February 28, 2025 • 49 mins
Bestselling authors William and Lara Bernhardt discuss the latest news from the book world, offer writing tips, and interview Lynette Bennett, star of stage and screen, who has written her first memoir, Broadway Dreamer.
0:00 Opening Thoughts
The Oscars are only two DAYS away (my bad) and we ponder why so many Best Film nominess are based on books.
7:12 News
1) Bookshop.org is Now Selling eBooks Online—For Indie Bookstores
2) Cozy Fantasy is Now an Official Alternative to Dark and Spicy Fantasy
14:28 Craft Corner
Desiree Duffy of Black Chateau explains the importance of editorial book reviews—and how to get them.
19:11 Interview with Lynette Bennett
47:27 Parting Words
Don't forget the WriterCon Alaksan Cruise, May 30-June 7 leaving from Seattle. Over 20 hours of writing instruction, large group, small, and individual, while the ship is at sea. Our discounted room rate is only guaranteed through March 2, so make your reservations now! Click for more information. www.writercon.com/cruise/
0:00 Opening Thoughts
The Oscars are only two DAYS away (my bad) and we ponder why so many Best Film nominess are based on books.
7:12 News
1) Bookshop.org is Now Selling eBooks Online—For Indie Bookstores
2) Cozy Fantasy is Now an Official Alternative to Dark and Spicy Fantasy
14:28 Craft Corner
Desiree Duffy of Black Chateau explains the importance of editorial book reviews—and how to get them.
19:11 Interview with Lynette Bennett
47:27 Parting Words
Don't forget the WriterCon Alaksan Cruise, May 30-June 7 leaving from Seattle. Over 20 hours of writing instruction, large group, small, and individual, while the ship is at sea. Our discounted room rate is only guaranteed through March 2, so make your reservations now! Click for more information. www.writercon.com/cruise/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This week on the writer Con podcast, Stay with It,
Stay with It. Welcome to writer Con, a gathering place
for writers to share their knowledge about writing and the
writing world. Your hosts are William Bernhardt, best selling novelist
and author of the Red Sneaker books on writing, and
Laura Bernhardt, award winning author of the want ln Files
(00:23):
book series.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Thank you, Jesse Ulrich. Hey, they're writers. Thanks for joining us. Well,
we're about two weeks or so from the Oscars on
March two, And because of that, and because we have
a showbiz guest on the podcast today, I've just got
(00:49):
to point out once again seven of the ten nominees
for Best Picture are adaptations of written work, which, get this,
that's seventy percent. That's actually slightly lower than the average,
which is that about seventy five percent of all pictures
that have one Best Picture are based on something somebody
(01:11):
wrote wrote before. Laura, this is where I was getting
to root. Which one are you rooting for?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Oh gosh, it's a tough one.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Probably the Brutalist that was based on Yes, of course,
it really stuck with me.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
It really stuck with me.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
It wasn't necessarily the easiest thing to watch but it
was very well done, beautiful film, and the acting was superb.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You're going to get to the whole It's three and
a half hours long, part or it was a.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Commitment, but it was told so well. I mean, did
you really feel like it went on?
Speaker 5 (01:59):
Did not?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
At the time? Passed pretty quickly actually, and then.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
At intermission we got up and used the bathroom and
got popcorn and get back for the next bit. So
it worked well.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Jesse, you got a favorite in this race.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
None in this one.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
I mean, I haven't been going to the movies as
much lately, so I'm sort of really, sort of completely out.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Because you're reading those thousand page I should.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Point out we haven't actually managed to watch every single
one of the Best True Picture nominees, so I'm basing
it on the ones we've seen so far.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
They happened to all come to Chuck Tell yet, but
they will.
Speaker 6 (02:40):
I'm just rooting for whatever categories Wicket is nominated in.
So that was delightful.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
Like the musical I did, I did again.
Speaker 6 (02:48):
Most of the time, musicals do not benefit from a
movie because musical settings are sparse on purpose, but the
world of Wicket actually does get added to by having
the sort of money that a movie can throw at it.
So nice, that's my thought.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Or they figured out how to do it. So what's
the deal with all the adaptations? Can Hollywood not come
up with ideas on its own? Why why they keep
coming after the work of writers. It's cheaper, it's cheaper,
I bet you.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
It's cheaper to pace one to adapt a book to
a story, that is, to pay someone to write a
full movie script themselves probably.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Already got.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
The hard work.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, exactly, you have built an audience. The hard work
is done for you. It's already the character development should
already be there. Surely it's the books that they're picking up.
I assume are excellent stories, which is why they're reaching
for those and thinking, I can I can make that
(03:58):
into a film.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, I think having the books something, you know, it's
hard to get a movie greenlit. I assume that's what
I hear. Yes, although many of my books have been optioned,
none have been made, so I believe it. But I
think it gives a movie cred when you know it's
(04:21):
based on a book, particularly if it's a book that
sold well, because then it's like proof of concept. Looks
see that you know, people bought the book, so must
be a good story.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
That's That's why it's funny that, like a musical based
on a book becomes a movie because the.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Book itself way different than the musical. Super weird.
Speaker 6 (04:37):
I've read those books too. They were enjoyable, they were
enjoyable in a different way. But I'm like, this is
not what the musical is about at all, and I'm
okay with that. I just found that. I found that
to be funny.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
Imagine Gregory maguire that the author Zom is just swimming
in a you know, you know, a duct tails coin
bath and it just you know, being very happy with
all that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Well, for a while, his deal was doing kind of
you know, updates and revamps of fairy tales, and then
after the musical Wicked took off. Then then it became
lots of sequels to Wicked and I think now a
prequel for Alphaba and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
Yeah, I mean, for our listeners, if you do read
the Wicked book and its sequels about spoiler alert, Alphaba's child,
like the book gets weird, Like, I mean a really
good job of exploring the world of Frank Elbaum and Oz.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
But Oz is a weird ass place, so some.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Weird things is this at Fiarah?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Yeah, spoiler alert, Yes, like.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
The Scarecrow and the Witch. That's that's so wrong.
Speaker 6 (05:48):
I mean, I do believe they technically boned before he
was scarecrow, so you know, just technically so okay from
a technical standpoint. Listen, we're making the spicy as required.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, we're going for the big ratings this time. And
speaking of our interview today is with Lynette Bennett. I've
had the pleasure of knowing the multi talented Lynette for
many years, so I couldn't be more excited about the
fact that her book, her first book, is about to
be released. It's a memoir of her early days on
(06:21):
the Broadway stage. It's called Broadway Dreamer and boy does
she know what she's talking about and when it comes
to theater. We'll talk about this in the interview. The
first chapter deals with her on Broadway with Berber streisand
in Funny Girl, and we hear about that, and we
also talk about the writing because she turned to writing
(06:42):
later in her life after a very succe Well she
still acts, but after a very successful career on the
stage in New York, and then she started writing this
memoir and other books and one hundred percent her make
no mistake. She wrote it, no ghosts, no co writers.
This was by Lynette Bennett, the woman who played Lady
(07:04):
Larkin and Once Upon a Mattress one of my favorite musicals.
But you're going to hear all about that later. First
the news news story number one. Bookshop dot org now
(07:31):
sells ebooks. Longtime listeners may remember about five years or
so ago when bookshop dot org launched. The idea was
to create an online presence for independent bookstores so that
they could compete with some of the bigger chains. We
won't mention any names, but you know what I'm talking about.
(07:54):
And then the bookshop dot org would share its sales
revenue with books stores. So your local bookstore recommends here,
get it here, and then they do, and they share
the profits. So you're getting the book you want, but
you're also supporting your bookstore. Well that was physical books.
Now bookshop is expanding into the digital realm. Bookshop dot org.
(08:20):
Dot org is going to create an online platform for ebooks.
But after you buy the ebook, you can choose which
local bookstore you want the money to go to, and
according to their promotional materials, all the money one hundred
percent is then given to the local bookstore. So this
(08:43):
is another attempt to allow independent bookstores to compete with
big chains, both physical and online. It's really kind of extraordinary.
But you know, I thought bookshop dot Org sounded like
a dubious idea in the first place. According to their website,
(09:03):
they've raised more than thirty five million dollars for local bookstores. Laura,
explain this to me, I mean, getting an ebook sounds
like exactly not why you go to a brick and
mortar bookstore, right.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I cannot explain this. I'm still trying to wrap my
brain around that, because, like you, I wasn't one hundred
percent sure that I thought this was really going to
go anywhere when I first heard about it. But that
is an amazing amount of money. And I am completely
supportive of helping our smaller local bookstores for sure. So
(09:40):
this is a anything that's going to help them out
and keep them open, I think is a great development.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, good Jesse, what about you? You surprised or not surprised?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I'm happy.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
I've been a big supporter of booksheve tot org for
quite some time because one it was one of the
few and there's one a few places you could buy
ebook where that money would then go to a local
you know, uh, could you tell it what local bookstore
you want the money to go to? And like, you know,
just like you know, doing a little bit of research
on the nonprofit that they set up and whatnot, like
it seemed legitimate. It seemed legitimate enough, and so you know,
(10:18):
I bought it. I think I bought a couple of
e books off there and went on support some of
the local stories here in town. And I'm happy that
they're also getting into audiobooks again, that's one of the
biggest growing segments of readership in at least at least
in America. And so I feel like this, this is
positive and I'm happy of it.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Okay. News story number two. Cozy fantasy an emerging genre
like cozy mysteries, which are basically mysteries without any blood
or overt violence. They're just I got the Christie like
gentle mysteries. Well, now we've got cozy fantasy, which obviously
is a reaction to romanticy or dark fantasy, both of
(11:01):
which are sometimes more violent and sexually explicit. Well, now
cozy fantasy has apparently arrived because it's got its own
BISACK code. That's BISAC, just in case somebody doesn't know
what I'm talking about. When books are published, the publisher
(11:21):
has to choose codes the category the genres that apply.
This is used by the Library of Congress and libraries
in general, and also sometimes by people searching for books online.
Here's an interesting quote about it. I got this from
a dark fantasy writer named Amron Gowani wrote, quote, Ray,
(11:44):
cozy Fantasy. I do agree it's difficult to tackle contemporary
issues in a realistic light because of how grim the
world feels or is. In my latest project, I'm leaning
more into chaos and absurdity to make the medicine more palatable.
In some ways, the work is feeling lighter and darker
(12:06):
at the same time. Laura, that quote cozy fantasy. Does
this say more about reader's tastes or more about this
world we live in? What do you think you know?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
When we were experiencing the pandemic a few years ago,
I noticed that my women's fiction that deals with weightier
issues social concerns dipped, and that my supernatural suspense series
was selling more. I think when we're facing a world
(12:47):
that is a little bit scary and we are looking
for an escape, a diversion from that, having something a
little bit lighter to read is where we're going to
seek our comfort. So I do think that that makes
some sense that there's a little bit of a turn
(13:11):
towards something cozier and a little bit lighter. Although Romanticy
is still really big. I mean, there's that's pretty dark.
We have escape to at.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Least sometimes, right though, Jesse, you read, I believe some
of the darker stuff as cozy fantasy, a place where
you would ever go.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
Sure, it's like the animal crossing of books, right, And
if you think about some of the great stories, like
take Lord of the Rings for example, like a third
of that book is a cozy fantasy, right. Anything in
the Shire or anything involves food, right, is cozy. Like
there's a part, there's a part that is enjoyable in
that and like, I'm excited to see where this goes.
I mean, I do think sort of stories need action
(13:55):
and movement and plots. I'm curious to see how they
Where does the conflict come in and cozy fancy. But
if people can have cozy murder mystery, we can do
cozy fantasy.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So I don't see why not.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I agree?
Speaker 2 (14:08):
All right? Moving on today in Craft Corner, we have
writer con friend and sponsor Desiree Duffy of Black Chateau
and books that make you her topic getting editorial book reviews,
which can be challenging but so important, So take it away, Desiree.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Craft Corner.
Speaker 7 (14:34):
Let's talk about book reviews. There's three main types editorial,
author endorsements, and consumer reviews. For this episode of Craft Corner,
we're going to dive into editorial or trade industry focused
types of reviews. These are reviews that are written by
(14:55):
professional critics for trade publications and industry refocused platforms. Examples
and clude publishers, Weekly Kirkus Reviews, Books that make You reviews,
Library Journal, Idleweis, and net Galley. The purpose is what's
key here. These types of reviews help you build credibility
(15:17):
with booksellers, librarians, and the publishing industry as a whole.
You'll generate pre publication buzz and secure placement in libraries,
bookstores and in catalogs. How do you do this?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Here's one of.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
The tricks of editorial reviews. You need to submit those
arps you're advanced reading copies to trade publications at least
four to six months before publication. You want to give
the site enough time so that they can assign a
book reviewer to it, so that book reviewer can read
(15:56):
in full your manuscript, write the review, submit it back
to you. And you even want to give yourself just
a little bit of time just in case they find
something that your editors and beta readers might have missed.
That way, you might have time to fix that plot
hole before publication. Use platforms like net Galley and idleweis
(16:18):
to distribute arcs to librarians, the booksellers, and the reviewers.
Even on net galy, I know there's lots of book bloggers,
media people, journalists, so this really can get the book
out there and in front of people far in advance
of the book's actual launch. I do encourage you to
(16:39):
research all of the different submission guidelines for publication. For example,
Kirkis has different publications guidelines than Library Journal does, and
if you wait too long, you might even have to
pay more money for an expedited Kirkus review. And let's
face it. We all want to save a little bit
(16:59):
of money and give everybody enough time in your book
launch process. Strong editorial book reviews have a lot of benefits.
They can lead to bulk orders from librarians and retailers.
These bookstore buyers and librarians, they're often looking for the
books that they're going to stock on their shelves many
(17:21):
months even up to eight, nine, ten months, up to
a year in advance. Editorial reviews can be quoted in
your press release backgrounders that is submitted to a lot
of the industry folks, your marketing materials. You can use
it as a plus content on Amazon. There's actually a
space for editorial reviews on Amazon. You can use these
(17:47):
in your blurb or the back of the book copy.
Really helps get the word out to the front line.
Think of it this way. Editorial type reviews are the vanguard.
This is very much a be to be a business
to business marketing and book launch strategy. Thank you to
(18:07):
William Bernhardt and the entire team for making up Me
a part of this craft corner.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Thank you so much, Desiree. Now let's talk to Lynette Bennett.
Lynette Bennett, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Thank you it's lovely to be here.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
It is a great treat to have someone you've known
for a while, and you know it's been working on
a book for a while and now it's finally going
to happen. So this is a real pleasure. Traditional first question, though,
if you could offer writers one piece of advice, what
would it be?
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Stay with it? Stay with it?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, you are the testament to perseverance, aren't you. And yes,
we'll get into that a little bit.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
They had two agents offered me a contract, you know,
and I thought, well, an agent then has to find
a publisher, so if I could, I'd rather go right
with the publisher. So so that's, you know, what I
was hoping for. And then Bill Bernhardt, this guy showed
(19:22):
up who's very gifted, and I've done several workshops with
Bill and it's just such a treat to work with him.
So now Bill's my publisher and I'm thrilled.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Well, thank you. Let's do you mind talking about because
you had speaking of perseverance, you weathered a couple of
previous publishers, including one that later ended up in prison.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
That's I'm talking about that all I have good taste.
Let's race it well the first one, and I was
suspicions just when he put out a newsletter claiming how
Christian he was. And when people claim that too much,
(20:10):
then that's that's systems.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
A red flag.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Yeah, it's a red flag. And sure enough he turned
out to he and his son went to prison for
not paying people. I had another friend who was with him,
and he said he didn't have enough in royalties. He
had several books with this guy, and he said, I
don't have enough in royalties to buy myself a sandwich.
(20:36):
Well that's not very good.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I read. I'm sorry, we will move on, I promised.
But I read that there were more complaints to the
Better Business Bureau about that publishing house before it folded
because the principles were in prison than any other business.
I'm thinking, relishing house, they are doing something wrong.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Yeah, yes they were.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
And then you had a second false off but start
But never mind, that book's coming out now.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
She just never did anything. Having promised me she'd published
the book, she happened to publish the book.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Well, real god, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
If you want to spend any more time on that.
But I had lunch with a friend of mine who
turned out to be her copy editor, and she said
she can't afford your book. She does children's books and
leaflets and things like that. There's no way she can
publish your book. And she had owed this woman a
lot of money.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Oh well, we're going to get that thing out because
it's a terrific Thank you, biout that wonderful memoir. And
I don't say that just because I know you or
because I love Broadway. It's just a wonderful book. What
take us to the real beginning, though? How'd you get
interested in writing a book, because obviously you've been working
(21:56):
as an actress for many years and now you're how
did that happen?
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Well, I really don't know. My brother is a wonderful
writer and and so I mean he gave me some
clues about things. If I would write something, i'd show
it tournament and he would critique it for me. And
I loved writing. I found out it was really fun,
so you know, it was my next favorite thing to performing.
(22:26):
I just really loved it. So that just got me started.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And did you still love it even after you were
actually doing it?
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Oh? Yes, oh yes, yeah, loving it and writing it?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Well, tell us a little bit about Broadway Dreamer.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Well, where to start.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
From the beginning?
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Okay, I studied studied dance from the time I was
a little bitty like six.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And that's an Oklahoma rite in Tulsa.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Excuse me, And that's in Tulsa where you grew up
in Tulsa. Yeah, my mother taught piano and speech. So uh,
so I played the piano from the time I was
a little bitty as well. And uh and and mother
had us I have an older brother, and she had
us speaking from the very beginning. They called those little
(23:22):
pieces readings, and so mother had us doing readings from
the time we were little bitty kids. And uh, that's
that's wonderful for an actor. You know, if you're comfortable
being in front of an audience. And mother had recitals.
So if you're comfortable in front of an audience, you know,
that goes a long way giving you a career. Because
(23:44):
you joyed.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Tulsa eventually and went to New York right, yes, after
you already passed most people because you've actually made the
plunge and committed.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I graduated from the University of Tulsa be an English
lett and went to New York to audition for Broadway. Well,
that first summer, though, I worked at Saint Louis Municipal Opera,
and that's a wonderful summer stock company. And excuse me,
(24:17):
so so I had experiences. They would bring in the
stars who had played the roles on Broadway, and you know,
there were just lots of marvelous people that I could
talk to. I interviewed these people. I didn't let him
go by. I stopped interviewed you, and I learned a
lot just speaking about the business. You know, I bet
(24:38):
so that was great.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, And pretty soon you're being cast in shows. For instance,
in chapter one, you talk about being in Funny Girl,
the original production with the original actress, who of course
is Barber streisand almost immediately kind of superstar status like
working with her.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Oh, she was wonderful. She was lovely to me. I
was a replacement in the show, and the final night
she invited me to her dressing room and she gave
me her second album, which was entitled People, and we
just had a lovely visit. She just couldn't have been kinder.
(25:24):
So I can't say enough good about Barbara Streisand.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
You also knew Barry Manilow, Yes, Beryl Ba. Then how
did you meet him? This was before he became the
well known name that he is.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Yeah, now right. He was my pianist and musical director.
And Barry was terrific. He was so much fun and
he's very kind. He just gave ten thousand dollars to
a music teacher in Tulsa because he saw that the
kids were using broken instruments. He's been here several times
(26:01):
and so I was able to have a chat with
him and that was really fun. It's nice.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
How did you happen to meet him? Back back all
those years ago?
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Mamber? Somebody another friend recommended Barry to me, okay, and
I was wanting to make a demo record. A musical
director friend and said, oh, you've got to make a
demo record. So I said, well, how do I do that?
And who pays for it? He said, you do, honey,
but it's not that bad. So Honey took the bait
(26:35):
and so so he selected the songs for me. He
was my musical director, and so we did three songs
on the demo and the first time one of the
things we did was a Basanova Layah Ledaya Brazil sixty six.
I don't know if you remember their their albums, but.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Is so good?
Speaker 5 (27:04):
So anyway one was but beautiful if you remember that
lovely ballad that was the favorite of mine and one
uh the Donovan Uh singer and writer. He's a Scotsman
and uh. And so he had a song called where
Your Love Like Heaven, which is a strange, strange title,
(27:28):
but it's a very pretty song. And Barry knew I
love it, which I did, and uh, and we overdubbed it,
which I thought would be fun and it was so
so Barry wrote. So, so we did the basic recording
and then Barry wrote out three additional vocal lines for
me to use. Wow, And so then we just overdubbed it,
(27:52):
you know, three more times.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
You're your own backup singer. Excuse me, you were your
own backup singer, Yes, exactly when I was.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
When I was reading the book, I was surprised but
also delighted. You talk about meeting a very young Meryl
Street and working in the show Meryl Street.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Oh yes, and you said we're in a show teacher.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Sorry, yeah, Well, and you were also in a show
with John Travolta's sister, I think, And you talk about
him kind of showing up at some of the rehearsals.
So you were meeting a lot of people back then.
What did you think could you could you tell back
then that they were going to.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
Be no incredible? I d know that. You know, Ellen
Travolta has has done quite a few things and she's
she's really fun. They were a show bized family. Their
mother was a director and so they both have said
(29:00):
Volda and Ellen Tivolden that their mother had them over acting,
so they had to learn not to act. That's so
it was a show biz family. There were five kids
and they're just They were a lovely family.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
And you and Meryl Streep had the same vocal coach.
Did I hear that right?
Speaker 5 (29:21):
Yes? Yes, our teacher a coach works on material with you.
A teacher teaches you how to sing, how to produce
a tone. So this was our teacher, A Stelle Labeling,
and she was quite famous in New York. She's published
books for Colora tourist sopranos, which I am, and she
(29:42):
would would have material, especially in color tour work, you
do a lot of cadensas, and so miss Leebling would
write the cadensas which you're fabulous. So I just loved
studying with her. I just I couldn't believe it. I
was just in heaven when I walked into studio.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
So this was music, vocal court like singing right, not
somewhere Meryl Streep must have and apparently every accent known
to mand But that wasn't dear right, No.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
This was music. But she and I waited for our lessons,
and so we had a nice chat.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
And while we're name checking people people, some of our
viewers may have noticed that there's a picture hovering over
my head, and that's you on the Tonight Show with
Johnny Carson. Right, Yes, how did that come about?
Speaker 5 (30:34):
Oh my goodness. I don't know if you remember the
group for girls, the Campfire Girls, and I'm afraid they're
fading out a little bit, but it was a wonderful
group for girls. The Supreme Court took care of that
for us because they said we had to have boys.
You know, there are boy scouts and then there are
girl scouts. So they tried having Campfire boys and girls,
(30:58):
and I think that just didn't work. You know, it
wasn't a boy's program. It was a girl's program, and
it was based on Indian lore. So that's why I'm
wearing the Indian What.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Everybody it looks like is in some kind of probably
wouldn't be approved of today headdress or something like that.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Right.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Well, the first thing I did when I was went
onto the show was was award Johnny with a pair
of Indian feathers to wear a headband and the Indian
feathers sticking up with the back of his head. So
that got a good laugh itself, and he could use
that and make something of it, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Well, the thing I noticed looking at this photograph and
we have others as well, but everybody's smiling, They're love
having you on the show.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
We had a lot of fun. It really worked out
so well. And on the subway that morning, this was
a gift I was. I was looking over a guy's
shoulder the New York Post and there was a story
about Sinatra proposing to Juliet Prows and the headline said
(32:11):
something about Sinatra proposing to his his his Julia you know,
and so and and she said crazy. Yeah. And so
when we were on the show, I was lashing. You
know what lashing is, rope lashing, and I was going
to do Johnny's legs. But he said, well, let's do legs.
(32:34):
Let's do Ed's legs, and so, which is a good
thing to do. And so when he suggested that let's
do eggs, Ed's legs, and I said crazy and that
kind of big laugh, he could do his Jack Benny
look to the audience, right, you know. So he loved
(32:55):
me after that.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh wonderful. We were also in Remind me, I think
it's a musical version of the Yearling, is that right?
Speaker 5 (33:03):
Yes? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (33:04):
And you were maybe toured in Once Upon a.
Speaker 5 (33:08):
Mattress, Yes, with Immagy and Coca.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
And you played Lady Larkin.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And I've told you this before and it doesn't relate
to your book. But tell me again. I did the
same play when I was in the eighth grade.
Speaker 5 (33:21):
Oh I do remember, and I was Sir Harry.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I was Sir Harry and your Lady Larkin. So we're
practically a couple, you see.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
That's right, exactly, we're a pair.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yes, we sing the same love songs, just at different times.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
That's right. And it was a beautiful song. Harry Rogers,
Richard Rogers's daughter was the composer.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Now we're really digressing, but she did her memoir or
whatever you want to call it, last year called Shy,
obviously a reference to Mattress, and I thought that was
really a trip. Let's get back to your book. One
of the nice things about this book, you know, of
course we're talking about all your shows and the singing
and dancing and acting and appearances, but the centerpiece of
(34:09):
the book, at least in my mind, is your relationship
with your now husband, Warren, who, like I said, you're
still married to after how many years? Fifty four fifty four?
Holy smokes, tell us that story. How did you two
get together? Oh?
Speaker 5 (34:26):
My goodness. Warren had been traveling for six months. He'd
been a missionary in Brazil. He speaks Portuguese, so when
he finished his responsibilities in Brazil, he traveled for six
months around the world. And this was his first day
back in the country and he didn't want to go out.
(34:48):
He didn't want to do anything. He was just exhausted.
But he had been at this church, christ Church Methodist
on United Methodists on Park Avenue in sixty uh. He'd
been the youth director before. You know, while he was
in seminary those three seminary years he was he was
(35:08):
the youth director and uh and by that time I
had joined the church. I was singing in the choir.
So I was really involved with the church. I grew
up at Boston Avenue United Methodist here in Tulsa and uh,
so I'm from a about Christian family and and so
(35:29):
I was there and I was joining the Yagadel group
and they went to lunch on summer Sundays. Well, this
was the summer Sunday, and so they meet in the
courtyard of the church and then walked to a neighborhood restaurant.
And so I came out of the choir and he
(35:50):
saw me recessing, you know, down the aisle to the
hymn and uh. And I saw him just coming out
of a church walk into an exit and I said, wow,
who is that. I've never seen him before. And so
we both were in the courtyard and then we went
(36:11):
to a restaurant and this was just marvelous. Everybody sat
down and I realized they were sitting down at the table.
But I thought, I have a rehearsal penciled in with
Barry Manilow. We were working on this demo record, and
so I thought, well, I can't sit down till I've
called him to say are we on or off? And
(36:34):
I wanted us to be on. I mean I wanted
us to be off with Barry so I could meet
this new guy. So I went to the front of
the restaurant, made the phone call, came back to the table,
and the only empty chair was next to this new guy.
Oh what could I do?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
I have seen me.
Speaker 5 (36:54):
And so I sat.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Down after after standing up very medlow right, I'm standing
up very man called to cancel with him.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
That's fabulous. So that's how it started. And we we
say now that we made the deal. Over lunch, we
had so much fun talking. We just laughed. I was
just giddy. And Warren was just back in the country.
(37:27):
You know, he was exhausted. He didn't even want to
come to church that day, but fortunately he did.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Well, what does a typical writing day look like for you?
Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process?
Speaker 5 (37:46):
Oh that's a good idea. Uh, I get done what
has to what has to get done? And uh, for instance,
I get dressed in case the doorbell rings, you know,
I'm ready to go to the door and h And
then I go to the computer and I figure out
(38:07):
what it is. I need to work on that day,
all right, so but I have a specific, you know,
goal to make that day. So yeah, and I just
love it.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
And you're working on another book too, well, you're probably
you're working on several.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
It's truth.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Do you think is going to be next?
Speaker 5 (38:28):
Oh? London? M hm?
Speaker 2 (38:30):
So volume two of your memoir?
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Yeah, I'm taking it chronologically because.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
After you left New York, you and Warren now married,
I think, went.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
To London, right, went to London, yes.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Yeah, and you continued with your fabulous show bized success there.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
Yeah. And have you been to the show Chicago, the
musical Chicago. It's wonderful. I have seen it, yes, yeah,
so I was in that in London. So that was fun. Noah,
so I can't wait. Fortunately for me, my pianist from
New York, Richard uh was able to give me some
(39:09):
background on Chicago because, as I said, I'm a coloratura soprano.
So so he said, they're having auditions, candor and abb,
the writers are having auditions for Chicago, and he said
I think you should go, And I said, oh, good,
you know, will you play for me? He said yeah,
sure as always, so so I said, well, tell me
(39:32):
about it. And he said, well, this character, she's a
reporter and she you know, she relates to oh I
forget the leading, the leading, go Roxy Roxy art. And
that's a true story. It was a movie with Ginger Rogers.
(39:52):
And so I said, okay, you know what, what's the
deal with the with the with the reporter. Her name
is Mary Sunshine and her song is There's a little
Bit of Good in Everyone. Yeah, And so that was
really fun and it was nice and high and so
(40:13):
we went to the to the audition and they talked
to me afterwards, which is good. If they're not interested
in you, they don't talk to you. Okay, thank you,
thank you. Oh I shouldn't have said thank you because
they were interested. Thank you means you didn't get the job,
so they did not say thank you. Wow, So you
(40:34):
don't You don't want to hear thank you when you
go to a Broadway or an east End. East End
is what they call their Broadway. It's a neighborhood, just
like broadways. A neighborhood. Yeah yeah, so excuse go ahead.
So so then then I got a call and they
(40:54):
wanted me to come back. So that's good. You have
a callback that's called a callback. And so Richard and
I went again, but he was able to give me
the background from the Broadway situation, and that is this.
(41:15):
It was written for a woman. I mean, it's a
high soprano. It's written for a woman, very sunshine. And
this man came to the audition and sang and they thought,
good grief. They fell in love with his voice. And
they said that guy could do Mary Sunshine. And the
other partner said, well, what do you mean that. What
(41:37):
are we going to do about the about the soprano voice?
And he said, well, he'll just sing it. He'll sing
it in his voice. And so that is what they did.
And the understudy, though they couldn't find anybody else with
that type of voice, and the other man with that
type of voice, and so the understudy was a woman.
(41:57):
So that's what Richard was talking about, would be auditioning
for the understudy the Power a tour role. So we
went and they offered me the job. What a deal.
Crazily it meant. You know, when we do out of
town tryouts in New York, we go to a nearby place,
(42:18):
New Haven, Connecticut, Boston, Massachusetts, a nearby place to New York. Well,
they were going way up north and I'd be away
from Warren and the church for six weeks and I
didn't want to do that. So I said, come talk
to me when you get back to town, and I
(42:39):
would love to play to do the understudy. Okay, crazy,
well yes, but anyway, that's what I did. So when
they got back to town, they called me and they said,
this girl's leaving the understudy and will you come and
do it? And I said, well, yes, I think I will,
(43:00):
And so I did, and I had a wonderful experience. Yeah,
and then when the person when the man left permanently,
then I played the role permanently. So that was really wonderful.
What an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
We're running out of time, but I don't want to
wrap this up in it until you've had a chance.
Would you indulge uce and tell the story of your
I think possibly the world's only shoeless tap dance.
Speaker 5 (43:28):
Yes. Oh my. So I had a really fast change
as this is funny girl now as my funny Girl character.
I had a really fast change, and I had a
dresser to help me because I never could have done
that by myself. So I had on a discard costume
(43:55):
of Barber's. It was so horrible she wouldn't wear it,
and I inherited it. It was a tap shorts outfit,
one piece outfit, and the bottom part the shorts were
a maroon color and the top was pink with maroon trim. Okay, So,
and I was I was underdressed in green tights because
(44:20):
the next thing was a tap dance, and I went
right in to being the lead dancer in the tap dance.
And so so Alice, my dresser, helped me, helped me
get out of it. So I'm in this horrible tap
shorts outfit and I tap over to Alice in the
side that was that was a duet, okay. So I
(44:42):
tap over to Alice and I'm under under underdressed. So
I scrunched down the maroon tights and of course the
boots are high topped, high top, so I managed to
kick off the maroon tap shoes. I pull on the
high topped green boots for the military for the military number,
(45:07):
zip up the boots. Alice has my jacket, slip my
arms in, scrunch the jacket down on velcrow. She hands
me my military hat. I pin it in as I
run all the way around. This is a very wide stage.
I run all the way around the back of the stage.
(45:29):
When I get over to the other side, then two
boys come tap. We were boys and girls in two
dancing boys boy dancers come tapping over to me and
I tap back out with them. We're a trio now,
so okay, So Saturday matinee. The house is packed. So
(45:50):
I'm underdressed maroon on top of green ties. Okay, So
I tap over my duet and on the other side
here's Alice and I pulled down the maroon tis. I
have on the green tights. Only I didn't tell that right,
(46:12):
I have on the green ties. I put my arms out, oh,
and zip up the high top green boots. Put my
arms out. Alice has my jacket, pushed the velcrow down,
grabbed the hat officer's hat. Run around the whole back
of the stage to the other side of the stage.
I looked down and for the military tap, in which
(46:35):
I must have green tights and I've got high top
green boots. I look down and I have maroon legs
into green boots. Okay, so there's nothing to do. So
the stage manager's standing there giving light cues and he said,
you can't change no time go on like that, and
(46:57):
I just couldn't. I unzipped each kicked it off, unzipped
each boot, kicked it off. Here come the two boys,
and we three have to go out tapping. And I'm
out there dancing away and I have maroon tights with
the green costumes, with two boys in green so and
(47:20):
no shoes, shoe less tap dance. It's ever been done
in Broadway history.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
That's a great story. The book is called Broadway Dreamer. Lynnette,
thanks so much for being on the podcast.
Speaker 5 (47:34):
Thank you, it's been fun.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Let's see you soon. Just a few parting words. You've
heard me say this before, but the writer Con cruise
is coming up at the end of May, and the
retreats after that, and the conference is Labor Day weekend,
(47:56):
So go to Writercut dot writer con dot com and
you can read all about that. Instead of doing that,
let me remind you that writer Con has its own newsletter,
and you don't want to miss the next issue, which
I know for a factor, is coming out next Sunday,
and we'll have wonderful articles and news about new agents
(48:17):
and new publishers, accepting whatnot and there's also a magazine
which comes out every quarter. That's a fee, but the
newsletter is completely free. So go to substack and search
for writer Con and sign up. And by the way,
if you haven't joined the writer Con Facebook group yet,
you really need to do that. We not only circulate
(48:38):
the news before anybody else has got it, we have
some really fun, engaging conversations, so join it. And if
you're enjoying this podcast, hey, subscribe and then like us
or rate us or review us wherever it is you
get podcasts from Apple or Google Play or whatever it is.
It does help new listeners find and we always like that.
(49:02):
All right, until next time, keep writing and remember you
cannot fail if you refuse to quit. See you next time.
This week on the writer Con podcast, Stay with It,
Stay with It. Welcome to writer Con, a gathering place
for writers to share their knowledge about writing and the
writing world. Your hosts are William Bernhardt, best selling novelist
and author of the Red Sneaker books on writing, and
Laura Bernhardt, award winning author of the want ln Files
(00:23):
book series.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Thank you, Jesse Ulrich. Hey, they're writers. Thanks for joining us. Well,
we're about two weeks or so from the Oscars on
March two, And because of that, and because we have
a showbiz guest on the podcast today, I've just got
(00:49):
to point out once again seven of the ten nominees
for Best Picture are adaptations of written work, which, get this,
that's seventy percent. That's actually slightly lower than the average,
which is that about seventy five percent of all pictures
that have one Best Picture are based on something somebody
(01:11):
wrote wrote before. Laura, this is where I was getting
to root. Which one are you rooting for?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Oh gosh, it's a tough one.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Probably the Brutalist that was based on Yes, of course,
it really stuck with me.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
It really stuck with me.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
It wasn't necessarily the easiest thing to watch but it
was very well done, beautiful film, and the acting was superb.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You're going to get to the whole It's three and
a half hours long, part or it was a.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Commitment, but it was told so well. I mean, did
you really feel like it went on?
Speaker 5 (01:59):
Did not?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
At the time? Passed pretty quickly actually, and then.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
At intermission we got up and used the bathroom and
got popcorn and get back for the next bit. So
it worked well.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Jesse, you got a favorite in this race.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
None in this one.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
I mean, I haven't been going to the movies as
much lately, so I'm sort of really, sort of completely out.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Because you're reading those thousand page I should.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Point out we haven't actually managed to watch every single
one of the Best True Picture nominees, so I'm basing
it on the ones we've seen so far.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
They happened to all come to Chuck Tell yet, but
they will.
Speaker 6 (02:40):
I'm just rooting for whatever categories Wicket is nominated in.
So that was delightful.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
Like the musical I did, I did again.
Speaker 6 (02:48):
Most of the time, musicals do not benefit from a
movie because musical settings are sparse on purpose, but the
world of Wicket actually does get added to by having
the sort of money that a movie can throw at it.
So nice, that's my thought.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Or they figured out how to do it. So what's
the deal with all the adaptations? Can Hollywood not come
up with ideas on its own? Why why they keep
coming after the work of writers. It's cheaper, it's cheaper,
I bet you.
Speaker 6 (03:24):
It's cheaper to pace one to adapt a book to
a story, that is, to pay someone to write a
full movie script themselves probably.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Already got.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
The hard work.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, exactly, you have built an audience. The hard work
is done for you. It's already the character development should
already be there. Surely it's the books that they're picking up.
I assume are excellent stories, which is why they're reaching
for those and thinking, I can I can make that
(03:58):
into a film.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, I think having the books something, you know, it's
hard to get a movie greenlit. I assume that's what
I hear. Yes, although many of my books have been optioned,
none have been made, so I believe it. But I
think it gives a movie cred when you know it's
(04:21):
based on a book, particularly if it's a book that
sold well, because then it's like proof of concept. Looks
see that you know, people bought the book, so must
be a good story.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
That's That's why it's funny that, like a musical based
on a book becomes a movie because the.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Book itself way different than the musical. Super weird.
Speaker 6 (04:37):
I've read those books too. They were enjoyable, they were
enjoyable in a different way. But I'm like, this is
not what the musical is about at all, and I'm
okay with that. I just found that. I found that
to be funny.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 6 (04:49):
Imagine Gregory maguire that the author Zom is just swimming
in a you know, you know, a duct tails coin
bath and it just you know, being very happy with
all that.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Well, for a while, his deal was doing kind of
you know, updates and revamps of fairy tales, and then
after the musical Wicked took off. Then then it became
lots of sequels to Wicked and I think now a
prequel for Alphaba and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (05:20):
Yeah, I mean, for our listeners, if you do read
the Wicked book and its sequels about spoiler alert, Alphaba's child,
like the book gets weird, Like, I mean a really
good job of exploring the world of Frank Elbaum and Oz.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
But Oz is a weird ass place, so some.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Weird things is this at Fiarah?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Yeah, spoiler alert, Yes, like.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
The Scarecrow and the Witch. That's that's so wrong.
Speaker 6 (05:48):
I mean, I do believe they technically boned before he
was scarecrow, so you know, just technically so okay from
a technical standpoint. Listen, we're making the spicy as required.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, we're going for the big ratings this time. And
speaking of our interview today is with Lynette Bennett. I've
had the pleasure of knowing the multi talented Lynette for
many years, so I couldn't be more excited about the
fact that her book, her first book, is about to
be released. It's a memoir of her early days on
(06:21):
the Broadway stage. It's called Broadway Dreamer and boy does
she know what she's talking about and when it comes
to theater. We'll talk about this in the interview. The
first chapter deals with her on Broadway with Berber streisand
in Funny Girl, and we hear about that, and we
also talk about the writing because she turned to writing
(06:42):
later in her life after a very succe Well she
still acts, but after a very successful career on the
stage in New York, and then she started writing this
memoir and other books and one hundred percent her make
no mistake. She wrote it, no ghosts, no co writers.
This was by Lynette Bennett, the woman who played Lady
(07:04):
Larkin and Once Upon a Mattress one of my favorite musicals.
But you're going to hear all about that later. First
the news news story number one. Bookshop dot org now
(07:31):
sells ebooks. Longtime listeners may remember about five years or
so ago when bookshop dot org launched. The idea was
to create an online presence for independent bookstores so that
they could compete with some of the bigger chains. We
won't mention any names, but you know what I'm talking about.
(07:54):
And then the bookshop dot org would share its sales
revenue with books stores. So your local bookstore recommends here,
get it here, and then they do, and they share
the profits. So you're getting the book you want, but
you're also supporting your bookstore. Well that was physical books.
Now bookshop is expanding into the digital realm. Bookshop dot org.
(08:20):
Dot org is going to create an online platform for ebooks.
But after you buy the ebook, you can choose which
local bookstore you want the money to go to, and
according to their promotional materials, all the money one hundred
percent is then given to the local bookstore. So this
(08:43):
is another attempt to allow independent bookstores to compete with
big chains, both physical and online. It's really kind of extraordinary.
But you know, I thought bookshop dot Org sounded like
a dubious idea in the first place. According to their website,
(09:03):
they've raised more than thirty five million dollars for local bookstores. Laura,
explain this to me, I mean, getting an ebook sounds
like exactly not why you go to a brick and
mortar bookstore, right.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I cannot explain this. I'm still trying to wrap my
brain around that, because, like you, I wasn't one hundred
percent sure that I thought this was really going to
go anywhere when I first heard about it. But that
is an amazing amount of money. And I am completely
supportive of helping our smaller local bookstores for sure. So
(09:40):
this is a anything that's going to help them out
and keep them open, I think is a great development.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, good Jesse, what about you? You surprised or not surprised?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I'm happy.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
I've been a big supporter of booksheve tot org for
quite some time because one it was one of the
few and there's one a few places you could buy
ebook where that money would then go to a local
you know, uh, could you tell it what local bookstore
you want the money to go to? And like, you know,
just like you know, doing a little bit of research
on the nonprofit that they set up and whatnot, like
it seemed legitimate. It seemed legitimate enough, and so you know,
(10:18):
I bought it. I think I bought a couple of
e books off there and went on support some of
the local stories here in town. And I'm happy that
they're also getting into audiobooks again, that's one of the
biggest growing segments of readership in at least at least
in America. And so I feel like this, this is
positive and I'm happy of it.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Okay. News story number two. Cozy fantasy an emerging genre
like cozy mysteries, which are basically mysteries without any blood
or overt violence. They're just I got the Christie like
gentle mysteries. Well, now we've got cozy fantasy, which obviously
is a reaction to romanticy or dark fantasy, both of
(11:01):
which are sometimes more violent and sexually explicit. Well, now
cozy fantasy has apparently arrived because it's got its own
BISACK code. That's BISAC, just in case somebody doesn't know
what I'm talking about. When books are published, the publisher
(11:21):
has to choose codes the category the genres that apply.
This is used by the Library of Congress and libraries
in general, and also sometimes by people searching for books online.
Here's an interesting quote about it. I got this from
a dark fantasy writer named Amron Gowani wrote, quote, Ray,
(11:44):
cozy Fantasy. I do agree it's difficult to tackle contemporary
issues in a realistic light because of how grim the
world feels or is. In my latest project, I'm leaning
more into chaos and absurdity to make the medicine more palatable.
In some ways, the work is feeling lighter and darker
(12:06):
at the same time. Laura, that quote cozy fantasy. Does
this say more about reader's tastes or more about this
world we live in? What do you think you know?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
When we were experiencing the pandemic a few years ago,
I noticed that my women's fiction that deals with weightier
issues social concerns dipped, and that my supernatural suspense series
was selling more. I think when we're facing a world
(12:47):
that is a little bit scary and we are looking
for an escape, a diversion from that, having something a
little bit lighter to read is where we're going to
seek our comfort. So I do think that that makes
some sense that there's a little bit of a turn
(13:11):
towards something cozier and a little bit lighter. Although Romanticy
is still really big. I mean, there's that's pretty dark.
We have escape to at.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Least sometimes, right though, Jesse, you read, I believe some
of the darker stuff as cozy fantasy, a place where
you would ever go.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
Sure, it's like the animal crossing of books, right, And
if you think about some of the great stories, like
take Lord of the Rings for example, like a third
of that book is a cozy fantasy, right. Anything in
the Shire or anything involves food, right, is cozy. Like
there's a part, there's a part that is enjoyable in
that and like, I'm excited to see where this goes.
I mean, I do think sort of stories need action
(13:55):
and movement and plots. I'm curious to see how they
Where does the conflict come in and cozy fancy. But
if people can have cozy murder mystery, we can do
cozy fantasy.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So I don't see why not.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I agree?
Speaker 2 (14:08):
All right? Moving on today in Craft Corner, we have
writer con friend and sponsor Desiree Duffy of Black Chateau
and books that make you her topic getting editorial book reviews,
which can be challenging but so important, So take it away, Desiree.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Craft Corner.
Speaker 7 (14:34):
Let's talk about book reviews. There's three main types editorial,
author endorsements, and consumer reviews. For this episode of Craft Corner,
we're going to dive into editorial or trade industry focused
types of reviews. These are reviews that are written by
(14:55):
professional critics for trade publications and industry refocused platforms. Examples
and clude publishers, Weekly Kirkus Reviews, Books that make You reviews,
Library Journal, Idleweis, and net Galley. The purpose is what's
key here. These types of reviews help you build credibility
(15:17):
with booksellers, librarians, and the publishing industry as a whole.
You'll generate pre publication buzz and secure placement in libraries,
bookstores and in catalogs. How do you do this?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Here's one of.
Speaker 7 (15:34):
The tricks of editorial reviews. You need to submit those
arps you're advanced reading copies to trade publications at least
four to six months before publication. You want to give
the site enough time so that they can assign a
book reviewer to it, so that book reviewer can read
(15:56):
in full your manuscript, write the review, submit it back
to you. And you even want to give yourself just
a little bit of time just in case they find
something that your editors and beta readers might have missed.
That way, you might have time to fix that plot
hole before publication. Use platforms like net Galley and idleweis
(16:18):
to distribute arcs to librarians, the booksellers, and the reviewers.
Even on net galy, I know there's lots of book bloggers,
media people, journalists, so this really can get the book
out there and in front of people far in advance
of the book's actual launch. I do encourage you to
(16:39):
research all of the different submission guidelines for publication. For example,
Kirkis has different publications guidelines than Library Journal does, and
if you wait too long, you might even have to
pay more money for an expedited Kirkus review. And let's
face it. We all want to save a little bit
(16:59):
of money and give everybody enough time in your book
launch process. Strong editorial book reviews have a lot of benefits.
They can lead to bulk orders from librarians and retailers.
These bookstore buyers and librarians, they're often looking for the
books that they're going to stock on their shelves many
(17:21):
months even up to eight, nine, ten months, up to
a year in advance. Editorial reviews can be quoted in
your press release backgrounders that is submitted to a lot
of the industry folks, your marketing materials. You can use
it as a plus content on Amazon. There's actually a
space for editorial reviews on Amazon. You can use these
(17:47):
in your blurb or the back of the book copy.
Really helps get the word out to the front line.
Think of it this way. Editorial type reviews are the vanguard.
This is very much a be to be a business
to business marketing and book launch strategy. Thank you to
(18:07):
William Bernhardt and the entire team for making up Me
a part of this craft corner.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Thank you so much, Desiree. Now let's talk to Lynette Bennett.
Lynette Bennett, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Thank you it's lovely to be here.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
It is a great treat to have someone you've known
for a while, and you know it's been working on
a book for a while and now it's finally going
to happen. So this is a real pleasure. Traditional first question, though,
if you could offer writers one piece of advice, what
would it be?
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Stay with it? Stay with it?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, you are the testament to perseverance, aren't you. And yes,
we'll get into that a little bit.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
They had two agents offered me a contract, you know,
and I thought, well, an agent then has to find
a publisher, so if I could, I'd rather go right
with the publisher. So so that's, you know, what I
was hoping for. And then Bill Bernhardt, this guy showed
(19:22):
up who's very gifted, and I've done several workshops with
Bill and it's just such a treat to work with him.
So now Bill's my publisher and I'm thrilled.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Well, thank you. Let's do you mind talking about because
you had speaking of perseverance, you weathered a couple of
previous publishers, including one that later ended up in prison.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
That's I'm talking about that all I have good taste.
Let's race it well the first one, and I was
suspicions just when he put out a newsletter claiming how
Christian he was. And when people claim that too much,
(20:10):
then that's that's systems.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
A red flag.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Yeah, it's a red flag. And sure enough he turned
out to he and his son went to prison for
not paying people. I had another friend who was with him,
and he said he didn't have enough in royalties. He
had several books with this guy, and he said, I
don't have enough in royalties to buy myself a sandwich.
(20:36):
Well that's not very good.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I read. I'm sorry, we will move on, I promised.
But I read that there were more complaints to the
Better Business Bureau about that publishing house before it folded
because the principles were in prison than any other business.
I'm thinking, relishing house, they are doing something wrong.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Yeah, yes they were.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
And then you had a second false off but start
But never mind, that book's coming out now.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
She just never did anything. Having promised me she'd published
the book, she happened to publish the book.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Well, real god, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
If you want to spend any more time on that.
But I had lunch with a friend of mine who
turned out to be her copy editor, and she said
she can't afford your book. She does children's books and
leaflets and things like that. There's no way she can
publish your book. And she had owed this woman a
lot of money.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Oh well, we're going to get that thing out because
it's a terrific Thank you, biout that wonderful memoir. And
I don't say that just because I know you or
because I love Broadway. It's just a wonderful book. What
take us to the real beginning, though? How'd you get
interested in writing a book, because obviously you've been working
(21:56):
as an actress for many years and now you're how
did that happen?
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Well, I really don't know. My brother is a wonderful
writer and and so I mean he gave me some
clues about things. If I would write something, i'd show
it tournament and he would critique it for me. And
I loved writing. I found out it was really fun,
so you know, it was my next favorite thing to performing.
(22:26):
I just really loved it. So that just got me started.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And did you still love it even after you were
actually doing it?
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Oh? Yes, oh yes, yeah, loving it and writing it?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Well, tell us a little bit about Broadway Dreamer.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Well, where to start.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
From the beginning?
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Okay, I studied studied dance from the time I was
a little bitty like six.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
And that's an Oklahoma rite in Tulsa.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Excuse me, And that's in Tulsa where you grew up
in Tulsa. Yeah, my mother taught piano and speech. So uh,
so I played the piano from the time I was
a little bitty as well. And uh and and mother
had us I have an older brother, and she had
us speaking from the very beginning. They called those little
(23:22):
pieces readings, and so mother had us doing readings from
the time we were little bitty kids. And uh, that's
that's wonderful for an actor. You know, if you're comfortable
being in front of an audience. And mother had recitals.
So if you're comfortable in front of an audience, you know,
that goes a long way giving you a career. Because
(23:44):
you joyed.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Tulsa eventually and went to New York right, yes, after
you already passed most people because you've actually made the
plunge and committed.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I graduated from the University of Tulsa be an English
lett and went to New York to audition for Broadway. Well,
that first summer, though, I worked at Saint Louis Municipal Opera,
and that's a wonderful summer stock company. And excuse me,
(24:17):
so so I had experiences. They would bring in the
stars who had played the roles on Broadway, and you know,
there were just lots of marvelous people that I could
talk to. I interviewed these people. I didn't let him
go by. I stopped interviewed you, and I learned a
lot just speaking about the business. You know, I bet
(24:38):
so that was great.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, And pretty soon you're being cast in shows. For instance,
in chapter one, you talk about being in Funny Girl,
the original production with the original actress, who of course
is Barber streisand almost immediately kind of superstar status like
working with her.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Oh, she was wonderful. She was lovely to me. I
was a replacement in the show, and the final night
she invited me to her dressing room and she gave
me her second album, which was entitled People, and we
just had a lovely visit. She just couldn't have been kinder.
(25:24):
So I can't say enough good about Barbara Streisand.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
You also knew Barry Manilow, Yes, Beryl Ba. Then how
did you meet him? This was before he became the
well known name that he is.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Yeah, now right. He was my pianist and musical director.
And Barry was terrific. He was so much fun and
he's very kind. He just gave ten thousand dollars to
a music teacher in Tulsa because he saw that the
kids were using broken instruments. He's been here several times
(26:01):
and so I was able to have a chat with
him and that was really fun. It's nice.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
How did you happen to meet him? Back back all
those years ago?
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Mamber? Somebody another friend recommended Barry to me, okay, and
I was wanting to make a demo record. A musical
director friend and said, oh, you've got to make a
demo record. So I said, well, how do I do that?
And who pays for it? He said, you do, honey,
but it's not that bad. So Honey took the bait
(26:35):
and so so he selected the songs for me. He
was my musical director, and so we did three songs
on the demo and the first time one of the
things we did was a Basanova Layah Ledaya Brazil sixty six.
I don't know if you remember their their albums, but.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Is so good?
Speaker 5 (27:04):
So anyway one was but beautiful if you remember that
lovely ballad that was the favorite of mine and one
uh the Donovan Uh singer and writer. He's a Scotsman
and uh. And so he had a song called where
Your Love Like Heaven, which is a strange, strange title,
(27:28):
but it's a very pretty song. And Barry knew I
love it, which I did, and uh, and we overdubbed it,
which I thought would be fun and it was so
so Barry wrote. So, so we did the basic recording
and then Barry wrote out three additional vocal lines for
me to use. Wow, And so then we just overdubbed it,
(27:52):
you know, three more times.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
You're your own backup singer. Excuse me, you were your
own backup singer, Yes, exactly when I was.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
When I was reading the book, I was surprised but
also delighted. You talk about meeting a very young Meryl
Street and working in the show Meryl Street.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Oh yes, and you said we're in a show teacher.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Sorry, yeah, Well, and you were also in a show
with John Travolta's sister, I think, And you talk about
him kind of showing up at some of the rehearsals.
So you were meeting a lot of people back then.
What did you think could you could you tell back
then that they were going to.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
Be no incredible? I d know that. You know, Ellen
Travolta has has done quite a few things and she's
she's really fun. They were a show bized family. Their
mother was a director and so they both have said
(29:00):
Volda and Ellen Tivolden that their mother had them over acting,
so they had to learn not to act. That's so
it was a show biz family. There were five kids
and they're just They were a lovely family.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
And you and Meryl Streep had the same vocal coach.
Did I hear that right?
Speaker 5 (29:21):
Yes? Yes, our teacher a coach works on material with you.
A teacher teaches you how to sing, how to produce
a tone. So this was our teacher, A Stelle Labeling,
and she was quite famous in New York. She's published
books for Colora tourist sopranos, which I am, and she
(29:42):
would would have material, especially in color tour work, you
do a lot of cadensas, and so miss Leebling would
write the cadensas which you're fabulous. So I just loved
studying with her. I just I couldn't believe it. I
was just in heaven when I walked into studio.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
So this was music, vocal court like singing right, not
somewhere Meryl Streep must have and apparently every accent known
to mand But that wasn't dear right, No.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
This was music. But she and I waited for our lessons,
and so we had a nice chat.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
And while we're name checking people people, some of our
viewers may have noticed that there's a picture hovering over
my head, and that's you on the Tonight Show with
Johnny Carson. Right, Yes, how did that come about?
Speaker 5 (30:34):
Oh my goodness. I don't know if you remember the
group for girls, the Campfire Girls, and I'm afraid they're
fading out a little bit, but it was a wonderful
group for girls. The Supreme Court took care of that
for us because they said we had to have boys.
You know, there are boy scouts and then there are
girl scouts. So they tried having Campfire boys and girls,
(30:58):
and I think that just didn't work. You know, it
wasn't a boy's program. It was a girl's program, and
it was based on Indian lore. So that's why I'm
wearing the Indian What.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Everybody it looks like is in some kind of probably
wouldn't be approved of today headdress or something like that.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
Right.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Well, the first thing I did when I was went
onto the show was was award Johnny with a pair
of Indian feathers to wear a headband and the Indian
feathers sticking up with the back of his head. So
that got a good laugh itself, and he could use
that and make something of it, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Well, the thing I noticed looking at this photograph and
we have others as well, but everybody's smiling, They're love
having you on the show.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
We had a lot of fun. It really worked out
so well. And on the subway that morning, this was
a gift I was. I was looking over a guy's
shoulder the New York Post and there was a story
about Sinatra proposing to Juliet Prows and the headline said
(32:11):
something about Sinatra proposing to his his his Julia you know,
and so and and she said crazy. Yeah. And so
when we were on the show, I was lashing. You
know what lashing is, rope lashing, and I was going
to do Johnny's legs. But he said, well, let's do legs.
(32:34):
Let's do Ed's legs, and so, which is a good
thing to do. And so when he suggested that let's
do eggs, Ed's legs, and I said crazy and that
kind of big laugh, he could do his Jack Benny
look to the audience, right, you know. So he loved
(32:55):
me after that.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh wonderful. We were also in Remind me, I think
it's a musical version of the Yearling, is that right?
Speaker 5 (33:03):
Yes? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (33:04):
And you were maybe toured in Once Upon a.
Speaker 5 (33:08):
Mattress, Yes, with Immagy and Coca.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
And you played Lady Larkin.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And I've told you this before and it doesn't relate
to your book. But tell me again. I did the
same play when I was in the eighth grade.
Speaker 5 (33:21):
Oh I do remember, and I was Sir Harry.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I was Sir Harry and your Lady Larkin. So we're
practically a couple, you see.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
That's right, exactly, we're a pair.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yes, we sing the same love songs, just at different times.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
That's right. And it was a beautiful song. Harry Rogers,
Richard Rogers's daughter was the composer.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Now we're really digressing, but she did her memoir or
whatever you want to call it, last year called Shy,
obviously a reference to Mattress, and I thought that was
really a trip. Let's get back to your book. One
of the nice things about this book, you know, of
course we're talking about all your shows and the singing
and dancing and acting and appearances, but the centerpiece of
(34:09):
the book, at least in my mind, is your relationship
with your now husband, Warren, who, like I said, you're
still married to after how many years? Fifty four fifty four?
Holy smokes, tell us that story. How did you two
get together? Oh?
Speaker 5 (34:26):
My goodness. Warren had been traveling for six months. He'd
been a missionary in Brazil. He speaks Portuguese, so when
he finished his responsibilities in Brazil, he traveled for six
months around the world. And this was his first day
back in the country and he didn't want to go out.
(34:48):
He didn't want to do anything. He was just exhausted.
But he had been at this church, christ Church Methodist
on United Methodists on Park Avenue in sixty uh. He'd
been the youth director before. You know, while he was
in seminary those three seminary years he was he was
(35:08):
the youth director and uh and by that time I
had joined the church. I was singing in the choir.
So I was really involved with the church. I grew
up at Boston Avenue United Methodist here in Tulsa and uh,
so I'm from a about Christian family and and so
(35:29):
I was there and I was joining the Yagadel group
and they went to lunch on summer Sundays. Well, this
was the summer Sunday, and so they meet in the
courtyard of the church and then walked to a neighborhood restaurant.
And so I came out of the choir and he
(35:50):
saw me recessing, you know, down the aisle to the
hymn and uh. And I saw him just coming out
of a church walk into an exit and I said, wow,
who is that. I've never seen him before. And so
we both were in the courtyard and then we went
(36:11):
to a restaurant and this was just marvelous. Everybody sat
down and I realized they were sitting down at the table.
But I thought, I have a rehearsal penciled in with
Barry Manilow. We were working on this demo record, and
so I thought, well, I can't sit down till I've
called him to say are we on or off? And
(36:34):
I wanted us to be on. I mean I wanted
us to be off with Barry so I could meet
this new guy. So I went to the front of
the restaurant, made the phone call, came back to the table,
and the only empty chair was next to this new guy.
Oh what could I do?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
I have seen me.
Speaker 5 (36:54):
And so I sat.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Down after after standing up very medlow right, I'm standing
up very man called to cancel with him.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
That's fabulous. So that's how it started. And we we
say now that we made the deal. Over lunch, we
had so much fun talking. We just laughed. I was
just giddy. And Warren was just back in the country.
(37:27):
You know, he was exhausted. He didn't even want to
come to church that day, but fortunately he did.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Well, what does a typical writing day look like for you?
Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process?
Speaker 5 (37:46):
Oh that's a good idea. Uh, I get done what
has to what has to get done? And uh, for instance,
I get dressed in case the doorbell rings, you know,
I'm ready to go to the door and h And
then I go to the computer and I figure out
(38:07):
what it is. I need to work on that day,
all right, so but I have a specific, you know,
goal to make that day. So yeah, and I just
love it.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
And you're working on another book too, well, you're probably
you're working on several.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
It's truth.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Do you think is going to be next?
Speaker 5 (38:28):
Oh? London? M hm?
Speaker 2 (38:30):
So volume two of your memoir?
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Yeah, I'm taking it chronologically because.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
After you left New York, you and Warren now married,
I think, went.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
To London, right, went to London, yes.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Yeah, and you continued with your fabulous show bized success there.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
Yeah. And have you been to the show Chicago, the
musical Chicago. It's wonderful. I have seen it, yes, yeah,
so I was in that in London. So that was fun. Noah,
so I can't wait. Fortunately for me, my pianist from
New York, Richard uh was able to give me some
(39:09):
background on Chicago because, as I said, I'm a coloratura soprano.
So so he said, they're having auditions, candor and abb,
the writers are having auditions for Chicago, and he said
I think you should go, And I said, oh, good,
you know, will you play for me? He said yeah,
sure as always, so so I said, well, tell me
(39:32):
about it. And he said, well, this character, she's a
reporter and she you know, she relates to oh I
forget the leading, the leading, go Roxy Roxy art. And
that's a true story. It was a movie with Ginger Rogers.
(39:52):
And so I said, okay, you know what, what's the
deal with the with the with the reporter. Her name
is Mary Sunshine and her song is There's a little
Bit of Good in Everyone. Yeah, And so that was
really fun and it was nice and high and so
(40:13):
we went to the to the audition and they talked
to me afterwards, which is good. If they're not interested
in you, they don't talk to you. Okay, thank you,
thank you. Oh I shouldn't have said thank you because
they were interested. Thank you means you didn't get the job,
so they did not say thank you. Wow, So you
(40:34):
don't You don't want to hear thank you when you
go to a Broadway or an east End. East End
is what they call their Broadway. It's a neighborhood, just
like broadways. A neighborhood. Yeah yeah, so excuse go ahead.
So so then then I got a call and they
(40:54):
wanted me to come back. So that's good. You have
a callback that's called a callback. And so Richard and
I went again, but he was able to give me
the background from the Broadway situation, and that is this.
(41:15):
It was written for a woman. I mean, it's a
high soprano. It's written for a woman, very sunshine. And
this man came to the audition and sang and they thought,
good grief. They fell in love with his voice. And
they said that guy could do Mary Sunshine. And the
other partner said, well, what do you mean that. What
(41:37):
are we going to do about the about the soprano voice?
And he said, well, he'll just sing it. He'll sing
it in his voice. And so that is what they did.
And the understudy, though they couldn't find anybody else with
that type of voice, and the other man with that
type of voice, and so the understudy was a woman.
(41:57):
So that's what Richard was talking about, would be auditioning
for the understudy the Power a tour role. So we
went and they offered me the job. What a deal.
Crazily it meant. You know, when we do out of
town tryouts in New York, we go to a nearby place,
(42:18):
New Haven, Connecticut, Boston, Massachusetts, a nearby place to New York. Well,
they were going way up north and I'd be away
from Warren and the church for six weeks and I
didn't want to do that. So I said, come talk
to me when you get back to town, and I
(42:39):
would love to play to do the understudy. Okay, crazy,
well yes, but anyway, that's what I did. So when
they got back to town, they called me and they said,
this girl's leaving the understudy and will you come and
do it? And I said, well, yes, I think I will,
(43:00):
And so I did, and I had a wonderful experience. Yeah,
and then when the person when the man left permanently,
then I played the role permanently. So that was really wonderful.
What an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
We're running out of time, but I don't want to
wrap this up in it until you've had a chance.
Would you indulge uce and tell the story of your
I think possibly the world's only shoeless tap dance.
Speaker 5 (43:28):
Yes. Oh my. So I had a really fast change
as this is funny girl now as my funny Girl character.
I had a really fast change, and I had a
dresser to help me because I never could have done
that by myself. So I had on a discard costume
(43:55):
of Barber's. It was so horrible she wouldn't wear it,
and I inherited it. It was a tap shorts outfit,
one piece outfit, and the bottom part the shorts were
a maroon color and the top was pink with maroon trim. Okay, So,
and I was I was underdressed in green tights because
(44:20):
the next thing was a tap dance, and I went
right in to being the lead dancer in the tap dance.
And so so Alice, my dresser, helped me, helped me
get out of it. So I'm in this horrible tap
shorts outfit and I tap over to Alice in the
side that was that was a duet, okay. So I
(44:42):
tap over to Alice and I'm under under underdressed. So
I scrunched down the maroon tights and of course the
boots are high topped, high top, so I managed to
kick off the maroon tap shoes. I pull on the
high topped green boots for the military for the military number,
(45:07):
zip up the boots. Alice has my jacket, slip my
arms in, scrunch the jacket down on velcrow. She hands
me my military hat. I pin it in as I
run all the way around. This is a very wide stage.
I run all the way around the back of the stage.
(45:29):
When I get over to the other side, then two
boys come tap. We were boys and girls in two
dancing boys boy dancers come tapping over to me and
I tap back out with them. We're a trio now,
so okay, So Saturday matinee. The house is packed. So
(45:50):
I'm underdressed maroon on top of green ties. Okay, So
I tap over my duet and on the other side
here's Alice and I pulled down the maroon tis. I
have on the green tights. Only I didn't tell that right,
(46:12):
I have on the green ties. I put my arms out, oh,
and zip up the high top green boots. Put my
arms out. Alice has my jacket, pushed the velcrow down,
grabbed the hat officer's hat. Run around the whole back
of the stage to the other side of the stage.
I looked down and for the military tap, in which
(46:35):
I must have green tights and I've got high top
green boots. I look down and I have maroon legs
into green boots. Okay, so there's nothing to do. So
the stage manager's standing there giving light cues and he said,
you can't change no time go on like that, and
(46:57):
I just couldn't. I unzipped each kicked it off, unzipped
each boot, kicked it off. Here come the two boys,
and we three have to go out tapping. And I'm
out there dancing away and I have maroon tights with
the green costumes, with two boys in green so and
(47:20):
no shoes, shoe less tap dance. It's ever been done
in Broadway history.
Speaker 2 (47:26):
That's a great story. The book is called Broadway Dreamer. Lynnette,
thanks so much for being on the podcast.
Speaker 5 (47:34):
Thank you, it's been fun.
Speaker 2 (47:35):
Let's see you soon. Just a few parting words. You've
heard me say this before, but the writer Con cruise
is coming up at the end of May, and the
retreats after that, and the conference is Labor Day weekend,
(47:56):
So go to Writercut dot writer con dot com and
you can read all about that. Instead of doing that,
let me remind you that writer Con has its own newsletter,
and you don't want to miss the next issue, which
I know for a factor, is coming out next Sunday,
and we'll have wonderful articles and news about new agents
(48:17):
and new publishers, accepting whatnot and there's also a magazine
which comes out every quarter. That's a fee, but the
newsletter is completely free. So go to substack and search
for writer Con and sign up. And by the way,
if you haven't joined the writer Con Facebook group yet,
you really need to do that. We not only circulate
(48:38):
the news before anybody else has got it, we have
some really fun, engaging conversations, so join it. And if
you're enjoying this podcast, hey, subscribe and then like us
or rate us or review us wherever it is you
get podcasts from Apple or Google Play or whatever it is.
It does help new listeners find and we always like that.
(49:02):
All right, until next time, keep writing and remember you
cannot fail if you refuse to quit. See you next time.
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