We thought we’d be back with a new season of Chasing Creative in 2022, but alas: it did not happen. Our lives are just too full right now with, well… life! We cannot, however, let the year go by without getting together to talk about books: our most favorite episode to record each season. So, we’ll dive in and talk about our reading wins this last year, our goals for next year, and what life *actually* looks like these days for both of us. 

Where to connect with Abbie: 

Goodreads | Instagram | Newsletter | Bookshop (affiliate) 

Where to connect with Ashley: 

Goodreads | Instagram | Newsletter

Books Mentioned:

The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk 

Wintering by Katherine May

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (audio narrated by Tom Hanks) 

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (on audio) 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 

Matrix by Lauren Groff

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver 

The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon

Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo 

The Life We’re Looking For by Andy Crouch 

The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

The Wild Robot & The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman

Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling (illustrated versions, too!) 

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street Series by Karina Yan Glaser (audio) 

The Henry Huggins Audio Collection by Beverly Cleary 

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery 

Rewilding Motherhood by Shannon K Evans 

State of Wonder by Anne Patchett 

Attached to God by Krispin Mayfield

The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr

Try Softer by Aundi Kolber

Middlemarch by George Eliot 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Hi! It has been *an entire year* since we last appeared in your podcast feed. 

We’re wading through Pandemic Year 2 just like everyone else, complete with all the day-to-day negotiations and risk calculations like everyone else. And also: a fourth baby for Ashley, a smattering of kids entering the public school system for both of us, and entire routines shifting overnight. 

We gave ourselves a break and didn’t record a single thing together in all of 2021 – but it didn’t feel right to finish a year on the calendar without talking together about books. So let’s talk books! 

Resources Mentioned: 

Pantsuit Politics Extra Credit Book Club

The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast by John Green 

Books Mentioned:

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Rewilding Motherhood by Shannon K. Evans

No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler 

Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley

What You Wish For by Katherine Center 

It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn (DNF for Ashley) 

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky (skimmed by Abbie) 

Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham 

The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson 

Harry Potter Book 1-3 

The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi

Keep Going by Austin Kleon 

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater 

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green 

Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa

The Wordless Trilogy by Aaron Becker

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall 

Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control our Lives by Michael A. Heller and James Salzman

12 Tiny Things by Ellie Rosher and Heidi Barr

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Where to connect with Abbie: 

Goodreads | Instagram | Monthly Newsletter | Bookshop Storefront (affiliate link) 

Where to connect with Ashley: 

Goodreads |  Instagram |  Blog  |  Newsletter

The world has been turned upside down, and being productive as a creative doesn't need to be your top priority right now. Instead, learn to think of your creativity as a form of self-care.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

The No Grocery Challenge by Sarah von Bargen

Bank Boost by Sarah von Bargen

Elise Blaha Cripe's Three Things Template for Instagram

Encouraging Creative Kids by Elise Blaha Cripe

Coloring printables for kids from Jane Heinrichs

The Growing Gills book club with Jessica Abel

A Pep Talk for Being Stuck on The Lazy Genius Podcast by Kendra Adachi

Mini Book Club

Big Dreams, Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Spark by Andrea Debbink

Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren

Keep Going by Austin Kleon

Calvin and Hobbes comics

Past Episodes of Chasing Creative to Revisit

S6 E5: Sarah von Bargen on Setting Creative Goals that Actually Make You Happy

S6 E3: Elise Cripe on Having Big Creative Dreams and Making Them Happen

S6 E2: Nicole Gulotta on Seasons of Creativity

S5 E7: Jessica Abel on Integrating Creativity into Your Life 

S5 E8: Doing the Work: How We’re Using the Lessons from Growing Gills 

S5 E4: Creativity, Burnout, and a New Way of Looking at Self-Care with Addie Zierman

S5 E3: Taking Creative Risks with Andrea Debbink

S5 E2: Creativity and Place with Jane Heinrichs

S4 E25: Creating in the Chaos

S4 E7: Creative Challenges

Today we’re chatting with Lindsay Swoboda about how being a military spouse experiencing seasons of deployment and living overseas has affected her creative journey. Along with being a military spouse, Lindsay is also a mom and writer. Her blog Uplifting Anchor encourages mothers and military spouses in their daily and creative lives.

Eating Popcorn in the Dark Because You’ve Earned This, by Melanie Dale on Coffee + Crumbs

Elise Blaha Cripe on Having Big Creative Dreams and Making Them Happen (Chasing Creative Season 6, Episode 3)

The Get to Workbook

Jessica Abel on Integrating Creativity Into Your Life (Chasing Creative Season 5, Episode 7)

Circe by Madeline Miller

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Big Dreams, Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe

Website: www.upliftinganchor.com

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/upliftinganchor/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/upliftinganchor/

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/upliftinganchor/pins/

Website: www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: www.twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Personal blog: www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites

Twitter: www.twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest:  www.pinterest.com/brookseditorial

We both spent 2019 getting serious about writing our novels. In this episode, we're hashing out all the details, from where we got our book ideas to how we're fitting writing into our daily lives. Listen in to hear more about our creative processes and what the future holds for our writing.

S6 E3: Elise Cripe on Having Big Creative Dreams and Making Them Happen

S5 E7: Jessica Abel on Integrating Creativity into Your Life

S5 E8: Doing the Creative Work: How We’re Using the Lessons from Growing Gills

Scrivener

Self-Control app

Abbie and Ashley's writing accountability template

WriteTrack word count tracker

Rachael Herron on How to Write Your Book in 90 Days

Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery

Divergent series by Veronica Roth

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Atomic Habits by James Clear

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love  by Elizabeth Gilbert 

Click here to take the Chasing Creative survey!

Join us in this conversation with author and kindred spirit Ashlee Cowles as she shares about how travel and parenthood have changed her creative process. Ashlee believes that “creativity is not something we can lose, even if it has to lie dormant sometimes,” and we wholeheartedly agree. Listen in to learn how she’s spreading support and encouragement for creative parents through her latest project, The Most Creative Thing.

Ashlee Cowles is the author of the award-winning novel, Beneath Wandering Stars, and its sequel, Below Northern Lights. Her YA gothic mystery, THE POPPY & THE ROSE, will be published in 2020.

Beneath Wandering Stars

Below Northern Lights

Wisdom for the Way: A Camino de Santiago Guidebook for the Pilgrim’s Soul

The Most Creative Thing

The Cultivating Project

Discover Your Creative Personality Type resource on The Most Creative Thing

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Before I Disappear by Danielle Stinson

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Great Kitchens of the Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

www.ashleecowles.com

www.themostcreativething.com

Instagram: @ashleecowles

Instagram: @themostcreativething

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20016618-abbigail-e-kriebs

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Website: www.brookseditorial.com

Blog: www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Instagram: @ashleybrookswrites

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Do we normally try to keep our book talk to a minimum at the end of each episode? And do we normally keep our episodes under an hour? Yes and yes. But today, we have nearly an hour and a half of entirely book-focused conversation for you -- and we hope you love it as much as we loved recording it.

Come find us on Goodreads!

Abbie: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20016618-abbigail-e-kriebs

Ashley: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1864876-ashley-brooks

Resources we mentioned:

Take our listener survey! We’ve been producing this podcast since 2016, and a lot has changed since then. We’re constantly tweaking this podcast so that it works for our lives, but it’s important that Chasing Creative continues to be helpful to YOU. Our survey is short and sweet and will be open now through January 31st. We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and feedback as we plan for the future of the podcast. Take it here.

Love the podcast and happy to see new episodes in your feed? Consider supporting us on Patreon. If everyone who listens gave $1 per month, we could cover our expenses and maybe even hire an editor. That would allow us to create more -- for ourselves and you!

The interview between Cal Newport (author of Digital Minimalism) and James Clear (author of Atomic Habits).

Whitney Conard’s Instagram account, @theunreadshelf, where she challenges you to get through that TBR stack one book at a time.

Abbie shops used at ThriftBooks quite often. Her referral link will get you 15% off your first order.

Books we talked about in this episode:

The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares

The Last Summer (of you and me) by Ann Brashares

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

The Techwise Family by Andy Crouch

Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes

Big Dreams, Daily Joys by Elise Cripe

Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle

A Room with a View by EM Forster

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The People’s Republic of Everything by Nick Mamatas

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Road Builders by B.G. Hennessey

Maybe God is Like That Too by Jennifer Grant

Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Keep Going by Austin Kleon

The Inspector Gamache Series by Louise Penny

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova

On Stories by C.S. Lewis

Circle of Nine - Beltany by Valerie Biel

Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Here’s where you can find Ashley:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1864876-ashley-brooks

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Here’s where you can find Abbie:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20016618-abbigail-e-kriebs

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Did you know that it actually takes between 12-265 days -- with the average being 65 days! -- to make a new habit stick? Sarah Von Bargen shared that statistic with us on the podcast, and we were blown away! Sarah is the mastermind behind yesandyes.org where she is a writer, coach, and educator who helps people spend their time, money, and energy on purpose. We had her on the podcast to discuss how to craft goals that actually matter to you, create habits that support those goals, and what the ebbs and flows of the self-employed and creative life look like for her.

Resources We Talked About

Need to figure out what makes YOU happy? Sarah’s ebook might help you do that.

Sarah also teaches courses that can help you change your habits in the New Year. You can find her raved-about Habit School, Bank Boost, and more over here.

Here’s the link to Sarah’s free private Facebook Group called “Money + Happy” where -- you guessed it! -- the community talks about how to spend their money in ways that make them actually happy.

This podcast is the one Abbie shared about self-care for the different Enneagram numbers.

Books We Talked About

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk by Kathleen Rooney 

I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott 

Becoming by Michelle Obama 

Where to Find Sarah:

Website: http://yesandyes.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yesandyesblog/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yesandyesblog/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/yesandyesblog/

Here’s where you can find Abbie:

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Here’s where you can find Ashley:

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

We're welcoming returning guest Callie Feyen to the podcast! Join us as we talk about Callie's recent transition into full-time self-employment as a brave step toward making space for creative work.

Listen to our first interview with Callie here.

Listen to our second interview with Callie here.

Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing by L.L. Barkat

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny

It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too) by Nora McInerny

The Magic of Motherhood  by Ashlee Gadd

Order your copy of Twirl: My Life with Stories, Reading & Clothes in paperback or on Kindle.

You can also snag her previous book, The Teacher Diaries: Romeo & Juliet here.

Read Callie’s blog.

Connect with Callie on Twitter or Instagram.

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com
Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs
Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

We’re so glad to have Elise Cripe back on the podcast! We previously chatted with her on episode 4 of season 3, all about how she got to where she was creatively, and touched on taking creative breaks and her Get To Work Book business. Today, we wanted to have her on to talk about her first traditionally published book that releases tomorrow, October 8th, titled Big Dreams, Daily Joys, which is all about setting goals and making time for what matters, as well as what the ebbs and flows of her own creative life look like.

Here’s our previous chat with Elise all about getting to work on your creative projects.

**Where to find Elise: **

Preorder Elise’s new book, Big Dreams, Daily Joys! It comes out October 8th, and you can find it at all major online retailers at Elisejoy.com/book.

Elise’s planner business, GET TO WORK BOOK, is at Gettoworkbook.com.

Definitely follow @elisejoy on Instagram if you haven’t already.

Elise occasionally shares her latest craft adventures on her blog, EnjoyItBlog.com.

**Books We Talked About: **

Taproot Magazine
A Year Between Friends: 3191 Miles Apart: Crafts, Recipes, Letters, and Stories
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

**Here’s where you can find Abbie: **

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs
Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

**Here’s where you can find Ashley: **

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com
Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Nicole Gulotta wrote the book (literally) on navigating different seasons of the creative life. Join us to hear her advice on the ups and downs we all experience as creatives, and get the scoop on her new book, Wild Words.

These show notes may contain affiliate links to IndieBound, a website that connects readers with books sold by independent bookstores. These links generate a small commission for us if you make a purchase. Thanks for supporting the show and small booksellers!

Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer’s Path

Eat This Poem: A Literary Feast of Recipes Inspired by Poetry

Literary Cooking with Nicole Gulotta on Chasing Creative

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

Join the Wild Words community

Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Art of Slow Writing: Reflections on Time, Craft, and Creativity by Louise DeSalvo

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle

Websites: nicolemgulotta.com / thewildwords.com / eatthispoem.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicolegulotta
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nicolegulotta

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Hello and welcome back to Chasing Creative for Season 6! We’re excited to be back with you, and still cannot believe that we’ve been doing this together for six seasons now. This season, we’re going to be interviewing some previous guests and some new guests, but asking them all similar questions: what do the ebbs and flows of the creative process look like for them? This season will include interviews with Nicole Gulotta in September, Elise Cripe in October, and many, many more. In this first episode of the season, Ashley and Abbie catch up on what they’ve both been doing since their creative retreat in June, share how they manage ebbs and flows in their own creative lives, and gab about the best books they’ve read this summer.

This podcast is the one Abbie shared which talked about your menstrual cycle affecting your creativity.

Books We Talked About:

Still Life (#1 in Inspector Gamache series) by Louise Penny
Everything Happens for a Reason & Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler
Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Kate Bowler
It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool, Too) by Nora McInerny Purmort
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

2020 hasn't been kind to most of us, but books are always there to see us through. Listen in to hear how 2020 changed our reading habits, the books we loved (and didn't), and what's next for our reading lives—and the podcast!—in 2021.

Books Mentioned in This Episode

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

Becoming by Michelle Obama

The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Kindred by Octavia Butler

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi

The Selection Series by Kiera Cass

The Book of Essie by Megan McLein Weir

Your Blue Flame: Drop the Guilt and Do What Makes You Come Alive by Jen Fulwiler

What Is a Girl Worth? My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachael Denhollander

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Attachments and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 

Eleanor & Park and Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Harry Potter (of course) 

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion

The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters by Tom Nichols

I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong

Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World by Shelley Miller

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stievater

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (book 3 of Winternight trilogy)

The Book of Essie by Megan McLein Weir

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson 

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Calm the H*ck Down by Melanie Dale

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell 

Curious George by H. A. Rey

Maybe God Is Like That, Too by Jennifer Grant and Benjamin Schippert

The Wind in the Willows by Igloo books 

The Preacher’s Wife by Kate Bowler

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 

Reconnect: Spiritual Restoration from Digital Distraction by Ed Cyzewski

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

The Switch by Beth O’Leary

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Links Mentioned in This Episode

Past Chasing Creative episodes with Kendra Adachi (the Lazy Genius): Kendra Adachi on Trusting Your Creative Intuition and Kendra Adachi on Valuing Yourself Enough to Create

The Naughty Corner comedy special by Jen Fulwiler on Amazon Prime 

Read more of Ed Yong’s science writing for the Atlantic

Ashley’s Winnie-the-Pooh books are out of print, but this looks similar 

Abbie’s copy ofThe Wind in the Willows

Connect with Abbie: 

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Connect with Ashley: 

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

We were in the same room for the third time ever for our first (and hopefully not the last!) creative retreat. And we decided to record an episode all about how we made it happen, what our plan was, and what we accomplished while in a valley near LaCrosse, WI with no WiFi for 48 hours.

Resources We Mentioned

We first heard about creative retreats from Jennie Moraitis back in episode 12 of the first season of Chasing Creative.

Ashley was making a sweater as part of the 100 Day Project which ends in early July.

Books We Swapped

What Ashley gave Abbie:

• An American Childhood by Annie Dillard

• Beneath Wandering Stars by Ashlee Cowles

• Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes

• Introverted Mom: Your Guide to More Calm, Less Guilt, and Quiet Joy by Jamie C. Martin

• Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

What Abbie gave Ashley:

• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

• Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living edited by Manjula Martin

• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

• Glitter & Glue by Kelly Corrigan

In the last episode of season 5, we're exploring all the ways recording this podcast has changed our own creative lives. We're talking about the power of audio conditioning in motivating you to do the work in front of you, catching up on our novel writing processes, sharing our progress in The 100 Day Challenge, and giving a preview of what's next for us in the months to come.

Growing Gills by Jessica Abel

The Moment with Brian Koppelman: Interview with Seth Godin 1/1/19

Chasing Creative Season 5, Episode 8: Doing the Creative Work

Scrivener writing software

Chasing Creative Season 5, Episode 5: Intentional Creativity with Ron Vitale

The 100 Day Project

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

I Feel Bad about My Neck by Nora Ephron

Keep Going by Austin Kleon

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Personal blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Writing website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @ashleybrookswrites

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

We first chatted about Growing Gills with Addie Zierman in this episode on self-care, resourcing, and diving back into writing after some time away.

Then, we got the chance to interview Jessica Abel herself on her method for creating systems that help you be creative in this episode.

And then we realized that we had a lot to say about what Growing Gills taught each of us and how we’re incorporating those lessons into spending time on our own much-neglected creative projects.

That’s what this episode is all about.

Get your hands on a copy of Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life and the free workbook on Jessica’s site here and start creating!

Or check out Jessica’s Creative Focus Workshop, which is an even more intense, instructor-led process to set up strategies to help make your creative work happen.

Other things we talked about:

Ashley uses the Insight Timer - Meditation App. Abbie is probably going to download that ASAP and try the session Ashley recommends, “Five Minute Break for Reflection by Tony Brady”.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (Winternight Trilogy #2)

How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber and Julie King

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman (updated edition!)

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Here’s where you can find Ashley:

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Here’s where you can find Abbie:

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Jessica Abel is cartoonist and author who is demystifying the creative process. Join us as we talk about her philosophy that the creative life is just . . . life. You’ll gain practical strategies for integrating creativity into your everyday life with systems and routines that work for you.

Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life by Jessica Abel

The Creative Focus Workshop

Article on the scarcity mindset: If Creativity Is So Freeing, Why Do I Feel Like I'm Trapped?

Scarcity: The New Science of Having Less and How It Defines Our Lives by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir

Website: https://jessicaabel.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jccabel

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visiblewoman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jccabel

Books: https://jessicaabel.com/books/

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

John Blase is a former pastor turned writer and editor. He spends his mornings writing poetry, his days as a developmental editor for Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers in Colorado Springs, and his evenings with his wife and three kiddos (when they’re home from college!). He preached for over a decade and has brought a pastoring stance to his writer’s pen. His books include The Jubilee: Poems; Know When To Hold ‘Em: The High Stakes Game of Fatherhood; Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas; and All is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir (with Brennan Manning). We chat with John about when he gets his creative work done and how he switches from writing someone else’s story back to writing his own -- and it wouldn’t be a discussion of faith and writing today without a brief dip into the Enneagram.

You can connect with John here:

Website: https://johnblase.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnblase

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdblase/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.blase

Books: https://johnblase.com/books/

Books We Talked About:

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Upstream by Mary Oliver

The Jubilee by John Blase

Here’s where you can find Ashley:

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Here’s where you can find Abbie:

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Science fiction and fantasy author Ron Vitale keeps up an impressive writing pace while working full time and being an active father. What’s his secret? Intentional creativity. Join us in this episode to hear how Ron makes space for creative work, manages marketing and networking alongside writing, and maintains a self-care routine.

How to Become a Successful Author While Working Full Time by Ron Vitale

Psst! Stop choosing goals you don’t have control over! by Sarah von Bargen

There’s a Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher

Ron’s 2018 Self-Publishing Year-End Review with Full Sales Numbers

Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Scrivener

Trello

Asana

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

You’ve Torn Your Achilles and Now What? by Ron Vitale

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Chasing Creative season 4 episode 11: Tracking and Setting Creative Goals

Website: www.ronvitale.com

Twitter: @RonVitale

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ron.Vitale.Author/

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Reading is a big part of our creative lives, and we know the same is true of many of our listeners. We're giving you the rundown of our year in reading, including our top picks in a variety of genres, our favorite read-alouds for our kids, and the one book we BOTH couldn't finish! If mini book club is your favorite part of the podcast, this episode is for you!

Love the podcast and happy to see new episodes in your feed? Consider supporting us on Patreon. If everyone who listens gave $1 per month, we could cover our expenses and maybe even hire an editor. That would allow us to create more—for ourselves and you!

Goodreads is social media for book lovers. Love it or hate it, this platform is a big factor in how we track our books, set reading goals, and decide what to read next. Follow us on Goodreads to keep up with our reading habits in real time!

Abbie's Goodreads

Ashley's Goodreads

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Circe by Madeline Miller

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Off the Clock by Laura Vanderkam

How to Be a Happier Parent by KJ Dell’Antonia

Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren

Introverts in the Church by Adam S. McHugh

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

The Road Back to You by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile

Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly

Great with Child by Beth Ann Fennelly

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

The Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

One Beautiful Dream by Jennifer Fulwiler

Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Girls by Emma Cline

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

There’s a Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher

Don’t Push the Button! by Bill Cotter

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood

She Has Her Mother’s Laugh by Carl Zimmer

The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

The Temperament God Gave Your Child by Lorraine and Art Bennett

Heartland by Sarah Smarsh

The Minimalist Kitchen by Melissa Coleman

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

Cozy Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith (the Nester)

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

Stories by C.S. Lewis

Shadowland by Elizabeth Kostova

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

My Life in France by Julia Child

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

Erin Smith on Instagram

Kendra at the Lazy Genius Collective

From the Front Porch podcast

Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy and the What Should I Read Next? podcast

Morgan Swank on Instagram

Personality and Creativity: Chasing Creative Season 4, Episode 20

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/brookseditorial

The creative world is full of people and places encouraging you to practice self-care. But what if the self-care that the world is promoting feels a little hollow? Addie Zierman shares with us a new way at looking at self-care on the podcast today. It’s called “resourcing” - and we think you’re going to gain a lot from this concept.

Addie Zierman is the author of When We Were on Fire (named one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2013) and of Night Driving: A Story of Faith in the Dark. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and two sons and blogs regularly at addiezierman.com.

You can connect with Addie here:

Website: https://addiezierman.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/addiezierman

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addiezierman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/addieziermanwriter/

Our inspiration for this episode comes from a post Addie wrote on her blog, “A Better Way To Think About Self-Care”.

Addie shared Jessica Abel’s Growing Gills workbook as something she used to get back on track creativity after a period of taking a step back.

Love the podcast and happy to see new episodes in your feed? Consider supporting us on Patreon. If everyone who listens gave $1 per month, we could cover our expenses and maybe even hire an editor. That would allow us to create more -- for ourselves and you!

Books we talked about in this episode:

How to Be Here by Rob Bell

Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren

Here’s where you can find Ashley:

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Here’s where you can find Abbie:

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Andrea Debbink is an editor and author with more than a decade of experience in the publishing world. Currently she’s an editor at American Girl where she creates nonfiction content that empowers girls to explore their creative potential. Her new book Spark: A Guide to Ignite the Creativity Inside You just won a 2018 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award. We chatted with Andrea about what it looks like to take a creative risk, her favorite books on creativity, and what creative risks Ashley and I are taking in 2019.

You can connect with Andrea on Instagram, Goodreads, or at andreadebbink.com.

Grab a copy of Andrea's book, SPARK: A Guide to Ignite the Creativity Inside YOU, illustrated by Emily Balsley.

People & Things We Mentioned:

The Lovely Drawer has 25k followers on Instagram and still struggles with getting her posts seen.

Leif Enger writes slowly. Ashley highly recommends this novel, and his halfway through his current. And Leif is on Instagram!

That book we couldn’t remember the name of that Ashley read about the cycles of creativity? It was Ryan Holliday’s Perennial Seller that she talked about in this episode.

Ashley recommends the #amwriting podcast.

Anthony Trollope worked as a mail carrier and wrote before he went to work each day. If he finished a novel before heading to work, he started a new one. Woah.

Books We Talked About:

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Daily Rituals by Mason Curry

Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin

How to Be a Happier Parent by KJ Dell’Antonia

How does the place you live and work impact your creativity? Do beautiful landscapes or bustling cities help boost creative inspiration? Join us as we explore these questions and more with illustrator Jane Heinrichs.

Jane works as an illustrator with publishers around the world. Her first children's book, "Magic at the Museum," was short-listed for best-illustrated book at the Manitoba Book Awards. She splits her time between three different continents: London, England; Cape Town, South Africa; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

"How Geography Shapes Our Identities"

The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley

The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo

Circe by Madeline Miller

Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Website: https://www.janeheinrichs.net

Instagram for daily drawings and stories from my studio: @janeheinrichs

Shop (children’s nursery prints and books) : https://www.janeheinrichs.net/shop/

Pinterest (for creativity inspiration): @janeheinrichs

Facebook Page: @janeheinrichsstudios

Blog: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

In today’s episode, we chat with Kayla Craig about what it looks like to advocate for the more vulnerable people around you. As a journalist, Kayla learned the value of listening well and choosing to hear a story and act on it. As a mom, Kayla knows just how important the stories we read and tell and see in our own lives affect everything about them -- and she has some tips for adding diverse voices to your shopping list this year.

Kayla Craig is a writer and podcast producer who believes in the power of story. She writes modern prayers for moms and dads at Liturgies for Parents and her book is forthcoming with Tyndale in 2021. Kayla co-founded and hosts Upside Down Podcast, a place for conversations on faith and justice. She is a podcast producer for Sacred Ordinary Days, where she helps cultivate peace, presence, and purpose. Kayla loves deep mugs of coffee, deeper belly laughs, and even deeper questions. She and her pastor-husband Jonny live in Iowa, where they’re raising four young kids who joined their family via birth and adoption. She has two fluffy dogs and spends too much time on Instagram. Her most recent published essays are in This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections + Practices and Rally: Litanies for the Lovers of Jesus and Justice. 

Kayla’s tips for diversifying your holiday decor and your bookshelves: 

1. Buy a nativity set where the figures are historically accurate and have brown skin. 
2. Buy books written by Black and brown authors. 
3. Don’t just buy books with diverse characters struggling with racial tension. Buy books that normalize the lives Black and brown people live; make sure that your kids see Black joy. 
4. Follow @hereweread on Instagram for diverse book suggestions all year long. 

Books we talked about:

Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner 

This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections + Practices

Rally: Communal Prayers for the Lovers of Jesus and Justice

Here’s where to find Kayla: 

Site: www.kaylacraig.com

Newsletter: https://kaylacraig.substack.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kayla_craig/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaylacraig

Liturgies for parents info: http://www.kaylacraig.com/liturgies-for-parents.html

Liturgies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liturgiesforparents/

Podcast: http://www.upsidedownpodcast.com/

Work: https://sacredordinarydays.com/pages/podcast

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kayla_craig

Here's where to find Abbie: 

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Here's where to find Ashley: 

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites  

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

We’re back after an extended summer hiatus! And we’re so happy about it. Not much changed for Abbie, Ashley had a third baby, and here’s how they’re managing life and creativity as they ease back into life in the fall.

While they’ve been gone, Abbie started hosting the Exhale Creativity podcast. Exhale Creativity is a monthly membership site where the Coffee + Crumbs team is able to encourage moms to follow their creative hearts. You can check it out here: exhalecreativity.com.

Want to hear the background on Abbie & Ashley’s personality types and how they approach their work + life? Here’s the episode you should listen to next.

We’re going to be releasing one episode per month this season. You can look for our first interview of the season next Monday, October 8th. And then we’ll have a new episode the first Monday of every month after that.

Love the podcast and happy to see new episodes in your feed? Consider supporting us on Patreon. If everyone who listens gave $1 per month, we could cover our expenses and maybe even hire an editor. That would allow us to create more -- for ourselves and you!

Here’s where you can find Abbie:

Website: inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Here’s where you can find Ashley:

Personal blog: ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: brookseditorial.com

Instagram: instagram.com/brookseditorial

Twitter: twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest: pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Mini Book Club

Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell

Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done by Laura Vanderkam

The Ensemble by Aja Gabel

In our last episode of Season 4, we’re chatting about how we keep creating even in chaotic seasons. Most of us have plans and dreams for the way we want our lives to go, but here in the real world, life is messy and unpredictable, and things rarely go as planned. When things go off the rails, creativity is often the first thing to take the hit. Sometimes scaling back is necessary, but we also believe there are ways we can prioritize creating even when we’re living right in the middle of chaos.

We will be back for a Season 5 at some point… but we’re not really sure when. To get updates on when we do, sign up for our newsletter. We promise it is the lowest-commitment email newsletter you will ever sign up for, because we send about one email a year.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Resources We Mentioned

While Ashley is on maternity leave, you’ll be able to find Abbie over at Exhale Creativity hosting a podcast that explores where motherhood and creativity intersect.

The Lazy Genius helps everyone manage life a little better - Kendra is a great resource for anyone trying to do things smarter to make more room for what you want to be doing instead.

Mini Book Club

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life & Work by Chip and Dan Heath

Beartown by Frederik Backman

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

While we are usually bemoaning our lack of time to sort out all of our creative projects, every once in a while we get stuck in a place where we’ve got time or desire to do something creative, but find ourselves with an utter lack of inspiration. When that happens, we both have some tried-and-true places we turn to that give us that little nudge we need to get back to making, and we thought we’d share them in today’s episode.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Resources We Mentioned

Blogs:

Melissa Camara Wilkins

John Blase, especially his advent book, Touching Wonder

Anne Bogel a.k.a. Modern Mrs. Darcy, specifically The Examined Life archives

Erin Loechner at Design for Mankind

Podcasts:

The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman

The New York Times Book Review

The Lazy Genius Podcast by Kendra Adachi

Magic Lessons by Elizabeth Gilbert

The #AmWriting Podcast

The Create if Writing Podcast

Social Media:

Nicole Gulotta’s Wild Words Collective - you can sign up for her newsletter to get access here

Lindsay Crandall on Instagram

The Coffee + Crumbs Instagram account

Our episode in Season 3 with Nicole Gulotta, the author of Eat This Poem

Mini Book Club

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman

Finish by Jon Acuff

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

We’re all have limited resources to dedicate to creativity, and one of those is money. No matter what your financial situation, money is a finite resource, and we can only spend so much on creative pursuits---and the costs can add up quickly. So how do we budget for creative projects when we’re not independently wealthy? That’s the conversation in this week’s episode.

Society6 for selling your creative work

YNAB (You Need a Budget) budgeting app

EveryDollar budgeting app

Financial resources by Dave Ramsey:

• Total Money Makeover book
• Budgeting Tips
• Podcast

Wave for business accounting

Euphoria by Lily King

The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

Inkswells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Personal blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

We’ve all heard that we’re supposed to be building an audience online. Even if we don’t want traditional success, many of us put our work online to share our creativity and use it to connect with others. But building all these “platforms” takes time and energy away from the creative process. It can make us discouraged as we compare ourselves to others and frustrated that we don’t have time to do all the things we’re “supposed” to be doing. So how do we balance social media and the creative life? That’s what we’re talking about in this episode.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Resources We Mentioned

Ashley loves Alexandra Franzen, who is not on social media and doesn’t seem to actively build a platform anywhere. It can be done!

Rachel Meeks from Small Notebook hasn’t blogged in years and Abbie still goes back and re-reads her blog from time to time.

Hootsuite does post to Instagram now! So does Buffer, but Abbie’s favorite remains Later.com.

Ashley recommends finding tools that recycle past updates for you on social media. She recommends RecurPost and SmarterQueue for Twitter as free or close-to-free options, and Board Booster for Pinterest, but she doesn’t remember how much it costs.

Mini Book Club

Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother by Beth Ann Fennelly

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

We have to eat, we have to have clean clothes, and we should probably vacuum once in a while. If you can’t outsource any (or all!) of those kinds of things, maybe the next best step is to inject a little more creativity into them so that they feel like less of a distraction from our creative goals and more a part of them. Join us in this episode to learn how we make our daily tasks a little more creative.

The Fitness Marshall on YouTube Note: Not all songs are appropriate for little ones!

Callie Feyen's Chasing Creative episode on writing through transitions

The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet by Callie Feyen

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Ashley Brooks Writes

Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

We’re both personality nerds, so it’s no surprise that our Myers Briggs letters and Enneagram types have come up multiple times on the podcast before. In today’s episode, we’re devoting our entire conversation to the ways our personalities can affect our creative lives. There are probably hundreds of personality typing systems out there, but today we’re focusing on three that have had the biggest impact on our creativity: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Enneagram, and Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Resources We Mentioned

Reading People by Anne Bogel

Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive by Otto Kroeger

The Sacred Enneagram by Chris Heuertz

The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron & Suzanne Stabile

The Road Back to You podcast

16personalities.com

A recent Hope*Writers podcast interview with Ian Morgan Cron

The Selfie Podcast series on enneagram

The Enneagram Institute online resource

Explore Your Type online resource

The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies quiz

Mini Book Club

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Sherlock Holmes Series by Arthur Conan Doyle

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

The longing for a peaceful creative retreat at a cabin in the mountains is probably high on the wish lists of creative people everywhere. But the fact is, our mountaintop creative moments don’t happen all that often, and we probably need to dream a little closer to our own backdoors if we’re ever going to make creative retreats happen in our own lives. Today we’re chatting about those retreats, the dreamy ideal ones and the real ones.

In the Creative Retreat workbook, there are activities to get your creative juices flowing and blank pages to do idea dumps when you need them. It’s a planning resource + coloring book combined, and it’s full of Jennie’s signature adorable doodles. If you struggle to make the time that you have for your creative projects count, this workbook can help. It’ll walk you through why you want to take a retreat, how to get started, and how to keep the magic flowing even once you come back home.

Learn more and grab your copy at makearetreat.com!

Plan Your Perfect Writing Day on the Hope*Writers podcast

Tips + Tricks for Planning a Solo Retreat by Ashlee Gadd

Letters to a Young Poet by Ranier Marie Rilke

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

The Harry Potter series

Emily of New Moon books by L. M. Montgomery

Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Brooks Editorial

Ashley Brooks Writes

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

For many of us, it’s tempting to shove our creativity into a dark corner and try to keep making progress on our own. But like we talked about in our episode on sharing your creativity, creatives aren’t meant to work in a vacuum. This week, we’re focusing on creative communities: how to find them, how they can help us achieve our goals, and our personal experiences being part of creative communities.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Cool Things We Mentioned

The StorySocial and #CreateLounge Twitter chats

Nicole Gulotta’s Wild Words Collective

The #AmWriting podcast Facebook Group

Jon Acuff’s 30 Days of Hustle

Mini Book Club

The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

We’re excited to share a special episode this week as we welcome back returning guest and one of our favorite writers, Callie Feyen. Callie has been on the podcast twice in recent years, and we’ve loved hearing from her about her writing journey and how it has evolved as her life has changed. Since we last chatted, she’s undergone another big transition and published her first book, The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet, released February 14th by TS Poetry Press, and she’s here to tell us all about it.

Listen to our first interview with Callie here.

Listen to our second interview with Callie here.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Mini Book Club

Joseph Cronin’s The Passage books

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Beastly by Alex Flinn

The Rose & the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Order your copy of The Teacher Diaries here, in paperback or on Kindle.

Read Callie’s blog.

Connect with Callie on Twitter or Instagram.

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Ari Tison is an award-winning writer with poems and short works published in Yellow Medicine Review, The Under Review, and Rock & Sling. She is also the editor for Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop's Broadside Competition. Ari lives and works on Dakota and Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) lands in St. Paul, MN. Join us as she shares action steps for lifting up underrepresented voices in the literary community, especially Indigenous people and those who are incarcerated.

• Reach out to nonprofits to see where they need help. Look for ways to serve that match your interests and talents.
• Investigate nearby prisons to see if they have creative arts programs you can support.
• Seek out and share work by marginalized populations.
• Read anthologies that include Native writers.
• Connect with tribes in your area to learn about creative events or festivals you can attend or local artisans you can support.
• Learn about the history of the land you live and work on. Which Indigenous tribe(s) was the land taken from?

Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop

Birchbark Books

The works of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

New Poets of Native Nations edited by Heid E. Erdrich

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

There There by Tommy Orange

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makai

The Day You Begin  by Jacqueline Woodson

Website: www.aritison.com

Twitter: @AriTison

Instagram: @aritisonwrites

Do you get excited about a new creative project, then give up halfway through? Or maybe you don't think your idea is good enough to even get started? What if you get all the way to the end of a project but can't quite push through to the finish line? We all have individual struggles with actually completing a creative project. Today, Ashley and Abbie are hashing out some of the most common creative pitfalls and how you can troubleshoot them.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Magic Lessons podcast

Start by Jon Acuff

Finish by Jon Acuff

Essentialism by Greg KcKeown

How to Set Goals Like a Normal Person from the Lazy Genius Collective

The Lazy Genius Finds Her Purpose

Toggl time tracker

I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam’s time log

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

The Girls by Emma Cline

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs

"Two dying memoirists wrote bestsellers about their final days. Then their spouses fell in love."

Reading People by Anne Bogel

Inkwells and Images

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Ashley Brooks Writes blog

Brooks Editorial blog

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Life is full of those little things that have to get done but that can really drag us down. If we let them, they’ll steal our time and our energy away from the creative pursuits that are important to us. Today, we’re chatting about all those small things that drag us down and our best tips for dealing with them so we can get back to our fun creative projects.

Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach

A Simplified Life by Emily Ley

Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Brooks Editorial blog

Ashley Brooks Writes

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

We’re all trying to make room for our creative projects in our already full lives, so how do we approach trying new types of creativity? Do we even? Ashley and Abbigail chat about the types of creativity they’ve tried in the past, things they’ve picked up, loved, hated, and put down, and what new things they’d like to try someday soon.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Mini Book Club

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts by Ryan Holiday

Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

We're not huge fans of structured creative goals, but we do like building creative habits into our daily lives. In this episode, we're sharing how we cultivate creative habits and the tactics that do and don't work for us.

Jennie's new book, Happy Journal, Happy Life, is a fun, low-pressure way to add a creative habit to your day in 10 minutes or less. Happy Journal, Happy Life can ignite your creative energy, boost your gratitude, and bring the joy back to journaling.

Get Happy Journal, Happy Life in paperback!

Get Happy Journal, Happy Life for your Kindle!

Click here to learn more about Jennie and the wonderful work she's doing to encourage everyday creativity.

The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin

Powersheets from Cultivate What Matters

Ashley's post on Reading Deeply in 2018

Habit Streak app

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Ashley Brooks Writes

Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

What counts as "real" creativity? Join Ashley and Abbigail as they explore the definition of creativity and how to define it in your own life.

"But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint of clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

"The discipline of creation, be it to paint, compose, write, is an effort towards wholeness.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

“If you are worried that your art is a waste of time, perhaps you need to redefine success in art. Are you becoming more fully yourself?” ― Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways

“ . . . being an artist has something to do with being brave enough to move toward what makes you come alive.” ― Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways

"Creativity should be an everyday experience." ― Erwin McManus, The Artisan Soul

Modern Mrs. Darcy blog post on the eight-line edit: "The Eight Uncomfortable Lines I Want to Cut from Books I'm Reading These Days"

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Brooks Editorial

Ashley Brooks Writes

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Setting creative goals can be a whole lot of fun -- but meeting them is often a whole different story. Ashley and Abbigail chat about what their creative goals are for 2018 and how they plan to measure and track them. There’s a lot of discussion on what makes a creative goal a good one and how to choose goals when you’re just not sure what your year is going to look like.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Good Stuff We Talked About

Lara Casey’s Powersheets - the 2018 set is sold out, but there are still some 6-month sets left at the time of this episode airing.

The Get to Work Book by Elise Joy - Abbie uses this for all her planning.

The Day Designer by Whitney English - Ashley has used this in the past.

Mini Book Club

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - There’s an updated review of this in our January 15th episode on what counts as creativity. Ashley’s short review: don’t read it!

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells & Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

This episode is all about books! We're chatting about how reading helps (and hinders) our creative lives, the books that have made an impact on our creativity, and the ups and downs of setting reading goals.

Deep Work by Cal Newport

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna

Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren

Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother by Beth Ann Fennelly

The Magic Lessons podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert

If This, Then That (IFTTT) recipe for saving Goodreads book reviews to Evernote

How to Bullet Journal at the Lazy Genius Collective

The Lazy Genius Bullet Journals on the Lazy Genius podcast

Austin Kleon's "I will not finish books I don't like"

Modern Mrs. Darcy blog

What Should I Read Next? podcast

What's Your Reading Personality? quiz from Modern Mrs. Darcy

What's Your Reading Personality? quiz from Oprah

NYT Book Review podcast

Greenlight Bookstore Radio Hour (Abbie's favorite episodes are Emily St. John Mandel and Elizabeth Gilbert)

The Simple Show podcast

@bookedandready on Instagram

Ashley's Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1864876-ashley-brooks

Abbie's Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20016618-abbigail-e-kriebs

Website: Inkwells and Images

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Brooks Editorial

Ashley Brooks Writes

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Every one of us dreams about having the perfect creative space: it’s got tons of natural light, elegantly potted plants, clear surfaces, and all of our tools within arm’s reach. This is far from reality for most of us, contrary to what Instagram would have you think. Ashley and Abbigail share what their real creative spaces look like, how they could make them better, and tips and tricks you may not have thought of to help you claim your creative space as your own and make it work for you instead of against you.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Good Stuff We Talked About

Ashley’s cousin, Nikki, is also a creative person! We interviewed her in season one.

Mini Book Club

Recipes for A Beautiful Life by Rebecca Barry

Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @Inkwellsandimages

Today's episode is all about creative wins: what we consider a win in our own lives, why it's so important to acknowledge our accomplishments (big and small), and our favorite ways to celebrate creative wins.

Hello There, Friend

Chasing Creative episode: Sharing Your Creativity

Chasing Creative episode: Make a Mini Creative Retreat with Jennie Moraitis

Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers

The House by the River by Lena Manta

Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Brooks Editorial

Personal blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

It’s hard to work on your own creative projects. You have to find the time, the energy, and the motivation -- and those three rarely live on the same planet for most of us these days. One way to convince yourself -- or maybe trick yourself -- to prioritize your own work and make progress on your creative goals is to join a creative challenge. Ashley and Abbigail discuss the creative challenges that they are aware of, how they’ve helped them on their creative goals, and which ones they’d do again.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Good Stuff We Talked About

Rachel Dawson’s episode

Jennie Moraitis’s episode

Elise Blaha Cripe’s episode

Coffee and Crumbs episode on memory making

1 Second Everyday app

Quiz from Gretchen Rubin on the 4 Tendencies

2030Make Challenge

100 Days Challenge

Write 31 Days challenge

NaNoWriMo

Mini Book Club

From Sand & Ash by Amy Harmon

The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @Inkwellsandimages

Deep in a pandemic, an election cycle, and a world that looks vastly different than six months ago, we’re all a little worn out these days. But we also need to press ahead like never before. We wanted to talk to Dani Bruflodt on how she summons the energy to engage online around social justice, politics, and making a difference in the world -- and how hydration is her secret weapon to get it all done with some energy left over. 

Dani Bruflodt is a writer and creator who “talks loud on the internet”. She’s a native Minnesotan currently living the Universal-Healthcare dream life in Copenhagen, Denmark, and she would love for you to drink some water.

Resources from this episode: 

The Enneagram Institute has excellent resources to help you find your type. 

Dani’s hydration tracker for kids.

Plan Podcast Episode 029: How to achieve optimum hydration

Dani’s 7 tips for how to get engaged and make a difference: 

1. Know that it is never too late to become a better person. Feeling hypocritical stops a lot of us from joining movements or getting involved. You can wake up tomorrow and decide you’re going to be a better person.
2. Know that it is okay to change your mind, especially when you are presented with better information.
3. Pick one thing you’re passionate about. One cause that you really, truely, deeply feel passionate about. You don’t have to become an expert on everything immediately.
4. And then when you pick that thing, take time to step back. Do not rush in and expect to fix this issue that you’ve taken up. It’s especially important to pause and look to see who is already doing this work and fall in line with how to support them and continue their work rather than do anything that might interfere with work already being done.
5. It is okay to be wrong, and it is okay to say “I am not informed enough to speak on this topic”. Fear of being wrong, or the feeling that if you claim to be an activist you automatically have to know everything stops so many of us. No. It is OKAY to be wrong. It is a mark of intelligence to recognize when you’re wrong, learn better, and do better, and there is nothing wrong with being asked a question or being engaged in a conversation and saying “You know what, I don’t feel informed enough to speak on this.”
6. Know that there is probably not an end-point to the work. Whether it’s anti-racism or ending child hunger. Even if you ensure all children have full tummies, you still have to get up every day after that and ensure those programs stay afloat, that they have funding.
7. You have to remember to rest. Getting into the trenches with any form of activism is not for the faint of heart. It takes a toll on you physically and emotionally -- especially if you are a privileged white person who has rarely had to endure chronic stress -- this can really hit you like a brick wall. You have to learn to take breaks, to rest, to step away from the work for a moment and then get back in there.

Dani’s 3 groups of people we’re worried about offending and what to do instead: 

1. “Following”: Focus on gaining supporters, not followers. Focus on quality, not quantity. 
2. Family/Friends: Lean into the fact that if you lose them for being outspoken, they may not have been worth your time or energy to begin with.
3. Potential Clients or Collaborators: Trust that sharing your morals and values will help you attract clients and collaborations that align with you.  

Books we mentioned: 

The Deepest Well by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris 

How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

The Preacher's Wife  by Kate Bowler 

Connect with Dani: 

Website: http://thyme-is-honey.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thyme_is_honey/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThymeIsHoney/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thyme_is_Honey

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thymeishoney/

Podcast: https://PlanPodcast.com

Hydration Course: https://HydrationChecklist.com   

The Daily Page Planner: https://DailyPagePlanner.com 

Digital Daily Page Planner: https://DigitalDailyPage.com 

Connect with Abbie: 

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages

Connect with Ashley: 

Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com

Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites

Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

We all have our busy seasons in life, whether they're predictable or unexpected. No matter what’s happening in our lives, we still only get 24 hours in each day. In this episode, we’re talking about the tried-and-true resources that fill us up and don’t feel like a time-suck, even when life gets busy.

Design for Mankind with Erin Loechner

Emily P. Freeman’s blog

Melissa Camara Wilkins’ blog

No Sidebar

The Art of Simple

Coffee + Crumbs

Hello There, Friend

Becoming Minimalist

The Life on Purpose Movement by Erica Layne

The Harry Potter series

A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

Coffee + Crumbs

The Next Right Thing with Emily P. Freeman

Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!

Being Actively Creative with Lindsay Crandall on Chasing Creative

Intentional Creativity with Erica Layne on Chasing Creative

“The Hidden Load at Home” episode of the Straight and Curly podcast

The Skimm daily news roundup

Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @inkwellsandimages

Personal blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

It’s a big topic in the creative world: sharing your work. It’s an issue that creatives of all ages and all experience levels can relate to. It’s scary to put your work out there, but hopefully our conversation in this episode will help you feel more comfortable sharing your creative self with the world.

You can now support Chasing Creative on Patreon!

Good Stuff We Talked About

That Hummingbird Life post on the cost of sharing

Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

Quote from Daring Greatly: “Perfectionism crushes creativity---which is why one of the most effective ways to start recovering from perfectionism is to start creating.”

Brené Brown’s TED Talk on vulnerability

Mini Book Club

Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins

The Golem & the Jinni by Helene Beckwith

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @Inkwellsandimages

We’ve all done it: said we had no time to get everything done, let alone do something creative. Sometimes, that’s true. And other times, we need to take a look at how we are actually spending those little moments throughout the day and ask ourselves if not having enough time is the issue, or if we are maybe just wasting a little more than we think. Ashley and Abbie fess up on what they spend their “extra” time on - and what they should be doing instead.

Resources on Time Wasting

I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam

Overwhelmed by Brigid Schulte (mentioned, but not recommended)

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Becoming Minimalist site

No Sidebar site

Straight and Curly podcast episode 64 on decision fatigue

Moment app

Newsfeedburner extension for blocking Facebook newsfeed

Self-Control app

The Lazy Genius's New Fall Rhythm

Mini Book Club

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @Inkwellsandimages

We’re continuing to explore the intersection of creativity and daily life with a look at a day in Abbie’s life. Key takeaways include looking at your life as a rhythm rather than a rigid structure, the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, and remembering that we all go through seasons of ups and downs in our creative lives. Listen in to gain new insights and perspectives on your own creative life!

Personal Blog: Ashley Brooks Writes

Business Website: Brooks Editorial

Twitter: @brookseditorial

Instagram: @brookseditorial

Pinterest: @brookseditorial

Website: Inkwells and Images

Twitter: @abbigailekriebs

Instagram: @abbigailekriebs

Facebook: @Inkwellsandimages