Mary Adkins – from law to literature

Creativity Found: finding creativity later in life

Processing the personal struggles through words.
A negative experience in a college creative writing class derailed Mary Adkin's writing ambitions for nearly a decade, and sent her on a whole different path than the one she had planned.
Mary studied public policy and went to law school, but when it came to working in the legal profession, Mary quickly realized that being a lawyer was not her true calling, and she made a bold decision to leave the profession after just seven months.
Mary transitioned to tutoring to support herself while dedicating her days to writing. Despite initial setbacks and self-doubt, she eventually completed her first novel, and has continued to write, with each new novel being distinct in its storyline and tone.
In this episode Mary opens up about her recent memoir, You Might Feel a Little Pressure, which explores her personal experiences with miscarriages and how they transformed her life. She emphasizes the importance of writing as a means of processing and sharing personal struggles, hoping her memoir will provide comfort to others going through similar experiences.
In addition to her writing, Mary helps other adults write and publish their books through her program, The Book Incubator. She shares insights into how her own challenging experiences with feedback have shaped the supportive and constructive environment she now fosters in her program.
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Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet
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Podcast recorded with Riverside and hosted by Buzzsprout
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Hoofdstukken

1. Mary Adkins – from law to literature (00:00:00)

2. Childhood Creativity (00:03:01)

3. Derailment by a Negative Creative Writing Class (00:05:10)

4. Legal Profession Not All its Cracked up to be (00:08:29)

5. Writing the First Novel (00:13:39)

6. Themes and Stories of Mary's Novels (00:16:14)

7. Writing a Memoir on Miscarriages (00:19:57)

8. Helping Adults Write Books: The Book Incubator (00:22:30)

9. Learning from Past Teaching Experiences (00:23:31)