Author Becky Garrison from Greater Portland, Oregon, has been a professional writer since 1994 with experience in nonfiction book, magazine, and online writing. She received a dual MDiv/MSW degree from Yale Divinity School/Columbia University in 1992, a background that led her to write about the rise of secular spirituality, religious satire, and faith & politics, as well as historical and religious travel. She sold her first pieces to The Wittenburg Door and Lilleneas Publishing in March 1994. Becky served as the Senior Contributing Editor for The Wittenburg Door, the nation’s oldest, largest and only religious satire magazine for a dozen years. As this outlet relaunched in 2021, she is now on their board of directors and contribute to this outlet. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, she has been covering this region’s craft culture including food, beer, wine, spirits, cider, coffee, and cannabis/CBD & psychedelics, as well as the regional festival scene. Her eight books include “Distilled in Washington: A History” (The History Press, March 18, 2024) and “Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church” (Jossey Bass, PW starred review), as well as contributing essays to a dozen other books and co-editing a book for a small transgender press. Additional writing credits include work for Beverage Master Magazine, The Daily Beast, Free Inquiry, The Grapevine Magazine, The Humanist, Northwest Travel & Life, Oregon Wine Press, Paste Magazine, and SIP. Becky was the recipient of a 2013 Knight Grant for Reporting on Religion and American Public Life. She has signed up to the Author’s Guild so she could take advantage of their marketing and legal services, as well as their website builder features. When Becky isn’t writing, she likes traveling, camping, cycling, kayaking, snowshoeing, reading, gardening, and cooking.
Which genres do you cover?
Becky Garrison: I state tongue in cheek that with my latest book I’ve made the transition from covering the Holy Spirit to distilled spirits.
Which is the latest book you had published, and what is about?
Becky Garrison: “Distilled in Washington: A History (The History Press, March 18, 2024) is the first book documenting the history of distilling in Washington State. This state has a tortured history with liquor. Efforts to ban or restrict it date back to 1854, before the region even attained statehood, with blue laws remaining on the books well into the twentieth century. Delve into the legends and the outliers responsible for this illicit and unsavory business that has now emerged as a respectable multimillion-dollar craft spirits industry. From Jimmie Durkin, an enterprising saloon owner, to Roy Olmstead, a former Seattle cop-turned-gentleman bootlegger, the business of liquor has inspired both trouble and innovation. Join author and journalist Becky Garrison as she traces the history of the barrel and the bottle from early settlement to the modern craft distilling boom in the Evergreen State.”
At which book events can readers find you?
Becky Garrison: Events will be posted on my Facebook author page as they materialize.
Which book event connecting you with readers is your favorite and why?
Becky Garrison: I’m a big fan of panel events where I can bring in the characters profiled in my work to life in front of audiences. I love watching the synergy between book subjects and audience members.
Do(es) your book(s) have any specific messages to your readers and, if so, which are they?
Becky Garrison: Distilled in Washington points to the tortured role that liquor has played in US culture from colonial times to the present. Armed with this awareness, readers can understand both the history behind the drinks they consume, as well as the role tasting rooms and brewpubs play in creating community. Also, it’s key for individuals to understand the profound impact that legislation plays in to informing one’s drinking habits.
Which writer(s) keep(s) inspiring you and why?
Becky Garrison: I’ve adopted Julia Cameron’s Morning as a daily practice. This work helps keep my creative juices percolating, so I can continue to produce.
Do you have any specific writing habits?
Becky Garrison: Adopting Morning Pages on a regular basis has been a real game changer in preventing me from running out of creative energy.
What are you currently working on?
Becky Garrison: I’m working on a fictionalized accounting of my late grandfather’s experiences coaching the Navy Ford Islanders to win the football championship in the Pacific Theater on November 10, 1943. The role football played in the Navy, and the Pacific Theater in particular, has not been explored to date. So, like with Distilled in Washington, I’m digging around and discovering untold stories. Also, I have a few other PNW related books I hope to publish with History Press moving forward.
Which book are you currently reading simply for entertainment?
Becky Garrison: I’ve found it invaluable learning to always have a few books around for those times when I need a brain break from a writing project. My current list of these books includes works by Thich Nhat Hanh, Ursula K. LeGuin, Jeanette Walls, Judy Blume, Augusten Burroughs, and Bill Bryson.
What advice would you give any aspiring author?
Becky Garrison: I spent too much time in my twenties “wanting” to be a writer, but it wasn’t until I developed a habit of actually journaling every day that I developed the discipline and skill to produce work that was publishable. During this time when I was trying to establish a regular writing pattern, I found inspiration from these books: Writing Down the Bones (Natalie Goldberg), Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott), and The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron).
You can find Becky Garrison’s latest book on pre-order at some brick-and-mortar stores. All books are available at Amazon and other online outlets.
