As published on https://liberateandlather.com/blog/39512/interview-with-rebecca-wenrich-wheeler February 8, 2023 for the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour.
Becoming an eco-friendly household can be overwhelming when considering the magnitude of the climate crisis. Instead of thinking about every possible lifestyle change, start small, and choose one or two tasks and build from there. Yes, my family is now one with a composter, pollinator gardens, and solar panels, but it’s not something we didn’t all at once. Whether your family is just beginning on this journey or has incorporated some eco-friendly practices, reducing single-use plastic usage and composting are inexpensive places to start. Reducing single-use plastic According to plasticocean.org 50% of all plastic produced is for single use. Individual families can make a difference! First start by surveying your plastic usage and determine what can be cut. Start with one item. For instance, you might ban plastic sandwich bags from lunchboxes and change to reusable containers, ditch the plastic straws, or use refillable water bottles and coffee cups. You might also commit to using reusable shopping bags, and if you do end up with plastic shopping bags, pledge to re-use them. To go a step further, you might try refillable soaps and cleaners in glass or aluminum containers. There are many more options in the refillable soap market than just a few years ago. My personal favorite is Blueland for hand soaps, laundry booster, and toilet cleaner. And the best part is over time you do save money, because you are only buying the refill tablets and not paying for yet another disposable container. I also use Grove Collaborative for dish detergent and laundry sheets, and I went back to old-school powder dishwasher detergent in a cardboard box. For those who love clothes, research clothing companies that use recycled plastics in their fabrics or even shop consignment. Every little bit helps. Start small; ditch one plastic item, and then see how far you go! Visit earthday.org for more tips on ending plastic pollution and even calculate your plastic footprint to help you determine where to cut. Home composting Let’s talk about home composting. So why compost in the first place? According to the USDA, food waste is estimated at 30-40% of the food supply. And most of that waste goes into landfills. Every 100 pounds of food waste sends 8.3 pounds of methane into the atmosphere. Yes, composting does create methane, but at much lower levels. Landfill emissions are about ½ methane and ½ CO2, and compost gas emissions are mainly CO2. About 50% of what goes into landfills can be composted, and that’s where families come in. We’ve been home composting for almost five years. We purchased a 37-gallon tumbling composter from Target for about $90. We keep a small stainless steel compost bin on our counter, and when it’s full, we transfer to the large composter. The first step is to cut down on food waste and leave as little as possible uneaten. But if you do have waste, most of it can transfer to home composting: coffee grounds, egg shells, bread scraps, fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, nut shells (make sure to crush for quicker decomposition), paper, cardboard tubes, cardboard take-out containers. Even some yard waste like grass clippings, crushed leaves and sawdust can be composted. You do want a balance of greens and browns in your bin. Check out the EPA website for more home composting tips: https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home Animal fats and proteins should not go into home compost, as it takes a lot more heat than a home composter can provide to break it down. You’ll get rot before compost, plus animal products attract pests. If you have access to a commercial compost service, like Compost Now, they can take animal byproducts as well as the cups, utensils, and bags marked for commercial compost. Also never put pet waste or unused medicine in compost. Check with your local health department for proper disposal of medicine. I grew up on a peninsula, and water was a part of our town’s survival. Not only was it a source of beauty and recreation it was also our livelihood. I remember being taught about pollution in elementary school in the 1980s, and those lessons stuck with me. The natural world is infused in all my writing, and sometimes not even intentionally! My pictures books: When Daddy Shows Me the Sky (released November 2021) and When Mama Grows with Me (to be released Summer 2023), are about yoga and astronomy and yoga and gardening, respectfully. My novel YA Whispering Through Water is set in a coastal Virginia town, and the book is filled with water and bird imagery. Whispering Through Water was released January 4, 2023, and can be purchased wherever books are sold. Spring is around the corner! If you are interested in watching the evolution of my pollinator gardens, follow me on Instagram. Blooming will happen soon! Keep looking up. Becca
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As published on https://suebe.wordpress.com/2023/02/06/writers-and-therapists-a-guest-post-from-rebecca-wenrich-wheeler/ February 8, 2023 for the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour.
In graduate school, my Group Counseling professor said so many gems that I still remember 14 years later. Two in particular: “The only experience you can speak to with authority is your own.” and “Counseling is one profession where age is always on your side.” Over time, I’ve found these two statements not only apply to the counseling profession but also to my writing life. I have wanted to be a writer since elementary school. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Hodge, encouraged us to write our own stories. She entered my story, The Funny Cat, into the Young Author’s contest. I won first place, and my dream was born. In the eighth grade, we were asked to write our life plan, and I wrote that I would earn a master’s degree and write a book before I was 30 (only one of those things happened “on schedule”). I earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, and later another one in Professional Counseling, but it wouldn't be until many years later that I would publish my first book. Which brings me back to my Group Counseling professor. I’ve learned that age is also on the writer’s side. The more life experience I accumulate the more layered my work becomes. Characters, like people, can surprise you; their motivations don’t play out in a neat line. Motivations may be influenced by environment, personal history, desires, and social norms. Motivational interviewing is a counseling method of asking questions to help a client uncover their own motivations and reasons for change. A writer might consider asking questions of their characters to help create dynamic personalities. For instance, a writer might ask “What does happiness mean to you?” Or my favorite question, aptly named the miracle question, “If overnight a miracle happened and one thing changed that improved your life, what would that thing be?” Answering these questions for my characters helps guide me to how they respond to conflict and change. Over the years I have often repeated the sentence: “The only experience you can speak to with authority is your own”. Not only is this statement appropriate for when I teach professional development, but it’s also true for writing. I’m a believer in the adage write what you know. I tend to set my writing in environments that I’m familiar with, which allows for more nuanced setting descriptions. I do incorporate characters with different life experiences than my own, and I must be cautious not to infuse my own assumptions onto the character to avoid falling into stereotype traps. Researching and choosing beta readers with diverse backgrounds helps to improve authenticity and provide a well-rounded viewpoint. I think of my characters as real people, like at any moment, I could meet them in the real world. A reader may see themselves in a character, and they deserve an authentic experience. Coming-of-age is my favorite YA genre to write. Recently, I found myself pondering why so many adults love to read YA, and then it dawned on me. We spend our entire lives processing what happened to us in childhood and adolescence. As we mature, we understand more how the events of our youth affects us as adults, so when an adult reads YA, the reader gains more insight into their own experience. A truth that will keep therapists and writers employed for life. Keep looking up. Becca As published on https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com/2023/02/08/wow-blog-tour-for-whispering-through-water-by-rebecca-wenrich-wheeler-guest-post/ February 8, 2023 for the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour. I grew up in a small town in the Tidewater region of Virginia, about 45 minutes due east of Richmond. My hometown is a peninsula, with a population of approximately 3200 people living in 6.6 square miles. Surrounded by water on three sides, our town boasted two bridge exits and one land exit, and two stop lights. Despite being small, we were fortunate to live in a community that was invested in education and supported the well-being of our small public school (so small that my graduating class was 37 people strong!) I spent many hours at our local library, and I can stilI picture exactly where the Nancy Drew books were located on the shelves. I didn’t fully comprehend the modest size of my hometown until I attended college in North Carolina, which although was considered a small university, still had a larger population than my town. My first year teaching high school, I’ll never forget the shock on students’ faces, when I told my Creative Writing class that if four more students were added to this room, you would have my entire graduating class. Additionally, it wasn’t until I moved to Raleigh, NC did I encounter a large division of wealth. The majority of my hometown’s residents worked for the paper mill. As kids, what we considered a “mansion” would be an average-sized home in comparison to the wealthy suburbs around Raleigh. Growing up, I don’t remember being concerned about having the latest brand-names or gadgets, those things were luxuries beyond most families’ budgets, besides the fact shopping malls were 45 minutes away. Although, growing up in a small town doesn’t reflect the idyllic portrait of a Hallmark movie, especially for an awkward teen like me. As a young child, I loved being able to ride my bike everywhere knowing I was safe and all of my classmates feeling like best friends. As I moved into adolescence, however, finding my place proved more difficult. In a small high school there are only two groups, the popular crowd and the rest of us. I was the latter. Although I will say the rest of us have grown up to be fascinating adults, a group of artists, academics, therapists and educators. I am grateful to have not been among the popular crowd as it allowed me to define my own margins (at least I can say that now as an adult looking back!). When the idea hit me for a coming-of-age novel, Whispering Through Water, my small town upbringing provided an excellent backdrop. Adding the water imagery to the novel came naturally, not only for aesthetics, but also as both a symbol of freedom and a barrier. My students who were raised in the city were able to visualize opportunities I never knew existed until I got to college. (Now, I’m a mental health clinician, and I never knew what psychology was until I took an introductory psychology class as a college sophomore!) For a young protagonist taking a leap faith, the jump seems much larger when the launching pad is a small town. My novel ends before we know if the protagonist’s dreams of the big city and her future match her expectations. Although, I like to think she is realistically optimistic like me, taking every opportunity we can to learn, even if that means failing, because that’s the only thing moving us forward. Whispering Through Water was released January 4, 2023 and can be purchased wherever books are sold. Keep looking up. Becca Gardening, Writing, and the Between.2/17/2023 As published on https://readingismyremedy.wordpress.com January 28, 2023 for the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour. Life consists mostly of waiting, punctuated with moments of excitement. It’s in the waiting that we prepare, learn, and change so we’re ready when opportunities emerge. Those times we do not see evidence of growth on the outside are the times we are growing on the inside! Dormant spells are inevitable, for gardens and authors. We cannot expect ourselves to bloom creativity 100% of the time. We must learn to use those dormant times to rest and rejuvenate, so we’re ready to bloom when the time comes! I like to write about the moments that exist in the between, because that’s where the really good stuff happens; that’s when the growth occurs. We meet people in all stages of waiting: waiting for a birthday, a graduation, the arrival of a baby, for a vacation, better job, a diagnosis, or a new horizon. What makes people fascinating is how they handle the anticipation. Both of my 2023 releases find characters waiting. In the YA novel Whispering Through Water, characters wait for their futures to begin and for the truth to be discovered. As the protagonist, Gwyn, finds herself in the between of high school and adulthood, she unearths fundamental truths to understanding herself and her relationships. (released January 4, 2023) In the picture book When Mama Grows with Me, the parent and child move through all the steps of gardening from seed to flower, and in doing so, learn together to be more patient and grateful. (summer 2023 release) My childhood was filled with gardening. When I think of my Grandma Helen, I picture large bushes of parsley and rows of crocuses. My mom reminds me of lilies and irises. Now as an adult, it’s truly a joy to build a garden with my own children. In particular, I love creating pollinator gardens, and the kids love it too! Even if you are new to gardening, these steps can help you create your own pollinator garden.
2. Learn about your soil. Talk to your local nursery staff to determine what type of soil you have and what plants work best for those conditions. For instance, if you have clay, it’s helpful to add conditioners. If you know your soil isn’t the best, you might choose to use a raised bed, that way you can add healthier soil. Link to understanding soil. 3. Understand your garden’s light. Does your garden space offer full sun, partial sun, afternoon sun, morning sun? Different areas of your yard might receive different levels of sunlight. When you buy plants, check the tag for recommended sun levels, that will help you get optimum growth! Link to understanding a garden's light. 4. Discover what critters live in your yard. Have you ever spent money on beautiful dahlias or impatiens only to have them plowed down by bunnies or deer? Save yourself the heartache (and money)! I have so many bunnies in my yard that I only buy plants that bunnies won’t eat, like zinnias, beardtongue, and coneflower. And you’re in luck! Many of the plants pollinators love bunnies stay away from. Link to bunny proof plants. And one other tip when you are purchasing flowers, perennials come back year after year. Buy perennials and build your pollinator garden over time. Happy gardening! Follow me on Instagram @rebeccawwheeler_author to watch my yard bloom this spring! Keep looking up. Becca As published on https://authoranthonyavinablog.com/January 24, 2023 for the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour. I write how I read, in multiples. I typically have several writing projects going on at once, usually a picture book, middle grade, and a YA (and then the occasional non-fiction piece for work). Switching between genres helps keep my brain fresh. If I have been working on one piece for a while, and writer’s block looms, I switch to another project for a while to maintain momentum.
The variance in my approach to writing picture books versus novels isn’t necessarily intentional, but rather the formats of the genres lend themselves to different paths. Of course, every author must discover their own writing groove, and the following is what works for me. Picture Books Picture books are recommended to be 1000 words or less, with the emphasis on or less. To keep focused, I have to be methodical. The limited word count requires every word to have purpose. After the idea hits me, I list all the page spread numbers first. I favor writing picture books in short bursts, mirroring the brevity of the picture book’s page length. First, I determine the climax and hook and which page spread the climax will fall. Of course, this spread is moveable, but I like to have a target to build toward. My current books all contain back matter, as they are addressing facts about the natural world and yoga. I calculate in the back matter to my page count, as to not go over the recommended page length. All of the back matter is referenced or connected to the book content, so I ensure to use consistent terminology through the book. Also as illustrations are involved, I think about which pages lend themselves to full page spreads and which are single-page illustrations. Having a vision for the overall book concept helps me to balance the text. Of course the editor might suggest moving things around, but my picture book editor likes for me to have some vision for the illustrations before we start. Picture books consist of many moving parts! YA Novels With picture books, I tend to write more than required and then cut back on the unnecessary details; however, with novels I do the opposite. For the first draft, I focus on assembling the skeleton, which for me means dialogue and the major plot points. I add descriptive details and the “color” in subsequent drafts. For novels, I have the exposition, climax, and resolution determined first, and then figure out how to get there. After writing the exposition, I formulate a timeline of major plotline events. I never know how many chapters a book will have until it’s finished. I prefer to write novels in longer strides, so if I don’t have at least time to knock out a chapter I wait and work on something else. When I get stuck, I take a break (notice I said when and not if, blocks happen to every writer). Often my breakthrough ideas come when I’m doing something else, like driving, gardening, and particularly after teaching a yoga class! Understanding your typical patterns will help you to be a more efficient and productive writer; however, most importantly, know how to take a quality break. Keep looking up. Becca As published on www.mindymcginnis.com/ January 10, 2023 for the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour. For the better part of my adult life, I have edited other people’s work, first as a high school English & Creative Writing teacher, and then as an adjunct college instructor. I tend to provide a lot of feedback, namely because I want my students to reach their capabilities as a writer and researcher. If I didn’t believe the students had the potential to improve, I wouldn’t spend so much time writing feedback.
When my first picture book, When Daddy Shows Me the Sky, was accepted for publication in 2020, it had been a long time since I was on the receiving end of the editing pen. Even though I would have loved to have been published earlier in my life, I am thankful that by the time I worked with an editor on my first book, I had developed a confidence in my own voice that didn’t exist in my twenties. That confidence allowed me to enter this new editor-author relationship as two professionals collaborating rather than a writer with an inferiority complex. Book editing happens in a variety of ways. For my two picture books, a single editor went through four revision rounds with me, and my editor served as the intermediary with the illustrator and designer. She was truly my partner through the entire process. My second picture book, When Mama Grows with Me, will be released in Spring 2023. Both picture books are published by Belle Isle Books, an imprint of Brandylane Publishing. The editing process with my YA novel, Whispering Through Water, was very different. Instead of one editor I had three. Each editor served a different purpose. The first was a developmental editor, then copy and line editors. In terms of the design process, I communicated directly with my publisher at Monarch Educational Services, LLC. For me, switching editors through the publishing process was more stressful, because the communication style changes with each editor. I learned that I prefer for the editor to ask me clarifying questions, so I have a chance to extrapolate the intended meaning, rather than the editor making content changes without asking questions. Also, I am turned off by sarcasm in comments, as I personally don’t find that professional. An editor isn’t an author's boss or teacher, rather the editor serves more as a coach guiding the plays to improve the writer’s game. If something isn’t working in the relationship, it’s okay to communicate with the editor about the concern. Or if a particular question or piece of feedback was helpful, tell your editor that as well, which also helps her know how to best communicate with you. With each editor change, comes a new relationship to navigate. Though fundamentally, whether I have one editor or three, I just want to know she is as invested in my work as I am. For the relationship to work, the writer and editor must respect each other’s expertise and passion. Respect is reciprocal. For those new to the writer-editor relationship, keep this in mind: the editor chose your work, which means she believes your work deserves to have an audience. You both have the same goals: for your unique author’s voice to shine, the book to be loved by readers, and hopefully make a little money in the process. Keep looking up. Becca The Between10/7/2022 ![]() Life consists mostly of waiting, punctuated with moments of excitement. It’s in the waiting that we prepare, learn, and change so we’re ready when opportunities emerge. I am thankful life isn’t an endless sequence of noisy excitement, how exhausting that would be! The waiting makes the positive moments worth it, and the negative moments easier to tolerate. I like to write about the moments that exist in the between, because that’s where the really good stuff happens; that’s when the growth occurs. We meet people in all stages of waiting: waiting for a birthday, a graduation, the arrival of a baby, for a vacation, better job, a diagnosis, or a new horizon. What makes people fascinating is how they handle the anticipation. Both of my 2023 releases find characters waiting. In the picture book When Mama Grows with Me, the parent and child move through all the steps of gardening from seed to flower, and in doing so, learn together to be more patient and grateful. Those times we do not see evidence of growth on the outside, are the times we are growing on the inside! In the YA novel Whispering Through Water, characters wait for their futures to begin and for the truth to be discovered. (The family patriarch is even named for the playwright, Samuel Beckett, who wrote Waiting for Godot. A play in which two comedic characters wait around and wait around some more.) As the protagonist, Gwyn, finds herself in the between of high school and adulthood, she unearths fundamental truths to understanding herself and her relationships. So what are you waiting for? How will you fill the time until the future arrives? Keep looking up. Becca Water Proverb4/12/2022 Despite that I’ve lost count how many drafts of Whispering Through Water exist, one thing has remained throughout every revision: the title. I grew up in a small town on a coastal peninsula, and practically every house was within three blocks of a river. Water imagery creeps into my writing, whether intended or not. Water has the power to both heal and destroy. I’ve experienced the beauty of the water on a spring day, and then the menacing beast during a hurricane. Water is the ultimate paradox. I discovered the poet, Denise Levertov, when I took Feminist Poetry in graduate school. I often return to my well-worn copy Levertov's poetry collection Breathing the Water (1984). The title highlights the water paradox. The image of breathing water brings to mind either images of healing and cleansing or suffocating and drowning. (Personally, I lean toward healing imagery). When my sister and I were kids, we would sink underwater in the pool and try to mouth words as the other would try to guess what we said. Of course, we rarely guessed correctly and just ended up spraying water at each other. Although in real life, sometimes our voice feels as if we are screaming through a filter of water. Our mouths go through the motions of movement but without sound. Despite her longingness, the protagonist in Whispering Through Water often feels stifled by her own reluctance to speak her truth, particularly to the family’s matriarch, her Aunt Delia. “It’s like in my mind I feel as if I’m screaming for her to understand what I want, what I need, but then when the words leave my mouth I feel as if,” I paused to gather my thoughts, “as if I’m just whispering through water.” . . . My aunt was the one person who I was terrified to confront, and the one I most wanted to hear me." -excerpt from Whispering Through Water One of my favorite poems in Breathing the Water is “I learned that her name was Proverb.” The poem explores the power of human relationships, no matter how brief, people we may only know for a moment, but that play a pivotal role in our lives. A person we may only have spoken to once, but years later would recognize without question. Or maybe it’s a person we have known for years, who has now grown and changed with time, but one word can take us back years to when we met them. “one crucial moment, gaze to gaze, or for years know and don’t recognize But of whom later a word sings back to us” -excerpt from “I learned that her name was Proverb” by Denise Levertov My novel Whispering Through Water explores both types of relationships. The brief relationship that shapes a lifetime, and the lifelong relationship that must change to survive. I’m excited to count down the days until I can share Whispering Through Water with you. Keep looking up. Becca Whispering Through Water landing 1.4.231/18/2022 ![]() I’m excited to announce my first YA novel Whispering Through Water will be released January 4, 2023 from Monarch Press. Set in 1998, a time on the cusp of a technology explosion when youth, especially young women, were experiencing the benefits of the women’s movement fought for by their mothers and grandmothers. The coming-of-age story follows our protagonist, Gwyn Madison, the summer after her high school graduation. While grappling with her fast-approaching future, Gwyn stumbles upon a long held family secret. She’ll have to face more than she bargained for with her Aunt Delia, the family matriarch, and in the meantime, she meets a young man that shows her that going after what she needs is worth everything. Whispering Through Water navigates family dynamics, young love, female empowerment, friendship, with a little 90s nostalgia. I completed the initial “final” draft in 2013 (which had already seen three different versions), and in winter of 2021, circumstances prompted me to revisit this novel again, of which it went through another complete rewrite. There’s something to be said about letting work rest before approaching it again; albeit my book took an eight year nap! Now what actually inspired me to write the story would be a spoiler alert, so I’ll just say, my inspiration was prompted by an NPR interview I listened to in 2008. I have always been interested in the concept of the “Generation Gap”. If you are a reader of history, historical fiction, or even just talked with your grandmother, there are qualities that transcend generational divide: the distinctly human drive for autonomy and agency to determine one’s own future. The lengths we will go to in order to maintain agency, and the despair we feel when we cannot. The ability to achieve autonomy is impacted by cultural norms and sometimes puts us at odds with those we love. I am excited for you all to read this decade+ labor of love. If you are interested in joining Monarch’s ARC (advanced reader copy) review team visit: ttps://forms.gle/VGHuxmr8T9Jy3m269 Keep looking up. Becca The thing with feathers1/3/2022 ![]() Writing takes perseverance, and writing in hopes of getting published takes perseverance and an unbounded (maybe even irrational) level of hope. I’m sure when people ask me “What motivates you?” they are expecting something more complicated than simply hope, but really that’s all I’ve got. Hope that I can leave the world a better place than when I found it. Hope that I can be better. Hope that I can write something worth reading. My Grandma Helen passed away 10 years ago at the age of 100. I’m not sure how you live to 100 without an unbounded level of hope. As a young adult, she taught in a one room schoolhouse in Western Maryland. She supplied me with poetry books, novels, and blank journals. When Grandma was in her late seventies, she went to Europe for the first time, and when she was in her early eighties, she went back. This made such an impression on me as a young teenager; she never gave up on her dream to travel no matter how long it took to come true. Grandma had a love for Emily Dickinson, which she shared with me. Honestly I cannot remember when I started using Dickinson’s Hope 1 as a mantra, but over the years I find myself repeating these words, both during times where I feel little hope and when I feel it in abundance. Hope is the thing with feathers That perches on the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all I love Dickinson’s explanation of hope, because it’s not really an explanation at all. It's a metaphor, a feeling, a movement, a song with no words. You know when you have it, and you know when you’ve lost it. Hope is relentless. Hope doesn’t let go easily, and thank God it doesn’t. Here’s to hope in 2022. Keep looking up. Becca Rebecca W. WheelerSchool counselor, psychology educator, and yoga instructor. Archives
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