Chasing Creative

We thought we’d be back with a new season of Chasing Creative in 2022, but alas: it did not happen. Our lives are just too full right now with, well… life! We cannot, however, let the year go by without getting together to talk about books: our most favorite episode to record each season. So, we’ll dive in and talk about our reading wins this last year, our goals for next year, and what life *actually* looks like these days for both of us. 
Where to connect with Abbie: 
Goodreads | Instagram | Newsletter | Bookshop (affiliate) 
Where to connect with Ashley: 
Goodreads | Instagram | Newsletter
 
Books Mentioned:
The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk 
Wintering by Katherine May
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune 
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (audio narrated by Tom Hanks) 
Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (on audio) 
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige 
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver 
The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo 
The Life We’re Looking For by Andy Crouch 
The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
The Wild Robot & The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling (illustrated versions, too!) 
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street Series by Karina Yan Glaser (audio) 
The Henry Huggins Audio Collection by Beverly Cleary 
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery 
Rewilding Motherhood by Shannon K Evans 
State of Wonder by Anne Patchett 
Attached to God by Krispin Mayfield
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
Try Softer by Aundi Kolber
Middlemarch by George Eliot 
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Hi! It has been *an entire year* since we last appeared in your podcast feed. 
We’re wading through Pandemic Year 2 just like everyone else, complete with all the day-to-day negotiations and risk calculations like everyone else. And also: a fourth baby for Ashley, a smattering of kids entering the public school system for both of us, and entire routines shifting overnight. 
We gave ourselves a break and didn’t record a single thing together in all of 2021 – but it didn’t feel right to finish a year on the calendar without talking together about books. So let’s talk books! 
 
Resources Mentioned: 
Pantsuit Politics Extra Credit Book Club
The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast by John Green 
 
Books Mentioned:
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Rewilding Motherhood by Shannon K. Evans
No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler 
Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
What You Wish For by Katherine Center 
It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn (DNF for Ashley) 
Fair Play by Eve Rodsky (skimmed by Abbie) 
Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham 
The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson 
Harry Potter Book 1-3 
The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi
Keep Going by Austin Kleon 
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater 
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green 
Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa
The Wordless Trilogy by Aaron Becker
The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall 
Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control our Lives by Michael A. Heller and James Salzman
12 Tiny Things by Ellie Rosher and Heidi Barr
The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett 
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
 
Where to connect with Abbie: 
Goodreads | Instagram | Monthly Newsletter | Bookshop Storefront (affiliate link) 
 
Where to connect with Ashley: 
Goodreads |  Instagram |  Blog  |  Newsletter

2020 hasn't been kind to most of us, but books are always there to see us through. Listen in to hear how 2020 changed our reading habits, the books we loved (and didn't), and what's next for our reading lives—and the podcast!—in 2021.
Books Mentioned in This Episode
The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Kindred by Octavia Butler
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi
The Selection Series by Kiera Cass
The Book of Essie by Megan McLein Weir
Your Blue Flame: Drop the Guilt and Do What Makes You Come Alive by Jen Fulwiler
What Is a Girl Worth? My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachael Denhollander
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Attachments and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 
Eleanor & Park and Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Harry Potter (of course) 
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters by Tom Nichols
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World by Shelley Miller
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stievater
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (book 3 of Winternight trilogy)
The Book of Essie by Megan McLein Weir
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson 
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Calm the H*ck Down by Melanie Dale
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell 
Curious George by H. A. Rey
Maybe God Is Like That, Too by Jennifer Grant and Benjamin Schippert
The Wind in the Willows by Igloo books 
The Preacher’s Wife by Kate Bowler
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 
Reconnect: Spiritual Restoration from Digital Distraction by Ed Cyzewski
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
 
Links Mentioned in This Episode
Past Chasing Creative episodes with Kendra Adachi (the Lazy Genius): Kendra Adachi on Trusting Your Creative Intuition and Kendra Adachi on Valuing Yourself Enough to Create
The Naughty Corner comedy special by Jen Fulwiler on Amazon Prime 
Read more of Ed Yong’s science writing for the Atlantic
Ashley’s Winnie-the-Pooh books are out of print, but this looks similar 
Abbie’s copy ofThe Wind in the Willows
 
Connect with Abbie: 
Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs
Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages
 
Connect with Ashley: 
Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com
Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial

In today’s episode, we chat with Kayla Craig about what it looks like to advocate for the more vulnerable people around you. As a journalist, Kayla learned the value of listening well and choosing to hear a story and act on it. As a mom, Kayla knows just how important the stories we read and tell and see in our own lives affect everything about them -- and she has some tips for adding diverse voices to your shopping list this year.
Kayla Craig is a writer and podcast producer who believes in the power of story. She writes modern prayers for moms and dads at Liturgies for Parents and her book is forthcoming with Tyndale in 2021. Kayla co-founded and hosts Upside Down Podcast, a place for conversations on faith and justice. She is a podcast producer for Sacred Ordinary Days, where she helps cultivate peace, presence, and purpose. Kayla loves deep mugs of coffee, deeper belly laughs, and even deeper questions. She and her pastor-husband Jonny live in Iowa, where they’re raising four young kids who joined their family via birth and adoption. She has two fluffy dogs and spends too much time on Instagram. Her most recent published essays are in This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections + Practices and Rally: Litanies for the Lovers of Jesus and Justice. 
Kayla’s tips for diversifying your holiday decor and your bookshelves: 
Buy a nativity set where the figures are historically accurate and have brown skin. 
Buy books written by Black and brown authors. 
Don’t just buy books with diverse characters struggling with racial tension. Buy books that normalize the lives Black and brown people live; make sure that your kids see Black joy. 
Follow @hereweread on Instagram for diverse book suggestions all year long. 
 
Books we talked about:
Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner 
This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections + Practices
Rally: Communal Prayers for the Lovers of Jesus and Justice
 
Here’s where to find Kayla: 
Site: www.kaylacraig.com
Newsletter: https://kaylacraig.substack.com/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kayla_craig/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaylacraig
Liturgies for parents info: http://www.kaylacraig.com/liturgies-for-parents.html
Liturgies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liturgiesforparents/
Podcast: http://www.upsidedownpodcast.com/
Work: https://sacredordinarydays.com/pages/podcast
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kayla_craig
 
Here's where to find Abbie: 
Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/abbigailekriebs
Twitter: http://twitter.com/abbigailekriebs
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/abbigailekriebs/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/inkwellsandimages
 
Here's where to find Ashley: 
Personal blog: http://www.ashleybrookswrites.com
Business website: http://www.brookseditorial.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ashleybrookswrites  
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brookseditorial
Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/brookseditorial

Ari Tison is an award-winning writer with poems and short works published in Yellow Medicine Review, The Under Review, and Rock & Sling. She is also the editor for Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop's Broadside Competition. Ari lives and works on Dakota and Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) lands in St. Paul, MN. Join us as she shares action steps for lifting up underrepresented voices in the literary community, especially Indigenous people and those who are incarcerated.
Action steps that life up underrepresented voices
Reach out to nonprofits to see where they need help. Look for ways to serve that match your interests and talents.
Investigate nearby prisons to see if they have creative arts programs you can support.
Seek out and share work by marginalized populations.
Read anthologies that include Native writers.
Connect with tribes in your area to learn about creative events or festivals you can attend or local artisans you can support.
Learn about the history of the land you live and work on. Which Indigenous tribe(s) was the land taken from?
Links mentioned in this episode
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop
Birchbark Books
Books mentioned in this episode
The works of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo
New Poets of Native Nations edited by Heid E. Erdrich
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
There There by Tommy Orange
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makai
The Day You Begin  by Jacqueline Woodson
Here's where to find Ari
Website: www.aritison.com
Twitter: @AriTison
Instagram: @aritisonwrites