In My Bath- An Interview with Beth Reinke

Readers:

Before you get too energetic about the title of this blog, I assure you that my interview with Beth Reinke did not occur in my bath. Sorry to disappoint!

Rather, In My Bath is the title of Beth's brand new children's book. I had an opportunity to ask this IndieDebut 2010 member a few questions.

How long have you been writing, and what inspired you to begin seriously devoting yourself to the craft of writing?

I remember writing my thesis in grad school and desperately wanting to write something else, something FUN.That’s when I knew for sure I wanted to be a writer. When my sons were babies and toddlers, I enrolled in courses from The Institute of Children’s Literature and learned everything I could about the craft. I started writing and submitting seriously when my younger son started second grade.

How do you live your life like a writer? What day-to-day habits must you incorporate into your routine?

Writing is my job, so most mornings I head straight to my computer to get started. I use two strategies to keeping organized – making lists and keeping a calendar by my desk. I write lists of things I need to do, from writing thank you notes to mailing book orders to researching article topics. Without the lists, I would forget things, that’s for sure! My calendar has big squares so I can write multiple entries for each day. For instance, on today’s date I wrote,“interview on Scott’s blog.”

As any work-from-home mom will tell you, multitasking is a necessary habit, too. I fit in other tasks while writing - putting dinner in the crockpot, grooming the dog, doing laundry. Luckily, the laundry room is close to my computer so I can hear the dryer buzzer – LOL.

Who are some of the authors you lean on most for inspiration and craft when you get stuck in your own writing?

For inspiration, I read anything by Kathi Macias http://www.kathimacias.com/ who writes powerful novels as well as women’s nonfiction books. Right now I’m reading No Greater Love, the first book in her Extreme Devotion series. For inspiration and craft, I like writer Kristi Holl’s blog at http://writers-first-aid.blogspot.com/

In your opinion, how important is the link between avid reading and strong writing?

Just about every writer will tell you that reading and writing go hand-in-hand, especially for those of us who love to work with words. I write articles for magazines and find it helpful to analyze nonfiction. I try to study the writing in a novel, but I usually end up lost in the story and forget to analyze it! Peeking into someone else’s life in fiction is so much fun.

What can you tell us about your current projects?

I'm working on two children's book manuscripts right now. One is a follow up to In My Bath. The other is an ABC book, which is new territory for me. I'm busy keeping up with my new website and blogs, too.


Where can we go to learn more about you?

Readers can visit me at http://www.bethbencereinke.com. My website contains a bio, links to food and nutrition articles I’ve written and two blogs. My “Food & Faith” blog contains nutrition tips and healthy recipes. To read children’s book reviews,check out “Beth’s Book Basket.”

To learn about my illustrator, Ginger Nelson, please visit http://www.gingernielson.com. She does the bestest work!

CONTEST!

Any tub adventure needs rubber duckies! Beth has graciously offered a set of five, squirting rubber duckies to the contest winner. Just reply, in the Comments section of this blog, with the answer to the question to register. A winner will be selected at random at the end of the week.

Question: What is the title of Beth's next book (listed as "Coming Soon" on her website)?

~Scott

"Live, Learn, Teach"

www.micedonttastelikechicken.com