Writing Itself

Eric Poor's Working at the Word Factory: The Curious Life of a Small-Town Newspaper Journalist is taught to journalism students at Keene State Colllege in Keene, NH. Needless to say, Eric was a newspaper journalist who has led a curious life. He has recently completed a novel about a hunter who accidentally shoots another hunter and chooses not to report it. It is also the tale of the conservation officer who tracks him down.

In this episode, Sean talks with his son, Brian about his career as a music journalist. Father and son share awkward interview stories in this sometimes awkward interview. Brian also discusses his comic series, The Wounding Tooth.

Susie Taylor's children's book series based around the character Topsy-Turvy Tracy was published by Zonderkidz, a division of Harper Collins. Susie has since self-published another children's book, Abigail's Shoes. She is currently working on a longer project, which she discusses on this episode of Writing Itself, in between her and Sean's conversation about book narration.

Larry Maness is the author of four novels centered on the character of private investigator Jake Eaton. In addition, he is the author of two books of plays, the first of which - 3 Plays - was introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright William Inge. Larry is also the author of four unpublished plays. You can learn more about him on his website, larrymaness.com.

Dr. Sharon L. Dean taught writing and literature at Rivier University in New Hampshire. After giving up writing scholarly books that required footnotes, she reinvented herself as a writer of mysteries. Her latest book The Barn is coming from Encircle Publications in July 2020. This is the first in a new series featuring small town librarian Deborah Strong.

Emily Collette is a writer who went to school in Washington State and currently lives in Michigan. Here she shares how her story was plagiarized. We scrape the surface of her traumatic experience, which runs deep.

Tim Ewins' novel We Are Animals is unique in many ways, including its route to publication. Tim's publisher, Lightning Books, is releasing We Are Animals as an e-book for 99p (so British) via Eye Books. If the book sells well it will then be released in print. Tim's road to publication included countless hours typing away on a broken iPad while commuting to and from work via train and many months of work with his editor and publisher. In this episode of Writing Itself, Sean and Tim talk about that process.

D. Scott Mairorca has been a teacher, a wine steward, an intern, a mall Santa, and even the Easter Bunny. Now he's an author. He's always been a story teller and a dreamer. He's also a husband, a father, and mostly a stay at home dad. On this episode of Writing Itself Scott talks with Sean about his writing and his life.

Sharon Phennah's novel You Can't Iron a Wrinkled Birthday suit is available through BQB Publishing. That's Boutique of Quality Books Publishing. What's most fascinating about this is that the book was first self-published. Sharon talks about that process during this episode of Writing Itself. She also talks about her current project, a family history and how it has taught her to love "The Google Machine," Ancestry.com, and the relative ease of doing research in the twenty-first century.

In this episode Kathy Medvidofsky talks about what motivated her to search for a writers group and then, failing to find one, start one of her own. It's a sweet story of persistence that ultimately led to a rich experience full of wonderful relationships. Among the Elms is an open writers group that still thrives in Keene, NH. Kathy is a writer who focuses primarily on writing for children.

This week, my guest is myself! Really, it’s part of my collection of books on writing. I have put these volumes in some semblance of an order of importance in my life. I hope you enjoy this non-chat, and I hope you find some inspiration here. The humorist Steve Allen once claimed to always be reading some sort of self-help book before going to sleep. (He also claims to have been a 12-hour a night sleeper, which is remarkable for such a prolific man!) I am not so inclined, but he sparked something in me. There is no shame in always trying to improve, and reading about your craft is one way to do that. Sometimes the best advice on writing comes from reading the works of the writers you love; sometimes it comes in lesson form.

Writing Itself goes international this week with expatriate Dick Turner who lives in Paris. Dick is a writer, artist, musician, and filmmaker whose book New Math was published in 2019 by Apathy Press Poets.

John T. (Jack) Hitchner is the author of the novel The Acolyte, the short story collection How Far Away, How Near, and two collections of poetry: Seasons and Shadows and Pieces of Life Between Latitudes. Jack is currently hard at work on a second novel.

Robert Brown is a professor of English at San Bernardino Valley College in San Bernardino, California. Professor Brown is the author of the nonfiction book Joker to King: Your 52-Week Initiation into Manhood, and a poetry collection called How to Start a Revolution. A new edition of Joker to King will be released in 2020. Meanwhile, Robert is working on a collection of short stories.

David Chase is back to wrap up the year that was, 2019. David and Sean talk about the creation of characters, among other things.

Inga Hansen is a trade magazine editor by day and a fiction writer by night. She is one of Sean McElhiney's trusted readers and is partially responsible for the creation of this podcast.

Diane Auten is the author of the book The Joys of Raising Boys: The Good, the Bad, and the Hilarious. On this episode of Writing Itself Sean talks with Diane about writing, the process of getting her work published, and the joys of being a mom.

Sean talks with Crafton Hills Community College Creative Writing Professor Gwendolyn DiPonio about poetry, fiction, Hemingway, and whether or not writing can be taught.

A conversation with writer Tom DiVenti about his book The Baltimore Kid, his motivations and influences, his punk roots, and Hank Williams III.

Terri O'Rorke's book A Presidential Aberration, an indictment of the Trump presidency, is available now on Amazon. A planned sequel is in the works.

Bill Amatneek is a writer, editor, anthologist, and musician. Hi's collection Heart of a Man - Men's Stories for Women will be released by Vineyards Press on Valentine's Day, 2020.

Writer Sharon Bauske talks about National Novel Writing Month, her motivations, and her takeaways from culinary school.

Award-winning novelist Ernest Hebert talks with Sean about his writing process and what compelled him to write his first published novel.

Cindy Rosmus talks about writing, editing an e-zine, noir vs. porn, the superiority of animals, and her first break in Oui Magazine. Cindy is the publisher of the online magazine Yellow Mama and the author of Stupidiocy, a collection of short fiction available now for your Kindle at just $2.99 and in paperback - a real book you can hold in your hands - for $15.00.

Writer Matt Savarese talks about his inspirations, his dreams, and his writing process.

Dave Congalton is my guest. Dave's screenplay Scribble eventually made its way to the big screen as Authors Anonymous. We talk about Dave's journey from page to screen.

Author Avye Andonellis talks about her recently-complete novel and her efforts to find representation in an under-represented Orthodox Christian fiction market.

Ken Schalhoub is the author of the novel Plexor and the short story collection Smothered. Ken talks with Sean from his home in Denver, CO.

Jack Coey is the author of a novel The Death of Dr. Dean, a short story collection Exit Stage Left, and numerous other stories, including "Rubber Daisies" and "What?" which you'll find, along with an in-depth interview in the September 2019 issue of New Reader Magazine.

Billy Hudson is a singer/songwriter, poet, and novelist. He lives in Shell Beach, California.

Here we go... a longish preamble on this, my first foray into podcasting, leading into my interview with David Chase, the author of the novel Grants Ferry.