Beth Kephart's Blog, page 8

on finding and keeping an agent: a panel discussion at the University of Pennsylvania

[image error] I had the great pleasure of moderating a panel about the art of finding an agent at the University of Pennsylvania/Kelly Writers House this past Tuesday. We had a packed house. We talked about agent origin stories, the evolving ways in which we package our work, the things we've learned from agents we've loved, and the importance of honesty, transparency, and abiding enthusiasm in those who represent us. Agents, the panelists said in many different ways, are those who are genuinely there for us.

The panelists were Carmen Machado, Stephanie Feldman, Josh Getzler, Sara Sligar, and Janet Benton. The idea for the panel began with Julia Bloch. The packed house was well-fed by Jessica Lowenthal and team.

You can watch a video recording here.

how do you feel about birthdays?

Chanticleer Garden opened this week and there I was, with my camera on Sunday, looking for proof of continuing good things. The earth there is still green. The flowering trees are getting ready to rip. The stowed-away tropicals are in the greenhouse yet, waiting for (trusting in) their time.

And so must we.

"How do you feel about birthdays?" my son asked me, Saturday, when he called to celebrate mine.

"They make me melancholy," I said. He agreed. But, he said, I should look at it like this: Birthdays are that one day a year designed to remind us of our friendships. The people in our lives. The stories they tell. The ways they make us better people. You have a birthday and (in case you've been obsessing over far less important things) you remember the loves in your life.

My son had called first thing on Saturday morning. We talked for more than an hour. Then, just as he'd promised, the day began to take on a new shape as I was remembered, and I remembered.

I wasn't melancholy anymore. I was simply grateful.

THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU, GOING OVER, and ONE THING STOLEN now available for pennies

And so this is April 1, April Fool's Day, also (doesn't it fit?) my birthday, and Chronicle has written to say that two of my books, THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU (my Jersey Shore monster storm mystery) and ONE THING STOLEN (which takes place in Florence, Italy, and West Philadelphia), are now available across all digital platforms for mere pennies (well, $1.99 and $.99 to be exact) for the entire month of April. It's part of the Chronicle Eye Candy e-book promotion, and I've promised to share the word.

This just in: The same is true for GOING OVER. So. My last three novels all available through April for less than $2.00.



So I am sharing the word as I wish all of you many flowers following the showers this early Spring.

Links below:

ONE THING STOLEN
Kindle
Apple iBookstore
Nook re/books/details/Beth_Kephart_One_Thing_Stolen?id=JQJiBQAAQBAJ&hl=en
Kobo
Bookshout

THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU
Kindle
Apple iBookstore
Nook
Google Play
Kobo
Bookshout

THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU and ONE THING STOLEN now available for pennies

And so this is April 1, April Fool's Day, also (doesn't it fit?) my birthday, and Chronicle has written to say that two of my books, THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU (my Jersey Shore monster storm mystery) and ONE THING STOLEN (which takes place in Florence, Italy, and West Philadelphia), are now available across all digital platforms for mere pennies (well, $1.99 and $.99 to be exact) for the entire month of April. It's part of the Chronicle Eye Candy e-book promotion, and I've promised to share the word.

So I am sharing the word as I wish all of you many flowers following the showers this early Spring.

Links below:

ONE THING STOLEN
Kindle
Apple iBookstore
Nook re/books/details/Beth_Kephart_One_Thing_Stolen?id=JQJiBQAAQBAJ&hl=en
Kobo
Bookshout

THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU
Kindle
Apple iBookstore
Nook
Google Play
Kobo
Bookshout

behind the scenes at Ceramic Innovations and Essential Earth, at the Wayne Art Center

Yesterday afternoon I stepped away from the thick of editing a new book to help Bill take new pieces to the international juried show, Ceramic Innovations. This show and the accompanying Essential Earth Invitational Exhibition are the brainchilds of Brett Thomas, our friend and teacher and all-around exquisite ceramicist.

Brett, who thinks about the plasticity of the earth and the countless ways it can be dug out and shaped, has been building toward these twinned exhibitions for years. He's been traveling the country in search of the finest clay practitioners and spending time in art studios for Essential Earth. He's been searching for just the right judge—Chris Gustin— for Innovations. He's been coordinating with the leaders of the Wayne Art Center, where Brett teaches and where international and regional shows are showcased year-round in two beautiful galleries. Brett has had a vision. It has been realized.

So there Bill and I were, dropping off Bill's work, and there was Anna O'Neill, the Wayne Art Center programs and exhibitions associate who brings her love of art, her academic training, and her gentle fortitude to the work that she does. Surrounded by crates and boxes and pedestals, charts and notes, she and her associate were at work turning so many gorgeous, individual clay creations into a unifying show.

I saw enough of those pieces to know that these will be two very special exhibitions. I invite you to join us all. These events are free.

Ceramic Innovations2017 International Juried Ceramics Exhibition
Essential Earth2017 International Invitational Ceramics Exhibition
April 1 - April 29, 2017Artists' Talk, April 1, 3 - 5 PMArists' Reception, April 1, 5 - 7 PMWayne Art Center413 Maplewood Avenue
Wayne, PA 19087

William Sulit ceramics selected for new international show, Ceramics Innovations

Readers of this blog know happy I am for my artist-husband as he continues to develop his ceramics work—and following. Recently Bill's work was selected for a new international show, Ceramics Innovations, which opens April 1 at the Wayne Art Center, in Wayne, PA. This event was masterminded by Brett Thomas and judged by Chris Gustin and Jim Lawton. It runs simultaneous with Essential Earth, a show featuring some of the most important working clay artists of our time, curated by Brett Thomas.

More about the show is here. Bill's selected work for this show is shown in the third image.

I Hear America Talking: My Memoir Interview, with Birtan Collier

My conversation with Birtan Collier, on the I Hear America Talking radio show. Thoughts on the form itself (in today's anti-truth world) and on the method-behind-my-madness teaching, both at the University of Pennsylvania and at Juncture Workshops.

The link is here.

My shift in focus at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the art of stone (at Bryn Athyn)

For a few years now I've had the privilege of writing a monthly photo-infused column for the Philadelphia Inquirer. The intersection of memory and place was my thing—essays that ultimately formed the core of Love: A Philadelphia Affair as well as a six-month display at the Philadelphia International Airport. 

But this year I've shifted my perspective. I'm thinking about the conjunction of art and humanity, community and hope, enduring traditions and endurance. I've written about the history of ice skating in our city, as well as my years at the Philadelphia Skating and Humane Society. I've spent time with the musicians who perform (so gorgeously) once a month at St. John's Presbyterian Church. And a week or so ago I visited the two stone masons who are restoring the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, finial by finial. They had much to say about seeing (and believing in) that which is not yet there.

At a time when communities are endangered and art is excised from proposed federal budgets, it is up to us, I think, to embrace and support those who quietly go about making, creating, and restoring beauty—not for personal gain, not for notoriety, but because something deep within them stirs. This is the kind of beauty that I will be writing about now, for as long as I'm given the room. I am blessed to share today the photos and words that arose from one windy day on a timeless campus.

I'll share the link to the story of the stone masons as soon as it goes live.

sending Handling the Truth to the White House

... with genuine hope that a way will yet be found to lead our country forward with integrity, transparency, and a deep compassion for the people (all of us with our vastly different lives and leanings) who are America and the landscape (earth, water, air) that we share.

Empathy is more powerful, ultimately, than any Big Data set.

And truth is liberty.

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