Episodes
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Encore Jack Grapes Part 2 Mother of a Story - Writing from your Deep Voice
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
You've got to convince people that the story doesn't matter. What matters is the truth of your deep voice, not your entertaining voice.
Jack Grapes, renowned writing teacher and award-winning poet reads a poem he wrote 50 years ago after the death of his mother. He hadn't read it in decades, and it brought up a lot of unexpected feelings.
Jack Grapes, is a poet, playwright, actor, teacher and founding editor of the literary journal ONTHEBUS. He is the author of 13 books of poetry and numerous other works, and co-wrote and starred in the award-winning play Circle of Will. Over the last 40 years, he has taught thousands of poets and writers (based on his books Method Writing and Advanced Method Writing), and taught poetry in over 100 Los Angeles schools. A native of New Orleans, Jack holds a BA and an MFA from Tulane University.
His latest book is Last of the Outsiders Vol:1. For more info on Jack and his books check our website
www.ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother.com
Jack lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lori.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website
Wednesday Aug 28, 2019
Encore Ep - Jack Grapes Mother of A Story - Letter from his Mother's Grave
Wednesday Aug 28, 2019
Wednesday Aug 28, 2019
Imagine receiving a letter from your mother a few years after she died. Imagine the letter is blank. That is the story our writer tells us this week.
Jack Grapes, renowned writing teacher and award-winning poet reads a poem he wrote 50 years ago after the death of his mother. He hadn't read it in decades, and it brought up a lot of unexpected feelings.
Jack Grapes, is a poet, playwright, actor, teacher and founding editor of the literary journal ONTHEBUS. He is the author of 13 books of poetry and numerous other works, and co-wrote and starred in the award-winning play Circle of Will. Over the last 40 years, he has taught thousands of poets and writers (based on his books Method Writing and Advanced Method Writing), and taught poetry in over 100 Los Angeles schools. A native of New Orleans, Jack holds a BA and an MFA from Tulane University.
His latest book is Last of the Outsiders Vol:1. For more info on Jack and his books check our website
www.ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother.com
Jack lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lori.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website
Wednesday Aug 21, 2019
Encore Episode - Jon Wise Mother of a Story- A Mother Obscured
Wednesday Aug 21, 2019
Wednesday Aug 21, 2019
"To begin with, this is not a story about my mother. She and I were not to enter the picture for a number of years. It’s another mother's story- of a ghost, a shadowy presence that moved along the distant edges of my childhood, whose memory was in the custody of others reluctant to part with it or even let it see the light of day." -Jon Wise
Jon Wise lives in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, with his wife Gail and their Australian terrier Owen. He has called the Crescent City home for most of his life and is grateful that he could; though he retains an affinity for the northwest part of the state and the stories it contains. A lawyer by trade, Jon has often turned to writing as both a creative outlet and a way of coming to terms with the world and his brief place in it. He has published poetry and short stories in literary reviews in Louisiana and Arkansas.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website
www.ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother.com
Wednesday Aug 14, 2019
Encore Episode - Alexis Rhone Fancher Mother of a Story- Cruel Choices
Wednesday Aug 14, 2019
Wednesday Aug 14, 2019
We're telling stories.
Raw honest unapologetic episode about life after the death of this writer's son. She holds nothing back.
Alexis Rhone Fancher is an award winning poet and photographer. She has been published in Best American Poetry 2016, Rattle, Hobart, Verse Daily, Plume, Tinderbox, Cleaver, and elsewhere. Her books include: How I Lost My Virginity to Michael Cohen…, State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies, Enter Here, and Junkie Wife.
The Dead Kid Poems, the follow up to State of Grace, is available now on Amazon.
Alexis’s photographs are published worldwide, including the covers of Witness, Heyday, and Pit-head Chapel, and a spread in River Styx. Since 2013, she has been nominated more than 20 times for the Pushcart Prize. Alexis is poetry editor of Cultural Weekly.
The poems in this episode are:
Cruel Choices -winner of the Pangolin Prize, nominated for The Pushcart Prize (pub in ASKEW, and in Amarylis, UK)
Keeping Things Cold (pub in Diode)
Snow Globe (pub in The MacGuffin)
You can find Alexis Rhone Fancher here -
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexis.fancher
Website: www.alexisrhonefancher.com
Links to her books:
How I lost my Virginity to Michael Cohen and Other Heart Stab Poems
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell.Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Find out more about us at www.ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother.com
Wednesday Aug 07, 2019
Encore Episode - Anonymous Mother of a Story - Barnacles
Wednesday Aug 07, 2019
Wednesday Aug 07, 2019
We're telling stories.
Today’s guest is a best selling novelist and an all around wonderful writer. She wrote a beautiful piece for this podcast and then called us with a special request-- that we keep her identity anonymous.
Who doesn't speak to their mother?
What do you do when you have a toxic relationship with your mom? When the mother you want, is not the mother you have? When you are looking for courage or permission to put your well-being first, to live in your truth? What do you do when you don't want to hurt your mom, but continuing the relationship you two have set up is making you miserable? What lesson will you teach your kids if you disconnect? Or on the flip side, what will you teach them if you don't?
Self-love is not a bad word.
Life lessons are all around us. And one big lesson to be learned from today’s show is, ‘the way a mother handles her divorce can make or break her relationship with her children going forward’.
Every nugget of wisdom that can save us time along our journey of self awareness, in our effort to evolve into a higher self, is of value. And this episode is chocked full of those nuggets.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners and songwriters, to stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell.
Find out more about us at:
www.ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother.com
on Facebook and Instagram @ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Benjamin Davis Mother of a Story - Playlist for my Mother's Funeral
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Benjamin Davis shares his poem, The Playlist At My Mother’s Funeral. We talk about how his mother would like a party when she dies which got him thinking of the playlist and how the songs that remind him of his mother and also track his memories with her throughout his childhood. Our conversation went from his rebellious teens and how he thought his parents showed great restraint for not throwing him in the basement and only feeding him scraps to the time when we all come to the realization that all the adults in our life are just winging it.
He also talks about his book King of Fu. He describes it as a magical realism, memoir, poem. Where the adults are described as supervisors and only distinguished by their job description. Until he is in trouble and needs a protector. At this point his mom turns from Homeopathic Doctor to a magical being, Mother. Mom vanquishes bullies and helps him when he is in trouble, but when the trouble passes and he no longer needs her, she becomes Homeopathic Doctor again. This episode is filled with whimsy and coming of age realizations.
Benjamin Davis, is an American journalist and author of The King of FU, living in Saint Petersburg, Russia. If you need anything from him, he’s likely antagonizing his girlfriend by publishing humorous anecdotes about their love life in P.S. I Love You.
Links to Benjamin Davis
Website: https://benjamindaviswriter.com
The King of FU: http://kingoffu.online
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D2YYL6S
Medium: https://medium.com/@benjamindaviswriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benjamindaviswriter
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benjamindavis
Instagram: @davis.benjamin.s
We’re telling stories
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
If you like this episode help us out by sharing it with friends, rate and leave us a review. Thank you Lupe &Katie
Follow us on social media or on our website
Wednesday Jul 17, 2019
Tresha Faye Haefner Mother of a Story - Paradise, California II
Wednesday Jul 17, 2019
Wednesday Jul 17, 2019
Tresha Faye Haefner shares with us a poem about her childhood in paradise California. We talk about the wants and rebellion of youth and how when you’re a kid with the security of a loving family, you don’t have the life experience to appreciate just how lucky you are.
She also shares how one should listen to a poem.
Several of our brilliant guests came to us through Tresha - Alexis Rhone Fancher (Cruel Choices ep 6) Elya Braden (How to Be a Bad Mother ep 8), and Kelly Grace Thomas (How the Body is Passed Down ep 9)
Tresha Faye Haefner is a writer, editor, workshop-facilitator, and founder of The Poetry Salon, Los Angeles where she uses her rich knowledge to guide other writers into accessing their authentic, creative voice. She spent ten years teaching English, Social Studies and Creative Writing in private schools, before receiving an M.A. Degree in Humanistic Psychology, with a specialization in creativity studies, from Saybrook University. She has been an active member and teacher at California Poets in the Schools, helped to curate the CPITS Anthology of Lesson Plans, Poetry Crossing, and has been a grant recipient through the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Artist-In-Residence program.
Outside traditional academy instruction, Tresha has learned at the feet of established, innovative poets such as Kim Addonizio, Sally Ashton, Ellen Bass, Gabrielle Calvacoressi, Brendan Constantine, Matthew Dickman, Jack Grapes, Suzanne Lummis, Eloise Klein Healy, Naomi Shihab-Nye, and founder of the Poetry Depths Mystery School, Kim Rosen. Her own work has been published in several journals, including BloodLotus, The Cincinnati Review Fourth River, Hunger Mountain, Pirene’s Fountain, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, and Rattle. She is the recipient of the 2011 Robert and Adele Schiff Poetry Prize, a 2015 Pushcart nominee, and author of the chapbook Take This Longing from Finishing Line Press. She continues to read widely, attend regular readings and workshops, and learn from every poet she meets.
Currently Tresha lives in Los Angeles, where she is founder of The Poetry Salon, a thriving artistic community that all levels of expertise, who can choose between one-day writing workshops, online e-classes and in-depth advanced core classes. Participants showcase their work four times a year at cumulative class readings, and those women and men have gone on to publish award-winning, cutting-edge work and even teach creative writing classes of their very own.
All of her offerings are on her website www.thepoetrysalon.com where you can subscribe to the blog and other announcements with the button at the bottom of the home page. There's also our just-released e-course How to Think Like a Poet
We’re telling stories
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website
Thursday Jul 04, 2019
Katie Manglis Mother of a Story - She Never Said I Love You
Thursday Jul 04, 2019
Thursday Jul 04, 2019
What's more important-- saying I love you or showing it through our actions?
In this episode we take a look at that.
We're telling stories and having meaningful conversations about whatever they bring up.
Our guest is Katie Manglis. After her mother died when she was just a baby, her grandmother, Yiayia, stepped in to fill the void.
Katie Manglis grew up in Cyprus in the 1970s and 80s and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist and discovering new dinosaurs. Instead, she ended up working in marketing, consulting and Wall Street and has been living in New York City for the past 26 years. She is the mother of two boys who both got to meet and swim with Yiayia.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website
Wednesday Jun 19, 2019
Wednesday Jun 19, 2019
It's Pride Month and we had to re release this episode! A father discovering the mother within. Dan Bucatinsky reads this hilarious excerpt his memoir "DOES THIS BABY MAKE ME LOOK STRAIGHT?"
Dan Bucatinsky is an actor, writer, producer and author. You recognize him from a million things like Second Act, The Post and Under the Tuscan Sun, but Dan is probably best known for his role as James Novak in Scandal. And you'll be able to see him on his new show this fall (2019) in ABC's The Baker & The Beauty.
We know you will enjoy Dan as much as we did. Listen as he reads from chapter 1 - Wake Up and Smell The Fingers, and then our conversation about parenting and facing all the uncertainties we all face.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you haven't thought of. Each show, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. Some are famous. Some not at all. But every one of them have incredible tales to tell. Find more about us at Insta @ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother and facebook.com/ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother and twitter @IfNot1Thing
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
Richard Valenza Mother of a Story - The Secret
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
Wednesday Jun 12, 2019
When a mother's reaction is disappointing, is not the support you were needing or hoping for, remember to keep a window open in your relationship because, one day she may just surprise you.
We’re telling stories
Rich Valenza is our guest today. He is the Founder and CEO of RaiseAChild,a national nonprofit organization building loving families for foster children®.
RaiseAChild recruits, educates, and nurtures supportive relationships equally with all prospective foster and adoptive parents while partnering with agencies to improve the process of advancing the nations 437,000 foster children to safe, loving and permanent homes. In its six-year history, RaiseAChild has engaged more than 8,500 prospective parents across the country.
In establishing RaiseAChild, Rich has drawn on more than 25 years’ success in marketing and development for broadcast media and nonprofit organizations. He has used his expertise in working with leading national and international corporations to form strategic partnerships with community service agencies, national and regional LGBTQ organizations, and businesses to build RaiseAChild’s strength and influence. Rich serves as a member of the Adoption Exchange Association’s Board of Directors.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website
Wednesday Jun 05, 2019
Gina Piccalo Mother of a Story - Silver Linings
Wednesday Jun 05, 2019
Wednesday Jun 05, 2019
We learn so much from our children. In this episode, Gina Piccalo reads from her not yet published memoir. When you had a troubled childhood and your daughter wants you to tell her bedtime stories from that time, how do you play it?
In this touching story, Gina talks about the gift of seeing her story through her daughter's eyes, and the healing that has since taken place with her relationship with her own mother.
Gina Piccalo spent a decade on staff at the Los Angeles Times covering Hollywood. Her work has also appeared in Emmy Magazine, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Magazine and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. In 2017, she completed her memoir, "The Mother Ache." Now a counseling astrologer based in Nashville with her daughter and husband, she can be reached at GinaPiccaloAstrology.com.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Wednesday May 29, 2019
Shari Walker Quan Mother of a Story - Heart Mom/Bio Mom
Wednesday May 29, 2019
Wednesday May 29, 2019
Being a mother is an attitude, not Biology. That is our tagline and that's what this entire episode is about.
SHARI WALKER is a former foster youth who entered the foster care system at age fourteen. She talks about different mothering she received from her birth mom (Bio Mom) and "the first person who wasn't being paid to be with her" (her Heart Mom) after she aged out of the foster care system.
Shari graduated from California State University Northridge, where she majored in African American Studies with an emphasis on Social Science. She is in currently obtaining her Master of Social Work at the USC and continues to write and produce theater and poetry that brings awareness surrounding the transitional experiences after leaving foster care. Shari is currently a part of an ensemble theater performance directed by Kathleen Rubin called "It's Just My Life" where she was able to write "Heart Mom, Bio Mom" during the creative writing workshops. Her one-woman show production to bring awarenesses about youth transitioning out of care entitled Sugar-Free: Foster Care Cognitive Dissonance was selected to receive one of the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival scholarships.
Shari Walker is a renowned keynote speaker and spoken word artist within LA County and currently sits on the Leadership Corp for both The National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI) Homeless Action Committee, steered by board member and U.S. Representative Karen Bass, and the Alumni Empowerment Council, steered by members The United Friends of The Children.
Shari hopes to combine her personal experience and current academia to create social change by spreading awareness through the creative arts for disconnected and transition age foster youth who are exiting care.
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
Follow us on social media or on our website