Success Story Spotlight with Meghan Browne

Please share your exciting news (agent signing, book sale, etc)

I am stunned and thrilled to share that I signed a representation agreement with Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Senior Vice President and my dream agent a Trident Media Group.

How did studying/retreating at The Writing Barn support you in achieving this goal? What workshop/intensives/or classes have you taken with us?

For Christmas last year my husband, Greg, gifted me a spot in Carmen Oliver’s January-Feb 2018 Picture Book I class. Carmen’s expertise and guidance excited me. Her help and the energy of my classmates showed me that I wanted to pursue children’s literature as an outlet for my writing and get around creatives more. As soon as the six-week course ended, I looked for more programming online at the Writing Barn and signed up for the Picture Book Biography intensive at the end of September. I knew that the summertime might be tough for me to remain productive (my kiddos are 3, 5, and 7 years old and keep us busy). The intensive dangling at the end of summer break was the carrot and deadline I needed to complete my research and be prepared with a manuscript by the end of September.

How long have you been writing/pursuing an agent/publishing deal?

I began carrying an “ideas” journal starting in elementary school, thanks to my mom’s suggestion. My dad wrote and illustrated a picture book manuscript in 1991 when my brothers and I were very young. He never found a home for it, but watching him paint and write in the tiny spaces between his 9-5 gig and being a wonderful, present dad made being a writer feel accessible.  Both of my folks always knew how much I loved to write, and they supported me in ways that, as a parent now myself, amaze me.

They helped me enroll in creative writing classes at Borders and Book People during my summers in middle school. In one class, I was the only kid surrounded by creative adults, and I remember feeling like they were actually taking me seriously. I think this proves what we already know: that Austin has been – for years – a kind, creative community. I sweet-talked my way on to my high school newspaper (shoutout to the LBJ Liberator) as a freshman when it wasn’t an available elective to students who hadn’t taken Intro to Journalism, and fell in love. My senior year, I was the co-editor in chief with a super-smart classmate, and our rag won the Pulitzer of high school journalism: the Pacemaker award. With the pressures of my undergraduate program and my early professional career, I lost touch with my creative side for many years but found it nudging me back as I entered into motherhood.

I began writing with regularity again, but couldn’t figure out where to focus my energy. I started a blog at the urging of a friend when I quit the workforce to stay home with my first child. It dropped off when we added a second child to our family. We quickly added a third child, and soon after she was sleeping through the night I picked back up my regular writing habits. I felt very connected to my inner creative self, though without a focus for my writing. On November 1, 2017, I took our brood to the brand new magical library in downtown Austin. It had just opened, and in that single trip, it became absurdly clear to me that children’s literature was where I needed to focus.

But…

How in the world was I going to do that? I fired off a dozen emails that night to anyone – anyone –  in my life who might possibly be able to offer guidance. A friend who wrote for the local paper. A friend who works at Kirkus. A friend who has connections to the downtown library. On, and on, and on. Some of them were a real stretch. I felt a bit embarrassed to announce to anyone that I was trying to break into the industry, but I realized that I’d have to risk those major impostor syndrome feelings if I was going to find the right path. A few days later, I poked my head into the little library at my kids’ preschool, and asked the librarian what she thought. Sue Young, a Writing Barn student herself, encouraged me to take a deep breath, sign up for a class at the Writing Barn, and to join SCBWI. She also offered to read my writing, which was so gracious. Sue’s advice was exactly what I needed.

What fears/hopes did you have before attending the WB class, intensive/or working with Bethany privately?

Carmen Oliver asked us to come prepared to our first Picture Book I class with the answer to that question. My greatest fear was that I was trying something that was too big for me. I don’t have a graduate degree. I traded that opportunity to start a family in my early 20s. I had been out of the work force for seven full years. I didn’t even have a proper word processor anymore. Writing seemed to be reserved for people who were highly educated and hadn’t taken a step away from their creativity or professions to do something like stay at home with three kids for the better part of a decade.

How did the atmosphere of The Writing Barn aid you in achieving this goal?

I have never been in a community of more supportive, kind people. The Writing Barn feels like a home away from home. I love that for those six weeks last winter I had a place to go every week, away from the chaos of my lovely family, to work on my craft. The Barn as a physical location for me to work allowed me to think of writing as a profession rather than just a hobby. It was a game changer – a life changer. Plus the content of the programming is of the highest quality.

Have you made friendships/colleagues as well? How has that supported you?

I have made so many friends who happen to be colleagues! How fun is that? In October, after the Picture Book Biography intensive, I was asked to join a critique group with some amazing local writers by a fellow attendee (and now friend). I had a chance to attend my first ever critique group in November, and I already see the value of that incredible group of writers. My heart is overflowing with gratefulness for the community of local and visiting/retreating writers I have found in this last year thanks to the Writing Barn.

Why do you think attending workshops/classes is important to writers at all stages of their career?

I hope to take classes for the rest of my life and plan to be a student of many things for as long as I am able. One thing I have enjoyed most about the intensives that I have attended at the Writing Barn is that they draw a collection of brand new unpublished writers (like me) and published professionals of all ages and walks of life. We all have things to offer each other, and being in community makes us better together. I think my main offering so far has been adding a mega fangirl vibe to conversations with published authors, seasoned agents, editors, and industry pros in attendance. Seriously though, during “the call” with Alyssa Henkin, she mentioned how lucky we are that the Writing Barn exists, that there is nothing quite like it anywhere. And it’s in my backyard (and all of yours too, really, thanks to the gravity-defying skills of Southwest Airlines pilots like my husband)!

What is a takeaway you will carry with you far beyond this good news as you continue to build an develop your career?

I am going to have to continue to remind myself that investing in my writing career, whether financially, with my time, or otherwise, is always worth it. Each time that I have signed up for a class or intensive, I’ve hesitated to make the investment because I wonder if I’m a good enough writer to justify the expense. I am worth it. You are worth it. Education makes us better, and we make each other better.

Any advice you have for writers/creatives having trouble staying the course in pursuing their goals?

I may be too early in my journey to answer that, but I can say that if you’re thinking of starting to pursue your goal, to push aside that voice inside that’s telling you that your dreams are too big. Big dreams are the best kind to pursue, and you’re the only one who can see your dream to reality. It helps to have people to walk that dream to reality, and I promise you’ll find those people at The Writing Barn.

More about Meghan: Meghan P. Browne is a native Austinite with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona where she was the four-time recipient of the Foundations Scholarship and a varsity letter winner in swimming. She lives on ten acres in far southwest Austin with her husband and their three children, manages the Honey Browne Farm apiary, and wants to be an Alice Rumphius/Aldo Leopold hybrid when she grows up.