Betty Lew Bewley was born and raised in West Texas, She made the journey to Austin about ten years ago and decided to stay. She joined the Writer’s League in 2011 while participating in Bill Minutaglio’s proposal class. She will attend the 2014 Agents & Editors Conference.
Scribe: In what genre(s) do you write?
Betty Lew Bewley: Early on as a young Mother, I wrote children’s stories for a magazine in Midland, Texas. I have since transitioned to memoir with a focus on the memories of my Mother, Betty Jo Bewley, our relationship as mother and daughter, as well as the feminine in relationship to the culture of West Texas.
Scribe: What authors would you like to have coffee or a beer with and which beverage?
BLB: I currently enjoy the privilege of sharing tea with a very warm, dynamic author, Austin’s own, Donna Johnson, on a monthly basis. I am inspired, not only by her beautiful memoir, Holy Ghost Girl, but also by her courage and willingness to share her life in story.
After four readings of Estelle Frankel’s, Sacred Therapy, I made a phone call to express joy and gratification for the impact her voice made on my life. I would definitely enjoy sharing a coffee or a nice glass of wine with Estelle.
Scribe: If you were stranded on a deserted island, what book would you want to have with you to keep you sane?
BLB: I often find myself mentally or emotionally stranded on a desert island and reaching for Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s series (I’m cheating): The Beginning of Desire, The Particulars of Rapture, and The Murmuring Deep. This Israeli woman has given voice to ancient, contemporary, and future cultures. She beautifully and brilliantly weaves spirituality and psychology through the ages to create a tapestry of meaning through a journey of questioning and validation for people of all times.
Scribe: What have you learned from your association with the Writers League?
BLB: The Writer’s League has taught me that to be vulnerable is to be honorable, using skills exchanged from one pen to another in a process of creativity and growth. Generosity and patience are the dynamics I experience in the Agent Conferences, Writing Retreats, Third Thursday Panels, Writing Classes that I attend or informal conversations at the Texas Book Fair.
Scribe: Where do you see your writing taking you (or you taking it) in the future?
BLB: My focus is so grounded in the present that I can only take a guess – hmmm… Perhaps my Anthology will come next, inclusive of my favorites by significant authors, everything from fairy tales to stories my grandchildren write, to psychological workshops and sermons I have written as well as liturgies I have created for oppressed populations, primarily women. Maybe some poetry!
Scribe: Is there anything else about you that you would like to share with the world?
BLB: Writing: maddening, terrorizing, frustrating, joyful, invigorating, infuriating… and in the midst of it all, the laughter, tears, joy, and support of authors, respectful of the process, respectful of me, it means everything! That is what I experience with the Writer’s League!
The Writer’s League, in my experience, is a group of diverse folks; all with a story to tell; all with the desire to share the skills that help to create story; all with the desire to grow in the process of their commitment to story. All with the desire to reveal themselves in a process of discovery, while honoring and encouraging the discovery of others.
