People-Inspired Podcast
Connecting with people is like a vitamin B injected advanced Google search, except better. Inspiration fuels the creative process, and there is little that excites me more than interesting people who teach me something new (which is pretty much anyone I run into these days).
Join me for this People-Inspired Podcast where I get to talk to inspiring people about what and who inspired them. We will fill the tank and crank that flywheel, proving that one person's story is often all you need to get things rolling.
People ask about what sparked my debut novel, Back to Blue Holly, and the answer is easy. The book is place and PEOPLE-inspired. I relied heavily upon the stories I collected traveling Kentucky with artist Kelly Brewer, painting and interviewing people from all walks of life for our Common Wealth of Kentucky Project (2022). And equally influential were the good folks I am lucky to know (or heard about) in the North Georgia region.
And as I write my next novel, I'm back to being nosy Beth, poking around, asking lots of questions, and mining the unsearchable, compelling gems I cannot find anywhere else than in the people I talk to.
https://www.bethpride.com/
People-Inspired Podcast
Lexington the Horse with Author Kim Wickens
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It’s April in Kentucky, which means grass as green as a lime lollipop, blooming trees, and the opening of Keeneland’s Spring race meet, the perfect time to introduce my next People-Inspired Podcast guest, Kim Wickens.
Kim Wickens is the award-winning author of Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse, a national, bestselling narrative nonfiction book that tells the remarkable story of the 19th-century Thoroughbred stallion whose bloodline shaped modern horse racing. The book won the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for Excellence in Thoroughbred Racing Literature and has been praised for bringing to life the colorful world of early American racing and the Civil War–era South.
Before turning to writing, Wickens spent two decades as a criminal defense lawyer in New Mexico. She later studied writing at Kenyon College and devoted years to researching Lexington’s story. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, Narrative Magazine, The Blood-Horse, and The Paulick Report. She now lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where she rides dressage and continues writing.
Kim and I talked about Lexington, the extraordinary horse that inspired a nation during an unstable and divided Civil War era. She details her research and writing journey, which included copious trips from New Mexico to the Keeneland library, where she sought primary sources to help her understand Lexington's world. Kim talks about the characters from Lexington's story who fascinated and inspired her the most, and a person from her childhood who shaped who she is today.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Kim learning more about Lexington, the horse, and what it’s like to put together a puzzle from the forgotten past. I hope you will enjoy it, too!
Thanks for listening. If this story stayed with you, I’d love for you to share it—and join me next time for another conversation worth holding onto. You can find out more about me at www.bethpride.com.