who’s on fourth: yeah write interviews Ellen Behm of Baby on a Raft

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Welcome to who’s on fourth where we interview one member of the yeah write community and the interview will publish the fourth Monday of each month. Next in the series features Arden Ruth interviewing Ellen Behm of Baby on a Raft.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

yeah write on yeah write: Arden interviews Ellen

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]About a year and a half ago, a writer named Ellen graduated from yeah write lurker to yeah write contributor. She’s been a steady participant ever since, and we’re very happy to have her as a member of our community.

I joined in the summer of 2015 after signing up for the emails months before. I don’t submit every week, but I keep coming back for the camaraderie of everyone who participates, editors and commoners alike.

You can usually find Ellen on our nonfiction challenge grid or competing in our super challenge, but don’t be surprised if you find her posting some flash fiction or poetry over at our other grid every now and again.

I naturally gravitate toward the nonfiction essays because nonfiction has been my blogging style for years. Still, I’m not afraid to dip my toe into fiction and, on a rare occasion, I’ll even submit a poem.

As always, I was eager to find out what advice Ellen would give to any other yeah write lurkers and virgins out there who are waiting on that inspiration to strike so that they can finally jump onto one of our grids.

Fear to submit anything anywhere seems to be the bane of most writers, but yeah write is a safe place to be. Everyone, from the editors to the other participants, is just so nice. Walk on past that fear and jump in! You have nothing to lose and so much to learn.

I still remember that terrifying moment when I first submitted an essay to yeah write. Yep. You read that right. I submitted to the nonfiction grid. Most of you know now that I stick mainly to fiction. Yeah write gave me the confidence to dive into fiction in the first place, and I wouldn’t be finishing up my novel in the next few weeks if it wasn’t for this community. So listen to Ellen. It may be scary, but you’ll be surprised where a community of writers and comrades can take you.

Ellen has been writing for as far as back as she can remember, but she’s got plenty of projects up her sleeve for the future.

I’ve always been writing in some form or another: diaries, school papers (I loved book reports), journals, blogging, etc. I only started believing that my writing could be considered writing once I joined yeah write. Right now on my blog, I’m writing a Remedial Novel Writing Series that is following my progress on the revision and editing of the novel I wrote last year during NaNoWriMo. The series is part serious and part tongue-in-cheek and is aimed at people like me who have no idea how to write a novel, but are gung-ho to give it a try anyway.

When Ellen isn’t writing, you can find her doing any number of things. Not only does she spend her time volunteering for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, she’ll always make time for her grandbaby, as well as her three dogs.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Thank you Ellen for letting us get to know you a little better here at yeah write. We are so happy to have you in our community! Make sure you follow Ellen’s blog, Baby on a Raft. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”26370″ alignment=”right”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text]Oh, you want more? Well here are five things you never knew about Ellen:

1. She ended up with an English minor by accident when she was in college because all the electives she chose were English classes. Clearly, she was not self-aware enough to realize that perhaps she should have been an English major.
2. She’s won two ribbons at the Texas State Fair for smocking projects.
3. She hates snow and cold weather, but especially snow. If she can’t see the ground, she gets claustrophobic after a while.
4. While deciding if she wanted to go back to school and get a master’s degree, she earned an Associate’s Degree in Geography. Never got the master’s degree.
5. She used to be a mystery shopper (someone who is hired by an outside company to evaluate retailers and restaurants).

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Are you ready for the yeah write #307 weekly writing challenges opening this week? We hope so! Your badges await in the sidebar. Grab the code, paste into the text or HTML view of your post, then submit your post to the grids for a little friendly competition. We’re glad you’re here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]