Today we’d like to introduce you to Bethany Brown.
Bethany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Being born and raised in a little town Northeast of downtown LA up in the hills, I have always been drawn to the chaos, architecture and people of the city. If you look up from your phone and just look around, you expose yourself to so much beauty and talent. I am obsessed with it in a way – I want to dig deeper than the surface.
I started writing at a young age, beginning with my own journal that my mom got me for Christmas one year, as I had an inability to verbalize how I was feeling and she thought it would be a good way for me to work on it. I brought it everywhere with me. In school, I excelled in English courses while I completely tanked in math and science. When I got older, I would ditch classes here and there but I NEVER missed my English class. I still struggle with being able to verbalize how I feel and my words never seem to be able to catch up with my thoughts, which is why I write. I can express myself full-heartedly and honestly in my work.
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh gosh! Ha! Of course, it hasn’t been smooth sailing… I’m an artist and bumps in the road are a part of my aesthetic. I’ve had door after door slammed in my face. Sorry – we will not be publishing your work at this time. Sorry, not this time either. I once had a literary agent look through a collection of my work and tell me it was garbage. Literally. Garbage. I also got cut off mid-pitch once and they asked me to leave. It’s important to use these rejections to drive you moving forward rather than let them destroy you. I would say the hardest struggle I have had personally was finding the courage to write openly and get it out there. When I first started writing seriously I used a pseudonym and never wrote anything other than fiction and poetry. I didn’t want to share my story and I was uncomfortable and worried about what everybody would think.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am currently working with Chloe Caldwell (author of Legs Get Led Astray, Women, and I’ll Tell You In Person) as my mentor, with whom I’ve switched my focus to autobiographical nonfiction in the form of personal essays. I have gone from being fearful, anxiety-ridden and hiding behind a fake name, to choosing to write about my OWN life and experiences with loss, grief, love, sex, mental health, and losing your innocence. Thank you, antidepressants! I refuse to write the happy ending, cookie-cutter story that everybody loves. I reveal the raw, the real, and the uncomfortable. The moments and vulnerability that nobody ever wants to talk about.
What else should we know? What are you looking forward to?
I will be published and complete a book tour or two. In January I will be releasing a book of poetry called I Know You Remember that is basically a compilation of poems I have written over the last ten years. My ultimate goal is to have several personal essay collections published, as autobiographical nonfiction is definitely my jam. I will most likely stick with this genre. It’s a fit for me, and I enjoy storytelling and writing about those themes that are relatable to others. I may circle back to fiction and write a mystery novel. Always something I’ve wanted to accomplish. If you have a voice, use it. I firmly stand by that.
I think the most amazing thing about the literary world is that there are so many different genres and stories to explore. There is a story out there for everyone. A genre for everyone. I find it hard to believe that anybody could ever get sick of it. The history in literature and the emotion in the pages is unreal. You have the ability to immerse yourself into a fictional reality when you have your head buried in a book. And the brilliant thing about language is that it will always exist.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bethanycbrown.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @bbrowncollection
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