Podcasts about in her boots

Meg Mitchell Moore is the author of Mansion Beach, a page-turner-y multi POV summer saga with everything you could ask for: a beach, a body, rich people behaving badly but also sometimes not behaving badly, parties, drama and just enough gender-swapped Gatsby to think hard about the meaning of the American Dream. I loved it (KJ here) and I also loved this conversation with Meg, who apparently thinks in multiple POVS and is always just as impatient as I am to feel like the book is done and wonderful when sadly it is… not. #AmReadingMeg: Audio: Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry—Julia WhelanAlso mentioned: Julia Whelan's Thank You for ListeningPrint: The Road to Dalton, Shannon Bowringfrom The Book Shop of Beverly FarmsKJ: Mansion BeachWelcome to Glorious Tuga, Francesca SegalFind Meg at @megmitchellmoore on IG, or visit her website at www.megmitchellmoore.comHEY. Did you know Sarina's latest thriller is out NOW? Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring an historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine. But inside, she's a mess. She knows that stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. But she's out of ice cream and she's sick of romcoms. Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car. Instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.Digital books at: Amazon | Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Audible Physical books at: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | More paperback links here!New! Transcripts below!EPISODE 450 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaKJ here announcing a new series and a definite plus for paid supporters of Hashtag AmWriting. It's Writing the Book, a conversation between Jenny, who's just finished a blueprint for her next nonfiction book, and me because I've just finished the blueprint for what I hope will be my next novel. Jenny and I are both trying to quote-unquote "play big" with these next go-rounds, which is a meta effort for Jenny as that's exactly what her book is about, and we're basically coaching each other through, trading pages, thoughts and encouragement, as well as some sometimes hard-to-hear honesty about whether we're really going in the right direction. So come all in on team Hashtag AmWriting, and you'll get those Writing the Book episodes right in your pod player along with access to monthly AMAs, the book labs, first pages episodes, and come summer, we shall blueprint once again. So sign yourself up at amwritingpodcast.com.All SpeakingIs it recording? Now it's recording. Yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. Try to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Alright. Let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm gonna rustle some papers. Okay. Now one, two, three.KJ Dell'AntoniaHey, I'm KJ Dell'Antonia, and this is Hashtag AmWriting, the weekly podcast about writing all the things. Short things, long things, pitches, proposals, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, other things I'm probably not thinking of. We are the podcast about sitting down and getting your work done. And I am KJ Dell'Antonia, the author of three novels, The Chicken Sisters, In Her Boots and Playing the Witch Card, as well as a nonfiction book, How to Be a Happier Parent, former editor of The New York Times Motherlode. You've heard all this. With me today, more importantly, is Meg Mitchell Moore, who has written a book that I think you're gonna find is your summer go to. It is called Mansion Beach, and I loved it. And we'll talk about it in a second. She is also the author of Summer Stage, Vacationland, can attest to both of those great reads. The Islanders, Two Truths and a Lie, The Admissions, loved that one too. They're all great. So, anyway, lots of lots of novels in the family saga, sometimes touch of romance, beach, summer, deep, but also page turnery read genre, which is not a genre because that was too long. But, anyway, Meg, thanks for coming to chat.Meg Mitchell MooreThank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here. This is gonna be really fun.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I've read some of your other books, obviously, and I felt like this one Mansion Beach was you sort of moving to a different this. It's a little how to describe it. You've got a lot of points of view, which you always, you often do, and a little bit of of a mystery, which actually, I've seen you do before, and then you've got a podcast going on so that you can have different people show show off what's happening. I guess I was hoping you would talk about the evolution of style, um, actually, over your whole career, sort of from, like, I'm writing a kind of a basic book with a couple of points of view and third person close, or maybe first person to these bigger, bigger stories with so much more to so much more to offer the reader. That's a really big question. Start wherever you want.Meg Mitchell MooreThat's a great question. I I don't know if it has been such an evolution. I have always written multiple points of view to the point where it makes me crazy. And I wish I could. I wish I could do one or two. I really wish I could. I've tried it. I can't do it. I just can't. My brain doesn't work that way. It's I can't do it. So even my very first novel, which I published in 2011 it was called The Arrivals, that was a much smaller story. So yes, I for sure, I've evolved plot wise, but I remember, and this was when I was brand new and did not know what I was doing, and I was just trying to figure out how to write a novel. I had so many points of view. And I remember my now agent. Maybe she was not my agent then and was becoming my agent, or maybe she was already my agent, but I remember her saying, we have to take out at least like five of these points of view. And it's still, it still has a lot. I just that's how I think those are the kind of books I like to read, usually, not always, for one thing, but it just. Must be how I think I'm always in everybody's head, and it's really hard for me to restrain that. So this book, I don't think, has any more points of view than any other. Might have fewer than some. It does have a mystery.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah it might, then some that I've read, I guess I I, I saw it as different, maybe in part because of the the use of the podcast to frame things.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah that's new. And then it's a bigger, you know, it's a bigger idea. It's a, it's not a retelling of The Great Gatsby, because I don't like to use that word, but it is inspired by The Great Gatsby. So it has definitely some bigger I was looking at bigger themes, maybe from the start. A lot of times I back my way into the themes based on what my characters are doing. I don't always start with the themes, but this time i i was looking at some of those big whether, what's the American dream and what does success mean, and how does money equate with happiness, and some of those bigger questions. And I don't always do that. I might do it in reverse, but I don't always do that first. So I do think it has bigger theme wise, it's bigger maybe plot wise, yeah. And some of the elements, some of the elements that move it along, are a little different. I was working with a new editor for the first time for this. This is my first full book with my new editor. So I think that had something to do with it too, because I think she was probably pushing me for some of those elements that don't come naturally to me, which I think ended up being good for the book.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, it's a little more thriller. Isn't exactly the right word, but there's definitely a page turning mystery in there. I know here's, this is like a so there's a page turning mystery in Mansion Beach, and the question all along for the reader, like, you know somebody is going to die. But I at least did not know who, but I had an advance, and it came as a as a digital book, so I didn't have the cover and I didn't have the blurb on the back, if a reader has those things, are they gonna know?Meg Mitchell MooreInteresting.KJ Dell'AntoniaAre they gonna know? Who it is that that dies?Meg Mitchell MooreI don't think so. I don't think so. The people I know who have read it both ways, I think have not known.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's good.Meg Mitchell MooreIt's sort of that white lotus effect, you know, for White Lotus fans out there, where there is a mystery, and you care about the mystery, but you also it matters, but it doesn't matter as much as what's going on with everybody else. So I really like that as a framing device. I like watching it and reading it. And I tried it myself this time. I did it a little bit in two truths and a lie as well. I guess that's my only other one that has a dead body, and a lot of people are mad at me for who the person was who died, which I want. And two truths...KJ Dell'AntoniaDon't give it up.Meg Mitchell MooreNo, I won't. So that was interesting, so I hadn't tried it again, and this time I went in a little nervous, because people had been upset with me, particularly my husband. But I I still, I mean, I had the chance not to do what I did in two truths and a lie, and I still chose to. So I still, for me, it was the right thing, but it was an interesting experience. And I didn't try it again for a couple books. And this time I did also because I was playing with some of the Gatsby themes. I mean, Gatsby has three bodies, so I thought, I mean, I should have at least one, so I won't, yeah, I won't give anything away about…KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, don't.Meg Mitchell MooreWho or what or how, but I did enjoy having that as a device to propel it now that also, I don't think that was in the first draft. I don't think there was a body in the first draft. I mean, there were huge changes in this book, and I think that was one of them. I think we decided we needed the body after one draft.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow. Okay, now I'm deeply fascinated, and of course, I'm trying. So I'm trying to make this interesting and useful for those of you who haven't read the book, although you could also stop, go get the book, and read it, and then listen to this, and then it would be even better.Meg Mitchell MooreThat is true.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. Okay, so let me just start by saying I am actually not a person who typically likes a book where your whole like, like, the question is, you know, either who died or who did it. So Lucy Foley, I've enjoyed some of those, but it's not necessarily my favorite go to genre, but the thing that made this book work great for me was exactly what you just said, that there's so much more to it. You I could see that this story would exist before you added that and that. I mean, that's so cool. And then I also, I'm not a Gatsby person, so neither of those would like, neither of those hooks is going to grab me. But what grabbed me, I think, was the different women, different versions of the American dream.Meg Mitchell MooreMm-hmm.KJ Dell'AntoniaIs that where you started?Meg Mitchell MooreI started… Yeah, I think so I would. Really, yes, I wanted to really look at notions of success, particularly for women today. You know, it's contemporary. It takes place that, you know, in the summer that is coming out, or that, if you actually match up the dates, and I think I messed up the tides and the moon in some places, but it's the summer. So yes, I was very interested in those questions. I was I wanted to have a love triangle, because I think that's interesting, and that's part of Gatsby too. So it's funny that you say you're not a Gatsby person. I think my first, another change from my first draft, was very Gatsby heavy. I think I tried to, I think it just was, I was trying too hard to to do the same thing. And…KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's kind of a reverse-gendered Gatsby.Meg Mitchell MooreIt is, yes, it's reverse gendered. But what I was doing was just, I was just trying to, I don't know what I was doing, but it was a mess. I mean, I always knew I wanted to play with Gatsby, but I tried to do it too closely. And I tried a little first person with the narrator, which that's how Gatsby is told, but I can't write him. Can't write successfully in first person. So that was a mess. And I remember that my editor probably looked at this thing and said, This is what are we doing? But what she said to me nicely was, you need to, like, don't worry so much about Gatsby at all, like you need to free yourself from those constraints, and you need to write the story. And that was the best advice, because that's when it started to come together. So it's more that Gatsby was a jumping off point, and some of those themes, I was so interested in how those themes are so relevant 100 years later, and they are, so I think I needed that as a jumping off point, but I didn't need to, you know, retell it scene by scene, or try to have the narrator feel the same, or do anything like that. And I had some missteps along the way before I figured that out.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt interests me that this doesn't seem to have taken any longer than your other books, did it?Meg Mitchell MooreUh, I felt like it took forever. My books have come out either with note with, you know, a year and then the next summer, or with two summers in between. This one has, this one has an empty summer in between. So I did need that extra writing time for this. And I remember, I always start out thinking I could do this in a year. I'll absolutely and I always hit. I'm a deadline hitter. You know, I always hit the deadlineKJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, you give them something.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, I was a journalist for a long time. I just, I'm not late on things. I just always, I'm just, I always hit my deadlines, but it might be awful. And so this was nobody actually. I mean, it was pretty awful when I think back to that first draft, and I think that my editor and Agent thought, okay, we can do this. And I looked at it, and I looked at my schedule and my life and my brain, and I thought, I don't think I can do it very well. So we put it off for a year, which gave me not a year's writing time, but maybe six months that I hadn't had. And that made a big difference. So this one took a little longer. Same thing with vacation land. I had the exact same thing happen where I thought it was going to come out one summer, it came out the next summer, but Summer Stage and then the book coming out, if I finish it next summer, will have no extra time in between. So it kind of, I've gone both ways with it.KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you see any like consistency in why? Or it just sort of either happens that way or it doesn't?Meg Mitchell MooreI think I when I try bigger, when I try bigger books, I need more time, as it should be, but I always think I can do it. You know, I'm patience is not, is not my best quality. Impatience is my worst quality. So I find that I'm usually impatient to get something done or to hit the deadline or to put the book out, and I have to slow myself down when necessary, and vacation land. It was a different editor, same publisher, but different editor. I remember her saying, having that talk with me and saying, it will be a much better book. If we put it out the following year, it will be so much better. And she was right. So we needed that time.KJ Dell'AntoniaI so totally relate to this.Meg Mitchell MooreDo you?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm in the middle of it. Now, if anybody who's listening is also listening to our what the books are writing the books, what the books also like? It's a little mini series where one of my co-hosts is writing nonfiction and I'm writing fiction, and we're trading pages, and we're doing a weekly series of conversations. And this week's realization was, I have always known that I'm writing a story with multiple points of view, but I couldn't start it that way. I had. I had to start it with just this one protagonist. And then I thought, Oh, well, then it'll just be that, and it'll probably be really easy. Look, I've got this all planned out. I'm just gonna write. I'm just gonna, oh, I'll bet I can get, what if I got my agent a draft this summer? Hahaha, it's, you know, it's not good, but I'm so impatient. I want ...Meg Mitchell MooreRight, right. Well, I was listening to one of your to your podcast the other yesterday, and it was the one where you were talking about your story idea starting. How do you, how do you ideate the book?KJ Dell'AntoniaOh, gosh.Meg Mitchell MooreAnd you so you write a book, and then you present it to your agent, and then you sell it, right? So…KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Meg Mitchell MooreThat's your process. So I'm the opposite, where I write, I get the contract first, and then I have to write the book. And I don't know which is harder, because you don't have a built in deadline. You have your own deadlines that you said, but you're writing something that you said. Maybe this will sell, maybe it won't, I don't know, whereas I know it will eventually be published, but I also have that pressure of I have to get things in on time. So what do you think is, what's better? What's worse?KJ Dell'AntoniaI don't know. I envy your... I envy that way. I feel like that would make me feel more secure, more professional. My, my agent, doesn't… she's very against selling a book of mine, at least before I've written it, because she says, I'll, she says I might change it, and then, and then, it won't be what we sold or I won't be happy. So so I don't know if she's I think she's just against it as a general rule, but I know lots of agents that that do it, and I know a lot of of writers that do it. Sometimes I look at this and I'm like, you know, I could do a proposal. Maybe we could sell it. I could get some money. That would be lovely, right? Yeah. But...Meg Mitchell MooreI see, I see your point, and I know a lot of people think that way. I remember a long time ago when I'd either published, I think I'd published no novels. Maybe my book was about to be published, my first novel, and I heard Ann Patchett speak at a conference, and she said, she said that she would never take money for a book she hadn't written.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow.Meg Mitchell MooreAnd I remember thinking, Oh, well, if that's what Ann Patchett says, I guess that's what like, that's how the world is. But I disagree, like I disagree, because for me, first of all, she has a different life situation, but for me to keep income coming in steadily, because this is my only job, I feel like that's the way to do it. And I also feel like other industries, like my husband doesn't only get paid when he goes to the board meeting. He's getting paid every other week for his job that he does for the company that he works for. And so to try to approximate a little bit of a normal salary, I feel like that's the way to do it. But then I also see the other side, and I see why Ann Patchett wouldn't do it, because she's Ann Patchett, you know, so she can take whatever time she needs...KJ Dell'AntoniaSee that's so funny. Because I think, well, you can do this because you're Meg Mitchell Moore, and Meg Mitchell Moore is going to sell and a KJ Dell'Antonia, one of them will, and the others somewhat less, so at least that's my my record at the moment. So I guess we just all see each other differently. My co-host Sarina sells on proposal.Meg Mitchell MooreOkay, so fiction, that's fiction?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, yeah. She sold thrillers and romances that way. Okay, so she has a bigger track record. But also, I've known people, you know, I guess there's just different ways of of of doing it. And I would not say that I chose this. It chose me.Meg Mitchell MooreInteresting, but there was always that chance. I mean, my agent... If I said to my agent, I don't want to sell till I write, she would say, Great, that might be better for both of us. We'll probably sell it for more, because you might write something really good, but I just don't want to take that. I'm too impatient, you know, I'm just Yes, maybe, if, you know, maybe if I had, you know, had some big blockbuster, and then I thought, Okay, now for two years, it doesn't matter what's coming in, because I'm getting money from that book, that would be different. But, um, that's not how it works for most people.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, and maybe I would feel less impatient with getting this done if I weren't like, I want to get to the point where I know if we're going to sell like, I wrote a whole thing last summer, and it never got to the point that we felt like we could sell it, and I I'm sick of it. I can't write it anymore. I'm done with it. I mean, maybe I'll come back to it, but, yeah, right. And like, I've had, you know, a freelance editor at it who's really good. My agent's been at it. I finished it like three times, and apparently it still sucks. So I'm done.Meg Mitchell MooreSo that's interesting, because I always think that I would not be writing good books if I didn't know if my editor gets a very messy draft, and all of my editors have gotten bad dress and really helped me. And without that step, I don't think I would ever write a book that could even be sold. So I feel like I need to know, okay, somebody else who is better at this is going to be helping me really soon. I just need to get through it.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's that would be amazing. I don't think my editor cares enough about me to do that. So...Meg Mitchell MooreOh, my editor would absolutely prefer a cleaner draft. Like, no question. I mean, she would be delighted if I showed it to five people and got feedback, but I'm always in a rush. So I'm like, here you're the first reader. Here you go. She's like, thank you.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, that's my agent. I'll be like, Look, I'm done it's great! and She's no... it is great, but you know what would be really great? Poor agent. Yeah, okay. So, so we're we're both impatient, but we're doing this in in very different ways. Well, now I want to hear more about that. How do you go from a first draft with no body, to a final draft where the body, it's definitely one of the things that's pushing people to turn the page. It's not the only thing. So maybe that's the good news of not having started with a body. Also, did you know whose body it was?Meg Mitchell MooreUm, we discussed because, yeah, I mean, we discussed a little bit about it. I remember thinking, Could it be this person? And here's why we wouldn't want that person. Could it be this person? So we had some discussion. I didn't write it. I once I knew who it was. I didn't write multiple versions of it. I always had that person. But, and I guess I just think of it as more of a framing device than anything, and a framing device, you can add the frame later.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Meg Mitchell MooreSo the middle was mostly what was happening, was happening, and then there was this framing device and and then there are certain things at the end that kind of came together. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this makes it all come together. But I didn't know that in the beginning. And that was so you may be late.KJ Dell'AntoniaDid you not know how the body became a body?Meg Mitchell MooreAh, that changed. There was...KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I could see that.Meg Mitchell MooreAnd then I thought, oh my gosh, this is kind of what I needed to pull together all those themes. It was those exciting moments that really don't happen very often.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh, I bet and I mean, I can see it from the outside as a reader. It really did. It made it like your ending is one of those endings that changes the whole, your whole reading experience for the better, right? Not that it wasn't a great reading experience the whole time. You know, sometimes somebody doesn't stick the landing, and then you're like, yeah, no, I don't really want to recommend this. I mean, it was fine, right? But, and sometimes it's just great. It's like, solid. You're happy, yay. Okay, that's a good, it's a good. Yours colors the entire like, if I were somebody who would go back and reread it, would color the entire experience differently.Meg Mitchell MooreOh, Thank you!KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, which is cool, yeah, very cool.Meg Mitchell MooreNow, when I wrote Vacationland, I started with a body, and the body came out. So I had the opposite experience, where I thought I was writing a thriller. The whole time. I was like, this is going to be my thriller. There's a body. And I had it all. And to me, it made sense. It all tied up, and my different editor, but my then editor said, I like everything but the body.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow.Meg Mitchell MooreWe had to keep it was first it was a an important body, and then it was a less important body, and then it became the body of a seal, because I had to have just a scene of children looking at something they found in the water in the very beginning. And so it was a body, and then it was a seals body. This time. I got to keep my body at least.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I love this also, because you haven't been, um, pigeonholed into a genre that involves bodies or doesn't involve bodies. Has that been a thing as you've as you've gone from book to book where people are like, well, I don't know… Meg, people don't really want you to kill people or the, you know, the opposite. Well, I don't know, people are kind of looking for some more thrills from you.Meg Mitchell MooreWell, Vacationland. I remember that editor said they don't, we don't want this from you. We want, we don't want. We want a summer book. We don't want. We're not looking for a thriller. You know, they had other thrillers. You know what? They're doing their own end of the business, too. So they definitely said that this time. I mean, I feel like I'm not pigeonholed, but categorized as beach as a beach book. But I think within beach books you can do all of those things. Yeah. So if I were to write a giant thriller that I said, I think this should come out in the fall, and it's a big book, I that's when they would probably say, I don't know if your audience, if you have the audience, right, pull that off unless the book is amazing, you know? I do feel like I need to come out in the summer to keep my readers.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I actually love that. That beach book is a You're right. It's a pretty big genre. It encompasses a lot. It encompasses a lot of of things, the only requirement being that it's, you know, entertaining, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a book requirement anyway. But...Meg Mitchell MooreRight, right. It is interesting because my books also happen to usually take place on beaches, but not all beach books do. So it is, it has become a very big category and competitive like you also want to stand out in that category, because there are so many books with the word summer in the title or the word beach in the title, or this. Actually, this cover is a departure for me, which I love, because I feel like I have done the just the oceanscape or the main or the woman looking at the water. I've had those kinds of covers.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's your first... It's, it's, it's a cartoony cover. I don't, I don't mean that it, you know that sounds Yeah, it's almost a romancy cover. But there's only one person. First. I'm just so you guys should, it'll, it'll be in the show notes. You should, you should take a look, because you're right. It is a departure. I see, yeah, I see what you're saying there. But this one's, it's a hardback, right?Meg Mitchell MooreYes.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. Have all your books come out first in hardback?Meg Mitchell MooreThey have, yep.KJ Dell'AntoniaNice, cool.Meg Mitchell MooreHave yours?KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, none.Meg Mitchell MooreNone? Okay, now, what do you now…? Do you think that… that, I sometimes I feel like that's a great thing too.KJ Dell'AntoniaI go back and forth on that. My agent is bummed about it. But for me, it's frankly, much easier to, like, go out to everyone and be like, spend $18 versus be like spend $38.Meg Mitchell MooreI agree.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I haven't minded. Oh, and I was at the Newburyport Book Festival a few years ago, and they accidentally got my second book only in hard book, because it was, it came out in hardback and paperback at the same time, which there was a moment of about six months when publishers were doing that, and then they stopped and they only had the hardback. And I was like, Oh, I don't even want anyone to buy that. Like that, isn't I would be mad if I bought a hardback...Meg Mitchell MooreRight, right.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd then the next day, I was at the store and was like, hey!?Meg Mitchell MooreRight, yeah, it's interesting, because I do actually love… because I bought your book The Chicken Sisters this weekend, in paperback, and I love, I love paperback, yeah, I love it.KJ Dell'AntoniaFor travel…?Meg Mitchell MooreLighter, yeah, and I think it is appealing. It's so interesting. I mean, I remember Emily Henry's first couple, at least, came out paperback, and then now that she can sell so well, they now they come in hardcover, but I still feel like...KJ Dell'AntoniaI look at them and I'm like, I don't want that that way. Now, I'll just buy a digital version, because I don't that's not…Meg Mitchell MooreRight? Right. It's really interesting. And I know I don't understand the sales end of it, the way that the people who are doing the job do, and the profits and the margin and all that. But I kind of feel like, why isn't everything in paperback right away? You know?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no, I feel the same way. And and also people's, especially now we're thinking, we're talking about beach books. Some people's beach I mean, if my beach vacation is an airplane beach vacation, I might bring one hardback, maybe...Meg Mitchell MooreRight.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd maybe, probably not, because I'm a fast reader, I could easily eat that on the plane, and then there I would be. So...Meg Mitchell MooreRight.KJ Dell'AntoniaI don't know.Meg Mitchell MooreRight, yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaI guess that's what e-readers are for.Meg Mitchell MooreThat's true.KJ Dell'AntoniaWell, I mean, gosh, I could probably talk to you about in depth, about the writing of this for about 12 hours. Because, okay, one one last thought. So listeners, Meg writes like we said, in multiple points of view. Talk to me about how you know when to change the point. You know what point of view a scene should be told from?Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, I don't. I'm it's so much. I do so much rewriting, a lot of that. I mean, I'm just thinking, I just turned in a draft yesterday of, hopefully next summer's novel, and I that is also multiple points of view. It's, I think it's mostly three, it's three adult sisters and they each have a point of view. There might be a couple little scattered things, but when I look back, I think I need to probably adjust, even in the draft I just turned in, I think I'm a little heavily weighted toward one over the other, so I don't always know. I just go on gut and instinct, and then I fix it later, which is how I do almost everything. I just go by instinct, and it's usually wrong And I change it later.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo, you'll, you'll be like, you've written a scene, and the point of view of one person, you realize, oh, either it's the other person's turn to have some more time, or I need their inner thoughts, not this person's inner thought...Meg Mitchell MooreRight. Yeah, its not very organized.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd sometimes you drop in like, you know, a kid on a beach or something, is that when you need something to happen that you that your protagonists don't know? Or just, you just feel like?Meg Mitchell MooreI think, I think it's fun. I just think it's fun sometimes to have this person you haven't heard from and you won't hear from again. But a lot I probably did. I probably do that. It probably gets taken out 80% of the time when I do that, because usually it doesn't make sense. But I just wanted to do it. I did it in my book. I just turned in and the first this scene between the a realtor and her husband, the realtor who's selling this house that these people are in. She doesn't matter to the book, but I just really wanted to write the scene of her and her husband, and I even wrote in the draft. I know this doesn't make sense, and my editor said, Yeah, this doesn't make sense. Like, you either need more of them, or they need to go. I don't know what they're...KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you ever give them away for? Like, you know, here's your pre order bonus. Read this extra scene…Meg Mitchell MooreI should do that. Maybe I'll do that. They'll do that. I have never done that, but maybe I will. But I feel like, I think it might be Anne Tyler. I remember reading an interview. Is she the one who does the strings like she has strings with different?KJ Dell'AntoniaMaybe, i don't know.Meg Mitchell MooreEvery character has a different colored string, and then she pulls down the red one because it's the red, you know, that's how she knows who she's writing. And I thought that was really cool, but I've never done it.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat sounds like a lot of work.Meg Mitchell MooreI guess.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd, like, I would need a different…I need a bulletin board. Okay.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, I don't know where you, where I would hang it from, but it's just seems kind of nice to think, then maybe...KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah it does.Meg Mitchell MooreShe knows if she's done the right amount for everybody.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, The Chicken Sisters is alternating points of view. And I just, I just alternated. And then sometimes that was a problem, and I had to figure out, like, how to get somebody's feelings? Yeah? So....Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, it's confusing. I don't know why I do it to myself, because sometimes I'll just read a perfectly, a book that's just perfectly written in first person. I'm trying to think of an example right now, because I don't even always read that much in first person, but like, Yellowface? … Yellowface. Okay, that book was so, like, simple in a way, but I love I loved it. I thought it was brilliant, and it was all just this point of view, and...KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd didn't you occasionally get, like a newspaper article? I think...Meg Mitchell MooreMaybe, maybe.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat must have been what she did when she had something her person couldn't know.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah. I guess, yeah. I guess, technically, it would be harder to do it all from one because you how do they know everything? But I feel like I get lost, like I have trouble. I literally lose the plot, because I'm just this person's off doing something in their day that might have nothing to do with what's going on. I get really caught up in that kind of stuff, and that's what I have to edit out.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I'm always trying not to do that. I'll sit there while I'm writing, like, No, do not let them move their coffee cup. They can move the coffee cup in a later draft, if the coffee cup is still here, if they're even still in this coffee shop, if this coffee shop even exists. But I can't seem to stop it. My my like, default mode is, you know, he said while taking a sip and burning his lip or whatever, right? Just, I can't seem to not do it.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, but sometimes that's where you get the gold too, because you wrote all that, and maybe that one sentence is the thing that you needed. So it's just the process.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, it is. It's just the process, and it's longer than we hope and slower than we hope...Meg Mitchell MooreAlways...Always. Yes.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd more, and more revising. Well, do you have any, like, genius words about revision for people? Because it sounds like you do a lot of it.Meg Mitchell MooreI do a lot of it. I think just is so important. It's just so for me, it's so important. I just think nobody gets it right. I hope nobody gets it right the first time. Because if they do, I'm really jealous, but I think for the most part, nobody gets it right the first time. So revision is, I mean, I'd say I spent almost as much time on the revision I probably do as I do on the first draft.KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you still lie to yourself in the first draft and let yourself pretend it's going to be right?Meg Mitchell MooreOh yeah. I always think, Oh, this is the time I did it, I nailed it, and then I get my editorial letter, and it's like, great start. Here's the 700 things that you need to do now.KJ Dell'AntoniaWell, thank you. I feel better. I hope everyone else does too.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, it's a long process.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt really is, all right. Well, this was fantastic. I really enjoyed it.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, me too.KJ Dell'AntoniaAs we hit the end of any episode, we always like to ask people what they've been reading. So I hope I'm not springing that on you.Meg Mitchell MooreNo, I just I always have an audio book going and a regular book going on audio I just started the Emily Henry, the new Emily Henry, which I've never listened to her books. I've always read them, and I know that Julia, the famous Julia Whelan, is always her narrator, so and she's phenomenal. So I'm loving the audio version, which is just funny that I've never done it with Emily Henry before.KJ Dell'AntoniaDid you listen to Julia Whelan's book that she wrote herself?Meg Mitchell MooreMhmm.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat was so fascinating, because it really was different, like I actually read it, but I could feel the… yeah. Anyway, okay.Meg Mitchell MooreOh, you should go back and also listen. It's so it's such a good audio book.KJ Dell'AntoniaI bet.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, it was fantastic. And then I'm reading a novel called The Road to Dalton that my friend Hannah, who owns the Book Shop of Beverly Farms in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, phenomenal store recommended to me. So I bought it last time I was there, and it is about a bunch of people in a small town in Maine, which is my vibe immediately I was in. But it's very good. So I'm reading that. I can't, I can't remember the author, which is unusual for me, but Shannon something I think [Shannon Bowring].. But it's The Road to DaltonKJ Dell'AntoniaThat's okay. I will find it well. As everyone is gathered, I just finished Mansion Beach. I I really loved it. It was a rare book that I loved even more when I got to the end of it. And, yeah, it was amazing. And also in that, that vibe, that sort of small town Maine and yet, but this is like small island, middle of the Atlantic. Welcome to Glorious Tuga. Have you heard of this one?Meg Mitchell MooreNo. I've never heard of it.KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay, so it's a tiny island settled 300 years ago by a miscellanea of Dutch and British and and African people didn't have any locals. So that's kind of and they have formed the society. It's only open for half the year, because you can't, like, get a boat into it, because storms and currents and whatnot. So this woman has gone thinking that she's going to study the native tortoise population all Darwin, but she gets there and they're like, great. You're a vet. That's what we need. So it's kind of like all creatures great and small meets...I don't even know what it meets yet, I got to come up with that. But it's really a lot of fun. And it's very multi it's multi POV in a really interesting way, because you're with her, and then sort of whenever you kind of get a little interested in someone else, you're like, Oh, why are they doing that? Then maybe you'll switch to their POV. it's really, I really enjoyed it so, so that was fun. So those are my ranks, all right. Well, thank you so much, listeners for joining us, and thank you, Meg for joining me today. Where can people follow you? Where's the best?Meg Mitchell MooreMostly on Instagram @Meg Mitchell Moore, I'm on Facebook, but I don't use it very often and I kinda want to leave it. So…I also just read the Facebook, the Facebook memoir.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh yeah?Meg Mitchell MooreNo, I really want to leave Facebook, but also I know that they own Instagram. So anyway, Instagram is the best place to find me, and I was so happy to be here. Thank you. It was really fun.KJ Dell'AntoniaThis was super. Okay. Thanks everyone for listening, and until next week, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.Sarina BowenThe hashtag am writing podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled unemployed Monday was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

KJ Dell'Antonia shares some amazing ways to get unstuck in her normal, down-to-earth, hilarious way. Here's Rachael's Kickstarter, Unstuck! KJ Dell'Antonia is a New York Times best-selling author whose novels The Chicken Sisters and In Her Boots explore the same themes she once explored as a journalist: the importance of finding joy in our families, the challenge of figuring out what makes us happy and the need to value the life we're living more than the one in our phones and laptops, every single time. Her third novel, Playing the Witch Card, throws magic into the mix, but witchcraft, like reality TV and literary fraud, rarely really solves anyone's problems. She is also the former editor of the New York Times' Motherlode blog, the co-host of the #AmWriting podcast, and a passionate bookstagrammer (@kjda). She lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, with her husband, children and assorted dogs, cats, chickens and horses.Ink In Your Veins: How Writers Actually Write (and how you can, too)Writing doesn't have to be so hard. With internationally bestselling author Rachael Herron, learn how to embrace ease, reject perfectionism, and finally create your perfect writing process. (Formerly known as How Do You Write) Come for inspiration, stay for lots more.✏️ Can I email you some writing help?

I hope you enjoy my short reflection on the conversation I had with my guest KJ Dell'Antonia, who is known to many from her time as editor of the New York Times “The Motherlode” blog, which later became part of their Well Family section. KJ also started her own podcast, and she's the author of several incredibly popular books, How to Be a Happier Parent, In Her Boots, and the New York Times best seller, The Chicken Sisters. Listen to the full-length episode on your favorite podcast app or watch the full-length episode on YouTube. 

IN THE NEWS 2023 Veterans Day Deals, Discounts and Freebies THIS WEEK'S GUEST Retired U.S. Army Maj. Lisa Bass began her 20-year military career as a 30-year-old private in the JAG Corps, attended Airborne School as a grandmother, and became the first female Commander in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. After separating from the Army, Lisa made the transition from soldier to entrepreneur and founded Combat Boots Jewelry, selling patriotic accessories that help women show pride of service. She also founded Task Force Sisterhood Against Sexual Assaults (TF SASA) - a team of former military leaders from various branches with a deep commitment to providing effective solutions and support concerning sexual assault and harassment. RAPID FIRE Navy promotes first female mortician to senior chief petty officer A beer-drinking Marine Corps duck earned a citation for fighting at Tarawa Testing of Air Force all-electric plane set to start at Florida base Special Guest: Lisa Bass.

“The thing that has not changed for me is the need to protect the time that I need to achieve my creative goals. But the biggest barrier is [that] there's always more to do in that busy household. So you have to make a concerted effort to set aside that time.” ~ KJ Dell'AntoniaIn this episode, Kaitlin is joined by KJ Dell'Antonia, the New York Times best-selling author of The Chicken Sisters, In Her Boots, How to Be a Happier Parent, and the forthcoming Playing the Witch Card in a compelling conversation about the intersection of caregiving, creative practice, and capitalism production, and the impressive journey KJ has taken in navigating those roles.A former editor of the New York Times' Motherload blog, and cohost of The #AmWriting podcast, KJ lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, with her husband and four children, and she has to go outside every day or else she and her dogs will go slightly insane.KJ and Kaitlin talked about:How KJ navigates the practicalities of juggling caregiving and creative practice and how she writes about parenting without disrespecting her children's private lives.The challenges of parenting while pursuing creative goals and how to find a balance between the two. KJ's methodical approach to creativity and the importance of setting achievable goals.How to identify your own unique creative process and stay productive and happy with the work you do.The importance of finding dedicated thinking and working time for creative goals, despite the busyness of household life, and the need to protect that time.Finding balance in motherhood and creativity without compromising authenticity and finding real happiness.More about KJ Dell'Antonia:Website: https://kjdellantonia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kjda/The #AmWriting podcast: https://amwriting.substack.com/Pre-order your copy of Playing the Witch Card: https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780593713792Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.For regular updates:Visit our website: postpartumproduction.comFollow us on Instagram: @postpartumproductionpodcastSubscribe to our podcast newsletter on Substack: https://postpartumproduction.substack.com

Meet the challenger running for Madison Mayor. Gloria Reyes is running on her experience as a former Madison police officer, school board president, and deputy mayor in the Soglin administration. But also, she's running on her experience as a local who grew up here and has deep community roots.  We spoke with Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway about her bid for re-election on Monday's show.  The election is Tuesday, April 4th. Learn where you vote or how to register. Also in today's episode: 

Alexis Hall describes himself as a genrequeer writer of kissing books. You may know him as the author of Boyfriend Material and Rosalyn Palmer Takes the Cake, both of which we've talked about here. But like recent guest Emily Henry and so many others, those successes were far from his first rodeo. Head to his website, quicunquevult.com, to see the evidence. (Why is it called that? You'll have to listen to find out.) Alexis has written, and still writes, everything from paranormal and fantasy to billionaire romance to rom-com, with the recent addition of genre mystery and historical fiction.We talk tropes, dialogue and leaning into the the thing you do best then revising for the rest. (And we did it all with a kitten climbing around on my desk, adding to both the joy and the challenge.) Sarina and I (this is, as usual, KJ) have long hoped to talk to Alexis because he is so prolific and also so willing to take chances. When we finally did, what we heard was someone who doesn't see himself the way we see him—successful, talented, charming and able to convey all of that on the page. That shouldn't be a surprise, because he often writes characters with that same block—they're successful and delightful but see themselves as flawed in some way. That may be almost too generic to be considered advice (after all, we're often told to write a “misbelief” into our characters)—but I found it striking, because along with the many other emotional journeys Alexis writes, he writes this one often and well: that of a self-perceived f**k-up accepting that they've transcended that earlier self and become someone capable and worthy of love. I'm calling that out here because as we talked to Alexis, we talked about his brand being clever banter and an uber-confident writer's voice—but I think that emotional journey is part of his brand as well. So this episode left me thinking about how brand is more than the way a book or a writer looks and sounds. It's also the way the book feels. And when you think about it that way—that the emotional arc and feel are part of the brand as well—I think it may help silence any voice in your head complaining that things are repetitive, or that you've “ done that before” or that something has been done by others.We tell our own stories and the stories that we hold most closely, in fiction, in non-fiction, in whatever we're working on. Indirectly, directly. Again and again. I hope this episode helps you think about what your story is and how you're telling it.LINKS! Alexis's books in general are all here.But you can pre-order Paris Daillencourt Is about to Crumble on Amazon here and Bookshop.org here.Follow Alexis on Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram.#AmReadingAlexis: ARC of Kate Clayborn's Georgie, All AlongSarina: Dark Matter, Blake CrouchKJ: Carrie Soto Is Back, Taylor Jenkins ReidDon't forget that Author Accelerator is your one-stop for getting a coach on board to help you with your work, no matter where you are in the drafting game. Need a pro? Click here. And if you've considered becoming a book coach, here's your link: Click here.And— this is KJ with a question. Do you own In Her Boots yet? Have you read it yourself, or given it to a friend who'd love a fun story about figuring out who you are as opposed to who you think everyone wants you to be—that also delivers a literary hoax, farm life and an ex who can't seem to find the exit? If you don't have it on the shelf yet, now's the time! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

On this week's episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing: Bookish Moments: a new reading habit and protecting a reading life Current Reads: books that are joyful (one of us really needed it) and a strange twin theme! Deep Dive: seasoned protagonists, who are they are which are our favorites The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don't scroll down!  We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans! *Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you'd prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*   . . . . 1:46 - Currently Reading Patreon 4:37 - Bookish Moment of the Week 5:54 - Pangobooks 13:28 - Current Reads 13:50 - The Twin Paradox by Charles Wachter (Meredith) 18:13 - Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi  18:15 - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton 19:11 - Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola (Kaytee) 19:21 - Love in Color by Bolu Babalola 10:36 - The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon 21:35 - Libro.fm 22:34 - Little Darlings by Melanie Golding (Meredith) 22:40 - The Hidden by Melanie Golding 28:57 - Hoopla 29:28 - In Her Boots by KJ Dell'antoia (Kaytee) 32:48 - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Meredith) 33:27 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 36:59 - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 41:04 - The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain (Kaytee) 42:19 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 42:21 - All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle 42:23 - The Guncle by Steven Rowley  42:43 - One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston 43:58 - Deep Dive: Seasoned Protagonists in our Reading 48:27 - The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo 49:10 - Cafe Con Libros 49:28 - An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten 50:18 - Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn 50:39 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 50:49 - The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman 53:39 - Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (#1 in the series) by M.C. Beaton 54:00 - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (#1 in the series) by Dorothy Gilman 54:48 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 54:49 - All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle 54:50 - The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain 55:08 - The Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory 55:21 - The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg 55:26 - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson 55:43 - The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg 56:42 - Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf 57:35 - The Son by Philipp Meyer 57:51 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher 58:53 - Meet Us At The Fountain I wish that everyone would read Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard. (Meredith) 59:23 - Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard 59:33 - The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard 59:42 - Fabled Bookshop 1:00:54 - Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard I wish that if a book is part of a series, the number is always on the spine or cover. (Kaytee) 1:01:29 - Spirit Hunters: The Island of Monsters by Ellen Oh 1:02:04 - Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh Connect With Us: Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram Mindy is @gratefulforgrace on Instagram Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram Roxanna is @roxannatheplanner on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast.com @currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading

It’s time to put this baby to work.What now? You’ll just have to listen.This is the last episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. It’s not too late to go back to the beginning and blueprint your book! Find details on the challenge HERE.YOUR ASSIGNMENTFiction and Narrative Memoir:Revise everything! Go back through all the steps and make them as solid as you can. Try think about your reader, the logic of your plot, and the emotional arc of the story.If you are doing the Summer 2022 challenge, you have until September 8th to turn in your complete workbook. Use that time to revise everything!For Nonfiction and Memoir/Self-Help Revise everything! Go back through all the steps and make them as solid as you can. Try to think about your reader, the transformation they seek, and the outcome you are going to bring them to.If you are doing the Summer 2022 challenge, you have until September 8th to turn in your complete workbook. Use that time to revise everything!(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 10. Revise everything!LINKSBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESBarbara Boyd takes a tough love approach to coaching. She coaches nonfiction writers on topics that include leadership, finance, marketing, human resources, health and wellness, agriculture, real estate, technology, and memoir.  Barbara has coached close to 100 writers through writing more than 200 books - including Jennie Nash’s Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book. She was certified by Author Accelerator in January 2021. You can learn more about Barbara at www.barbarajboyd.com.For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.comHave you been inspired by the Author Accelerator Book Coaches during this summer podcast takeover? Book coaching is a fantastic thing to do as a side gig to support your writing or as a whole new career. Author Accelerator trains and certifies book coaches and supports them as they help writers bring their books to life. You can learn all about book coaching at bookcoaches.com/abc. We’d love to have you join our community. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

About KJ Dell'Antonia: KJ is the author of The Chicken Sisters, a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon book club pick, and a timely, humorous exploration of the same themes she has long focused on in her journalism: the importance of finding joy in our families, the challenge of figuring out what makes us happy and the need to value the people in front of us more than the ones in our phones and laptops, every single time. Her latest novel, In Her Boots, is about the gap between the adult we think we have become, the child our mother will always see, and our horrible fear that our mother is right.  In this episode, Mike and KJ discuss:  KJ's journey to publishing from fanfiction to nonfiction journalism to published fiction with a Reese Witherspoon book club pick.  The challenges of finding out what makes us happy and then voicing it.  Enjoying life now, not waiting for the nebulous future.  Creating and inhabiting new worlds.  Key Takeaways:  Just because something is hard does not mean that it needs to be terrible too.  We are conditioned to want stuff, but what we are really looking for in life is connection.  We are all wearing masks in different aspects of our lives. The key is understanding who we are inside and recognizing that we are good as we are.  If you're not going to sell yourself and your works, who is going to? "We're all taught not to toot our own horns. But, hopefully, you think the thing that you're putting out in the world is the best thing you can and people want to share that and be part of it." – KJ Dell'Antonia Buy In Her Boots Amazon: https://amzn.to/3O4ldF5 Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9780593542460 Connect with KJ Dell'Antonia:  Website: https://kjdellantonia.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KJDellAntoniaAuthor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/KJDellAntonia Podcast: https://amwriting.substack.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kjda/  Connect with Mike Carlon: Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you’re not excited to dive in, something’s wrong.You’ve got a why, a point, an audience. You’ve thought market, found a way to drive your book forward. Found the one or two sentences that describe every chapter or scene and made yourself consider why those chapters or scenes belong and now—you should feel ready to write.But are you?Sometimes we fool ourselves. We think we’ve got all the pieces, but we’ve glossed over the fact that two chapters in our TOC are really about the same thing or the reason the villain took the ship hostage is … because she was feeling grumpy? Today we talk about hunting for those weak spots (when really you just want to run right past them with your eyes averted, and oh yeah we get that).This is the ninth episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. Find details on the challenge HERE.ASSIGMENTFiction and Narrative Memoir:Download the Ten Point Inside Outline Checklist HERE. Go through it to check your Inside Outline to make sure it is meeting all the requirements. If you find things that don’t hold together, that’s your clue about what you need to revise. Keep revising the Inside Outline until it’s as solid as possible.If you aren’t planning to use a book coach to review your whole Blueprint, this is the moment when it can make good sense to bring in a critique partner Give them your Inside Outline and the Ten Point Inside Outline Checklist and ask them to put your outline to the test.Nonfiction and Memoir/Self-Help:Download the Seven Point Outcome Outline Checklist HERE. Go through it to check your Outcome Outline to make sure it is meeting all the requirements. If you find things that don’t hold together, that’s your clue about what you need to revise. Keep revising the Outcome Outline until it’s as solid as possible.If you aren’t planning to use a book coach to review your whole Blueprint, this is the moment when it can make good sense to bring in a critique partner Give them your Outcome Outline and the Ten Point Inside Outline Checklist and ask them to put your outline to the test.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 9. The Outline Checklist)LINKSYou are a Badass, Jen SinceroThink Like a Monk, Jay ShettyBomb Shelter, Mary Laura PhilpottBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESJen Braaksma is a writer, teacher and book coach in Ottawa, Canada. Her next YA fantasy, Evangeline’s Heaven, is coming August 2022. She has the word “passion” tattooed on her wrist—literally—and she’s passionate about helping writers put their best work on the page. Find out more HERE.For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.comHave you been inspired by the Author Accelerator Book Coaches during this summer podcast takeover? Book coaching is a fantastic thing to do as a side gig to support your writing or as a whole new career. Author Accelerator trains and certifies book coaches and supports them as they help writers bring their books to life. You can learn all about book coaching at bookcoaches.com/abc. We’d love to have you join our community. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

This week, KJ Dell'Antonia is on the podcast to discuss her new novel, In Her Boots, a delightfully entertaining story set in small town New Hampshire about a ruse that goes awry and a chaotic homecoming that proves that confronting your past can sometimes set you free. 

Writing is, sadly, not like reading.Plenty of writers, including all of us on this episode, write a few hundred thousand words before we figure that out. Because in some ways, writing words about characters you’ve invented is easy. They go for coffee! They banter! And writing words about your non-fiction topic of choice, or the hike you took in the Sierra Nevadas—same same.It’s writing the right words, in the right order, that’s the challenge.DAMN IT.In this episode, we introduce our favorite not-an-outline-if-you-hate-outlining but yeah ok let’s talk about that tool: the Inside Outline for fiction and the Outcome Outline for nonfiction. Long detailed outlines not for you? You’re golden—this demands the fewest possible words describing every scene or event that drives the reader through the book (Hello, Step 7, how we missed you). Love a long detailed outline? Get ready to boil that down to its essence before you build it back up. Here’s the thing: this is supposed to be hard. It should feel impossible. Because you can’t write everything. You have to choose.This is the eighth episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. Find details on the challenge HERE.YOUR ASSIGNMENTFiction and Narrative Memoir:Download the Inside Outline worksheet HERE and create your Inside Outline. Don’t cheat! Following the rules is what makes this powerful.Nonfiction and Memoir/Self-HelpDownload the Outcome Outline worksheet HERE and create your Outcome Outline. There are fewer rules for the Outcome Outline, but you have to be crystal clear about your logic. (Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 8. The Inside Outline or the Outcome Outline.)LINKSRachael Herron’s How Do You Write Ep 301 with Isabel CañasBittersweet, Susan CainWe Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth, Jennifer RisherThe Artist’s Way, Julia CameronThe Five Love Languages, Gary ChapmanBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESA fan of true crime (#ssdgm) and mysteries of all kinds, Samantha Skal’s book coaching motto is “it’s time to get out of hell and finish your book”. Her magic gift is decoding agent rejections and helping writers produce and present their very best work. Find out more HERE. For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.com.This summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

People don’t behave logically, but they are illogical in logical ways. What makes you want to turn the page? You know how it is with some books—you just can’t put them down. Fiction, sure, thrillers, mysteries, but that’s not all. Non-fiction books can be page-turners too, even when they don’t seen to have a story. What makes The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up work even for people who never actually tidy up? The page-turning, reader-driving illusion that somehow they will. The Five Love Languages? The drive to figure out—which one am I, and which one are you?Narrative drive is a key element of success in everything from romance (sure, you know the ending, but how are they going to get together?) to memoir to, yes, successful how-to. Your reader should be constantly asking, and then what happened, which means you should be, too. And everything has to contribute to that drive, whether it’s a plot development or an emotional twist. That’s how you pull the reader through each and every chapter.This is the seventh episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. Find details on the challenge HERE.YOUR ASSIGNMENTFiction and Narrative Memoir:Create a “Because of That” story summary. The Pixar rubric is in your workbook.Nonfiction and Self-Help/Memoir:Draft a table of contents. If you already did that in the last step, refine it. Tables of contents can hold the code for your entire book, so don’t just toss it off! Write two or three sentences to describe each chapter.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 7. This is the page (or pages) with my Because of That Story Summary.)LINKSThe Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, Dan GemeinhartThe Five Love Languages, Gary ChapmanThe Other Black Girl, Zakiya Dalila HarrisBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESSara Gentry is a Math Ph.D. turned writer, book lover, and book coach. As an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach, Sara has been trained to help writers craft the story they’ve been wanting to tell. Thanks to her mathematical background, her book coaching strengths include planning project management, analyzing a story’s cohesiveness, and evaluating where a book might fit in the current marketplace. She works with writers across genres and age groups. She has a soft spot for KidLit and humorous adult fiction. Find more at easierwithacoach.com.For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.comThis summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

KJ Dell'Antonia is a New York Times bestselling author, podcaster extraordinaire, and former Motherlode editor! KJ joins Jen to talk about tax returns. No wait, that's a different podcast. On this episode KJ and Jen cover everything from living way too many miles away from cake to getting Reese Witherspoon's attention to that time KJ rejected Jen for the Motherlode column to setting boundaries with people via kick-ass emails.   Learn more about KJ and her brand new book IN HER BOOTS at kjdellatonia.com.  

In this episode, I chat with author KJ Dell'Antonia about her new novel In Her Boots, her podcast #amwriting, and books!KJ Dell'Antonia is the author of The Chicken Sisters, a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon book club pick, and a timely, humorous exploration of the same themes she has long focused on in her journalism: the importance of finding joy in our families, the challenge of figuring out what makes us happy, and the need to value the people in front of us more than the ones in our phones and laptops, every single time.KJ wrote and edited the Motherlode blog at the New York Times and is also the author of the viral essay Why I Didn't Answer Your Email and the book How to Be a Happier Parent. Her new novel, In Her Boots, is about the gap between the adults we think we have become, the child our mother will always see, and our horrible fear that our mother is right. KJ Dell'AntoniaIn Her Boots, KJ Dell'AntoniaThe #AmWriting PodcastThe Change, Kirsten MillerThe Truth About Ben And June, Alex KiesterThe Other Bennet Sister, Janice HadlowThe Murder of Mr. Wickham, Claudia GrayThe Boys, Katie HafnerSupport the show

The structure of a book is only inevitable in hindsight. Non-writers don’t usually notice structure unless it leaps out at them—reverse chronology, say, or an epistolary narrative. But structural choices loom huge for non-fiction writers and are no less important for memoir and fiction (although straight chronological is the white-shirt-and-blue-jeans of structure—relatable, easy to execute and nearly always appropriate). Will there be alternating timelines or POVs? A prologue? Who’s telling this story, and why, and how? When does it start and when does it end?If you’ve done the exercises up until now, you know why you’re writing and who you’re writing for. You’ve thought about the market–where your readers are and what they want. You’ve drafted some back of the book copy in the hopes of reaching those readers–and to remind yourself of the promise you’re making to them. And you’ve thought about the change that propels readers through a book, which is a sneaky way into thinking about theme. This is where we get ready to start the actual writing of your story.This is the sixth episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. Find details on the challenge HERE.YOUR ASSIGNMENTAnswer the following questions:For fiction and narrative memoir: Where is the narrator standing in time?What period of time does the book cover?Where does the book start and end?Does the reader know things the protagonist does not, and if so, how? (This is a good chance to check to make sure that your POV serves your story.)For nonfiction and memoir/self-help:Choose a structural prototype from this worksheet. Download HEREAnswer the questions for that prototype.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 6. This is the page (or pages) on structure.)LINKSWild, Cheryl StrayedThe Great Believers, Rebecca MakkaiIn the Dream House, Carmen Maria MachadoThe Part that Burns, Jeannine OuelletteThe Art of the Book Proposal, Eric MaiselEat Pray Love, Elizabeth GilbertThe Artist’s Way, Julia CameronCooked, Michael PollanTribe of Mentors, Timothy FerrissMaybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori GottliebMoms Don’t Have Time To , Zibby OwensA Three Dog Life, Abigail ThomasBird By Bird, Anne LamottQuiet, Susan CainThe People We Meet on Vacation, Emily HenryBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESSuzette Mullen is an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach who helps nonfiction writers write books that bring light and hope to the world. Suzette has a particular interest in building community for LGBTQ+ memoir writers. You can find out more about Suzette, her writing, and her book coaching services at yourstoryfinder.com.For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.comThis summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

I want to believe I can change. Show me how.The “arc of change” is famous in fiction, and it’s much the same in memoir–but there’s a change and shift in non-fiction too. Change is what pulls the reader from the beginning to the end of every narrative book. Without the promise of change, your reader feels like they’re going nowhere, and they won’t come along for your ride. In fiction and memoir, the change comes to the protagonist (and offers the reader the promise that they, too, are capable of change. In non-fiction, change may come to the narrator, to a real-life figure, or be offered to the reader, but it has to be there. It isn’t enough that the advice is sound or that a story is true. We still need to feel that journey from one way of being to another. This is the fifth episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. Find details on the challenge HERE. YOUR ASSIGNMENTWrite out the answers to the following questions:Fiction and narrative memoir: Answer the following questions:Who is your protagonist? (If you’re writing memoir, it’s you.) What do they want at the start of the story?What is their arc of change – their transformation journey? What do they know or believe or understand at the end of the story that they didn’t at the start? How are they different?What stands in the way of the protagonist getting what they want, externally and internally?Are they telling the tale?Will there be other POV characters?Nonfiction and Self-Help/Memoir: Define the arc of change – the transformation journey – for your reader. What do they know or believe or understand when they pick up your book? Be specific.What do they know or believe or understand when they finish your book that they didn’t at the start? Be specific.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 5: CHANGE.)LINKSThe Story GridStory Genius, Lisa CronThe terrible cat/rich dude movie: Nine LivesAtlas of the Heart, Brené BrownFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver BurkemanHow to Stop Time, Matt HaigBoyfriend, Sarina BowenThe Premonition, Michael LewisBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESSavannah Gilbo is a certified developmental editor and book coach who helps fiction authors write, edit, and publish stories that work. She loves working on commercial fiction for all age ranges, but her favorite genres include fantasy, science fiction, and romance. Savannah became a certified Author Accelerator in 2019 and has been helping writers (full time) ever since! Find more at savannahgilbo.com. For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.com.This summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Join Maggie for an author interview as she chats with the incredible NYT bestselling author KJ Dell'Antonia all about her new book 'In Her Boots.' This book is ALL about returning home and navigating relationships between your mom, friends, and yourself. I could NOT put down this book and loved getting to chat with KJ all about her writing process, how she builds her characters, and small town living. We hope you enjoy!As always, thank you for being a Novel Friend!For more information on KJ, follow her in Instagram @kjda

How do we make our ideal reader say Oh—THIS is the book for me?In our first two episodes, we dug down into why we write and how to share that why with the reader. In the last episode, we hung a quick right and got really practical about that reader and how to reach her–in other words, we talked about the market and why it’s important to understand where your book will sit on the shelf if you want the right readers to find it.In this episode, we’re going to talk about what happens when one of those potential readers picks your book up off that shelf–and turns it over. That means we’re talking jacket copy! You might have heard writing advice that basically says, quit daydreaming about what your cover will look like before you’ve written your book–but we’re not talking about the cover art. Jacket copy is important and drafting it now will help you find your story. It’s the promise you make to the reader–so the sooner you write it, the harder you can focus on keeping it–or changing it. Plus, it’s useful in a whole lot of ways.Like your point, your jacket copy is probably something you will come back to again and again as you write your book—but every time, it will help you hone your mission and clarify why you’re still sitting in that chair, typing away.This is the fourth episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. For the details on the challenge, and to sign up for weekly encouragement, bonuses and the chance to win a blueprint critique, head to authoraccelerator.com/amwritingblueprintchallenge. YOUR ASSIGNMENTWrite jacket copy for the book you want to write. Study the jacket copy of the comp titles you found in Step 3 to get a feel for how it should sound. Make it no more than 250 words.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 4. This is Jacket Copy.)LINKSThe Bohemians, Jasmin DarznikEat Pray Love, Elizabeth GilbertWe Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth, Jennifer RisherMaking Numbers Count, Karla Starr & Chip HeathMade to Stick, Chip Heath & Dan HeathMiss Independent, Nicole LapinThe S**t No One Tells You About Writing PodcastBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESMichelle Cox loves helping women in midlife and people in recovery tell their truths through fiction and nonfiction. She’s an Author Accelerator certified book coach, having undergone the rigorous training needed to become certified in fiction and nonfiction. She’s also the creator of Addicts to Authors “You Should Write a Book: Let’s Find Your Story©” program and the Fearless Midlife Writers Book-coaching© program. She has nearly three decades of experience as a professional writer, editor, journalist and writing coach. You can find her at bookcoachingworks.com.For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.comThis summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of complicated conversations we are joined by KJ Dell'Antonia. KJ is author of the instant New York Times bestseller, The Chicken Sisters, a Reese Witherspoon book club pick. She is the former editor of The New York Times Motherlode as well as the author of the nonfiction book How To Be A Happier Parent. Her second novel, In Her Boots, is out now. Listen to our spoiler-free episode and pick up your copy of In Her Boots! * We discuss Rhett Smith, aka Maggie Strong, her pen name, and what inspired her. Listen to hear what the book Eat, Pray, Love and Monica Lewinsky have to do with it! KJ shares whether she has her own inner superhero. (01:13) * A mother as the nemesis in the novel? Yes please! We discuss mommy issues and the complicated parent-child relationship. (04:23) *We talk about a scene with Rhett and Louisa and what KJ learned about how much time she considers how she appears or presents to others…what will people think? (07:45) * KJ talks about how she reconciles her different identities - lawyer, journalist and writer - and different versions of success. (11:21) * We talk astrology of course and yet another author tells us about her obsession with tarot cards. (14:56) * KJ shares what she's loving right now and why she supports other authors so enthusiastically! (17:20)

THE MARKET. First of all, I am having the best day here. I'm through 9 of 10 phone call/Zoom interviews about In Her Boots, and 8 of those interviewers appeared to have read it or at least in one case started it (a record) and a bunch of them seemed to have genuinely LOVED it and I'm delighted. Why tell you this here? In part because something readers have come back to several times is a piece of the book that I changed, at my editor's suggestion—because she thought readers would want something different from what my original draft gave them.In other words, the market. I made the change and I'm so glad I did, not just because readers like it, but also because it was true to the story I wanted to tell to the people I wanted to read it. And that's what thinking about reaching your market can be. It's not “selling out” or “writing to market”. It's—how can I tell my story or share my thoughts or message in a way that reaches the people I want to reach?I love this assignment. I hope you do too. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

In the first two Blueprint steps, we went high level, talking about your why and your point, and why those are key things to consider in writing the book you want to write–that will reach the readers you want to reach. In this episode, we get practical. Because while you need a why and a point to reach readers, you also need to know something about those readers–where they hang, what they’re looking for, and how you can become a part of it. In other words, it’s time to talk about the market.This is the third episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. For the details on the challenge, and to sign up for weekly encouragement, bonuses and the chance to win a blueprint critique, head to authoraccelerator.com/amwritingblueprintchallenge. YOUR ASSIGNMENTThere are several things to do this week, most of which involve some time hanging around a bookstore. You’re welcome!Find a working title for your book.Name your genre (fiction) or category (for memoir or nonfiction.)Find at least two comp titles that help put your book into context.Write one paragraph on your ideal reader – not just about the demographics that define them, but about what they feel/need.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 3. This is the page (or pages) about my readers.)LINKSSeressia Glass Episode, How to Love Writing What You Can SellFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver BurkemanThe Wild Edge of Sorrow, Francis WellerEpisode on books on nonfiction proposalsThe Art of the Book Proposal, Eric MaiselFlorida Woman, Deb RogersThink Like a Monk, Jay ShettyBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESRona Gofstein is an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach. She specializes in helping writers of genre fiction who have never given up their dream of being an author develop, write, and revise their novels. She writes contemporary romance and will be launching a new series and pen name later this year. She desperately needs her morning coffee, thinks reservations are the best thing to make for dinner, and believes that one day she will find the magic planner that will keep her perfectly organized. Find out more about Rona HERE. For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.comThis summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

I’m writing this book because I want people to read it.Step 2 in the Blueprint for a book challenge only sounds easy. In Step 1, we talked about your why. For Step 2, we invite you to find your point – which is what you want your reader to feel or know or do when they are done. It’s not the same thing! If you want to get all AP English on this, we’re talking about the theme. Or from the non-fiction perspective, maybe you want to consider this your thesis—but they really come down to the same thing. Every book is, at heart, an argument for something – for a belief, a way of life, a vision of the future, a way to solve a problem, a way to make a friend, a way to lose your soul. Finding your argument (and this is something you will probably revisit, hone and clarify along the way) will help you find your book.This is the second episode in the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start with Step 1, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week), and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. For the details on the challenge, and to sign up for weekly encouragement, bonuses and the chance to win a blueprint critique, head to authoraccelerator.com/amwritingblueprintchallenge. YOUR ASSIGNMENTName your point. It may sound like a billboard or a bumper sticker and that’s okay. That’s what you want for this step. This is an easy assignment so use the opportunity to revisit your why from Step 1, and to revise your point as many times as you need to until it feels just right. Next week you’ll have more to do.(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Click to grab yours for fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 2. This is the page (or pages) with my point. )LINKSThe EnneagramJessica Lahey, The Addiction InoculationBecky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry PlanetJasmine Guillory’s new Beauty and the Beast, By The BookKerry Savage book coachBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookTODAY’S COACHESDani Abernathy is an author and Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach who helps novelists write the stories they need to tell. Specializing in fantasy, soft sci-fi, and YA, Dani merges how story works with how people work, creating books that give readers the opportunity to have more empathy for themselves and others. She is a Capricorn, INFJ, and Enneagram 4 who believes that honest stories can change the world. Find more about Dani HERE.For more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.com.This summer is all about starting a project, but if you already have a novel or memoir manuscript and you’re ready to go ALL IN, you’re going to want to do Author Accelerator’s Manuscript Incubator. Registration is open for the intensive, 7-month coaching opportunity that offers one-on-one support and guidance for novelists and memoirists planning to have a submission-ready project by early 2023—and includes the opportunity to have that project reviewed by a group of agents and editors when it’s ready. For more information, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

We sit down to write because we have something to say.It’s beginning!This Episode marks the beginning of the 10-part Blueprint for a Book Series. Start here, do the work (we’ll give you an assignment every week)—and in 10 weeks, you’ll have a solid foundation for a first draft or revision of your project that will help you push through to “the end”. For the details on the challenge, and to sign up for weekly encouragement, bonuses, and the chance to win a blueprint critique, head to authoraccelerator.com/amwritingblueprintchallenge. Start with why. That’s the title of one of Jennie Nash’s favorite books and TED talks: Simon Sinek’s Start with Why, and it’s what a good book coach will always bring you back to if you get ahead of yourself. Why are you writing this? Fiction, memoir, non-fiction: we always have a reason. There is something we want to say, and someone we want to hear it. Knowing what that is gives your writing power. Readers feel it when something raw and real lies underneath your words, whether those words are about an intergalactic dinosaur battle or improving your chess game.LINKSBookriotLeaf Your Troubles Behind: How to Destress and Grow Happiness Through Plants, Karen HuggKnow My Name, Chanel MillerBomb Shelter, Mary Laura PhilpottNanetteTen Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation, Hannah GadsbyJenny LawsonMae RespicioGlennon DoyleBrené BrownBlueprint for a Book (Fiction and Memoir)Blueprint for a Nonfiction BookYOUR ASSIGNMENT Write one page on why you want to write this book. Consider external motivators such as money and the admiration of colleagues, and internal motivators such as anger, jealousy, or wanting to prove to yourself (or someone else) that you can really do this. Be honest with yourself: knowing your why can fuel your fire to keep writing, especially when the going gets tough (and it will get tough!)(Note: We suggest you download a Blueprint answer workbook to keep track of your 10 assignments. That will make it easier to revise, review and come back to your work. Go HERE to select fiction or nonfiction. If you are writing narrative memoir (a story), use the fiction workbook and assignments. If you are writing self-help/memoir, use the nonfiction workbook and assignments. Prefer paper? Tape the assignment into your journal and make a nice big heading so you know: This is Step 1. This is the page (or pages) with my why. )TODAY’S COACHESFor more from KJ, subscribe to her newsletter: Read. Eat. Listen. Or grab one of her novels, In Her Boots and The Chicken Sisters, wherever books are sold. Wondering about KJ as a book coach? Her current offerings are HERE. For more from Jennie, subscribe to her weekly newsletter. Or grab one of her Blueprint books, wherever books are sold. You can learn about getting matched with an Author Accelerator book coach or becoming a book coach at authoraccelerator.com.Our summer project is all about starting a book, but if you have a memoir or novel draft that you’re in the process of revising, Author Accelerator has a free treat for you—Ready Set Revise, a three-hour workshop that will help you evaluate your manuscript, figure out where you are in the process, and hopefully make it all less painful. Friday, July 8, noon – 3 pm PT / 3 – 6 pm ET They’ll explain how best to think about revision, talk about the things writers most often get wrong, and put you into a small group with a coach who coaches the kind of books you write.  It’s a great chance to get yourself in the right headspace to do this right. For details and to sign up, head to authoraccelerator.com/manuscript-incubator. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

This episode provides a sneak peek of the first three episodes of the new season of the "In Her Boots" podcast, hosted by Tiffany LaShae. Produced by the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES),  the re-boot of this popular podcast highlights the stories of Black and Brown women who traditionally have not had a platform to share their voices. Learn about the life and work of other women in agriculture through their conversations with new host Tiffany LaShae. Details at https://mosesorganic.org/in-her-boots-podcast/

This is the trailer to the new season of the In Her Boots podcast. This season is the first with new host Tiffany LaShae. Tiffany—a Black woman farmer, researcher, educator, and activist—interviews women of color in agriculture from around the Midwest about their experiences. Make sure to search for “In Her Boots” in your podcast app and hit subscribe. Stay tuned! In Her Boots --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/moses-podcast/message

We are pleased to present to you the new season of the In Her Boots podcast. The theme of this season, and the new direction of the show, is "Bootless." This shift is explained in this sneak peak of the first three episodes with new host Tiffany LaShae. Through Tiffany's conversations with her guests, the podcast shares and highlights the stories of Black and Brown women who traditionally have not had a platform to use their voice. Tiffany is a farmer, researcher, educator, and activist with a diverse background in food justice, regenerative agriculture, afroecology, agroecology, ‘permaculture' & more. In Her Boots on the MOSES website

Today, we talk to Dr. JohnElla Holmes, executive director of the Kansas Black Farmers Association and part of the wheat farming community in Kansas. She shares a deep-rooted story of resilience from her family’s farming history and building the African American agricultural community in Nicodemus, Kansas. Hear how being proactive, asking questions, and cultivating community add up to strength to stay in farming for the long haul. JohnElla retired from Kansas State University in 2015 to come "home" to historic Nicodemus, Kansas, which is the oldest all-African-American town west of the Mississippi River and now a National Historic Site. She is a 5th generation descendant of these original settlers in a community that today raised wheat, milo, and cattle. This episode wraps up our Resilience series and our In Her Boots podcast for this season. Thanks for listening and subscribing so you'll know when we're back with more episodes focused on inspiring women farmers, educators, and organizers committed to sustainable and organic agriculture.

Organic dairy graziers Thelma Heidel-Baker and Ricky Baker join Chuck to talk about what they've done to have a financially viable 60-cow dairy. This episode builds on part 1 with Dr. Jon Winsten from 6/4. UPDATE: Part 3 was a Virtual Field Day with Thelma, Ricky, and Jon where we talked about the economics of grazing as well as production, conservation, and more. It is now available on YouTube. Listen to Thelma's conservation conversation on the In Her Boots podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/moses-podcast/message

Today on our In Her Boots podcast, we’re talking about tools for land conservation with Jennifer Filipiak of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy. A champion for women landowners, Jen explains what a conservation easement is and how this can be an important tool to strategically preserve your land with your conservation goals in mind. Want to keep your farm in agriculture and protect it from development? Listen in for ideas and resources. Jennifer Filipiak serves as Executive Director of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, a land trust in Southwest Wisconsin dedicated to protecting the natural and agricultural landscape through permanent land protection and restoration. Jen and her husband, Pete, recently bought a farm in Lafayette County and jumped into the challenges of restoring fencing and old barns.

The In Her Boots podcast now has more than 130 episodes featuring women who are changing the food system for the better. Today, host Lisa Kivirist takes a look at the focus of our In Her Boots programming and offers a glimpse of what to expect on the show in the coming weeks.

We are wrapping up our In Her Boots podcast series with Barb Perkins of Vermont Valley Farm talking about how to keep workers safe on our farms. Barb reflects on things to think about when moving to paid staff and the role worker-shares played on her farm. Listen in for ideas to use on your farm to keep workers safe. Barb Perkins and her husband, David, ran Vermont Valley Community Farm CSA from 1994 through 2018. The farm, near Madison, Wisconsin, was one of the first CSAs in the state and one of the largest. The farm engaged its members in many ways and became a vibrant community over the years. Barb is an advocate for CSA and an educator for CSA farmers and the community. Barb and David retired the CSA after 24 amazing seasons. Vermont Valley continues to grow and sell certified organic seed potatoes.

We are finishing up our In Her Boots series with Halee Wepking of Meadowlark Organics, talking about the bright future of organic local grains and the role women can play. From planting regional-specific grains to starting a mill, there are lots of business opportunities to think about. In Her Boots Podcast The In Her Boots Podcast celebrates the collaborative spirit of women farmers, sharing ideas and inspiration with each other, and champions women farmers in the sustainable and organic farming movement. Whether you’re a woman with a dream of starting your own farm or already have your hands deep in the soil, there’s something for you here. Hosted by Lisa Kivirist, founder and coordinator of the In Her Boots project. A farmer herself, Lisa runs Inn Serendipity Farm and B&B with her family in Wisconsin and is the author of Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers. Audio engineer is Liam Kivirist of Techsocket.net. Funded initially by NorthCentral SARE. This podcast is available on iTunes and Stitcher. ________________________________________________________________________ Halee Wepking of Meadowlark Organics Episode 108: Halee Wepking on Marketing Local Grains We continue with Halee Wepking of Meadowlark Organics to talk about how she direct markets organic grains to local bakeries and consumers. There are legalities to navigate, she cautions, as she shares how important it is to educate bakers when you’re trying to sell them on grains that are new to them. Episode 107: Halee Wepking on Marketing through Local Food Hub to Manage Risk Artisanal bakers and craft brewers have created a demand for local grains. Halee Wepking of Meadowlark Organics explains how to access these markets and manage risk by marketing through a regional food hub. Episode 106: My Farm Story with Halee Wepking Today we sit down with Halee Wepking as she shares how a Craigslist ad and a unique land transition plan launched her family’s farm, Meadowlark Organics. From a degree in modern dance to stints as a professional cook, Halee’s inspiring journey reminds us to follow our heart and stay open to opportunities. Halee Wepking and her husband, John, run Meadowlark Organics, working with Paul Bickford on his 800-acre farm, shifting the focus from organic feed crops to a diversity of food-grade small grains, buckwheat, edible dry beans, and open-pollinated corn. Halee is mom to two young kids, Henry and Lyda, and also manages a grass-fed beef herd.

Today we kick off a fresh In Her Boots podcast series with Susan Waughtal of Squash Blossom Farm in Oronoco, Minn. Susan shares her inspiring story of the farm dream she had been brewing for over 25 years, which she brought to life right at her 50th birthday. Susan and her husband, Roger Nelson, run Squash Blossom Farm, a 10-acre historic 1910 farmstead where their vision is to combine local food, art, and music. Squash Blossom includes a small vegetable CSA, an on-farm bakery for wholesale and farmers markets, and a pizza night and from their wood-fired oven and on-farm commercial kitchen.

Major (Retired) Lisa Belcastro Bass served in the Army from 1992-2012. She began her career as a 30 year old single parent of three at the rank of Private in the Judge Advocate Corps (JAG). She attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as Engineer Officer at her seventh year serving in the Army. As a grandmother, she attended Airborne School and became the first female Commander in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. She served two 12 month tours in Iraq. On her last deployment, she founded TF SASA- Task Force Sisterhood Against Sexual Assault and developed the ‘In Her Boots’ program. Her last duty assignment was at Fort Hood, TX as Chief of Troop Construction. Upon retirement in 2012, Lisa quickly jumped into Entrepreneurship by continuing her construction company LR General Solutions that she started while still on active duty and incorporating TF SASA, LLC. Lisa holds an Associate’s Degree in Drafting, a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from the University of Central Texas, and Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Missouri, St. Louis. She also holds a Master’s Certificate for Commercial and Government Contracting from Villanova University. She is a graduate of the Entrepreneurs’ Bootcamp for Veteran’s with Disability (EBV) from Texas A&M and a graduate of the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (VWISE) in Jacksonville, FL in 2013. She won the ‘Best Social Venture Award” for TF SASA, LLC in the VWise and CITI Bank competition. She also is a graduated of the 9 month VWise and Capital One’s ‘Count Me In’ Program. Lisa has also supported her community as on the Board of Directors for the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce, and Co-chaired the Grand Prairie Economic Development Committee. She received the NOVA award from Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce for her work in the ‘In Her Boots’ program.

Thank you for tuning into the In Her Boots podcast. We will be expanding to weekly schedules starting this week. Listen to this short update for a preview, and please subscribe.

Thanks for your support of our In Her Boots podcast! We will be continuing to post through the winter months -- listen for an update and please subscribe.

Farmers Lisa Kivirist and Alison Parker preview Soil Sisters and In Her Boots events. Michele Hoffman previews her trip to Florida to research plankton and the affects of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Coorens reports on a big land use deal in Chicago