Interview by Jodi M. Webb
WOW: Congratulations on being a runner up in the Q1 2025 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest for "When the Scheduler Calls and Refers to My Upcoming Procedure as an "Emergency Colonoscopy”. It was a very powerful "life flashing before my eyes" piece with a focus on family. Do you often write about family?
Bethany: Thank you! Yes, in fact, my mini-memoir (a chapbook of flash nonfiction essays) Take Me Home, is about family and roots and home. It's about coming to terms with growing up in West Virginia and what it means to belong somewhere even after you've left.
WOW: You identify yourself as an "Appalachian writer". Can you share with us what that means to you and how it influences you as a writer?
Bethany: I now live near Pittsburgh, PA which is Appalachia, although certainly more urban. I was born and raised in West Virginia, the heart of rural Appalachia. My great grandpas were coal miners. My grandpas were a factory worker and a carpenter. I come from a line of hard-working, Bible-believing folks. The mountains themselves, the creeks and the critters, they all show up in my writing. As well as the destruction of nature, the mining and fracking and polluted drinking water. The sense of belonging somewhere, to a people, even after I’d left home. A deep spirituality and religiosity. The culture, a rich history of storytelling and folk music and pepperoni rolls and moonshine. The friendly and hard-working people. The unsafe working conditions and oppression that has often been experienced by the people living here. All these things influence who I am as a writer and what I engage with in my writing.
WOW: What an image evoking description! You've been publishing and winning writing prizes for about four years now. When did you start writing?
Bethany: I've been writing for as long as I can remember. However, there was a period of about five years in my early 20s when I didn't write. I returned to creative writing in 2021, as a new mother during the pandemic. In fact, I took a class through Women on Writing then, and that was near the beginning of my publishing journey. It was in 2021, when I first discovered literary magazines and began publishing my work.
WOW: Your work takes many forms: essays, poetry, short fiction. Do you have a preference for any particular format?
Bethany: I write short things. Flash essays, flash fiction, and poetry. The large majority of my work is 1,000 words or less. What fascinates me most about writing is what language can do. I like to focus on each word, and writing in compressed word counts allows me to do that. Also, I'm a busy mom of two preschoolers, so it also fits my lifestyle.
WOW: Aside from being a busy mom, what do you feel is your biggest challenge as a writer?
Bethany: My biggest challenge is balancing the creative mindset and the business mindset. Although being a successful writer means putting some time and effort into the business side of things, If I get too focused on or spend too much time on publications and promotions, it does impact my creativity and how I feel about my work.
WOW: I think many of us struggle with that particular Catch-22. What is your next goal for your writing career?
Bethany: What's next for me? I'm going to continue to pursue excellence in the craft of writing and help others do the same. I have another poetry manuscript completed, so I hope to find a publisher for that. And in the meantime, just write my heart out. That's pretty much always the plan.
WOW: That sounds like the ideal plan, considering just how much you've accomplished in your brief writing career. We look forward to reading more!
