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Stephanie Losi's avatar

I feel like if I were asked to be funny on command, I would fail; yet I can slip zingers in when no one is expecting it, on almost any topic, and that's my form of funny.

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Respect the zinger. Love a good one. 🥰

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Janice Walton's avatar

Humor is not - or has not been- one of my long suits. Maybe its time to open that door a little more.

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Yes! Dip a toe. The water is warm and there’s plenty of room in this pool. 😃

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Sandra Ann Miller's avatar

Heather is such a delight! I look forward to checking out Kindness Magnet (great title). One thing, though: It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said it, not Wayne Dyer (it drives me bananas when a woman says/does something great and, over time, it's attributed to a man (because patriarchy). xo

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Hi Sandra. Thanks so much for reading the interview! And I love the correction - which of course got me curious (Rabbit holes are my specialty). Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with the saying and so far I've found at least 6 others who are taking credit. Must be a great quote! At least it was pretty evenly split between women and men. xo

One of my favorites from Eleanor Roosevelt is: "In the long run we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately are own responsibility." So far I haven't seen anyone jack that one. 😁

PS - I'm glad you enjoy the title Kindness Magnet. 💚

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Sandra Ann Miller's avatar

Love it, Heather. One of favorite adages I heard from Maya Angelou (though, I don't know if it's original to her): Man's rejection is God's protection. The other one I live by I *know* is from her (it's the second part that seems to fall off the bumper sticker): When someone shows you who they are, believe them. The first time. xo

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Oh yes. Well said.

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Thx for correction. This is why I have a hard time watching Shark Tank— and I don’t even watch that often. The guys are constantly interrupting Lori!

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Sandra Ann Miller's avatar

There are so many reasons NOT to watch Shark Tank...but that sounds to me like it would top the list. And the first person you heard it from is the person to quote. It's the jerk who's not giving the credit as due that I'm irritated with! LOL. xo

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Donna McArthur's avatar

Thank you Heather and CK, this is a great interview. I love these introspective questions because they help to see where, or who, our ‘imprint’ comes from.

I appreciate that the funny aspects of your writing may come, in part, with the editing process. As a reader that gives me comfort as well as a nod to more edits - it doesn’t necessarily have to flow the first time!

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Hi Donna. Thanks so much for reading the interview and commenting. I owe it all to CK for letting me take a stab at this (and it wasn't painful).

Do you find that it helps to let your writing sit for a bit, like letting pudding set, and then come back and reread it? I admit that sometimes when I do that I think to myself, "What the heck were you thinking?" Other times it's a "meh", and sometimes it's "well, ok, with a little buffing that could be launched."

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Donna McArthur's avatar

Absolutely! It is often a wrestling match for a few rounds to see what will come out on top. Sometimes it gets launched without a winner!

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Oh, ha ha. So true!

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Respect the rewrite! What’s the old saying? Writing is rewriting.

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Donna McArthur's avatar

Ya, that's good. Respect the rewrite!

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Definitely!

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Mark Dolan's avatar

An awesome new feature CK! Your questions are perfect because they are very open-ended allowing Heather to explore and us to be entertained. Will check out her Substack.

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Hey Mark. Nice to see you over on Kindness Magnet. Thank you.

I really appreciated that CK took a chance on letting me be Guinea Pig #1. Her questions made me think....and also allowed me to be funny and not funny....which is kind of me.

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Questions are tough. I might change them up a bit. I was inspired by @ororomunroe to have more unique questions.

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Your questions made me think. And I especially appreciated that you mentioned that there was no need to 'try' to be funny. As the first person to take a whack at this, that was super helpful.

I just popped over to @ororomunroe's Substack - lots of good questions!

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Kristi Keller 🇨🇦's avatar

Omg this is so good Heather! Now I feel like I need to rewrite my entire interview 😂 I loved getting to know your funny side better. Awesome interview 👏 🙌

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

That's so sweet, Kristi. Thank you.

I'm really looking forward to reading your interview. You and I have such different backgrounds. Yours will be awesome and uniquely you.... most important!

It will be fun to see how the interviews for Funny AF Women evolve!

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Patricia Cusack's avatar

I like that you went with Funny AF Women. I also liked Heather coming up with alternatives to what it might be. I thought maybe Funny and Feisty Women. would fit. I can't tell jokes either, because I know how it ends and can't stop laughing enough to get the punchline out. Wit and wordplay makes me laugh.

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

I guess, technically, the AF could stand for a lot of things! I like 'and Feisty'. Sometimes I feel that way. And sometimes I feel like 'And Fluffpuff' or 'And Faceplanting'. I think AF is kind of like a mood ring. 💍

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Feisty is a good word. Love alliterations.

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Wendy Parciak's avatar

Loved it. I can't tell a joke either - my brain sabotages itself and forgets the punchline - but I love nothing better than writing humorous dialogue.

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

We are potentially cousins, of that I am certain.

If you want a bad joke or a joke with no ending....call me.

As to the humorous dialogue....I'm working on it. I may have to call you!

Thanks for reading the interview and commenting. Much appreciated!

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Wendy Parciak's avatar

Have fun with that written banter! I don't write romance, but I've found great examples of it in the romcom genre.

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

It just makes life a little more fun.

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Thx!!

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Terry Freedman's avatar

Delightful. "Bloody hell" is pretty hardcore for us Brits. As forf***, aside from a few very funny people it seems to be the go to word for people who would like to be thought of as funny, which is not the same thing

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

Yes, Terry, my mom was pretty out there with 'Bloody hell'. It had to be bad for that one to escape her lips. Of course, she was raised by her grandmother and stepfather, who trained racehorses in India. She was surrounded constantly by jockeys....so there is that.

Her go-to was usually 'dammit'. She never, ever said 'f***'.

Thanks for reading the interview and sharing your thoughts.

Huge kudos to CK for letting me put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

India! Fascinating background. Have you written about it?

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Heather Brebaugh's avatar

I haven't. She is a beautiful story. I want to write it. There's so much. Her mother died when she was 2 and is buried in Lahore, Pakistan. Her father left her with her grandmother. When she was young she traveled between Calcutta and Bangalore, based on racing season. She was sent to boarding school in England but when the Germans starting bombing she ended up in northern India.

There's a lot between those lines.

Here's a link to a short post I wrote about clearing out her things. It's not a picture of her life in India, but you can see a photo of her as a young girl in India. https://heatherbrebaugh.substack.com/p/let-go

Thanks for asking. 🤍

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Lovely. 🙏❤️

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Exactly. True comedy doesn’t need to lean on expletives.

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Terry Freedman's avatar

The only thing I would say, is that there are a couple of comedians, one Scottish, one American, that use expletives to great effect and are therefore very funny!

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

It’s an art, fitting in those words without it being gratuitous.

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