I have some delightful stuff going on with the blog today!

My dear friend and fellow writer/blogger Kate from Story and Dark Chocolate has recently launched a new website. But it’s more than that—it’s a revolution.

Introducing…

THE BUBBLEGUM REBELLION

What is The Bubblegum Rebellion? Let me share Kate’s own words about it:

“ The Bubblegum Rebellion isn’t about your average revolution. It’s not about anger or defiance. Rather, this rebellion is a dare. A dare to live differently. To rebel harmlessly. To conquer winsomely.

The Bubblegum Rebellion is about dancing even when others stop to stare and you let them. It’s about putting flowers in your hair like the awkward wisp of fairymagic that you are. It’s about closing your eyes and feeling the sun on your eyelids and a smile so wide the whole world can’t contain it. It’s about learning from the past but not staying there, not wasting one more minute of YOUR ONE WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE reliving it. It’s about finally feeling like you belong somewhere and basking in the knowledge that you are loved for the BEAUTIFUL MESSED UP human being that you are.

…will you join the Rebellion?

As someone who strongly believes in keeping to childlike wonder and finding the beauty in everything, I was thrilled when Kate told me about her revolution. Of course I had to be a part of this! This is everything I strive for.

So, in honor of her new revolution, I’m interviewing Kate herself here today! EXCITING, RIGHT??? We’ll be talking more about her rebellion, her hobbies, and her creative life in general.

Without further ado…

. . . THE KATE . . .

As a four-year-old, Kate regularly yelled long, enraged monologues to the nonplussed white wall of her bedroom when she got sent there as punishment. Her penchant for the dramatic was born then and it continued to grow and flourish as Kate matured. In recent years, the realization dawned on her – she was never happier than when she was acting. Her passion is to bring stories to life – whether it is on a stage or in front of a camera – and her hope is that those stories will change people. When she isn’t at rehearsals, she loves writing dark, heavy books that usually include explosions, a big family, and lots of ethnic culture, drawing creepy things that are either burning or bleeding with her art pencils, and reveling in the haunting wistfulness of the trees when she takes long hikes in a nearby park.

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. . . THE INTERVIEW . . .

Firstly, give us a quick rundown about what The Bubblegum Rebellion is and why it’s important to you.

The Bubblegum Rebellion, for me, is about shedding this hard outer layer that I’ve built up over years of life battering me into a tough, calloused person I don’t really recognize and starting afresh.

As a kid, my life seemed magical and perfect and safe. But growing up is inevitable. I saw poverty and messy relationships and gray morality and people questioning the things that had always seemed obvious and true to me.

I want to go back to being a little girl again. I want to recapture the wide-eyed wonder that life used to hold.

The Bubblegum Rebellion might be that to you, too. Or it might look different. It might be looking your reflection in the eye and seeing the beauty there instead of the imperfections. It might be trying something you never have before because you’ve decided to make the most of every day. It might be mustering up the courage to go back home after wandering away.

Whatever it looks like, I think it has the power to change people.

What first sparked the idea for The Bubblegum Rebellion?

Watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube, as lame as that is. I think that was the first time I ever realized that I could start using my love of acting now – not just after I had gotten a degree and landed a role in a play or a movie.

What is a your greatest hope for TBR to achieve?

(Gotta love that acronym, right? I have a panic attack every time I look at it.)

In my wildest dreams, I see myself expanding the team to include a photographers or a filmmaker, one of those crazy-talented music-geniuses, another actor, more writers, and all of us traveling the world and making indie films together.

But really… if this can be a reminder to one single person that they are beautiful because no one else in the whole world is exactly like them, that there is always hope even when you can’t see it, that everyone can start over, try again, and be brave – I will have succeeded.

Would you share with us some of your best advice for living rebelliously?

Good gravy. Are you sure I’m qualified to answer this, Christine?

Okay, advice.

Um. My advice is to go outside on a sunny day and close your eyes and feel the wind caressing your skin and bask in the fact that all of that is God whispering that he’s crazy in love with you.

YOU ARE A FREAKING PRINCESS. Stop being afraid to live like one.

(How did I do?)

Do you have certain books/shows/movies/activities/etc. that inspire you the most to live differently and winsomely?

Rapunzel from Tangled. The scene where the musicians walk through the town square and she just starts dancing, completely unconscious that people are watching, and then she reaches out and invites others to join in and then the whole square is just alive with this beautiful carefree dance and it keeps getting bigger and bigger and wow. THAT INSPIRES ME.

What are your favorite hobbies?

DANCING.

I’ve never taken a dance lesson in my life, but I love to dance. I just learned that about myself, actually.

When I was little, I wanted to do ballet. No clue where the desire came from, I just wished so badly that I could be in a ballet class. But ballet is expensive and when I was very little, we didn’t have a lot of money for the necessities, much less ballet lessons for a six-year-old. Then I got older and felt awkward and knew my brothers would laugh, so I never mentioned it again and never danced.

I still don’t really dance in front of people – being laughed at is still my greatest fear. But I’m researching ballet (for one of my novels, actually) and watching videos on YouTube… so who knows? You might see me on Broadway someday.

Ahem. That turned into a rant, didn’t it? Oops. I also love to read, write, and draw. Basically anything that gives me an opportunity to tell a story.

Do you have a favorite genre to read and write?

Fantasy! Urban or futuristic fantasy, to be specific.

I’ve attempted contemporary but it’s so stifling and terrifying for me because everything has to be realistic and accurate to the real world. In fantasy, I can make my own rules and no one can say I’m doing it wrong.

At first I wrote medieval fantasy but something was missing – lots of somethings, actually. Guns. Bombs. Jeeps. Skinny jeans. Crumbling skyscrapers.

Urban-future fantasy is the sweet spot that combines all the things I love writing.

5 of your most favorite books of all time. Go!

Ack. The pressure.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. (We’ll just ignore the fact that this is three books…)

Winter by Marissa Meyer.

Whew.

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl!

I guess I never outgrew that childlike excitement that bubbles up in you when you are permitted to stay up past your bedtime?

What does your creative process look like? How do you get motivated to write, blog, and pursue other creative outlets? Any advice?

More like how do I stop being motivated…

My creative process is still growing because I’m such a writing-newbie. I’ve always had a knack for writing and I started The Songless when I was 11 but I didn’t get serious about writing until 2016. So my process basically consists of writing down hundreds of plotbunnies and then picking one to work on for the next fifteen years. (I am muchly slow.)

Motivation is the easy part. I am a very intense person – driven, stubborn, and hardworking. So I can usually force myself to get things done just out of sheer will and knowing that it is the right thing to do. But to-do lists help. (Make little boxes and number them. You get to fill in the box when you complete the task! It’s so fun.)

My advice is to let yourself be unabashedly passionate about what you do. Keep your eyes wide open and see the stories all around you. If you’re excited and love doing what you do, nothing will keep you away.

Thank you so much for letting me invade your blog today, Christine! You are the loveliest!

Thank you, Kate! Wasn’t this interview so motivational and inspiring? I don’t know about you, but I have a sudden urge to run outside and bask in a patch of sunlight.

Don’t forget to check out Kate’s NEW SITE and join the Rebellion!

TALK WITH ME!

Does this lifestyle intrigue you? Do you agree we should cling to our childlike wonder and live winsomely? What are some ways you live with “Bubblegum Rebellion”? LET’S SPREAD SOME GLITTER AND RAINBOWS, GUYS!