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Children's Book Author Beth Ann Ramos on Creating a Kids' Book Series · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyRiderLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: One of the major trends I've seen in the last couple of years is the number of nonfiction authors who want to write kids' books.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure of the reasons behind this.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Part of it might be due to the pandemic, because the world is changing fast, and those of us in midlife are starting to embrace our creative side more, which of course is a good thing.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Part of it also might be due to a bigger acceptance of children's books as a really amazing outlet for authors and business leaders and writers of all kinds.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I've thought about writing kids' books myself, which is why I'm so excited to share this conversation with my wonderful friend, Beth Ann Ramos.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Beth is an author, entrepreneur, and health advocate.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: She started her career in corporate marketing, but left it all behind to focus on being a stay-at-home mom.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Beth has reinvented herself professionally multiple times as she worked to create a fulfilling work life that prioritized her young family.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: In 2021, Beth founded Good Day Books to create and share encouraging and affirming content.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: However, she soon found a knack for writing and illustrating kids' books that empower kids while helping businesses create goodwill with existing clients and also foster relationships with new ones.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Beth's first book, I'm Getting New Glasses, was published last year, and she recently released the follow-up When I Take Care of Me.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: She and her husband have two young boys and they live in Texas.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: In this conversation, Beth shares why she loves writing children's books, the process for writing and creating them, how she's marketed them, and a lot more.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: This was a really inspiring conversation that made me honestly want to immediately start writing my own kids' books.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: That, in my opinion, is the mark of a great person.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: They really inspire you by what they're doing and they make you want to do similar things in your life as well.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're really going to enjoy this, but be careful because as soon as you hear Beth talk about her passion for kids' books, you're going to want to run out and start doing the exact same thing.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So have fun with this.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this really inspires you just like it did for me.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Here's my conversation with the amazing Beth Ann Ramos.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Beth, thanks for making time to be on the podcast today.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really, really excited to have you on the show.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've been wanting to have you on the show for a while, and I'm excited to talk about your kids' books and all the creative things you're doing.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the Daily Writer Podcast.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's fun to be here.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Fun to chat with you.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's been really fun to see your journey over the last uh see how how long have we both been in Empire Builder's Mastermind?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've only been in a year, so we've known each other about a year.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: About a year.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's been really, really cool to see your journey since then because see, your your first kids book came out how many months ago?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's only been four or five months, right?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: So in August, so it's December, I don't know, August four months.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Something like that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's incredible.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you've already and you put out a second one.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: And the second one's out.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the first one came out so like to me, it was surprisingly fast.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then I was kind of like, is this a fluke?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just want to make another one and see if I can do it again.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of it because I never considered myself an illustrator or a kids' book writer.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then um, when I kind of took off, I don't know, I guess like the expectations I had of myself and what my writing would look like, then something else came of it.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, yeah, it was really a fun surprise.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And and you were with me on that journey.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: So you got to see all that unfold.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it was fun.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember if it was one of our in-person meetings or if it was one of the calls that we did in the Empire Builders Mastermind Group, where you first started talking about this idea of doing a kid's book.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it was almost like somebody had switched a light on in your mind and in your your creative spirit because it was like, oh, now I have this thing where I can sync my creative energies and it turned out to be something really, really cool.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it ended up being a lot easier and more fun than I thought that writing could be because I was previously working on several other books that, you know, with young kids in the house, I was getting up, trying to get up at five, right before them.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: It just kind of felt like punishment.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And this book, like, I love to color with the kids and play chalk and you know, like make up silly songs and stuff.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so this project, I guess these projects have just kind of naturally like, you know, been created.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so that that's pretty fun that I was able to find a way to like work with the season that I'm in instead of like fighting it and resisting it and like you know being headstrong about like it has to look a certain way.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: So well, let's dive into the process of creating this book.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I guess before I before we do that though, yeah, I would I would love to know why do a kid's book in the first place?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of people have talked about doing children's books, yeah.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: But why did you specifically want to sink the time and the energy and the resources into creating a kid's book?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh golly, there's I have so many answers to that.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think one of the big things for me is I have young kids and there's certain things that I want them to know.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's certain um, like I want them to keep a certain mindset.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: I want them to have um certain concepts like instilled like early on.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess kind of like like dovetailing off of that, um, one of the books that I was working on writing was like a memoir about my grandmother.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And when she passed away, I really felt like this need to have something tangible.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like I wanted to find like a letter from her, or I wanted to find like something, and I I didn't have that.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so I kind of feel like like writing the kids' books is like um me um leaving like something for my kids.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so I really like that.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, with the eyeglasses book, um, it pretty much came because my husband is an optometrist, and I had just kind of always in the back of my head thought, I want to make something that's helpful to him and his patients.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I know that like kids aren't necessarily excited to get eyeglasses.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's not, you know, something most people want to do.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it just kind of was in the back of my head.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: My background's in marketing.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I want to create something of value, something that helps, something that I don't really know what it is.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then um I just kind of got this inspiration um that came through.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so, so that kind of connected all of those dots, like to be able to like write something with like positive messaging and you know, an uplifting um perspective and um something that could help these kids getting glasses and something that I can leave my kids.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so it all just kind of like connected.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it was one of those projects where when you got the spark for doing this book, all these different things that you wanted to see happen, it was like, oh, this can be the container for all these different things that I want to do.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really inspiring.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's really neat and it's really amazing to me how it kind of just happens when you stop trying to make it happen.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like it really felt like like there was just like this creative flow, like this inspiration.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um, that's it for me.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of noticing like when it's hot, when it hits, I have to lean into it because it's not always there.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then when it is there, I have to really like capitalize on it because it might be gone and then I'll be tired or whatever.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you see me looking down, it's because I'm writing down your quote.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're good.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're it happens when you stop trying to make it happen.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's yeah, that's really good.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: And and I'm really my personality is like make it happen.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like I will like like clinch this project out of my cold, dead hands, and like it it doesn't work for me that way because then I just stress myself out, and then I'm not present with my family, or I'm distracted, or cranky, or you know, so it just works so much better to do something that's in line with all of those elements versus counter all of those elements.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, can we talk about the I guess the practicalities I would call them of how you actually crafted this book?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Did this start with drawings?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Did it start with, and I know there's not a lot of words in the book because it's for younger readers, but did you start with the kind of the storyline of it?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: How did you actually get this process started?
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is just it's really kind of funny.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I dropped my youngest at his um like two-year-old day school one day, and I was driving by the bayfront here, and like it hit me.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's a it's a rhyming story, and it just kind of like came like, okay, I've got this, and it almost like all in that drive came together.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so I got home and I kind of wrote my notes, and then the rest of the day played with, is this what I like?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Is this you know, that kind of thing?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it was done by that day.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it that happened pretty miraculously.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then I started trying to find an illustrator, and they were like, I looked on some of those websites and it was like$10,000 to illustrate, and we can't start for six months.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh my God, you know, like I don't, I can't killing your dream before you even got it off the ground.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so then I was like, well, um, you know, I contacted our local colleges, nobody was responding.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: I just I was trying everything and I couldn't find an illustrator.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: And um then I was like, well, I used to like to doodle.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: So like what would that look like?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so I took out my kids' colors and watercolors, and I literally um started just like drawing like in watercolor and like like my own little art class.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was like, okay, what do I do with it?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Do I scan it into the computer?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't even know.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so then I was scanning it and it didn't work.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then it was like, well, maybe I just create it digitally.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I used to work um in marketing, putting together proposals for an engineering firm.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, well, I know a little bit of Adobe Illustrator.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, not illustrator InDesign.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, I can learn Illustrator, right?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like that ought to be similar.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's not.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say if it's Adobe, it's if it's the Adobe Creative Suite, it's like I remember one time I opened up InDesign for like five minutes.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I was gonna, I'll be like, well, I'm a I'm a relatively smart person.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: I can get in there and probably figure it out.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Five seconds into it, I'm like, nope, shut it down.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, and so that's what I thought with Illustrator.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, I'll just pick this up so fast.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I started watching all these online tutorials and I was like, it's just complicated.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't get it.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then I literally was like, okay, well, I'm just gonna draw ovals.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I am just gonna like, you know, and so that's how, like, if you look at my characters, you can see they kind of started with ovals, and that's how I taught myself the software.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so in EBM, um, all this coincided with that six-week challenge.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, yeah, it was really a whirlwind of like inspiration of the words, um, figure out my characters, how to get them in a book versus like hard copy, create them digitally.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and then lots of playing with there's all the technical specifications and stuff like that.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I I know enough to be dangerous, and so I got myself into some trouble.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: So um, but yeah, it's just it's been really fun and it's been such like a neat outlet, um, you know, in addition to being something that like I hope to continue, you know, for a very long time.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: So So when you when you went to to kind of finalize everything with the book, you did you stay in Illustrator to do the whole thing?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I did the individual images in Illustrator, and then I exported the images and uh laid it all out in InDesign.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, okay.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So the so in InDesign you had the illustrations, then you added the words in I did.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: I did.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: InDesign.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: I this is where like don't take my advice.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can listen to what I'm saying, but like don't take my advice.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I had seen somewhere where different um image files, like the text didn't convert correctly, and I was just nervous about like something not being read when I put it into Amazon or whatever.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so I did um there were a few pages where like you know, I did like ABC on a chalkboard, and that was part of my graphic, but otherwise I did it all in InDesign just because I wanted to make sure that the fonts worked.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've since talked to someone and it sounds like I could have put the text in there.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna play with that.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I definitely consider this something where like I'm learning and I'm figuring out better processes and I'm figuring out, you know, it's it's not like a perfect art, but it's like um enough that I can create and enough that I can, you know, produce something and put it out there.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so I guess that's kind of another takeaway too, is like I've um I can always convince myself not to do something because I'm not ready or I don't know how.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And and like seeing how like something can be created even when we don't know all the steps or we don't know all the methods or all of that was really cool.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it just shows like how much we get in our way, you know, um, and what we can do if we get out of it.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So boy, that's that's really, really good.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: We'll return to the interview in just a moment, but first, a word from today's sponsor.
• 13:24
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• 14:22
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• 14:28
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• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And now back to our conversation.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: So for anybody right now who is thinking of something that they are trying to create, they've thought about it for a while.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they've taken some baby steps toward doing that, but they're hesitating because they're not sure if it's going to be successful, they don't have all the tools figured out.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you would say to that person who is holding back or hesitating, creating something or writing something?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: And they're they're in that place where you were, but you took the steps to actually get it done.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how did you cross that bridge and into just doing it?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as opposed to kind of sitting there stewing and analyzing everything to death.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think the two things that helped me the most were having a deadline and having accountability.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, like in our group, we had six weeks.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I had a deadline.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: I really didn't have a choice.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And my um, I guess my thought process is like if there's a contest or something, like I make the deadline.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like I just I do that.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so that was really helpful to me.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then having the accountability of our group because I didn't want to show up and be like, oh, I started this or I couldn't do it, or you know, like I excuses don't like they're not fun.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's not, you know, the outcome that we want.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was just a matter of like, I have to produce something.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, I think that's what spurs me to action is like getting out of my head and just like, you know, leaning into that deadline, leaning into that accountability, that support group, whatever it is, um, to like make it happen.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think, I mean, our scenario was so aggressive.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't recommend like doing books in six weeks, you know, but um, it does show you what you're capable of and it shows you, you know, that you can do more than you think.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, even if your your process is, I don't know, 12 weeks or a year or whatever, like um having that deadline helps get there.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it also helps having, as you mentioned, some accountability.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the the nature of this group that we're both part of, Empire Builder's Mastermind, um, is such that if you don't show up kind of ready and having done your stuff, you kind of feel really bad.
• 16:39
  unknown: Yeah.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's a very how would you describe the group?
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: But I I was gonna say hard charging.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's not really what I mean, but it's yeah, it's a group of achievers who really are accomplishing things.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're kind of slacking off and not really working toward your goals, you're you're gonna get left in the dust a little bit.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're a fair way to say that.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, everybody, I mean, they're entrepreneurial and um focused.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: And like I felt like when I joined EBM, like I kind of had like the glimmer of hoping I would create or do something, but like I wasn't there yet.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so watching y'all, you know, um, like do all these amazing things and you know, on a regular basis be like, here's what I did, and here's my latest win, and here's like it makes you want to like do that too.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so so that was kind of for me, like I like a big part of it was showing up and being inspired and being pushed and you know, all of that.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then it kind of just became getting out of my way and like, you know, answering the challenge and hitting the deadline, and then it was like magic happened.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: So wow, that's awesome! I love that thanks.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us about your follow-up book.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the first one is I'm getting new glasses.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Second one that just came out recently is When I Take Care of Me.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious, um, did you use the same process for processes for that one?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Or was there something different that you did, or just just kind of share about that book too?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: So this one kind of came on accident as well.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I in 2020, right like when um the pandemic hit, I had completed a year-long health coach training program.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, I'm gonna go, you know, do all this wellness coaching and that kind of stuff.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then it will balance like being home with the kids and I can take care of them, but I can do like my own thing too.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then COVID hit and it was like, okay, I'm not doing that.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm just gonna take care of the kids.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so I guess like at the end of this last school year, the principal of the boys' school came to me and she was like, I am seeing kids um who can't focus at school.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I know they're having behavior issues because of what they're eating.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I know, you know, can you create something for us?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started putting together little newsreader, newsletter blurbs about like healthy foods and healthy habits and that kind of stuff.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And this book came from that.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it was just kind of this um idea that all of us do different things to be healthy.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: We all eat different things to be healthy.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that was a big takeaway of my like holistic health coach training was, you know, like some people feel really good when they eat a vegetarian diet.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Some people like need to eat meat, like some people can eat nuts and be fine.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Some people, that's lethal, you know?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so, so you have to figure out like what um serves you, what fuels you, and even with activities and people and things like that.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so, um, so that's really what the book was is kind of um, you know, from A to Z, it um goes through each letter of the alphabet, giving ideas of things that could make you feel good.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then it gives, I hope, the opportunity for, you know, the parent, the teacher to also talk with the kids about, well, maybe you don't feel outstanding when you eat oranges.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: What about when you, you know, whatever?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, so I'm I'm hoping it's very open-ended so that the readers can start to hopefully develop the life skill of this serves me, this doesn't, this makes me feel good, this doesn't, that kind of thing.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's really good.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: It it sounds like I need to read that book, as do probably anybody who works from home.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah because you know, it's it's hard to eat healthy sometimes when you're at home.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or harder, maybe.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and really like the food is very important, but so much of it is other things too.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, and this isn't for kids, but like, you know, are my finances in order?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's gonna cause stress, you know, if they're not.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how are my relationships?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Am I getting along with people?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Am I around people who like energize me and fuel me?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Are they people who drain me?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, like, do I have a faith practice?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do I like to move my body?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: How do I do that?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, um, you know, Bridget in our group, she just wrote a book, um, it's fun to run.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to run.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna like write about it being fun to run ever.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: But like, I will do yoga or go for a walk.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so you just kind of have to figure out it's not one size fits all, but um, you know, how do we thrive?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: How do we be at our best?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's something that even kids can learn.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: And as adults, we need reminders too.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Boy, totally, totally.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: So um, one question that I I've actually asked this periodically on the podcast, but it occurred to me that I want to start asking all my guests this, which is are there any particular daily habits that you have, whether they're writing habits or other habits for wellness or mental health or anything, things that you do every day or that you try to do every day that really you feel like contribute to your creativity or your writing or your success?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I always try to spend some time with scripture in the morning.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm Catholic and so like we have um Bible readings that coincide with the Mass.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I always try to like read those in the morning.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's like my alarm goes off and I'm like reading from my phone in the bed and I can hear the kids and like, but I just want to at least like try to do that.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then at 10 o'clock, I have an alarm that goes off on my phone that says drink a green smoothie.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: So that like if I'm eating garbage like all the time, um, at least.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm getting my green smoothie.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then some stuff like I've really tried to like every day like do this, do this, do this.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it just stresses me out because it's not realistic.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've really started trying to be like, you know what, go to yoga twice a week.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, read a book, but it doesn't have to be for an hour.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: It can be for five minutes, you know?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: And and so it's really just kind of a loosening the grip on what I think needs to be done.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because there's a lot to try to squeeze in and it can't all be done all the time.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: It almost sounds like a theme of this conversation has been letting go and relaxing and letting letting God slash the universe slash whatever kind of forces you want to put in there.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: And in our case, you know, both of our cases, I think God's a part of this mix.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Of letting God work on your whatever, yeah.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe not not feeling like you have to be the master of the universe to arrange everything and to push everything.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Cause sometimes I feel like I have to be that way.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where I can get myself into the most misery is when like I have an ideal outcome and I'm not getting it.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've really been thinking a lot about like let go of the outcome because sometimes stuff can be better than we expected, and just like do the things that it takes, just do the steps, like just write the words, just you know, share, share the social media posts, like do the things, but like forget about how and you know, when it's going to come together, because we have no control over that.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's just not.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so um that that's been helpful to me is just kind of like do what I can.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't always, like, I still like am always having to remind myself to like loosen the grip, but I just I can't control the outcome.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: I just can't.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's really hard to do.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really, really hard to do, especially if you have an entrepreneurial spirit or you own your own business, or you really want to take control of your financial life or your career or whatever it is.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's so hard to let go.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I could learn to do that better.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I know.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I've tried to too, like um stop behaviors that make me like criticize myself in the process.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: And like, like as a new author, like it's so tempting to like get on Amazon and like, what were my books sells?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: And like what, you know, and and they'll like go up, but then they'll go down.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, my my outlook and how I feel about myself like goes with it.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And like that's not healthy.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: So now I'm like, you know what?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not even gonna look at it because it doesn't change anything.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'll just do the things I know I'm supposed to do and not worry about it.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, or like checking social media all the time, like, did they like what I said?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Or people come, you know, like, well, maybe I check my stuff twice, you know, a day and then let it go.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um, it's it's more fun that way when we let go of it and quit worrying about all the stuff we want to happen.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I started a new book last night, um, a little short book, and I was kind of I had that voice in my head whenever I was starting it.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And uh the way that I dealt with it was you know how in a book uh at least I do this, you have kind of the chapters, then you have some blank pages in each section.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I just I wrote, This book is going to change your life, and I just copied and pasted it like a hundred times.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the all the text that I would see as I was working on the book.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's kind of silly and probably juvenile.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, cool.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: But I was like, I have to get past this feeling of, oh, this isn't really gonna be that good, or I don't know how it's gonna turn out.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I when we set up this chat, I didn't anticipate that a book about kids' books was gonna really be a book about letting go and letting letting God and letting other people work on your behalf.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that amazing?
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really is.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is been a lot of fun.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been so fun.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, I think writing and this whole experience, it can just teach us so much.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I've learned a lot, and it's um, yeah, it's just really fun to see what happens.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, where can people get the book and how can they get in touch with you and find out about your creative work and well, actually both of your books and anything else that you want to?
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: So um my website is bethannramos.com.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: You can find me there.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: My books are on Amazon, and um one thing that I do with my books that we didn't really touch on, but um I um sell these in bulk and do custom orders so that optometrists can put them in their practice, um, so that schools can have them, um, hospitals, that kind of stuff.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, if anybody's interested in that, they can reach me through my website.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, Amazon is a great way to get um some copies.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: And um I really hope that these are books that um the adults get something out of too.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: Cause I know for me, I have, and um I feel like they're for kids, but like we're all still kids.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope that yeah.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: I so those are the best books when like we enjoy reading them and we get something out of them too.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope that's what this is.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that's what it is.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: I know that's what it is.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: I I get a lot of joy out of your out of your writing.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: So keep on pressing on it.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's really good stuff.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for making time to be a guest today.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: This was an absolute blast, and uh I can't wait to get this episode out so people can be inspired by your story and your books just like I've been.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks, Beth.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, wasn't that a fun conversation?
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned in my intro, this was so inspiring and so much fun, and maybe you want to go out and start writing kids' books immediately.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, I've got a lot of other projects on the plate, but man, I'm gonna start really thinking of some ways that I can develop some children's books because how much fun would that be to have your own kids' book out there?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, Beth, thank you so much for taking the time to be a guest on today's episode.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And for everybody else listening, I really hope this has inspired you to consider creating children's books.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to go ahead and grab Beth's two books that she has out there so far, and she's got more to come.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to the link in the show notes, or you can go to bethanramos.com.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's B-E-T-H A-N-N-R-A-M-O-S.com.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure and check that out.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's really good stuff.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: And while you're there, grab some copies not just for yourself, but also grab a couple copies and donate those to your library or other local organization.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know they will love it.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: As always, thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.