meditation; free online retreats every …
Katzenberger: Fear & Friendship in IT WILL BE OK
The theme of the story—that we can be afraid of things that appear very small to others but feel very big to us—seems obvious to me now. But I don’t think I knew what I was trying to say until many, many revisions into the writing . . .
TD Inman on Martian Trump
After the first chaotic months of the Trump administration. I needed to channel my anxiety and anger into something constructive. I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea I just couldn’t shake: Donald Trump stranded on Mars, all alone, with only his self-described genius intellect to guide him seemed irresistibly ripe for parody.
CYNTHIA FRANCA & CHERYL PERREAULT: A Project for Hope
2020 has been a hard year for the arts. Performers are out of work. Festivals are canceled and authors are struggling to connect with readers in a world without live events. Still the drive to create does not stop and some people are using that drive for good. That is exactly what Cynthia Franca and Cheryl Perreault are doing with their new anthology.
Hope through Community is a collection of poems, stories, and photographs from people around the world. This collection offers a tapestry of authentic . . .
AMY CHU & JANET K. LEE, BRINGING SEA SIRENS TO LIFE
Last year, graphic novel sales drastically outpaced the growth rate of other print publishing. More and more readers are drawn to the marriage of art and storytelling that goes into books like Sea Sirens, a new middle-grade novel about a Vietnamese-American surfer and her water-loving cat. Spine sat down with Eisner Award-winning illustrator Janet K. Lee as well as writer and co-founder of Alpha Girl Comics Amy Chu to talk about bringing their graphic novel to life. . .
Spencer Hyde, Drawing on Personal Experiences for Waiting For Fitz
“Everything we do is an absurd ritual unless you understand the meaning behind it.” — Spencer Hyde
From wedding ceremonies to hand washing, if society understands the reasons behind an action, it is considered "normal." In his new book, Waiting for Fitz, Spencer Hyde tells the story of Addie, a teenage girl struggling with OCD. She is admitted to a psychiatric ward where she finds friendship with a schizophrenic boy named Fitz. Together the two learn . . .