Wild Minds

exploring the work of writing & creating

Q&A with JaNay Brown-Wood: Bring Them Joy

Through my kids screenwriting world, I recently had the pleasure of meeting and reading the delightful writing of award-winning children’s book author JaNay Brown-Wood. Like many of her characters, JaNay exudes a warm, playful energy and has a can-do attitude about all the amazing things she endeavors to do—and overwhelmingly succeeds at, no less! JaNay’s beautiful mission to celebrate diversity and bring positivity into the world is at the heart of her stories about everything from toddlers learning about produce to magical puppies who help kids through tough situations.

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q&aLillie GardnerComment
5 Takeaways from Austin Film Festival

There’s a saying I’ve heard many times in my writing career journey, both in terms of the stories we write and the relationships we build: “People don’t remember what happened; they remember how it made them feel.” This is true of events too. Austin Film Festival is jam-packed with amazing people, brilliant minds, and incredible projects.

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Q&A with Nicole Houff: It's a Barbie World

2023 might have become the year of Barbie, but Minneapolis photographer Nicole Houff has been living in her own fantastic Barbie world for sixteen years and counting. It was delightful and inspiring to talk with Nicole about her process, her career trajectory, and how it’s more possible than you might think to follow your dreams.

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q&aLillie GardnerComment
Q&A with Roxanna Walitzki: Finding Transcendence

Classically trained as a mezzo-soprano, Roxanna Walitzki integrates elements from electronic and ambient music into her art-song arrangements, and uses video to further the reach of classical music. After studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and NYU, Roxanna expanded her art-making to photography, modeling and producing.

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Do Not Submit Until: A Checklist

No matter the format or the genre, rejection is almost always due to one of a few common missteps. I want to share them so that we can all put our best writerly feet forward—because I, too, am a writer who submits my work to the mysterious realm of Readers who I hope will take my work seriously and consider it for a next step. First, some good news: readers are hoping to be enthusiastic about your work.

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Q&A with Cassandra Rose: Theater and Screenplays and Games, Oh My!

Did you know it’s possible for one person to write 300 plays in just a few years? Or that there are writers who have the fascinating job of adapting romance novels into video games? As soon as I learned these things about the lovely and talented Cassandra Rose, I knew I needed to know more about her creative life.

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Whistle While You Hustle

Being really busy is my jam, don’t get me wrong, but the last few months really pushed me to reflect on how important self-care is when you’re in the throes of bonkersdom. I tend to think of self-care as something a future me will do when I have the time for it. But self-care has to be part of everything we do as creators, especially when the journey starts going full-speed ahead. 

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Lillie GardnerComment
Q&A with Madhushree Ghosh: Enjoy

Madhushree Ghosh is a Pushcart-nominated essayist whose work was the 2020 Notable Mention in Best American Essays in Food Writing, and her words have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, BOMB Magazine, The Rumpus and more. Her braided essay collection Khabaar (“food” in Bengali) is about food’s role in connecting to identity, culture and social justice.

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Let's Talk About Rejection

I made a rejections collage. Yes, a real-life collage—the kind of collage you buy a poster board and glue sticks for—of my rejections. Not all of my rejections, but the ones that were easiest for me to find through my Submittable account and old emails. I wanted to write about rejection, and it felt important that I spend quality time with my rejections in order to do so.

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