Sep 24

Sep 24 Episode #125: Ambition

Grace and Alvina are back this week to catch up on each other’s lives and share what they are grateful for. The Book Friends cover all things about ambition, especially in regards to ambitious women!

First things first….please remember to rate and review BFF on Apple podcasts! There was a recent tweet about the podcast that the book friends are grateful for. Jill tweeted, “You’re the Ted Lasso of the publishing podcast world!” This is a wonderful comment, THANK YOU! Please tell a friend about the podcast, tweet about it, and join our Patreon membership!

The 2022 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Trilogy CALENDARS are now available!!! You can order it and get it personally autographed (as well as any of my books) from the Eric Carle Museum. Last year we ran out before the holidays, so best to get it now!

How have you been?

Alvina went to the US Open! She felt pretty safe in terms of Covid because they required vaccines and it was all outdoors. They saw this great match between Naomi Osaka vs Leylah Fernandez. Grace came to visit with her family and they all had dinner with Rebecca Sherman, Grace’s agent!

Grace mentioned that her family has mostly rebounded from their car accident last week. (no one was hurt!) Instead of driving Hazel to school the next day, they decided to all bike together as a family which was knew. It was a silver lining because everyone just loved it.

Their family trip to NYC was also very successful and the change of scenery was a perfect reset button. They enjoyed the Kusama exhibit at the NY Botanical Garden!

Let’s talk about AMBITION

Definition of ambition according to the Oxford dictionary: A strong desire to do or achieve something typically requiring determination and hard work or the desire and determination to achieve success.

The Book Friends decided to talk about this subject on last week’s episode when Grace mentioned the time that she was so disappointed and surprised when Starry River of the Sky did not win any awards years ago. It became clear to her that it is difficult to admit that we (women especially) can be so ambitious.

This article, Deconstructing ‘I Wrote a Thing’ by Jennifer Weiner also influenced the topic.

Is being ambitious ok? Why do men seem to be better at promoting themselves? Can artists truly be artists if they are ambitiously trying to make money or is that seen as wrong? Is ambition seen as a turnoff?

Grace and Alvina talk about Kamala Harris, the Exit Through the Gift Shop Documentary, gender disparity of Caldecott winners, and publishing dreams. Why do women have a hard time admitting their publishing ambitions? They also discussed this article, Ambitious Women: 7 Habits They Have in Common. Alvina and Grace talk about their professional ambitions.

Fortune Cookie Segment: Our favorite experiences looking at art!

Grace lived studied abroad in Rome, Italy and you can hear about her favorite experiences viewing art there at the Vatican and also in Florence. Alvina recalls seeing the Statue of David and they both love the MoMA museum in NYC.

What are you grateful for?

Grace is grateful for their recent trip to New York City. She’s grateful for her agent Rebecca and for Alvina in her career!

Alvina is grateful for artists and the science of “awe”.

*If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Authors Lisa Yee and Grace Lin answer the question, If You Had To Give Up One Thing For The Rest Of Your Life, Would It Be Brushing Your Hair Or Brushing Your Teeth? Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!

Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio for producing and editing this podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)