Podcast appearances and mentions of gina frangello

Lesley Logan speaks with author and publisher Kristen McGuiness about balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship, and creative pursuits. Kristen shares her journey in publishing, how she makes time for writing, and the inspiration behind her novel Live Through This. She also discusses activism, navigating personal challenges, and the importance of following your inner voice.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How Kristen transitioned from editor to author while working in the publishing industry.The realities of balancing motherhood and a creative career.Why creating boundaries around personal time is essential for productivity.The inspiration behind Live Through This and its connection to real-world issues.Different forms of activism and how storytelling can drive change.The importance of trusting your intuition and taking action despite uncertainty.Episode References/Links:Rise Literary Website - https://riseliterary.comRise Literary Instagram - https://instagram.com/riseliteraryKristen McGuiness Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kristenmcguiness/Guest Bio:Kristen McGuiness is the bestselling author of 51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life, which was optioned by Original Films/CBS Cable with Alison Brie attached to star, and her new novel, Live Through This, which was released from Rise Books on October 10, 2023. She has over twenty years' experience in book publishing, as an author, editor, and book publisher, with such houses as St. Martin's Press, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins. Kristen is the publisher of Rise Books, launching in 2023, which publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry of radical inspiration, and also runs the book coaching company, Rise Writers, which provides book coaching and management for emerging and established authors. Kristen has appeared on the “TODAY Show,” in USA Today, and in Marie Claire, and has written for numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Psychology Today, Salon, and The Fix. She lives in Ojai, CA with her husband, two children, and a dog named Peter. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Kristen McGuiness 0:00  I'm a mom who prioritizes being a mom, but I also don't want to lose myself in that activity, and I don't think that is healthy for my children either.Lesley Logan 0:10  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Be It babe, oh my gosh. Okay, I felt like I just met a dear friend who I've never known. But it's kind of shocking how we didn't know each other before, because I felt like our paths would have crossed. She's an author, she's a publisher, she's a mom, she's an honest, vulnerable human being who I think is going to inspire the heck out of you to lean into who you are and how you do things. And I just really, truly love this conversation. We are going to talk a lot about how Kristen McGuiness got into books, what her world is in books, how she does it and writes especially with kiddos. You're gonna hear some great ideas I hope you use. I love her quotes at the end. I will just say that we do get into talking a little bit about mass shootings and school shootings because of her fiction book. So just protect your heart if that is something raw for you in this moment. But I hope you listen, because I actually can't wait to read her book, and so I'm gonna read it before I do the recap, because it just sounds really cool, and I'm really inspired in this moment. And so I'm saying this after I interviewed her, so I know that you'll be inspired as soon as you're done listening to this. So here is Kristen McGuiness. All right, Be It babe. This is going to be fabulous. I already know it. I just met Kristen McGuiness a minute ago, but I can tell by who she is and what she's been up to that you are going to love this person, because, like you, they wear many hats. So Kristen, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Kristen McGuiness 2:11  Absolutely and thank you for having me on I'm so glad we were finally able to do this. And it always ends up being perfect timing when you get to do these things and the day and moment you get to do them, when it, you know, made sense at the other time. But, yeah, I'm Kristen McGuiness and I'm a book lady. I mean, I think that's the or a book bitch, depending on the moment. But I've been doing books my whole life, you know, since I was a kid, I always say they're my first addiction. I ended up gathering more than that, less healthy addictions, but I started with books. And just, you know, the places and imagination that we get to escape to when we're reading. And it's no wonder that that became my profession. I continued to love books, you know, try to write books. I ended up starting my career in book publishing at St. Martin's Press and Simon & Schuster and then later Harper Collins. I worked as a book scout in Hollywood for a brief bit, like reading books to develop into movies for Warner Brothers. And then I became a book publisher and a book coach and a bestselling author myself. So it's just, it's all books all the time. That's what I do, and a big and amazing part of that has been helping other people write their books. Lesley Logan 3:21  Okay. That is so fun. That's so cool. I imagine you as like a girl, little girl, like reading all the time, and then you get to just read all the time. Like, how fun is that? Okay. I think where I'd want to start is, it sounds like you were in books, but then you wrote a book. So what was it like to go from reading other people's work and, like, not picking it apart but going, oh, this would be great for this, or this is great for this, and then to writing your own? Was it an easy transition? Were you nervous? Were you excited? Like, what was going on?Kristen McGuiness 3:49  You know, there's some editors that are happy to be editors, and they know that's like, what they love to do. I was always an editor who wanted to be a writer, and so that's just a different dynamic. And I still love editing. I mean, I can simultaneously be editing a book and writing a book at the same time and enjoy both processes. And I mean, honestly, sometimes the editing is more fun because, you know, the stakes aren't as high, right? Like, and it's not on me. I mean, it's on me to help it be good, but I'm not the source of the goodness. Whereas when you were the author, it's really hard to be like, I'm a shitty editor. It's really easy to be like, I'm a shitty writer. So I really enjoy getting to do both. But I was definitely always someone who wanted to do both. I mean, I ended up leaving book publishing, and that's how I wrote my first book. I went into the world of nonprofits, and that became like a secondary career to books during a period of my life just because I moved out to California and there was no, I mean, now there's more opportunities in that field, but at that time, there was, like, no book publishing in Southern California, and I preferred I wanted the weather. So I chose weather over books.Lesley Logan 4:55  Wow, you really wanted the weather.Kristen McGuiness 4:59  I do. I really like the sun. Lesley Logan 5:00  Oh my God. Well, and you have some sun going on you. And also, I understand that, as someone who's California born and raised, I can visit a city, and I'm like, I could do two weeks in this weather, but I gotta go back.Kristen McGuiness 5:12  Yeah, no, I very romantically lived in Paris for one year, and my friends all joke about, like, how much Kristen hates Paris. And I'm like, I don't hate Paris. It was just that it was gray every day, and I ended up with seasonal affective disorder. Like it wasn't, I mean, it was like nothing I could control. I was just horrifically depressed and wanted to throw myself into the sun every day. But I'm like, it really wasn't Paris's fault. I just need sunshine. Lesley Logan 5:36  It's just like the location of Paris is just not ideal.Kristen McGuiness 5:41  If I could pick it up and move it somewhere else, that'd be fantastic. So I, you know, I ended up moving out to California and ended up in nonprofits, and that's when I did write my first book. And I think I did have to remove myself from the book publishing industry in order to write a book. And I don't think that's true anymore. I'm doing both very simultaneously right now, but in that period of my life, I did so that I could just really have that fuel tank of creative energy just for me. Lesley Logan 6:10  Yeah, yeah. I understand that. I I think, like even just to not have distractions or especially with something new, even though books weren't new to you, but writing your own is a new thing. You kind of have to, like, kind of immerse yourself so you can really get into it. You know, I know your mom, and I think having all of these hats and then having kids, I know, like, for our listeners, there's always people going, how do they balance it? And I don't have children. So when I say, I don't think balance is real. People nod, but don't really listen to me, because like, but I don't I think that there's a blend. And I think that, you know, my yoga teacher says balance is the art of not falling, and that just means that you're kind of tilting over here, and then you're tilting over here and you're trying not to fall either way. And that resonates with me. But can we talk a little about what it's like to be curating this amazing career that you have, you know, being in books, of writing books and being a publisher and doing that while, you know, parenting and bringing kids into this world. What was it like? Kristen McGuiness 7:06  Well, that's why I'm in a hotel room right now. So, you were like, so how do you, I'm like, I literally go to a hotel room two nights a month. That's what I do. And I joke, again, I'm a former addict, so it's like a drug vendor. I'm like a Hunter Biden, but with books. So I just, like, pull myself up in a hotel room for like, 48 hours, and I just write like a wild Banshee with caffeine and Red Bull. I mean, I find, though, whatever that looks like for people, I do think it's about creating the pockets of freedom and the pockets of concentration and the pockets of creativity, because, I mean, I'm also just somebody, like, I always eat one thing at a time. I'm not good at, like, fully integrating. So I can't be in the middle of parenting and then be like, give me five kids. I'm gonna go edit a book. My brain doesn't work that way. And I do think, speaking of the creative fuel tank, I think, at least for me, my creative fuel tank is the same place where I draw my maternal energy from, not surprisingly, because they're both creative forces. And so when I'm in my mom mode and I'm really with my kids, I am running off that creative fuel in the same way I would be if I was writing or editing. So I think it is really hard to be a creative and a mom, because if I've been momming all day long, like I, at the end of the day, I've got nothing left. I mean, I could, like, do an Excel spreadsheet. I can put the dishes in the dishwasher, but I'm not going to come up with a masterpiece. And so I've really learned how to pull this time out. Hence, I mean, I wrote a screenplay in the last 12 hours, that's what I have done here today. So I came here yesterday at 3pm and I was like, we're writing a screenplay before I got that podcast tomorrow, and I literally finished it right before we began. But that's how I've learned to like, if I'm if I care about my creative career, which is not even a career that pays my bills. I mean, that's still, you know? I mean, it's still, like a speculative career, if I care about that, whatever that thing is that you love to do, like, I've got to really create a boundary for myself to make that something that I hold sacred.Lesley Logan 9:14  I am obsessed with this. I love this so much. I really do. I, first of all, my friends make fun of me because I'm like, oh, you're going there. This is my favorite hotel. Because I love a hotel. I find I get so much done. I wasn't even in a hotel on Monday, but I was at a friend's house, it kind of felt like a hotel. And I was like, oh, I got all my work done in three hours. Okay. And I was like, that is so funny, because when you're at home, there's so many distractions. Like, before we're on this podcast, we have an older dog. By the time this episode comes out, it's probably passed at this point, but, you know, it's hard. It's how you're like, oh, okay, so we're gonna be late on that call because I got this thing, and then I gotta do some laundry. And you just can't be that creative person. You have to kind of remove yourself. But I also just love that you highlight, like, I have pockets of this, and I think protecting those pockets, like a pocket of this type of thing I'm going to focus on this here. It allows you to kind of show up and be their best version of yourself in that moment, and not kind of stress about all the things you thought you'd fill in those two hours. Kristen McGuiness 10:08  Yeah, yeah, I've learned. I mean, I've, I mean, look, I think most moms struggle with self sacrifice because motherhood really demands it. I mean, it is hard you constantly or be laboring like, how do I, I don't want to put myself ahead of my kids. I mean, I want to, you know, I mean, they are in and I have young children. I have a five year old and a nine year old. I mean, the nine year is obviously more independent, but they're still school-aged children. I don't have teenagers at home, and so there is a lot of caregiving, physical, emotional, psychological that is taking place. And I want to prioritize that I am a mom who prioritizes being a mom, but I also don't want to lose myself in that activity, and I don't think that is healthy for my children either. And when I do lose myself, that's when I am my worst mom, that's when I'm angry, that's when I'm quick to temper. It's when I don't feel like I'm getting to take care of me. And so I've just really learned that, you know, I come, you know, my mom's, like, a boomer, we're actually in a fight right now, so it's really interesting. And we're, and it's a fight about exactly these things like these intergenerational dynamics of like, I have to, like, still lie to my parents and tell them that I'm here doing a business meeting. Because they'd be like, why are you spending money on a hotel to work on a screenplay that you're not getting paid to do? And I'm like, because I will go insane, otherwise, it is so valuable for me to stay sane and creative and whole and human. My mom came from a generation, although she's incredibly makes very selfish choices now, like it was all about, like, you sacrifice all the way up until retirement, and then you just get to be selfish every minute of the day. And I'm like, that doesn't look I mean, I think we've seen by the gross impacts of your generation's choices, that probably wasn't a good idea. But also I don't think that makes it like a well-lived life. I want to feel like I'm getting to show up for others and getting to show up for me in some level of consistency. And I absolutely agree, like balance is just not falling down. And also, sometimes I think balance is falling down because that's also part of it. You're like, oh, fuck. You know, like, I'm off. But I do think creating that integration between we take care of others, but we still take care of ourselves and our dreams and who we are, and not losing that identity that exists before, during and long after our children are grown.Lesley Logan 12:22  Yeah, and also, I just think it's really cool for your young kids to see that you do protect the things that you love. You protect your time with them, but also they're seeing you go and protect the time for who, like, whether or not you get paid for the screenplay. Like, it's not about that, because the screenplay could lead to something else, into something else, but, like, it makes you feel whole, and it makes you feel alive, just as much as parenting would, but it's a different part of you. And so I think it's cool they get to see that, because then they get to, when they get older, know that there's an option for them, you know, like, there's, there's possibilities, and there's ways they get to see it an example. Kristen McGuiness 12:57  Yeah, no, I, and I think it's really about like showing. It's, I mean, again, I've just written, like, literally, I'm just coming off of writing the screenplay, and there's a whole like, scene in the screenplay where one of the characters say, we can't control what happens around us, right? The only thing we can control are the choices we make in that, you know? I mean, I'm an entrepreneur. My husband is also an entrepreneur, which is just, I mean, the level of insanity that that brings, and especially in the last couple of years where, like, the global economics have been far out of our control, so we've been terribly impacted by sort of the larger financial environment. And I'm like, but you know what? We get to make choices within that. And that doesn't mean that all of them are happy, some of them are hard. But just to feel like I have no choice, and that this, well, this is just the way it is, right? And it's like, no, I mean, we get to create our own pathway through whatever we're navigating. To me, you know, I always say to myself, it's like my little mantra, like, I'm going to write my way through this, whatever is going on, I'm going to write my way through this. And that's just, you know, for others might be, I'm going to Pilates my way through this, right? Like, whatever the thing is that's your source of healing. And also the thing that helps you to understand how and why life happens. That's what you have to tap into. And without that, I mean, then I think you are just on the floor, right? Then you can't even, then there's no balance, because you can't even, like, you don't even have a foundation underneath you.Lesley Logan 14:16  Yeah, yeah, it's so true. There's a million things that go on in a day. I was just recording the podcast drops that we call FYFs, Fuck Yeah Friday, and it's just a short episode where I share listeners wins, and I share one of mine. And I was like, there's 17 things that have gone wrong today, like 17, and they're all out of the control. None of them were things like, I knocked the first domino forward on that. So you have to just go, okay, what are those do I need to deal with? Can I just put that over here? Or what can I do? What is possible in this moment for me to handle so that I can keep moving the ball forward? Because, like you, my husband and I are both entrepreneurs. We work together, which is this own level of insanity. Kristen McGuiness 14:53  I love you both. Lesley Logan 14:55  I know everyone's like, so how do you do it? And I was like, I'm just gonna tell you right now. We're still figuring that out, and I think communication is really key, and sometimes we suck at it, but you try and you just go, okay, didn't handle that so good. Next time, I'll handle that better. But I think it's really there's honesty about it, and I love that you said you write your way through it. Some people will Pilates their way through it, or journal their way through it, or take a long bathrobe. But like, you, there's got to be a process for which you reflect and learn and integrate what's going on in your life.Kristen McGuiness 15:26  No, absolutely, and yeah, again. God bless you for being an entrepreneur with your husband. I try to, sometimes I have to help my husband with his business, and I'm like, I would quit this job in like five minutes, but he owns a restaurant, which is, like, I think the worst business you could open, honestly, I'm like, oh my God, every time I go to eat now at a restaurant, I have so much grace and gratitude for what happens. Our pediatrician once said, no one knows how expensive the cheat meal is. And I was like, so true. Like, you have no idea what people do to sell you food in a restaurant.Lesley Logan 16:01  Oh, you're, bless your husband and all the restaurateurs out there, but that's, I don't like the margins, but I would say books are very similar. So I feel.Kristen McGuiness 16:11  You realize that, thank you. We kind of realized that a little late. We're working our way through that. We did not know that. We thought, we knew that books were a slim profit margin. We naively thought the restaurant business wasn't. Then we discovered both were at the same time. We were like, you know, there's a great Macklemore song where he says, if I had done it for the money, I would have been a fucking lawyer. And I'm like, that's like, my bumper sticker I got in the back of my car. We're truly here for love and fun, and the belief in, apparently, pizza and books, but pizza is important. I will never deny that. But, yeah, no. I mean, we have learned. I mean, we are in a very high stress, double entrepreneurial situation, and also have an aging dog, and we are also in the end zone of what's to come on that. And it's just, it's so brutal, and yes, and it's the same thing where, like, there are days where we do not do it well, certainly. And then, like, recently, I've just, you know, been realizing that there is so much about this that you have to take your hands off the wheel, you know. And I've joked, like, I know, if you have seen the other the little gif at some point, I think everybody has. It's like, the end of Thelma and Louise. We're like, Thelma and Louise grab hands, and then the car flies off the Grand Canyon and like a hubcap falls off. And I've been using that gift is like, I just send it to everybody I work with, because I'm like, this is my business strategy. And last night, when my friends was like, you can't tell people that. And I was like, no, but it is because there is something about living your dreams that is just like a hope, a prayer and floor the fucking car, and, like, off you go, and you got to know that you're going to land. It might be a terrifying drop, but you're going to land. I mean, obviously, hopefully not in fire and death, but that's not going to happen, right? Like, no business ends like that. And so it is just this thing of, like, at a certain point you can work really hard, you can do all the strategies, right? But like, ultimately you didn't hit the first domino. And you just have to sometimes be like, Mercury is in retrograde, and we're just gonna wait until August 28 rolls around. Everything goes direct, or whatever it is, the thing that you know is, like, this is just, we're in the pressure cooker right now, but like, relief is always on the way. Lesley Logan 18:22  Oh, my God, this retrograde? We are feeling in every possible way of tech. I'm like, Okay, well, okay, we'll just redo that. We're like, I have a astrologist that I listen to who's always like, if it's put an argument in front of it, and that's the best thing, refine, reorganize, read, we're redoing. We're just gonna but I agree, you do have to take the action. You do have to put the pedal to the metal, but then you also have to, like, release and go, you know, it's gonna end somewhere. And some of the best things that ever happened in my business were the ones that felt that kind of happened for me, or to me or without, without the control, and I just have, it's not the right place at the right time, because I did the work to get there. But also, couldn't have happened without some just like magical or universal or divine appointment that happened along the way. And then you just have to ride that. You just have to enjoy that. And I also think it is crazy that I work with my husband. I also am so grateful because it's really fun to work with him. And I don't know that a lot of people can put up with my creative energy. There's not a lot of people who would be like, we love that idea. Lesley, we're gonna put that over here. You know, like a partner can go, yeah, later, until later. It's really refreshing and also just really nice to hear like, you know, you don't have everything figured out. Not everything happens the exact way it's supposed to. You didn't just turn a light switch on, and things worked. So thank you for sharing that. I want to get into, like, your latest book, is it Live Through This, and I just, can you tell us maybe, like, what was the drive like, why did you have to, like, why was it something you wanted to, like, get out of you, and what are you hoping that people get from it? Kristen McGuiness 19:52  Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I really lived through this. That nine-year-old was, at the time, only one years old. So it was in 2016, and it is not a spoiler alert, because it happens in chapter two. There's actually a mass shooting that sort of is the impetus for the whole story that kind of explodes across the rest of the pages, quite literally. And I was really moved to write it because, I mean, obviously we are a nation that deals with mass shootings all the time, but as we know, it's almost like a season, like there are these moments where it just feels like it's every day, you know, you're just like, oh my God, another one. Oh my God, another one. And 2016 felt that way. There were a lot of them, sort of back to back, and they had actually happened in places where I knew or was just felt like really emotionally connected to, actually, the shooting that happened in Paris, the Bataclan attack in November of 2015 I think that was, was in the neighborhood where we used to live in Paris. Someone was actually shot on our street corner. And then there was a shooting in San Bernardino at the regional center, which was 40 minutes from where I was working at that time at a nonprofit, also in a government building. So we began to get trained in our offices about what to do in the event of a mass shooting. And then the night of the Paul shooting was really the impetus where I was just like, oh my God, enough. My husband and I were about to go to a live concert a couple weeks after that shooting, and I began to get really scared. And I'm just not somebody who has, like, I have no agoraphobia. I'll go anywhere. I don't have a lot of just those kinds of fears. Or I'm really adventurous. I love to be out and about. And it was like a band we love and personally know, and a really fun night. And I actually began to get scared to go. And so it sort of led to this, you know, as a lot of books I think come out, oh, it was like, what would happen if, right? And I was like, what would happen if there was a shooting that night? And out of that began this story. And so it is about a shooting at a nightclub and a concert, and the main character loses her spouse, which, again, it happens in chapter two. So it, you know, it's kind of silly to hide it. And she begins to navigate what happens, not just after you lose someone, but also what happens after you go sort of like accidentally viral and suddenly and I started writing this long before Parkland, but it is the Parkland journey of what happened with a lot of those kids who've experienced significant trauma, not just from the event, but from the activism afterwards, because obviously they wanted to be part of activism, but the, and in the same with the Sandy Hook families and everything that happened with Alex Jones is that they're just dragged through the mud, and it's just so horrible what happens to them, and death threats, and, you know, it's like it was bad enough they went through the shooting, but now they have to go through this. And so she's navigating all of that, but it's 2016, it's on the eve of what ended up being a really shocking election that has dictated the last eight years of our lives. My God. oh my God, please let it end. And so this character isn't just deciding, hey, am I going to be an activist about what just happened to me? But also the story kind of stands on the pinnacle of art, what became our modern times. You know, how am I going to show up in this world as a person? And it's also about, really, her finding her voice, and she's coming out of a very complicated and hard marriage, and she grieves them, and she also has relief from what was a hard marriage. And so it's also about that, you know, I, I had that experience when my own father died, when my husband is completely alive and taking care of our kids, but, but when my father died, I really, you know, I really depicted it more about that relationship, because I had a very complicated relationship with my father, and when he passed away, I had a therapist who said to me, you know, you can have any reaction you want to this, and that includes relief, and it was such a freeing thing, because, you know, it's always like when someone dies, we're supposed to be sad. And it wasn't that I wasn't sad, but also I didn't have the complexity and the trauma of that relationship in my life. And so she's navigating that she has a young child, so she's also navigating being a single mom and all these different pieces. So it's interesting because it's set, now, it's almost like historical fiction, right? Oh, those sweet and gentle times of 2016 the days of yore, so, but it is also a lot about marriage and parenthood and sacrificing your dreams to show up and be a stable you know, I'm going to take care of the family and I'm going to do what I need to do, and she's in a nine-to-five job, and she sacrificed her dreams to just try to be like a normal person, only to discover that there's no such thing as normal, especially in modern America. And so we called it like a modern, suburban Western, because it is about that, and she has to become her own version of a gunslinger in the end.Lesley Logan 24:28  I do love that it's now historical fiction, because I too long for those days sometimes my husband and I sometimes I'm like, I just want to not know the house representative for, like, a state I've never been to. I just want to not know who that person is, but also like, how naive and how unique a time that was as well. Thank you for sharing the story. Now I feel like we need a Be It Till You See It book club, you guys, I want to hear all of your thoughts on reading it. I find fiction fascinating because I actually love it. I grew up on like Judy Blume, which is like fiction but not, you know what I mean. It's like, always based on something that happens, and then it's like, the story of it, your daughter, your it was your nine-year-old just one. Excuse me. Yeah, so with your, was there a part of you that was, like, writing it because also to be a parent of a time when, like, yeah, it's, I don't know how parents in their school, kids school, my mom's a school teacher. She's a first grade school teacher, and the thing she's telling me that she's have to prepare for, I'm like, you should not have a gun. I'm just gonna tell you right now, you know, I grew up with the earthquake drills. Now it's very different. And so was it partly just, it was even therapeutic, or just like, ways for you to kind of understand what you're going into as a parent at a time when this is such a scary thing going on?Kristen McGuiness 25:40  Yeah, no. I mean, that was definitely a driving force. I mean, it's a driving force every day, I think. I mean, especially now that I do have school aged children, and I mean, I make sure I kiss them every morning, just God forbid, I will not let them go to school without hugging them and kissing them. Because I remember one of the Parkland fathers, actually one of them who became quite active. I forget his name now, but he always said that the morning that his daughter left for school, they were really busy, and he didn't hug her and say goodbye, and he never knew he would never not see her again. And I just can't even fathom that pain, especially under the conditions that those murders take place. And so, yeah, I mean, I definitely wrote it for that. I mean, there's a as one of the my blurb authors, Gina Frangello, who's amazing, gave me this great blurb that's saying, like, it's a call to action, and the book really is. I mean, there's a moment in the book where the main character, I discovered, long after writing it, that there's actually a genre called autofiction, which is what I wrote. I just didn't know, you know, my own genre's name, until, like, six months ago, where it's like, it's totally my life, like anybody who reads the book, like, my husband's name is Terry, and my friends all call it the book where Terry dies and like, it freaks them out, because they're like, wait, he's still, he's still alive, like, I just saw him yesterday, but like, it's like the book where Terry dies, and I did. I mean, I did use our lives, because at the time, I had considered writing a memoir, but we're not that exciting of a couple. We don't drink, we don't smoke, we don't cheat on each other. I joke, it would just be like 100 pages of people arguing about finance and ADHD.Lesley Logan 27:08  There's, there's a, there's a group of people who would read that, you know?Kristen McGuiness 27:12  I mean, they still can, because they because the couple still argues about finance and ADHD in the book. But we just, we raised the stakes. They need a little more plot, a little more plot. So I gave it a lot of plot. But I mean, there's a scene in the book where the main character ends up having a meeting with the President of the time prior to Trump. And I didn't like, use Obama's name, but it's clearly him, because Obama would meet with people after those shootings, and she ends up with a one-on-one meeting, because she ends up kind of getting a little fame under her belt, and in that meeting, she flat out asked for an executive order banning assault weapons, because it's just and that's why, I mean, ultimately, I say like that is what? If you ask me what the book is about? Yeah, it's about marriage and single motherhood and mass shootings, but it's really about the need for, excuse me, an executive order banning assault weapons. One point, I'd actually worked on building a whole campaign around that, and an activism campaign, and then with everything that happened with the Biden administration, it didn't make sense. But I was just talking to one of my colleagues the other day, and I was like, look, if Trump makes it into office, we can just say goodbye, but if I'm like, truly, like, see you later, buddy.Lesley Logan 28:14  I know, especially after the most recent Supreme Court situation on that. I was like, What are we doing? Kristen McGuiness 28:18  I know. See on the flip side. Yeah, my husband and I like a boat, a boat sounds good. But if Kamala makes it into the office, there are some real changes that the Democrats have failed to make, multiple times over, with multiple opportunities, with control of the Senate, control of the House, and I would hope that she will take this enthusiasm and momentum, although obviously it will wane, because it is what it is. But I do think that people have returned to the fold in a way that's like, okay, let's just fucking do this. But once she, you know, presumably, gets to do it, she has to do something, because we just can't have somebody else show up again and not take control of the situation. Lesley Logan 28:59  Yeah, I love that. You said that what I'm thinking of is we live in a world where we do all have to be activists of some kind, but not every one of us is someone who wants to stand on a line and protest. That's not everyone's way of being an activist, but there are unique ways where we can be activating in people. And for some, you're barely keeping your head above water. And so your activism is telling your friends to vote, and you voting and doing the research, you know, like that could be your form of activism these days. Because, my goodness, if you don't know the US's voting records, or people are just don't do it. I've been to Australia. They're like, I don't understand. Like, we make it a holiday and everyone does it. It would be so weird to not do it. Kristen McGuiness 29:37  Well, it makes so much sense, wouldn't it? Lesley Logan 29:38  Yeah. And they're like, and you guys are just only this many people. I'm like, I don't really, I don't want to tell you. So for some of you, it might be an activating thing to go do that, but I love that you took this desire, this drive, this passion, and you put it in a form for people who want to have a really good read can be inspired by and also go, oh hold on, wait a minute. There are things that we can do, and there are things that can be done. And from our lips to their ears, my fucking goodness, if they do not hit the ground running, if they get what they need, like, I don't know what we're going to do. Want them to act with a little, just a little bit of urgency would be great, yeah, just that fucking tiny bit. And all this to say, the administration we have currently has done a lot with what they've had, but there was a two year mark where we could have just done a whole lot more, just saying, but I think like you're showing I hope that what everyone here is hearing this is like, you can have different ways of being an activist and different ways of inspiring people to think about what is possible and what can be done and keeping things in the forefront, because you're right, it goes in waves. That's not that we haven't had mass shootings. Unfortunately, they happen every day, and our media doesn't talk about it anymore. And then there'll be one, so then they'll talk about a few, and then they'll keep going, and then it becomes something else. And our media has talked about ADHD. They have a whole different acronym of what their attention span is. And so I appreciate your book, and I also appreciate this is a different way we can all figure out how we can take what we love and still use it to inspire others to take different actions. And I think that's really cool.Kristen McGuiness 31:14  Yeah. And I think, you know, going back sort of full circle on and, I mean, I think everybody has their the thing they used to get through life, right? Like I said, I write my way through this. So for me, my political activism, it makes sense for me to write it. That's the space in which I'm comfortable, you know. And everybody has their space in which they're comfortable. It's about to me, I think the most important thing is, as long as you keep paying attention, because the minute we stop paying attention, and that's the biggest thing too, is whatever way in which you can help other people to pay attention. You know, not just because you post on Instagram, although I don't not recognize how important that is, too. You know, the more that we are sharing information with each other, the more that we are talking, the more that we are activating each other into just awareness, hopefully, the better our world will be and the more we will demand the people in power to make certain decisions. And it does kind of go back into that idea, it's like, you know, we can, we can't control what the President does, but we can make choices every day to be part of that conversation in whatever way feels right and good and aligned with who we are. And so, you know, I've always been a political person, but I do believe that we all have our path through just navigating life and impacts those big systems have on all of us, no matter who we are.Lesley Logan 32:31  Yeah, you're so right. My husband, people wouldn't know, but his second hobby is like political podcast, the amount of research he does, and he's also the type of person who phone banks. So whenever they're like, are you volunteering? Like, only one person in the household can do it. Some of us have to keep the wheels on the bus right here. Kristen McGuiness 32:47  Like, phone banking's over here.Lesley Logan 32:48  He's phone banking, but he, I watch him all the time in his way of activating and activism, he's not afraid of a conversation with someone who disagrees. And he's like, oh, have you heard this podcast? And he'll just use a podcast episode that will explain to someone he's like, just think, just listen to it. There are ways of doing it. He's not on socials. Lucky him. You know. But like we each can have our way of being part of this society and making change. And it can be loud or it can be writing a book. It can be writing a play. It could also be how you teach a class. It can be the types of music that you're using to help and inspire people and have people ask questions. Or it can be like, Brad is like, oh, to our friend who had a flag up, we're like, it's interesting. I wouldn't have expected that from that person, and he just went with quiet curiosity and was like, oh, you should listen to this episode right here. And the guy did, that's where you make really big impact, is on those small relationships. It doesn't feel big in the moment, but it's big over time. And so you're just freaking cool. You're so cool, we're all gonna go read your book. What are you most excited about right now?Kristen McGuiness 33:50  I mean, I just wrote a screenplay in 12 hours, I'm very excited about that.Lesley Logan 33:55  Yeah. What did you guys do listening? She wrote a screenplay in 12 hours. I forgot my laundry in the wash machine. Kristen McGuiness 34:00  That's not what I do every day of my life, folks. So, by no means, there are a lot of days that are just laundry and lifting up a 80 pound dog who can't stand by himself. I take care of a lot of people, no, but I did get to do that. But the exciting part of that, the reason why I just cracked that out, is that Live Through This is actually going to a very big actress in the next week, and I wanted to have some sample writing to go with it. So that was the motivation to be like, I'm having dinner with the producer tonight. And I was like, I'm going to crack out that screenplay. She's a dear friend of mine. I'm going to give her a draft of it tonight, and hopefully next week we can turn around fast enough so that this book and this screenplay that I just wrote that is similar in that it's about, I mean, my poor husband has become a very unfortunate muse, but we just went on a two week trip to Greece that I said was like an odd DC and adventure. It was like, people like, how was your vacation? And I'm like, how do I respond to that? I'm far too honest to be like, it was fun. I'm like, it was not like two weeks laying around Hilton Head. It was a fucking life changing adventure, in good ways and bad. So I decided, you know what, I'm gonna write a screenplay about that experience, except for it includes, you know, talking cats and the goddess Artemis. And it's like, it's super funky and fun, and that's just what I did. And the beauty of it is that I am also a book publisher, and I'm a book coach. I have a book coaching company, Rise Writers, and a book publishing house, Rise Books. So, so much of my time when I am not parenting, I actually am not a writer. That's not what pays the bills, right? So I have this other really big creative job, but it's so much of my time and energy goes into other people's creative projects. So when I just finished that screenplay, I was like, who knows what's gonna happen with this crazy thing I just wrote. But the fact is, I got to just do that for me and the catharsis and excitement. I mean, I'll watch anything with a talking animal. So, I mean, I just figured if nobody else ever wants to see this movie, I'd watch it just for a talking cat named Gordon. Lesley Logan 35:57  Oh, don't you love a pet with, a pet with a human name. I screwed up. We named all of our animals like something important, and the next round is going to be like, Bob and Jonathan.Kristen McGuiness 36:09  My dog's name is Peter. It's actually like, it's so funny, because there are a lot of dogs with human names, but that wouldn't, for that reason. And he also looks like a human so he actually confuses people. When people look at my dog, they're like, oh Peter. And you see, there's a moment where they go, is that a person or a dog? Lesley Logan 36:26  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand. I understand. Oh my god. I adore you. I'm so excited to see where this goes. And I just so appreciate your vulnerability and honesty about how you do life, because I think that, for everyone listening, there's something to pick up there. We're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out how people can find you, follow you, read all of your goodness. All right, Kristen, tell us where people can read your amazing book, or find out if Gordon ever makes it on the big screen. Kristen McGuiness 36:51  Yeah, let's say if ever there was a cat who deserved the big screen. No, you can find me at Kristen McGinnis on Instagram or @RiseLiterary, but my website is riseliterary.com where you can learn more about me and the book publishing house, Rise Books, as well as all of our book coaching programs. If you are writing a book and are interested in finding out how you do that, we offer lots of ways to find your path to publishing, which is like our trademarkable motto. But also you can find Live Through This anywhere it's sold. It's distributed by Simon & Schuster. So we are everywhere, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, I guess I will flash the book, yeah. So wherever books are sold. So yeah, but otherwise, just come and check us out and hope to connect with some of y'all listening soon.Lesley Logan 37:40  All right, before I let you go, bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Kristen McGuiness 37:48  All right. This is, when I read the email beforehand. I was like, yikes.Lesley Logan 37:55  I know you know what though, you're brilliant. It'll, every like, it's gonna be brilliant, whatever you say, so don't be yikes.Kristen McGuiness 38:02  No. I mean, I think if I could just show the gift from the end of Thelma and Louise, that would be it. But, I mean, I do think it is it, you know. I mean, I think it's about never lose sight of the dream, no matter what, and no matter what gets in the way, you know, no matter what life shows up, no matter what children you have, no matter where your marriage goes, or whether you get married or not, or whether you have kids, no matter whether the dog passes away or you get a kitten, you know, no matter what comes there's this great I think it's an Emmy Lou Harris song that says all that you have is your soul. And I think that that's really true. We are always there underneath it all, and as long as we connect back into that, and I'll actually end on an Oprah quote, one of my authors put this in a book that she just, we're publishing in May, called Rewrite the Mother Code. I will also honor her, Dr Gertrude Lyons, she's writing it, and she puts this Oprah quote in there that said, I've learned, and I'm going to not say the quote perfectly, but like I've learned over time that there is always a small, quiet voice inside me that's leading me where I'm supposed to go. And the only times I've ever made mistakes in life is when I've chosen to ignore that voice. And I think that, to me, is the biggest step is like, as long as you're listening to the small, quiet voice inside you, you will always end up where you need to go, so you don't need to grip the wheels so tightly. Let go and get the gas and enjoy the view. Lesley Logan 39:30  Oh, Kristen, I'm obsessed. You're amazing. Y'all, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Let Kristen know. Let us know at the Be It Pod. Share this with a friend. Sometimes it's like the thing that someone needs to help them listen to that voice inside and, you know, write their way through it, or Pilates their way through it, or whatever it is, because we all have something we can do in this world. Thank you so much. And until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 40:37  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 40:42  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 40:47  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 40:54  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 40:57  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A quick Sunday episode wherein I share some exciting news: Later this year, I will be launching a new company called DeepDive, which specializes in the creation of long-form educational audio. The debut course from DeepDive will be 'How to Write a Novel,' and it will feature more than 50 hours of never-before-heard conversations with dozens of today's leading writers, including Emily St. John Mandel, Porochista Khakpour, Melissa Broder, Steve Almond, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Lynn Steger Strong, Vauhini Vara, Lydia Kiesling, Madelaine Lucas, Matt Bell, Jerry Stahl, Hannah Pittard, Kimberly King Parsons, Gina Frangello, Stephen Graham Jones, and many more. The official DeepDive website is www.deepdive.audio. And please follow DeepDive on Instagram and on BlueSky. You can sign up for the official DeepDive newsletter right here. And you can read my Substack announcement here. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram  TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Notes and Links to Ben Tanzer's Work      For Episode 250, Pete welcomes Ben Tanzer, and the two discuss, among other topics, his childhood love of books, formative and transformative writers and writing, bothy past and present, muses, Jim Carroll and his powerful and pivotal work, Ben's podcast and motivations for living the creative life, and salient themes and issues in his novel like sacrifice, family bonds, parenthood, small towns, the unknown, and awe.      Ben Tanzer is an Emmy-award winning coach, creative strategist, podcaster, writer, teacher and social worker who has been helping nonprofits, publishers, authors, small business and career changers tell their stories for 20 plus years. He serves as a Lecturer (and part-time faculty) at Lake Forest College, where he teaches LOOP 202: 21st Century Development and Liberal Arts and The Workplace. He produces and hosts This Podcast Will Change Your Life (300+ episodes and counting), which was launched in February 2010, focuses on authors and changemakers from around the country and the world, and was named by Elephant Journal as one of "The 10 Best Podcasts to Help you Change your Life. His written work includes the short story collection UPSTATE, the science fiction novel Orphans and the essay collections Lost in Space and Be Cool. I'm a storySouth and Pushcart nominee, a finalist for the Annual National Indie Excellence and Eric Hoffer Book Awards, a winner of the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival Nonfiction Prose Award and a Midwest Book Award.   Buy The Missing   A Conversation with Ben in The Chicago Review   Ben Tanzer's Website   At about 2:15, Ben gives background on the “creative life” and his day-to-day and “hustle” At about 5:30, Ben describes the importance of an “awesomely discouraging” tax person when one lives the creative life At about 6:45, Ben shouts out Columbia College in Chicago At about 7:45, Ben discusses his early relationship with reading and the written word At about 10:00, Ben talks about meaningful feedback in a writing class and how he started his writing career  At about 11:10, Ben cites Jim Carroll's Basketball Diaries, DeGrazia's American Skin, and other formative texts, like Catcher in the Rye, Will Allison and Joe Mino,  At about 14:10, Ben reflects on the importance of cross country and wrestling in his life At about 15:10, Ben shouts out Wendy C. Ortiz's Excavation, Gina Frangello, Donald Quist, Joe Meno, Sara Lippman, Alice Kaltman, Gionna Cromley, Lee Matthew Goldberg, and Lisa Cross Smith as writers and writing that thrills and inspires and “crush[es]” him At about 17:30, Pete cites the thrill of meeting standout writers, and Ben expands upon ideas of the brain being “profoundly affected” by meeting literary heroes At about 20:10, Ben talks about his podcast and its roots and philosophy  At about 22:30, Ben responds to Pete's question about Ben's viewpoint on the “muse,” in both his writing and his podcasting-shout out to SpiderMeka! At about 27:15, Pete and Ben lay out the book's exposition and Ben discusses the book's seeds At about 29:45, Ben gives background on a stimulating idea provided by his agent At about 31:45, The two discuss the aging and maturing or not of the central characters of the book At about 36:00, The two discuss how Ben writes about “what could have been” in using “speculative flashbacks” and ideas of the sexualization of young girls, especially in missing children cases; Ben shouts out Emily Schultz's Little Threats At about 40:35, Ben reflects on playing with the idea of having a kid who would dare date someone with a bad haircut, etc. At about 42:25, The two discuss unprocessed traumas and Hannah and Gabriel's mindsets and an awe-inspiring scene involving trains At about 47:00-Bobby Baccala and the trains-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! At about 47:45, Ben responds to Pete's comments about Gabriel being referenced in the book as a “good father and a bad husband” At about 51:45, Pete wonders about Krista's reasons for leaving, and Ben talks about the unknown and his rationale in using a lot of unknown, as well as how many real-life parallels he's seen to the book's events At about 55:35, A key question about living one's best life is explored At about 56:15, Casting choices abound! and Ben expands on his interest in Officer John At about 57:35, Ed, father of Hannah, is explored as a victim and a great listener, and Gabriel's mother as an “enabler” is expanded upon At about 1:01:05, Ben gives contact info and social media information At about 1:03:10, Pete and Ben discuss the buying domain business    You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    I am very excited about having one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    This month's Patreon bonus episode features segments from conversations with Deesha Philyaw, Luis Alberto Urrea, Chris Stuck, and more, as they reflect on chill-inducing writing and writers that have inspired their own work.       This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 251 with Alexandra Alessandri. She is the author of several books for children, including Isabel and Her Colores Go to School (2021), and Grow Up, Luchy Zapata (2024), a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection; her books have received numerous distinctions, including the International Latino Book Award    The episode will go live on September 3.     Lastly, please go to https://ceasefiretoday.com/, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.

In today's 'Craftwork' episode, a conversation with Emily Rapp Black about "truth" in creative nonfiction. Emily is the author of five books of creative nonfiction: Poster Child, The Still Point of the Turning World, which was a New York Times bestseller, Sanctuary, Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg, and I Would Die if I Were You (forthcoming). She is Professor of Creative Writing at UC-Riverside and a co-founder, with Gina Frangello, of Circe Consulting, which offers coaching and developmental editing to writers. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  YouTube TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gina Frangello is the guest in the latest 'Craftwork' episode. We talk about the editorial omniscient point of view—what it is, what it can do, and how to use it in your writing. Gina is the author of the acclaimed memoir Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason (Counterpoint, 2021). Her other books include Every Kind of Wanting, A Life in Men, Slut Lullabies, and My Sister's Continent. Her short fiction, essays, book reviews, and journalism have been published in Ploughshares, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, Fence, Five Chapters, Prairie Schooner, Chicago Reader, and many other publications. She is also the co-founder, with Emily Rapp Black, of Circe Consulting, which provides a variety of services to writers. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Launched in 2011. Books. Literature. Writing. Publishing. Authors. Screenwriters. Etc. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  YouTube TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gina Frangello is an author, editor, book reviewer, and journalist published in many prestigious journals and publications. She is the author of Every Kind of Wanting, A Life in Men, Slut Lullabies, and My Sister's Continent. Despite these many accomplishments, Gina has come to wider reputation for her newest book, a memoir, Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason. Her book was called “Searing, honest, heartbreaking, heart-mending, and a hell of a ride,” by Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers. Part memoir, part social commentary, this poignant book of raw candor does what its title implies…it blows the house down, departing from the customary expectations of women's memoir, and daring to tell the truth about being an imperfect woman who has the sheer audacity to rise into a happy life after making mistakes in her life.

Amanda and Jenn discuss books about being non-binary, Maggie Nelson comps, historical fiction about real women, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Feedback Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's novels A Kind of Freedom and The Revisioners (rec'd by Sibyl) The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (C/a for physical / emotional abuse of minors) and Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz (rec'd by Gina) Books Discussed The Moon Within by Aida Salazar Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, illustrated by Phoebe Kobabe The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish (cw: bullying, ableism) Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, transl. by Ginny Tapley Takemori Hold Me by Courtney Milan Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello (tw violence against women) White Magic by Elissa Washuta (cw: intimate partner violence, PTSD, ableism, racism, disordered drug use) Matrix by Lauren Groff Maud's Line by Margaret Verble (cw: death of animals) Llama Llama Nighty Night by Anna Dewdney Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hilarious couple returns, sharing their sometimes harrowing, frequently inspiring, and always entertaining stories of eking out their livings as they clawed their ways into their respective successful literary careers. Learn more about Gina Frangello on her website: www.ginafrangello.com Order her book: “A Life in Men: A Novel.” Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter. You can read about Rob Roberge on his Wikipedia page… And you can purchase his book, “Liar.” -- Follow the show on... Instagram: www.instagram.com/make_that_paper_podcast/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/makethatpaperpodcast/ Twitter: twitter.com/makethatpaperpc/ Follow Jaime on... Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaimeparkerstickle/ Twitter: twitter.com/JaimeStickle Follow Jason on... Instagram: www.instagram.com/jjbeebstagram/ Twitter: twitter.com/jasonjackbeeber --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/makethatpaperpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/makethatpaperpodcast/support

509. Gina Frangello, Writer, and Rob Roberge, Writer In our 50th Episode the hilarious couple shares their sometimes harrowing, frequently inspiring, and always entertaining stories of eking out their livings as they clawed their ways into their respective successful literary careers. Learn more about Gina Frangello on her website: www.ginafrangello.com Order her book: “A Life in Men: A Novel.” Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter. You can read about Rob Roberge on his Wikipedia page… And you can purchase his book, “Liar.” -- Follow the show on... Instagram: www.instagram.com/make_that_paper_podcast/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/makethatpaperpodcast/ Twitter: twitter.com/makethatpaperpc/ Follow Jaime on... Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaimeparkerstickle/ Twitter: twitter.com/JaimeStickle Follow Jason on... Instagram: www.instagram.com/jjbeebstagram/ Twitter: twitter.com/jasonjackbeeber --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/makethatpaperpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/makethatpaperpodcast/support

In this episode, Kimberly and Gina discuss Gina's latest book, a memoir titled Blow Your House Down. Gina shares the emotions she experienced while writing a book that explores her experiences of caregiving to her parents, becoming a mother to three children, having an extra-marital affair, surviving breast cancer, and more. In this conversation, Kimberly and Gina unpack how these common stories are unfavorably received in society but also how our painful stories offer a sense of community and understanding. They also discuss various common experiences of women that are culturally taboo such as anger, eroticism, illness, and affairs and the importance of sharing our stories.   Bio Gina Frangello recently released her first memoir Burn Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism and Treason to critical acclaim after years of fiction- Every Kind of Wanting, A Life in Men, Slut Lullabies, and My Sister's Continent-- short fiction, essays, book reviews, and journalism have been published in Ploughshares, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, Fence, Five Chapters, Prairie Schooner, Chicago Reader, and many other publications. She recently founded Circe Consulting, teaches editing and writing, and lives with her family in the Chicago area.   What She Shares: --Divorce, death of parents, cancer diagnosis, extra-marital affair --Writing as both re-traumatizing and healing --Women's anger as culturally taboo  --Themes of marriage, motherhood, caretaking, and illness --Stories of eroticism for all women not just young    What You'll Hear: --Describes “The Story of A” --Leaving marriage, father died, diagnosed with breast cancer, having an extra-marital affair --Discusses different literary techniques used to tell life's story --Describes giving herself permission to be vulnerable in memoir --Complexity of being both victim and having agency --Author's choice of only including family members as stories intersect with hers --Discusses experience of writing about hardest moments in her life --Trained as a therapist --Experienced catharsis and emotional impact after readers' feedback about memoir --The “I” as a lens that opens out to more than just writer's story --Book as hybrid of memoir and cultural criticism --Historical look at condition of women in a larger sense --Motherhood and sexuality --Women demonized for anger throughout history --Focus on full range of emotions (anger, fear, compassion, love, desire, etc.) --Anger as a viable emotion part of human experience --Anger overly normalized in men and overly demonized in women --Moving beyond reductive casualties or binaries of good/bad --Reality is more complicated than cultural systems accept --Our choices are often driven by more than just good/bad and are complex --Discusses experience in affair, divorce, and marrying again --Describes story wouldn't have been different if she did not marry man who had an affair with --Pushes back against critiques of story as reinforcing heteronormative marraige norms, redemption after an affair --Resists a “clean reduction of a woman” amidst messiness of life --Different possible outcomes at different stages of her story --Resists fairytale-esque assumptions about her life --Discusses care-taking of mentally ill parent, being a partner to someone with mental health issues, growing up in poverty and around violence, a woman's experience with medical industrial complex --Overlaps of being a woman, mother, wife, lover, daughter, friend, etc. --Explosion of acceptability of writing sexuality by younger women in literary world --Older women not as acceptable to discuss sexuality or bodies of women who are mothers --Importance of including eroticism of older women, disabled women, mothers, etc. --Fetishization of younger women's sexuality and consequences Resources Website: https://www.ginafrangello.org/ www.circeconsulting.net IG: @ginafrangello

Gina Frangello's new memoir, Blow Your House Down, was met with wide acclaim, impassioned support, and also the judgments and criticisms that people love to lob at women who write about their authentic, messy lives. She writes about adultery, a longtime affair, and eventually breaking up her family, with repercussions to all concerned, including her children. At the center of this conversation, moderated by Brooke Warner, are questions about how women are encouraged to be silent, or get silenced.

Gina Frangello (she/her) is the author of four books of fiction in addition to her debut memoir, Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason, a book the LA Times called her “most lyrical, adventurous and important work.” In addition to her works of fiction, Gina has 20 years of experience as an editor, and her short fiction, essays, book reviews and journalism have been published in The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. She currently lives with her family in the Chicago area. Follow Gina: https://www.ginafrangello.com/ - be. (bewomn.com) is a newsletter & community here to empower women and non-binary people to step into their collective experience and share what makes theirs different and the same. Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://campsite.bio/bewomn Follow us on Instagram: @be.womn Follow us on Twitter: @bewomn

In this episode, acclaimed author Gina Frangello speaks to writing her multi-faceted memoir on adultery Blow Your House Down with Booktails co-hosts Reine Dugas and Heather Fowler, as well as reading from this book and discussing the authorial lens, narratives of disruption, male violence, the difference between love and certainty, feminism, research, and more. The recipe for his book's custom cocktail, the Aperol Affair,  is on the Hot Redhead Media blog.  Grab a copy of Blow Your House Down, make a cocktail, and listen.

This week's episode is an intense, powerful, and frank interview with author Gina Frangello as part of WomenLit, a Bay Area program dedicated to elevating women's voices. Gina's latest book, Blow Your House Down, is a tour de force and a memoir that's had everyone talking—because she really goes there: into her shame, into her fear, into abuse, into sex and body, and into what it's like to live a double life since the book is about having a clandestine affair for three-plus years. This is a brave book that's making some people uncomfortable and has many reevaluating how truthful and brave they want to be on the page.

Gina Frangello is an accomplished editor and the Founder of the independent press Other Voices Books. She is also the author of several fiction books, and her short stories, essays, book reviews, and journalism have appeared in Ploughshares, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, and many other publications. Her most recent book, Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason, is a personal account of her awakening to the fault lines in her marriage, her passionate affair with another man, and the ways our culture seeks to cage women in traditional narratives of self-sacrifice and erasure. In this episode… When everyday life is chaotic, difficult, or unfulfilling, affairs can offer an escape from reality. However, the deception of an affair isn't always limited to the lies we tell others — trying to escape reality can also be a way of deceiving ourselves. According to author Gina Frangello, nothing is really an escape. She understands how, at first, leading a double life can feel exciting and intoxicating. But, while it may initially seem like a neat compartmentalized part of your life, your affair will eventually overlap with your other relationships and challenges. Once this happens, Gina suggests that the best way forward is finding a way to face your fears, accept yourself for who you are, and make the necessary changes to live a happier, healthier life. In this episode of Your Secret is Safe With Me, Dr. Marie Murphy sits down with author Gina Frangello to talk about her new memoir, Blow Your House Down. Together, they discuss why infidelity often overshadows all other aspects of a relationship, the discrimination middle-aged women face in today's society, and how fear can prevent you from putting your well-being first. Plus, Gina explains why it's so important to find a way of accepting yourself for who you are. Stay tuned.

Gina Frangello is the author of BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN: A Story or Family, Feminism, and Treason, EVERY KIND OF WANTING, & A LIFE IN MEN. Nonfiction editor at LA Review of Books. A Life in Men: A Novel is currently under production with Charlize Theron's production company Denver & Delilah for Netflix which will star Kristen Stewart and Riley Keough. "Compelling, honest, and thought-provoking, Gina Frangello's memoir is an inspired addition to her astounding body of work." —Charlize Theron Gina Frangello spent her early adulthood trying to outrun a youth marked by poverty and violence. Now a long-married wife and devoted mother, the better life she carefully built is emotionally upended by the death of her closest friend. Soon, awakened to fault lines in her troubled marriage, Frangello is caught up in a recklessly passionate affair, leading a double life while continuing to project the image of the perfect family. When her secrets are finally uncovered, both her home and her identity will implode, testing the limits of desire, responsibility, love, and forgiveness. A New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice • A Good Morning America Recommended Book • A BuzzFeed Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Rumpus Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Bustle Most Anticipated Book of the Month GINA FRANGELLO is also the Sunday editor for The Rumpus and the fiction editor for The Nervous Breakdown, and is on faculty at UCR-Palm Desert's low residency MFA program in Creative Writing. The longtime Executive Editor of Other Voices magazine and Other Voices Books, she now runs Other Voices Querétaro, an international writing program. Theme music by Joseph E. Martinez of Junius Follow us on social at: Twitter: @WakeIslandPod Instagram: @wakeislandpod --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wake-island/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wake-island/support

May Cobb, author of the forthcoming thriller THE HUNTING WIVES joins the show to talk lust, greed, power, and inappropriate women. She talks about the power dynamics in groups of women in fiction and real life, and the roles women play within these groups. May describes her childhood in oil rich, booze soaked east Texas and how she used real life people to conceive her characters. We talk about lust as a driving force and the language people use to discuss women who lust vs. men who lust. Carly recommends Gina Frangello's new memoir, "Blow Your House Down."Find May on Instagram and be sure to check out the cocktail that pairs with THE HUNTING WIVES, based on another scandalous woman in history. You can find the recipe on Instagram @huckleberryginbar. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, share with your reader friends, and leave a review! 

"I tried to write a narrative that would talk about the collisions of full-throttle life and what happens to women who are over forty who don't remain in that happily-ever-after state.” Gina Frangello discusses her new memoir, Blow Your House Down, and how through it she wants to challenge "the invisibility of middle-aged and older women and this false assumption that our inner lives and our changes and our evolutions just sort of stop after we get married and we have children.” She honestly discusses her past extramarital affair, and contemplates the surreal experience of leading many lives.Purchase your copy on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3t41I5KBookshop: https://bit.ly/31XgAqM See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From Eve and her apple to Madame Bovary or the Scarlet Letter, stories of adulterous women have long fascinated and scandalised readers, with most heroines meeting a tragic end. Yet author Gina Frangello wanted to avoid telling a cautionary tale with a neat and happy ending, as she recounted the events that shook up her marriage and her sense of self in her unflinching memoir “Blow Down Your House”.

Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism and Treason by Gina Frangello by Poets & Writers

Gina Frangello is the author of the memoir Blow Your House Down, available from Counterpoint Press. This is Gina's second time on the program. She first appeared in Episode 16 on November 9, 2011. Frangello's other books include Every Kind of Wanting, A Life in Men, Slut Lullabies, and My Sister's Continent. Her short fiction, essays, book reviews, and journalism have been published in Ploughshares, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, Fence, Five Chapters, Prairie Schooner, Chicago Reader, and many other publications. She lives with her family in the Chicago area. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Launched in 2011. Books. Literature. Writing. Publishing. Authors. Screenwriters. Life. Death. Etc. Support the show on Patreon Merch www.otherppl.com @otherppl Instagram  YouTube Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of hard-won sobriety, while rebuilding a life with his wife and young daughter, thirty-five-year-old Joshua Mohr suffers a stroke—his third, it turns out— which uncovers a heart condition requiring surgery. Which requires fentanyl, one of his myriad drugs of choice. This forced “freelapse” should fix his heart, but what will it do to his sobriety? And what if it doesn’t work? Told in stunning, surreal, time-hopping vignettes, Model Citizen is a raw, revealing portrait of an addict. Mohr shines a harsh spotlight into all corners of his life, throwing the wild joys, tragedies, embarrassments, and adventures of his past into bold relief. Mohr is in conversation with Gina Frangello. _______________________________________________   Produced by Maddie Gobbo, Lance Morgan, & Michael Kowaleski Theme: "I Love All My Friends," an unreleased demo by Fragile Gang. Visit https://www.skylightbooks.com/event for future offerings from the Skylight Books Events team.

Hello and welcome to Episode Twenty Six of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. After missing a month due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic we're back and so happy to be! I'm your host, Hannah! If you enjoy the podcast subscribe, tell a friend, or write us a review! The Spanish Language Book Review begins at 17:42 and ends 21:43 at The English Language Transcript can be found below But as always we start with Reader's Advisory! The Reader's Advisory for Episode Twenty Six is Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala. If you like Speak No Evil you should also check out: Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta, Every Kind of Wanting by Gina Frangello, and Where We Come From by Oscar Casares. My personal favorite Goodreads list Speak No Evil is on is Oooh Shiny! March 2018. Today’s Library Tidbit is all about tabletop gaming and Dungeons & Dragons. Tabletop game covers a very wide array of types of games, including chess, shogi, backgammon, mahjong, and go. However, Dungeons & Dragons specifically developed out of wargames. Wargames started as military training tools. The Prussian were the first known people to use tabletop wargaming and they did so for military training. Once the Prussian beat the French in the Franco-Prussian war wargaming became a more widely used training strategy and also spread to be a fun hobby. One of the more well known early wargames players was author H. G. Wells who created a rule book for a game called Little Wars that used toy soldiers, a large open area like a living room floor or a lawn, and spring loaded cannon to attack opponents with. Gary Gygax, a well known wargaming enthusiast, developed Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson by adapting wargames by adding in fantasy elements. Some fantasy authors that influences Dungeons & Dragons include, but are very not limited to, J. R. R. Tolkien, Poul Anderson, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber, and Lewis Carroll. Dungeons & Dragons is set up and the narrative run by a person called a Dungeon Master. This person is responsible for creating the dungeons (maps that the players go through), writing a narrative the players will be following, guiding the players using the narrative along the story path, playing the non-player characters and monsters, and oh yeah, keeping the rules. Players before starting the game role up a character sheet. A character sheet is where a player keeps track of their characters stats and inventory. Although D&D is famous for being played in person and on a shared “tabletop”, the game has a devoted online game scene in the modern day. Online D&D groups function the same as their offline counterparts with a Dungeon Master and a handful of players except instead of sharing a table, the group members meet over voice and video chat programs like Discord, Google Hangouts, Skype, or Zoom. If you're interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons online you can see if any friends have a group you could join, check out social media, and online discussion boards. Groups looking for new members or Dungeon Masters could post on D&D Beyond or the Looking For Group sub-reddit. You can also check out Facebook groups too! Several library workers here enjoy a variety of different types of tabletop gaming and we hope that if you’re interested that you look into trying out one using an online service. And now it's time for Book Traveler, with Victor: Intro: Welcome to a new episode of Book Traveler. My name is Victor and I am a librarian at the Largo Public Library. Today I am going to talk to you about a fiction book that we have in the Spanish collection entitled La Fruta del Borrachero by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. Synopsis: In this captivating debut, Ingrid Rojas uses by her own life to talk about the passage from childhood to adulthood of two powerful narrative voices. An exuberant story that, framed in one of the most convulsive times of Colombia, sheds light on the unexpected ties that can be born...

This week we're joined by author Gina Frangello, part of the brain-trust behind Bombay Beach Lit Week, which runs from March 23-29th.

Chicago writer Gina Frangello, the author of Every Kind of Wanting and A Life in Men (one of our personal faves!), sets her novels in locations around the world, and the theme of travel as self-exploration runs deep. We talk to Gina about how travel affects her as a writer and as a woman, as well as some of techniques she uses to incorporate it into her writing. We also discuss how Gina came from a family who never traveled to someone who explores the markets of Nairobi with her daughters in tow. PS: Have you heard of Bombay Beach, California? Gina talks about her recent trip to the post-apocalyptic beach town with its own dead sea.  Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here. Like XX, Will Travel on Facebook: www.facebook.com/xxwilltravel/ Follow XX, Will Travel on Twitter: @XXWillTravel Follow XX, Will Travel on Instagram: @XXWillTravel

Catalina (Farrar/MCD) A magnetic, provocative debut novel chronicling a young woman’s downward spiral following the end of an affair Elsa Fisher is headed for rock bottom. At least, that’s her plan. She has just been fired from MoMA on the heels of an affair with her married boss, and she retreats to Los Angeles to blow her severance package on whatever it takes to numb the pain. Her abandoned crew of college friends (childhood friend Charlotte and her wayward husband, Jared; and Elsa’s ex-husband, Robby) receive her with open arms, and, thinking she’s on vacation, a plan to celebrate their reunion on a booze-soaked sailing trip to Catalina Island. But Elsa doesn’t want to celebrate. She is lost, lonely, and full of rage, and only wants to sink as low as the drugs and alcohol will take her. On Catalina, her determined unraveling and recklessness expose painful memories and dark desires, putting everyone in the group at risk. With the creeping menace of Patricia Highsmith and the bender-chic of Bret Easton Ellis, Liska Jacobs brings you inside the mind of an angry, reckless young woman hell-bent on destruction—every page taut with the knowledge that Elsa’s path does not lead to a happy place. Catalina is a compulsive, deliciously dark exploration of beauty, love, and friendship, and the sometimes toxic desires that drive us. Praise for Catalina “Catalina is an extraordinarily engaging study in the tension of opposing forces: youth and world-weariness, beauty and unreliability, good intentions and roads to hell. The backbone of the novel is its relentless unwillingness to apologize for its main character—not for her faults, not for her complexities. Hot damn and about time. Liska Jacobs writes with teeth; this book’s got bite.”—Jill Alexander Essbaum, New York Times-bestselling author of Hausfrau “Catalina’s feminist fatale narrator, Elsa, has both the heartbroken cynicism of Daisy Buchanan and the inscrutable seductiveness of Carmen in The Big Sleep. Liska Jacobs writes crystal-clear, hypnotically sensual prose, and Catalina is California noir at its darkest and sharpest.”—Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man and In the Drink “In her propulsive debut, Liska Jacobs tells the story of a beautiful young woman’s dissolute downward spiral with precision and insight. Catalina deftly explores the desperate social frontiers where the morals of the privileged class dissolve. You won’t be able to look away.”—J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times-bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest? “Catalina is true California, down to the bones and skin, a novel about the places Liska Jacobs knows in her soul. Beauty and the body as currency and betrayal, seekers of love and comfort—her characters blow all that up, and just when you think you know what will happen, Catalina swerves and you are along for the ride.”—Susan Straight, author of Between Heaven and Here and Highwire Moon “Sophisticated and surprising, Catalina brings an excitingly modern vibe to the time-honored story of a young woman coming undone in California. Like a love child of Joan Didion and Kate Braverman, Liska Jacobs is a master of menacing cool and the seductive havoc wreaked by self-destruction.”—Gina Frangello, author of A Life in Men and Every Kind of Wanting Liska Jacobs holds an MFA from the University of California, Riverside. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in The Rumpus, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, The Millions, and The Hairpin, among other publications. Catalina is her first novel. Photo by Jordan Bryant David L. Ulin is the author, most recently, of the novel Ear to the Ground.A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, his other books include Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles, a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, and the Library of America's Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology, which won a California Book Award.

Every Kind of Wanting (Counterpoint) Every Kind of Wanting explores the complex intersection of three unique families and their bustling efforts to have a "Community Baby." Miguel could not be more different from his partner Chad, a happy-go-lucky real estate mogul from Chicago's wealthy North Shore. When Chad's sister, Gretchen offers the couple an egg, their search for a surrogate leads them to Miguel's old friend Emily, happily married to an eccentric Irish playwright, Nick, with whom she is raising two boys. Into this web falls Miguel's sister Lina, a former addict and stripper, who begins a passionate affair with Nick while deciphering the mysteries of her past.  But every action these couples make has unforeseen consequences. As Lina faces her long-hidden demons, and the fragile friendships between Miguel and Chad and Nick and Emily begin to fray as the baby's birth draws near, a shocking turn of eventsand the secret Lina's been hiding threaten to break them apart forever.  By turns funny, dark and sexy, Every Kind of Wanting strips bare the layers of the American family today. Tackling issues such as assimilation, the legacy of secrets, the morality of desire, and ultimately who "owns" love, the characters across all ethnicities, nationalities, and sexualities are blisteringly alive. Praise for Every Kind of Wanting "Who really owns a baby or another person's heart? Is it the community of people who love and want a child? The woman whose eggs are responsible? Or the surrogate who carries the fetus? Frangello's scorching, funny, and deeply moving novel is a brilliant fusion of deep secrets, stunning lies, the murky past and the uncertain future, all couched around the very human cost of desire. So fearless and ambitious, the pages practically ignite."--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You  "Desire is at the heart of Frangello's work, and whether we can survive it is central to this raw, wonderful, and unmistakably contemporary novel. This is the future that our conservative forebears were scared of, in all its messy, hopeful glory."--J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchen of the Great Midwest Gina Frangello is the author of the Target Emerging Authors selection A Life in Men, which was a book club selection for NYLON magazine, The Rumpus, and The Nervous Breakdown. She is also the author of two other books of fiction: Slut Lullabies, a Foreword Magazine Best Book of the Year finalist, and My Sister’s Continent. She is the founder of Other Voices Books, has served as the Sunday editor for The Rumpus, the fiction editor for The Nervous Breakdown, executive editor for Other Voices magazine, and the faculty editor for TriQuarterly Online. She can be found at www.ginafrangello.com. Photo by Blair Holmes The author of a dozen nonfiction books and an acclaimed novel, Meredith Maran is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the MacDowell Fellows West. She writes features, essays, and book reviews for People, Salon, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Real Simple, Mother Jones, Good Housekeeping, and other publications. She lives in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

The friendship between Mary and Nix has endured since childhood, a seemingly unbreakable bond, until the mid-1980s, when the two young women reunite for a summer vacation in Greece. It’s a trip instigated by Nix, who has just learned that Mary has been diagnosed with a disease that will inevitably cut her life short. Nix, […] The post Gina Frangello: A Life In Men appeared first on Tin House.

Chris Parris-Lamb is the guest. He is a literary agent at The Gernert Company in New York City. His clients include Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) and Garth Risk Hallberg (City on Fire).  The New York Observer says "Mr. Parris-Lamb has managed over the past year to sell a tall stack of books by first-time authors, some of them for money that would please even the most seasoned veterans." Also on this episode:  A segment of my conversation with Gina Frangello, author of A Life in Men (Algonquin Books), the official February selection of The TNB Book Club.  To hear the full hour with Gina, simply click here and sign up for Other People Premium. Monologue topics: insomnia, TED Talks, anger, disgust, tweets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gina Frangello is the guest. Her new novel, A Life in Men, is the official February selection of The TNB Book Club.  It is available now from Algonquin Books. Booklist raves “In this bravura performance, a quantum creative leap...Frangello astutely dissects the quandaries of female sexuality, adoption, terminal illness, and compound heartbreak in a torrent of tough-minded observations, audacious candor, and storytelling moxie.” And Emily Rapp says “Gina Frangello’s luminous novel is deeply human, darkly funny, seriously sexy; it brims with artistry and intelligence and heart...Frangello illuminates the ways in which life itself is an illusion, but a grand and beautiful and heartbreaking and brilliant one.” ***Note: This is a Premium episode. It is available for Premium subscribers only. Please sign up for Premium. It costs $2. That's it. Two bucks a month. (Or else you can pay $4.99 for six months of access, or $8.99 for a year.) You do that, you can listen to Gina's episode—plus you'll have access to the podcast's complete archives. Every single show.  You can listen online here, or else you can listen while on the go via the free, official Other People app, available now for your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android device.  Thanks for listening, everybody. -BL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gina Frangello is the guest. She is the critically acclaimed author of the novel My Sister's Continent (Chiasmus Press), the story collection Slut Lullabies (Emergency Press), and the forthcoming novel A Life in Men (Algonquin). She is also the esteemed ... Continue reading → Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guests Gina Frangello and Kathleen Rooney