My conversation with Erica explores the romantic idea of the tortured artist and how alcohol has been portrayed as a necessary ingredient to the creative process. 

We talk about Augustine Burroughs, Ernest Hemingway, the way alcohol somehow becomes the focus of the arts and culture world and how the experience of getting sober debunks all of these tropes.   

Erica mentions the Artists Way as what helped her develop her writing practice and planted the seed for all the other changes that emerged for her. 

Erica Richmond is the founder of Open Sky Stories and believes that words have the power to connect people. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario Canada with her two teens finding joy, adventures and stories in everyday life. Her published books include: Pixie and the Bees, a whimsical tale about learning to trust yourself while living with an invisible illness; The Mail Art Stories Project: Mail Art in the Time of Covid-19, a collection of mail art from around the world that chronicles the Covid-19 pandemic. Erica leads a variety of workshops that focus on exploring relationships with words, connection and healing. 

Follow her on social media @OpenSkyStories and visit openskystories.com