by Writing Workshops Staff
3 weeks ago
"Before taking the workshop, my writing life was a wish, and now it's a reality."
For Betheny Lynn Reid, those words capture decades of dreams finally realized. After a distinguished career spanning marketing at Mary Kay Cosmetics, public affairs for Dallas County, and executive leadership in higher education—including roles as Associate Vice Chancellor at Dallas College and Senior Associate VP at the University of North Texas—Betheny had always harbored a secret: she was a writer at heart. Poetry, essays, and fiction filled her private hours, but for years her creative work remained hidden, shared only with family and friends.
Then came a turning point. Determined not to have what she calls "an Emily Dickinson-type obituary" where her collection of writings would be discovered posthumously, Betheny decided it was time to step out of the shadows and into the literary world. She found her way to WritingWorkshops.com through word of mouth, and that decision changed everything.
Betheny's journey with WritingWorkshops.com began with the 1-Day Zoom Seminar: Demystifying the Agent Search with Michael Bourne, where she gained crucial insights into navigating the publishing industry. She followed that with the Publishing in Literary Journals to Launch Your Career Zoom Seminar led by Blake Kimzey. She later worked with Blake on manuscript development and query letter refinement.
The impact was profound.
"Blake Kimzey steered me in the right direction and always made me feel as if I was a successful, published author even before he'd ever read a word of mine," Betheny recalls.
That confidence-building approach, combined with practical publishing strategies, gave her the tools and courage to start submitting her work.
What resonated most deeply was discovering she wasn't alone in her doubts. A key breakthrough came from "learning that all the questions, fears, and uncertainties I had were not unusual and that others felt the same and could help me navigate this new world of actually completing and publishing my words." That sense of shared experience and mutual support became the foundation of her writing practice.
The results speak for themselves.
Today, Betheny Lynn Reid is a national award-winning poet whose work has appeared in prestigious publications including The Sun magazine, The White Rocker, and Big Bend Literary Magazine.
And now, her debut novel Under The Autumn Moon is available at bookstores everywhere—a milestone she once could only dream about.
But Betheny isn't resting on her accomplishments. She's currently juggling promoting her newly released novel, having her second book with beta readers, collaborating with an artist on a poetry collection, and outlining a third novel.
Her writing life has become wonderfully, productively full.
Her secret to sustained creativity? Structure and community.
Betheny writes on a schedule every day, a time that her family and friends have come to respect as sacred. She meets weekly with a fellow author to share goals and hold each other accountable. And when writer's block strikes, she turns to haiku. "It tricks me back into creativity and the joy of letting my words flow," she explains.
For writers hesitating at the threshold of their own dreams, Betheny offers four powerful words: "Feel the fear and do it anyway!"
"Writing the first draft is a solitary practice," she reflects, "but everything after that requires a supportive community. WritingWorkshops.com can give you that."
As Betheny continues to build her literary legacy, with multiple projects in various stages of completion and a growing readership discovering her work, her story stands as proof that it's never too late to transform a lifelong wish into reality. The words she once tucked away in boxes are now finding their way into readers' hands, exactly where they belong.
Ready to write your own success story? Join our community of writers who are turning their creative dreams into published realities. Explore our online creative writing workshops and discover expert instruction, supportive peers, and the guidance you need to take your writing from wish to reality—just like Betheny did.
