We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bethany Maines a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bethany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

As an author and a graphic designer, my career path is immersed in being creative. My business partner and I own a design firm that focuses on non-profit communications, environmental design, and event branding. I find great fulfillment in the creative process and in being able to work on a wide variety of projects. I have worked in a “regular” office and sometimes wonder what returning to the corporate world would be like. However, in my business, we frequently work with many municipalities, non-profits, and individuals from corporate entities, and when I start to have those thoughts, I realize that I quite literally don’t like wearing those shoes anymore. (Creative freedom = wearing Vans whenever I want)
In a recent project, my firm was developing a brand for a project that was co-funded by a city. It was a project that I genuinely believed would benefit the community but could be perceived as controversial, particularly with the wrong branding and messaging. As we worked through our discovery process and developed a list of names for the project, we kept running into a roadblock from a gentleman who had spent years as a lawyer before working for the city. He was clearly invested in the project and genuinely cared, but he really, really wanted the project to be named for a place in a beloved fantasy novel. This all boiled down to us having the most awkward conversation about copyright infringement with a former lawyer. (Not to mention all the other ways that the name was so, so, so wrong for the project.) And that’s when I realized that I am glad to not have to go into an office and deal with that level of blockheadedness on a daily basis.
Being a creative for both a day job and as a “side hustle” as a novelist can be a struggle, but at the end of a project, I can leave the roadblock individuals behind instead of having to smile at them on Monday morning.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on individuals who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. My short screenplay Suzy Makes Cupcakes (based on a short story of the same name) was recently produced and picked up a lovely bunch of awards. I am a graphic designer, karate instructor, and mother of a ten-year-old. I also live in the PNW and really do enjoy rain.
I got into the graphic design business by going to school. I became a writer simply because I have been writing stories since I was younger than my daughter is now, and I got very lucky. I find that the creative process is about solving problems and looking for a fresh perspective for both my novels and my graphic design business. That unique viewpoint can be challenging to categorize, particularly when I am not good at sticking to one genre. Mystery and Romance are my primary genres, but when I have an entire line of Paranormal Romance, it can make people scratch their heads. I like to say that I write Women’s Action-Adventure that sometimes has werewolves.
What sets me apart from other writers is that I use my karate training to inform my action sequences. I even teach a Fighting-for-Fiction seminar. As a sixth-degree degree black belt, I believe I can help people, regardless of their martial arts training, write better action that doesn’t make my eyes roll or twitch in fury.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I signed the contract to sell my first novel, I was elated, but that elation faded over the next year (possibly it was longer, but I won’t go look it up because I have PTSD and I don’t want to really remember) as my editor who was brand new to her role directed me to re-write and re-write and re-write my novel some more. All told I went through 9 drafts and it eventually got published, not because she accepted it, but because she changed jobs. Her replacement read it, and said “I don’t understand what the hold up is.” Insert a full face-palm emoji here. I could have ripped up the contract and given up at any point in time, but I stuck it out. And I’m also proud of the fact that I fought for my vision of the novel. What got published is not what I wrote originally, but it is still very much my book.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

As a society I think there needs two shifts in thinking. The first is that we need to accept that artists, creatives and their works are valuable. The draconian, miserly, mean-spirited attitudes that refuse to fund arts because they don’t provide an ROI are not only short-sighted, they are vastly and demonstrably incorrect.

The second shift that needs to happen is to have a greater understanding of what art is. There is a genuine lack of understanding that design is EVERYWHERE. From movies, games, books, signs, print materials, everything had a creative professional touch it. But because it is so pervasive in our lives, it becomes easy to dismiss. Unfortunately, it’s an attitude that’s only helped by AI and those with a vested interest in keeping “art” in a very narrow definition. By characterizing something as “not really art” people are able to justify not paying for it.

So what can we do to create a better creative ecosystem? Vote for arts funding. Support unions. And do not be afraid to ask for what our work is worth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bethanymaines.com/
• Instagram: @AuthorBethanyMaines
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBethanyMaines
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethany-maines-329b912b/
• Twitter: @BethanyMaines

Image Credits

Suzy Makes Cupcakes poster courtesy of Jayson Therrien.