Podcasts about tattered cover bookstore

One of our favorite interviews from 2024 (originally airing during Banned Books Week) ..... Karl Weber, author and editor of "Why Books Still Matter: Honoring Joyce Meskis: Essays on Books, Bookselling, and Publishing." Joyce Meskis was the founder of the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, CO - one of the most famous independent bookstores in the country, and a business that helped revolutionize the public's notion of what a great bookstore could and should be. The interview also includes considerable discussion about the phenomenon of book banning - and how the practice of book banning tends to be detrimental to the health of a democracy.

Here is a wonderful interview for anybody who loves books and bookstores: "Why Books Still Matter: Honoring Joyce Meskis- Essays on the Past, Present and Future of Books, Bookselling and Publishing." Joyce Meskis was the legendary creator of the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, CO - one of the most famous bookstores in the world. She was also a champion of the first amendment. Weber is the editor of this book, which is comprised of a number of different essays exploring various aspects of books, book publishing and bookstores.

Today we speak to Adam Vitcavage, founder of Debutiful, a literary webpage and podcast. Much like PWN's Debut Review, Debutiful focuses on connecting readers and listeners with debut authors. Adam is also the Director of Events at Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado.In Episode Four of Season Four, we talk to Adam about how to start a podcast, how to interview famous people, how to understand our mothers, and how to read really great books. Adam also offers a list of his current must reads.

On this week's episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Roxanna are discussing: Bookish Moments: unhauling books and chatting live with a favorite author Current Reads: dystopia and middle grade and funny memoir and fantasy and graphic novels and murder Deep Dive: the lessons we learned from certain sections of the bookstore The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes over 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!*   . . . . 1:11 - Bookish Moment of the Week 1:18 - Pangobooks 2:48 - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 4:40 - Half Priced Books 5:12 - Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard 6:17 - Fabled Bookshop 7:00 - Current Reads 7:08 - The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Kaytee)  7:16 - Tattered Cover Bookstore 8:30 - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 12:23 - The Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White (Meredith) 14:25 - Hide by Kiersten White 16:33 - The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry 17:03 - The Vampiric Vacation by Kiersten White  17:58 - Downtown Shabby by Hopwood DePree (Kaytee) 20:18 - Scribd 21:06 - The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Meredith) 25:46 - Anne of West Philly by Ivy Noelle Weir (Kaytee) 25:48 - The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir 26:05 - Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy by Ivy Noelle Weir 26:35 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 29:22 - Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard (Meredith) 34:05 - The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard 34:06 - 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard 34:08 - Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard 35:10 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 36:03 - Deep Dive: If (Genre) Taught Me Anything 44:29 - Meet Us At The Fountain I wish every book came with an interactive experience. (Kaytee) 44:44 - The Violin Conspiracy by Brenden Slocumb 44:46 - I Take My Coffee Black by Tyler Merritt 44:54 - Shine Bright by Danyel Smith 45:39 - Downtown Shabby by Hopwood DePree  46:59 - Booth by Karen Joy Fowler I wish Blackwell's had a section just for popular books with different international covers. (Meredith) 47:36 - Blackwell's UK 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

Today's guest is Megan Kate Nelson, a 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History finalist for her outstanding book The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Scribner, 2020), which also earned the following mentions: Smithsonian Magazine's Top Ten History Books of 2020 Civil War Monitor's Top Civil War Books of 2020 2021 Emerging Civil War Book Award 2021 Pate Award, Fort Worth (Tex.) Civil War Roundtable Business Insider's 23 Best History Books Written by Women Finalist, 2021 Reading the West Book Award (Narrative Non-Fiction) Fifty Books of the West List, Tattered Cover Bookstore and the Colorado Sun Wow! Some years ago, Megan left the academic world to become a full-time writer after teaching U.S. history and American Studies for several years at Texas Tech, Cal State Fullerton, Harvard, and Brown. She earned her B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Iowa. Megan is primarily a historian of the American Civil War, the U.S. West, and popular culture. She has written related pieces for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, Preservation Magazine, and Civil War Times. Megan's column on Civil War popular culture, "Stereoscope," appears regularly in Civil War Monitor. She is also the author of Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp (Georgia, 2009) and Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War (Georgia, 2012). A recent electee to the Society of American Historians, Megan's latest project is Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America, which Scribner will publish in March 2022. We've seen galleys - what a story! Megan is also an avid cyclist and cocktail enthusiast - we'll also ask her about BBQ preferences. And her Twitter feed is worth your enjoyment - @megankatenelson, as is her blog Historista is both provocative and instructive for historians and anyone interested in history. Join us as we enter unchartered territory taking with a Pulitizer finalist! A little Calusetwizian Electronic Friction - Brian's mic went out halfway through. He showed his genius in quickly switching to the built-in computer mic - he'll suddenly get a little louder! Rec. 12/21/2021

I had a hard time keeping my cool when I chatted with Jeremy Patlen, Director of Buying at Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado, one of the world's best bookstores in one of the world's best cities. Jeremy and I talked about the artist's life and the cities that sustain it, the joys of opera, and a heartbreaking and beautiful memoir by Patti Smith.   Support the Best Book Ever Podcast on Patreon   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Guest: Jeremy Patlen Website/Instagram/Tattered Cover Bookstore   Do you know a young person who'd like to appear on the 2nd Annual Kids/YA Gift Guide Episode? GO HERE!   Discussed in this episode: Just Kids by Patti Smith (Also check out this gorgeous Illustrated Edition) Intimacies by Katie Kitamura Whereabouts by Jumpha Lahiri Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl Robert Mapplethorpe: The Photographs The Chelsea Hotel, Manhattan My Accidental Visit to the Pandemic's Party Capital (New York Times) Woolgathering by Patti Smith M Train by Patti Smith Devotions by Patti Smith My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Harlem Shuffle: A Novel by Colson Whitehead Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina: A Novel by Zoraida Córdova Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez Fuzz by Mary Roach Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel The Magician by Cólm Toibín Brooklyn by Cólm Toibín Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney   Discussed in our Patreon Segment Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton Becoming by Michelle Obama (FYI - there is also a version of this book adapted for young readers, as well as a Becoming Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice – these would make fantastic gifts for the young readers in your life!) A Promised Land by Barack Obama   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

I had a hard time keeping my cool when I chatted with Jeremy Patlen, Director of Buying at Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado, one of the world's best bookstores in one of the world's best cities. Jeremy and I talked about the artist's life and the cities that sustain it, the joys of opera, and a heartbreaking and beautiful memoir by Patti Smith.   Support the Best Book Ever Podcast on Patreon   Follow the Best Book Ever Podcast on Instagram or on the Best Book Ever Website   Host: Julie Strauss Website/Instagram     Guest: Jeremy Patlen Website/Instagram/Tattered Cover Bookstore   Do you know a young person who'd like to appear on the 2nd Annual Kids/YA Gift Guide Episode? GO HERE!   Discussed in this episode: Just Kids by Patti Smith (Also check out this gorgeous Illustrated Edition) Intimacies by Katie Kitamura Whereabouts by Jumpha Lahiri Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl Robert Mapplethorpe: The Photographs The Chelsea Hotel, Manhattan My Accidental Visit to the Pandemic's Party Capital (New York Times) Woolgathering by Patti Smith M Train by Patti Smith Devotions by Patti Smith My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Harlem Shuffle: A Novel by Colson Whitehead Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina: A Novel by Zoraida Córdova Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez Fuzz by Mary Roach Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel The Magician by Cólm Toibín Brooklyn by Cólm Toibín Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney   Discussed in our Patreon Segment Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton Becoming by Michelle Obama (FYI - there is also a version of this book adapted for young readers, as well as a Becoming Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice – these would make fantastic gifts for the young readers in your life!) A Promised Land by Barack Obama   (Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links, meaning I get a few bucks off your purchase at no extra expense to you. Anytime you shop for books, you can use my affiliate link on Bookshop, which also supports Indie Bookstores around the country. If you're shopping for everything else – clothes, office supplies, gluten-free pasta, couches – you can use my affiliate link for Amazon. Thank you for helping to keep the Best Book Ever Podcast in business!)

Jon Marcantoni is the Local Author Coordinator at Tattered Cover as well as the founder of LCG Media, a publishing and multimedia company. He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Kings of 7th Avenue. His work has appeared in Latino Rebels, Warscapes, Across the Margin, PANK Magazine, The New Engagement, Minor Literatures, 3 AM, Label Me Latino, and he has been featured in the Huffington Post, Washington Post, El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico, The LA Times, and NPR's Frontera series. On the podcast, Jon talks about the system he has set up to accept independently published books at the Tattered Cover.  The Tattered Cover staff will be on hand to run the bookstore at Colorado Gold, coming up in Denver from Oct. 15 - 17.  More: https://www.tatteredcover.com/local-authors Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

In this episode we welcome Kwame Spearman CEO of The Tattered Cover Bookstore. In December of 2020, Kwame, and his business partner David Back purchased the Tattered Cover because they know how important the store is to the Denver Community. The purchase made the Tattered Cover the largest black owned independent book store in America. It is so cool that this place exists right here in our own community. We asked Kwame about his experiences as a black entrepreneur to learn more about what or who inspired him to get into business. For this interview, Kwame called in virtually and we invited some younger students in to speak to Kwame with us. You will hear questions from Tru, Jayveon, Dorianda and Avayah. We are so proud of them for making their first podcast. A special thank you to Mrs. Lovell for setting this interview up for us. We hope you enjoy the interview! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/voiceofmontbello/support

This week on System Check we are saying farewell to 2020 and hello to 2021 with our first System Check Book Club. Your hosts Melissa and Dorian first aired this Book Club as a Live Event (https://www.thenation.com/article/society/system-check-live-video/) on YouTube and Facebook just in time for holiday reading. While the original show was over two hours long (https://www.facebook.com/7629206115/videos/199505105156343) , for our podcast this week we decided to share with you some of the highlights from the live event. First up is Maria Hinojosa (https://www.futuromediagroup.org/maria-hinojosa/) , journalist , storyteller and founder of Futuro Media Group. She is the host and executive producer of the brilliant and informative weekly NPR show Latino USA, and anchor of the Emmy Award-winning talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One. Her latest book, Once I Was You: a Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Once-I-Was-You/Maria-Hinojosa/9781982128654) was published by Atria Books and received well-earned, rave reviews this fall. We talk with her about the system of immigration, particularly the cruel and harmful practices of family separation of young immigrant children from their parents, the role of state agents who insist they are simply “doing their job” as well as those brave enough to resist, and the personal origins of her book title. Next we speak with Rumaan Alam (https://rumaanalam.com/) , author of the gripping, searing and suspenseful novel Leave The World Behind (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/leave-the-world-behind-rumaan-alam?variant=32123411365922&utm_source=aps&utm_medium=athrweb&utm_campaign=aps) . With bylines in many places including The Nation (https://www.thenation.com/authors/rumaan-alam/) , Alam’s fictional characters in his third novel feel as though they are grappling with the dystopia of their new domestic lives, revealing deep-seated racism, and coping with the death-dealing consequences of environmental and political disaster. Sound familiar? Leave the World Behind was a finalist for this year’s National Book Award and has already been optioned by Netflix. Although written in 2018 and 2019, it seems like the year 2020 released the lived experience version of this novel. Up next is a powerful, brutal, and insightful new book by New York Times best-selling author Scott Farris (https://www.c-span.org/person/?scottfarris02) . Freedom on Trial: The First Post Civil-War Battle Over Civil Rights and Voter Suppression (http://www.thelyonspress.com/book/9781493046355) tells the story of the federal government prosecution of the South Carolina Ku Klux Klan in the early 1870s. Farris talks with us about the system of citizenship—and the contested meanings of the 14th and 15th Amendments during the Reconstruction period, the role of radical Republicans in the fight for racial justice, and the specific role of Farris’s own great grandfather in this overlooked historical saga of the KKK. Our colleague John Nichols, (https://www.thenation.com/authors/john-nichols/) National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation, joins us next to discuss his latest book, The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics (https://www.versobooks.com/books/3082-the-fight-for-the-soul-of-the-democratic-party) . In the book, John reveals the legacy of former Vice President Henry Wallace, who warned of the persisting “Danger of American Fascism” and urged the Democratic Party to reject imperialism in favor of a genuinely progressive future. It is a message, Nichols says, the Democratic party needs to heed now. Nichols brings the often forgotten visionary, politician, activist and philanthropist Wallace to the fore of mid-century American politics, charting the untraveled paths he envisioned for the Democratic Party, including a post-war peace that was rooted in human dignity and justice abroad and domestically. And John answers the question: does the Democratic Party today have a soul to fight for? Our final selection for this week’s episode offers a very different way of thinking about systems. Although this book is about one man—athlete, artist, philosopher, and activist, Paul Robeson—it isn’t so much a biography as an exploration of Robeson as a system, a technology, an element and vibration. Intrigued? Tune in to hear Shana Redmond (https://drshanaredmond.com/) , Professor of Musicology and African American Studies at UCLA, and author of Everything Man: The Form and Function of Paul Robeson (https://www.dukeupress.edu/everything-man) , as she talks with our hosts about this extraordinary book, including how Robeson was to Henry Wallace in 1948 as Killa Mike was to Bernie Sanders in 2020. A very special thanks to all of our authors that joined us for first System Check Book Club (https://www.thenation.com/article/society/system-check-live-video/) , as well as all of our partners for the live event including: The Anna Julia Cooper Center (https://ajccenter.com/) , Community Change Action (https://communitychangeaction.org/) , The New York Public Library (https://www.nypl.org/) , Tattered Cover Bookstore (https://www.tatteredcover.com/) , and of course the home of System Check The Nation (https://www.thenation.com/) . Like System Check? Follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SystemCheckPod) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SystemCheckPod/) , and subscribe on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/system-check/id1536830138) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/0vI1wNUVfYbZXMIM6nciaX?si=VoRgIzndRVG4Xw_rQNGKmQ) , or wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every Friday. System Check is a project of The Nation magazine, hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren and produced by Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Support for System Check comes from Omidyar Network, a social change venture that is reimagining how capitalism should work. Learn more about their efforts to recenter our economy around individuals, community, and societal well-being at Omidyar.com (http://omidyar.com/) . Our executive producer is Frank Reynolds. Our theme music is by Brooklyn-based artist and producer Jachary (https://jachary.bandcamp.com/) . Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: http://thenation.com/systemchecksubs.

This is a reading from my debut novel, Aspen in Moonlight, available in print and ebook from Bold Strokes Books and available everywhere books are sold, including Powell's, The Tattered Cover Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. I hope you enjoy it!

Kaytee has a special guest co-host joining her this week, and I can’t wait to share her with you. You’ve heard me mention “my Heather” many times on the podcast, and today she’s recording with me to bring you a very special episode. Continuing Important announcement: we have a great discount code to share with you from The Bookshelf Thomasville! Now through June 30th, you can get anything on their website for 10% off using the code CURRENTLYREADING (wow!!!) This would be a great time to pick up a Shelf Subscription for yourself or others! You’ll hear a “bookish moment of the week” from each of us: a trip to a favorite indie bookstore and library cards for very excited kiddos. Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. Heather prepared like a boss and brings you a perfect audiobook listen no matter who you are road tripping with this summer. Kaytee has some non-fiction and a (perhaps overly?) hyped sequel to discuss. For our deep dive this week, I’m talking to Heather about her reading life, including some of the things that you listeners have been wondering about our (M&K’s reading life) in relation to motherhood, and finding time to read with kids around. As always, we finish up with A Book (yep, capitalized) that we’d like to press into every reader’s hands. We’ve got a children’s classic that should be read by readers of every age and a memoir that will make you cry and laugh so hard you may pee yourself. 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!  .  .  .  .  .  2:05 - Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, CO 4:40 - The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Mary Rose Wood 7:28 - The Bride Test by Helen Hoang 7:33 - The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang 10:44 - Everybody Always by Bob Goff 12:38 - Love Does by Bob Goff 13:17 - Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt 13:30 - May 21st Episode of Sorta Awesome with Heather Chollar talking about Introverted Hospitality 13:53 - The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schmidt 13:55 - The Art of Neighboring by Dave Runyon and Jay Pathak 16:24 - Circe by Madeline Miller 16:32 - Meredith discusses in Episode 10 at 44:08 19:06 - @howjessreads on Instagram 19:13 - Get Well Soon by Jennifer Wright 20:18 - Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks 22:24 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery 25:04 - Heather’s display bookshelf 29:27 - Gift From the Sea by Ann Morrow Lindburgh 31:00 - The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster 32:05 - Audiobook narration of The Phantom Tollbooth by Raine Wilson 34:02 - Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton 34:14 - Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton 34:55 - momastery.com 36:53 - @heatherchollar on Instagram *Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon 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. Thanks for your support!*  

Today, we discuss Cori’s historical fiction pick, To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey.  In part, picked to continue reading stuff already on the shelf, Cori was drawn to this beautiful hardcover edition she found on sale while visiting the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, CO.  It also was an opportunity to … Continue reading S3E8: Exploring Mysterious Alaskan Frontiers →

TVC 451.4: Actor and author Patrick Kilpatrick (Dying for Living: Sins and Confessions of a Hollywood Villain and Libertine Patriot) discusses the psychosexual approach he often takes to playing heinous characters in movies and on TV, and on the effect that has sometimes had on his acting partners. Volume I of Dying for Living is available now in hardcover, as an eBook, and as an audiobook; Volume II is scheduled for release later in 2019. For our listeners in Denver, Colorado, Patrick Kilpatrick is scheduled to appear at the Tattered Cover Bookstore on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Sixty Seven Show Notes CW = Chris WolakEF = Emily FinePurchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.Join our Goodreads Group! Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.– Currently Reading –Girls on the Line – Aimie K. Runyon (CW)(audio)Oceanic – Aimee Nezhukumatthil (CW)The Lost Man – Jane Harper (CW)Less – Andrew Sean Greer (EF)Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give – Ada Calhoun (EF)Clock Dance – Anne Tyler (EF)– Just Read –The Widows – Jess Montgomery (EF)(CW)Chris DNF’d a few:Manhattan Beach – Jennifer Egan (CW)The Alumni Association – Michael Rudolph (CW)Dark Streets, Cold Suburbs – Aimee Hix (CW)Elevation – Stephen King (EF)Mistletoe Murder – Leslie Meier (CW)Lawn Boy – Jonathan Evison – (EF)Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions – Johann Hari (CW) Girls & Boys – Dennis Kelly (EF)(audio – narrated by Carey Mulligan)The Hunger – Alma Katsu (CW)How to Start a Fire – Lisa Lutz (EF)My Mortal Enemy – Willa Cather (CW)The Sisters Brothers – Patrick Dewitt (EF)The Incendiaries – R.O. Kwon (EF)All the Names They Used for God – Anjali Sachdeva (EF)– Biblio Adventures –January 17th – Willa Cather Book Club at Book Club Bookstore & More in South Windsor, CT at 2:00Emily went on a big adventure that included stops at:Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe and Pegasus Books in Bend, OregonBook Train Books & Magazines and Book Grove in Glenwood Springs, COSummit County Library, Ole Man Berkins Used Books, and Breck Books in Breckenridge, CO and Tattered Cover Bookstore at the airport in Denver, COWe watched some shows:Dumplin’ based on the book by Julie MurphyBirdbox movie based on the book by Josh MalermanSalt Fat Acid Heat based on the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nasrat The Haunting of Hill House loosely based on the novel by Shirley JacksonAdaptation based on the Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession by Susan OrleanTidying Up With Marie Kondo based on the novel The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing– Upcoming Jaunts –Chris and Emily are going on a joint jaunt to Noah Webster House in West HartfordEmily is heading to NYC to see the play Choir Boy written by Terrell Alvin MccraryJanuary 19, 2019 at RJ Julia in Madison – Dani Shapiro with her new book Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and LoveJanuary 28, 2019 – Michael Chabon at Yale University– Upcoming Reads –French Exit – Patrick Dewitt (EF)The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America – Virginia Sole-Smith (EF)Anthony Bourdain’s Hungry Ghosts – Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose (CW)– Also Mentioned –Also by Jane Harper: The Dry and Force of Nature11/22/63 – Stephen KingNorthshire BookstoreRevised Fundamentals of Caregiving – Jonathan EvisonThe Donner Party Chronicles: A Day-by-Day Account of a Doomed Wagon Train, 1846-1847 – Frank MullenDesperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West – Ethan RarickAmazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon

Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group Interview starts at 5:19 and ends at 36:00 “With respect to blockchain, there's an opportunity to--I wouldn't necessarily say disrupt--but to create an alternative to the closed ecosystems that Amazon has with Kindle and that other online platforms have and to provide peer-to-peer trading as well as easier e-commerce networks for publishers. It might be a pipe dream, and it might be that Amazon beats us to the punch and creates something that works on blockchain but is more effective for the consumer.” News All-new Fire HD 8 tablet with hands-free Alexa Tech Tip Alexa and Cortana demo Here's How to Use Cortana with Alexa (and Vice Versa) To use Cortana on an Echo device: Open the Alexa app. You can log into your Amazon account here, or create one for free. Enable the Cortana Alexa skill. ... To Use Alexa on a Cortana device: Open Cortana. ... Say "Hey Cortana, open Alexa." Interview with Brian O'Leary Book Industry Study Group Author Earnings Digital Book World in Nashville October 2-4, 2018 Blockchain panel (YouTube) at BookNet Canada - March 23, 2018 Open Publication Distribution Service Len Vlahos of the Tattered Cover Bookstore on TKC 467 - July 14, 2017 Music for my podcast is from an original  Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD. Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads! Right-click here and then click "Save Link As..." to download the audio to your computer, phone, or MP3 player.

In Part Two of this interview, award-winning screenwriter and author of the debut novel All Our Wrong Todays, Elan Mastai, returned to talk about his fiction debut, the science of time travel, and finding inspiration in dark places. The writer and producer has written movies for both indie and Hollywood studios, including scripts for Fox, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Paramount. His most recent film – What If, a comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, and Mackenzie Davis – premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. Elan won the Canadian Academy Award and the Writers Guild of Canada Award for his script, and the movie played in over 30 countries. His new novel – All Our Wrong Todays – is a sci-fi tinged, time-travel romance and much buzzed about debut that is rumored to have landed the writer a seven-figure book deal worth north of a million dollars. The book has been described as “Dark Matter meets Back to the Future,” and even prior to the book’s publication, the film rights were sold to Paramount Pictures. Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian, called it, “A thrilling tale of time travel and alternate timelines with a refreshingly optimistic view of humanity’s future.” If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. If you missed the first half you can find it right here. In Part Two of this file Elan Mastai and I discuss: Why you should double check your facts before sending your manuscript to a celebrity How music can influence your writing style Why you need to give yourself permission to write badly The writer as entrepreneur whose one product is the inside of their brain Why your writing is a like a time machine Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes If you’re ready to see for yourself why over 194,000 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — just go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress How Screenwriter and ‘All Our Wrong Todays’ Author Elan Mastai Writes: Part One All Our Wrong Todays – Elan Mastai ElanMastai.com Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It. – Cal Newport How Andy Weir (Bestselling Author of ‘The Martian’) Writes: Part One How Bestselling Author Austin Kleon Writes: Part One How Wired Magazine’s Senior Maverick Kevin Kelly Writes: Part One Elan Mastai on IMDb Elan Mastai on Goodreads Elan Mastai on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter The Transcript How Screenwriter and All Our Wrong Todays Author Elan Mastai Writes: Part Two Voiceover: Rainmaker FM Kelton Reid: Welcome back to The Writer Files. I am still your host, Kelton Reid, here to take you on another tour of the habits, habitats, and brains of renowned writers. In part two of this file, award-winning screenwriter and author of the debut novel, All Our Wrong Todays, Elan Mastai, returns to talk about his fiction debut, the science of time travel, and finding inspiration in dark places. The writer and producer has written movies for both indie and Hollywood studios, including scripts for FOX, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Paramount. His most recent film, What If, a comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, and Mackenzie Davis, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. Elan won the Canadian Academy Award and Writer’s Guild of Canada Award for his script, and the movie played in over 30 countries. His new novel, All Our Wrong Todays, is a sci-fi tinged time travel romance and much buzzed about debut that is rumored to have landed the writer a seven-figure book deal. The book has been described as Dark Matter meets Back to the Future, and even prior to the book’s publication, the film rights were sold to Paramount Pictures. Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian, called it, “A thrilling tale of time travel and alternate time lines with a refreshingly optimistic view of humanity’s future.” In part two of this file, Elan and I discuss why you should double check your facts before sending your manuscript to a celebrity, how music can influence your writing style, why you need to give yourself permission to write badly, the writer as entrepreneur whose one product is the inside of their brain, and why your writing is like a time machine. If you are a fan of the show, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews as soon as we publish them, and if you missed the first half of this show, you can find it in the archives, on iTunes, on WriterFiles.FM, and in the show notes. Just a quick reminder that The Writer Files is brought to you by StudioPress, the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins. Built on the Genesis Framework, StudioPress delivers state of the art SEO tools, beautiful and fully responsive designs, airtight security, instant updates, and much more. If you’re ready to take your WordPress site to the next level, see for yourself why over 194,000 website owners trust StudioPress. Go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress now. That’s Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress. Why You Should Double Check Your Facts Before Sending Your Manuscript to a Celebrity Elan Mastai: Now it’s funny that you say Andy Weir. I was so flattered and grateful that Andy, who I don’t know personally, read the book and wrote me this terrific blurb, but when we sent him the manuscript to read, I actually had this moment of panic, and I went back and I redid all the calculations. And I realized when we sent him the book, I had gotten the speed at which the Earth rotates around the planet wrong, because I had started in kilometers an hour, because I’m Canadian, metric system, and then I’d converted it into miles per hour for my American publisher, and then I’d done something wrong. So I was like I was texting my editor, I’m like, We sent it to Andy Weir, of all the people we could have sent it to, we sent it to Andy Weir, and I got the speed of rotation of the planet around the Sun wrong, we have to get it back, I have to fix it. She’s like, “I think it’s going to be okay.” Fortunately, I mean, I fixed it in the book, and I ran all the calculations over and over again, but that is funny that you cited him in particular, because I get that one calculation wrong, and I was like super sheepish and embarrassed about it. Kelton Reid: Oh, man. Elan Mastai: It’s an honest mistake. I blame the metric system, as I blame it for so many things in my life. Kelton Reid: That’s awesome. Elan Mastai: So I like to figure this stuff out, and it’s not just the technology, although the technology and the science is the flashiest part. I like to drill down into everything. If I don’t know about something, I like to find out about it, so there’s a lot of, yeah, I go into a lot of Google holes trying to figure stuff out, but it’s usually a function of some moment in the story that I’ve come to where I realize I need to figure something out. I’ve hit the limits of my amateur knowledge, and I need to start, I need to give myself a little seminar in this area, whatever that area might be. I mean, the scientific and technological elements are, of course, sort of more complex and finicky, and you have to do a lot of work to not lose the reader. That was a big thing for me. I wanted it to be the interesting stuff that really matters for the story, and if it was just arcane technical stuff, I’m not going to put it in there because I don’t want to bore you, and if you’re interested, here’s some, you know, you can find out more. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: You can go down your own kind of Google hole, but you don’t want to lose people with all that stuff, you just want it to be interesting. So that was always my kind of North Star, which is just, Is it interesting? If it’s not interesting, that’s fine. I can talk a lot about traffic patterns for flying cars, but I boiled it all down to like two sentences in the book. Don’t worry. It’s not like there’s six chapters of how flying traffic is. I just like to figure this stuff out, and then I know, and then that’s what matters to me that I know, and then my job is then to figure out what’s the most interesting part of what I figured out for the reader. How Music Can Influence Your Writing Style Kelton Reid: Yeah, yeah. It’s pretty impressive just to see the kind of this mashup of worlds, that you know, from an outsider’s perspective, looking at your screenwriting background, I’m sure that you were influenced by some science fiction movies as well as romantic comedy stuff that you’ve written for multiple different genres. But, I think you’ve already outlined your productivity for the most part. When I think of screenwriters kind of looking at, you know, narrative fiction, I always imagine them kind of listening to different soundtracks, and it seems like you were influenced by music in your screenwriting somewhat. Did music play any part when you were writing this? I’m kind of imagining you listening to like Hans Zimmer while you’re writing. Elan Mastai: That’s not inaccurate. I mean, what I find, actually, is that certain sequences in the book I connect with certain songs or certain pieces of music. So I don’t always write to music, but then there are certain sequences when I’m trying to get myself in the headspace of that sequence, I’ll listen to the same piece, usually instrumental, over and over and over again, and there’s almost a … even if the reader doesn’t, wouldn’t ever catch it, the rhythm of the piece and the tone of the piece become the rhythm and the tone of that chapter or that piece of the story, and so while I’m writing it, I’ll listen to it over and over again. If I’m going back and rewriting or editing that section, I’ll put that same song back on, and it kind of gets me in the headspace. So yeah, I mean, I listen to sometimes movie soundtracks, but actually more, I listen to more like composers. Ludovico Einaudi, I hope I’m pronouncing that write, who’s an Italian composer. His music is used in films a lot, but he’s just a composer. I like his stuff a lot. There’s an American composer called Carly Comando whose work I listen to a lot. Max Richter, again, who’s somebody whose work is used in film a lot, but who also just composes his own pieces. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: I find, like, they’re just, they create these very moody soundscapes. Giles Lamb is another one, and I like to listen to those. Although there are certain ones, like I’m going to blank on his name, but he did the soundtrack to the Danny Boyle movies Sunshine and 28 Days Later. I’m blanking on his name. I think it’s John something, but his stuff is terrific, and you know, when you’re writing, even if what you’re writing is terrible, it feels epic when you’re listening to his music. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Yeah. Well, here’s the million dollar question. How do you feel about writer’s block as a guy who writes every day? Have you ever run up against it? Or do you believe in it? Elan Mastai: I believe in it, but what I believe writer’s block is a lack of preparation. I think that if you don’t know where you’re going with the story, you haven’t figured out what you have to say, you don’t know how your story ends, you don’t know what the actual journey your character is on, that’s where writer’s block comes from because you’ve hit an obstacle. It’s like you’re on a journey and you don’t have a destination in mind, and so you’ve gone down a dead end. Do I believe in writer’s block? I mean, I don’t feel writer’s block much at this point in my life because I know what I need is preparation. I don’t really start anything until I have a pretty good sense of my ending. Which doesn’t mean I know every single step along the way. For me, it is like a road trip. I know where I’m going, I know a couple stops along the way, and then I like to leave room to discover. I like to be surprised by my own story, but the way that, for me, I know that I’m going to do the best possible work is if I know I have a terrific ending, because to me, the ending is why I’m writing in the first place. If I don’t feel like I have a great ending to my story, I don’t even start. Because to me, then I’m just going to be spinning my wheels. A lot of movies and a lot of books and a lot of everything in writing loses its way right in the middle. Because that’s the moment, you know, you’ve gotten over the initial hump of, Okay, I’ve started my story, I’ve picked everything off, I’ve gotten everything placed. Wait, where am I going? Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: You know, I’ve packed up my car, I’ve filled up the gas, I’ve, you know, inflated the tires, and I don’t actually know which way to drive. And so for me, writer’s block, it can be a very real thing for people, but almost always, in my experience, it’s about a lack of preparation. You haven’t actually thought about what you’re doing enough. Once you’ve had a chance to think it through, then all of a sudden, you’re like, Okay, now I know where I’m going, and the writer’s block has a way of kind of magically dissolving. Why You Need to Give Yourself Permission to Write Badly Kelton Reid: For sure. For sure. And all screenwriters probably study the canon of, you know, McKee and Freytag’s Pyramid and all that stuff, so that probably assists you as well, I would imagine. Elan Mastai: I don’t actually take much kind of comfort or guidance from that sort of stuff. I mean, I think it can be very useful for people, especially when you’re starting out. I don’t turn down my nose, look down my nose at it or anything, but for me, what I find is I just, if I’m feeling like I haven’t figured stuff out, I just pick up a book, I watch a movie, or read a screenplay, I read a novel. I just go back to reading and get, and that’s usually what inspires me, rather than sort of, because I don’t find … I think we’ve internalized a lot of the rules anyways, and so I find a lot of these storytelling rules actually can make you feel more kind of bound than less. So I find, actually, I’m more free to come up with an unexpected solution. I also, just as a writer, I like to put myself in the headspace of my characters. I’ll write myself into a corner. I’ll put the characters in a place where I don’t know how I’m going to get them out, and then I have to figure out how to get them out, just like they have to figure out how to get out, and so I do trust that stuff. Now, of course, again, just to be clear, a lot of this stuff you fix in rewriting anyways. I mean, you know, nobody is, no movie you see, no book you read is the first draft. Kelton Reid: Right. Elan Mastai: I mean, by far. So I also, the other thing about writer’s block, for me, is I just give myself permission to write badly. You know, sometimes, the work is not going to be to your highest standard, but I’m going to rewrite it anyways, so I’d just rather write something that’s okay knowing that I’m going to go back and fix it, because it’s always easier to fix something you already wrote than it is to stare at the blank page or the blank screen. Because if I have a bad line of dialog, then I’m like, Okay, this is a crappy line of dialog. What would be a better way of expressing this? It’s totally different than, I have to come up with a line of dialog from scratch. So I’d rather just write badly for a while and fix it later. Kelton Reid: Yeah, yeah. I think Andy Weir expressed that exact same sentiment, and that’s a good takeaway. All right. So I’ve got a couple quick workflow questions for you. Mac or PC? Elan Mastai: Mac. Kelton Reid: What software are you using, predominantly? I’m imagining you use a different screenwriting software, obviously, then for the prose stuff. Elan Mastai: For screenwriting, I use Final Draft, and for novel writing, I just use Microsoft Word. I have Scrivener, which I like for organizing the story. Like moving things around, getting a sense of the structure of it all, but I actually like to use software that is as invisible as possible, and part of invisibility to me is just being used to it. So I’ve been staring at Final Draft for so many years that I barely even notice anymore. I know there’s lots of screenwriters who advocate for other kinds of software which they think is much better than Final Draft. I’m not even weighing in on that. When I open up Final Draft, I don’t even notice it. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: Same thing with Microsoft Word. I am in no way advocating that it’s the best software to write a novel on. I actually wrote All Our Wrong Todays on like Microsoft Word 2001. Like not even the newest versions. Like the old version, with as few bells and whistles as possible. I hate it when the little paperclip comes up and tries to tell you that you’re doing something wrong. I’m like, Get that paperclip out of my way. I don’t want anything that, when I’m in the flow of writing, I don’t want anything interrupting me, and so I actually use the simplest software as possible, and then later, I’ll go in and I’ll, you know, I’ll actually import it into a newer version. So I actually went from the 2001 Microsoft Word to the most recent one when I was actually doing edit, like the copy editing and production editing for the novel. Likewise, I’ll write in an old version of Final Draft, and then I’ll update it to something newer when I’m editing or when I’m in production, when you need all the bells and whistles, But for me, it’s like I want it to be as clean and as uncluttered as possible. I think a lot of software, unfortunately, they try to shove as much stuff in there as possible to get you to buy the new version, whereas all I want is the oldest and simplest version. The Writer as Entrepreneur Whose One Product is the Inside of Their Brain Kelton Reid: Love it. I love it. Well, before we talk about creativity, I guess my last question is how do you unplug at the end of a long writing day when you’re kind of going back and forth and wearing all these different hats? Elan Mastai: I don’t know that I do, man. I mean, it’s a lovely aspiration. I would love to. Can you tell me, please, actually, can you answer that question? I mean, sometimes, it’s very simple. I have an office in my house. I work from home most of the time. I do go out and work in other places sometimes, but I mostly just like to work from home, and I sometimes just leave my cell phone in my office upstairs at the end of the day, and I go down and just don’t answer it. Don’t look at it. You know, the reality is, unless you’re in production on a film or your book is literally going to the printers, there are very few emergencies in the writing life, and so I do like to just leave it in another room, leave it on vibrate or even off, and do try to take the time to just be very, you know, present in my life. But it’s hard because when you’re a writer, whether it’s a screenwriter, a novel writer, any kind of writer, whether you’re a freelance writer, whatever you’re doing, you are an industry of one. You are an entrepreneur. You are completely self-directed, and you’re basically running a small business with one product, which is the insides of your brain, and so it can be hard to turn off. I think we all struggle with that, and in fact, you know, part of, one of the big reasons why, you know, I advocate for using the simplest possible version of the software is it’s minimizing distractions in a sort of an environment, a cognitive environment, where there’s so many distractions coming at us all the time. And most of, you know, whether it’s social media or cell phones, all this sort of stuff. They’re literally built to get your attention. They’re trying to get your attention and catch your attention and give you the little pleasure buzz of a note that’s come in, of somebody liking or reacting to something. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: Again, I’m not even turning down my nose at that stuff. Like it’s all very fun and pleasurable, you know. It’s like Facebook and Twitter, it’s like a video game, where the final boss at the end of the level is, you know, people approving of you. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: I like video games, but you know, it’s like I don’t play a video game while I’m writing, and so I try to avoid social media and stuff like that while I’m writing, but unplugging is tough, and I think it’s something that we all struggle with, and I think it’s just like you have to be adamant about carving out time to write in a focused, uncluttered environment, and nobody is going to do that for you except you. That’s been like the biggest thing that I’ve figured out with my own writing over the years, which is that you are the only one who’s going to advocate for that quiet mental space, and if you don’t do it, absolutely nobody else will do it. You’re the only one. It’s just like working out. Nobody else, no one’s going to pick you up by the scruff of the neck and haul you to the gym and throw you on a whatever, an elliptical trainer. Like, you have to do that, and so whether you have a day job, whether writing is your job, it actually doesn’t matter, because if you don’t, even if you’re a professional writer, if you don’t carve out the mental space to write without interruption, you’re not going to be able to do your job. Kelton Reid: For sure. For sure. I will link to an article by Cal Newport in the New York Times where he, well, the title of it, Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend On It, echoes much of that same sentiment, and I think it’s important to kind of think about those distractions that can keep you out of flow state, as you noted. That’s important to writing. So, let’s talk about creativity before I lose you here. Elan Mastai: Sure. The Source of Elan s Creativity and Inspiration Kelton Reid: Because the inside of your brain is a fascinating place. Obviously, the book is kind of the definition of creativity. All these different fascinating things. So do you think you could define creativity, kind of in your own words? Elan Mastai: Oh wow, that’s a big and intense question. To me, creativity is taking all the things that make you specifically you: your history, your experiences, your perception, your emotion, your psychology, your desires, your fears, your hopes and dreams, your anxieties and worries, and finding a way to take all of those things and communicate them in a way that makes sense and is appealing to other people. Now, of course, some creativity can be totally personal, but to me, creativity is connected to connection. It’s indivisible from connection. Part of what makes my creative life appealing to me is the ability to connect and communicate with other people. Whether that’s my book being a conversation with the writers, and the books that have inspired me, or whether my book is starting a conversation with readers who might get in touch with me via social media or in person, or even better, write their own books. I mean, the greatest compliment anybody could give me is that my book inspired them to write a book that I can then read. And so for me, creativity is about taking what makes you absolutely, uniquely you, your brain as the one and only iteration of it in the Universe, and finding sort of a vehicle or a means to express it to others. Kelton Reid: Yeah. I love that. Do you have a creative muse right now? Something that’s kind of piquing your interest? Elan Mastai: Probably the fear of death. You know, a classic one. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: That I don’t have enough time. That I’m never going to be able to tell all the stories that I have to tell, say all the things that I want to say, connect with as many people as I want to connect with. I don’t lie around in that sort of like, you know, like the protagonist of a Woody Allen movie from the 80s, like, bemoaning my mortality or anything like that, but you know, honestly, my mom died quite suddenly when I was in my mid-20s, and you know, she was a very, very smart, very accomplished, very impressive person. She was, you know, she was my mom, but she was also a good friend and a mentor to me, and I lost her, you know, very suddenly. In addition to just that feeling of, you know, that she never really got to know what my life was going to be like, what my career was going to be like, she wasn’t going to meet my wife, she wasn’t going to meet my kids. It was also that feeling of like oh, wow, like, you know, the last gift that she gave me was the awareness that I don’t have unlimited time, and if I’m going to accomplish anything, if I’m going to tell the stories I want to tell, write the movies, write the books that I want to write, I gotta get going, because you never know when it could be over. So that’s a super depressing answer to your question, I’m so sorry, but that is the truth is that I have a real sense of a ticking clock, and I don’t know when it’s going to, when the alarm’s going to go off, and so I just want to get as much stuff out into the world, but also make it as good as possible. You know, I just I want everything to be as good as I can at this point with my talent, and just connect with people. Because to me, it’s not, I don’t see my novel as me standing on a milk cart in, you know, the town square with a megaphone screaming at everybody, Listen to me, look at me. I want to connect with people. I have all these ideas, but I also have questions, and I love the conversation you get with people who have read the book, who’ve connected with it, who it gets them thinking, it gets them excited. I want people, I mean, I think the book is fun. It’s funny. It’s not like a downer. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Yeah. Elan Mastai: But it also asks a lot of big questions, and it searches for answers, and I mean, to me, that conversation is why you do it. It’s why I get up every day and sit at my desk and hunch over the keyboard and start smacking on it, is because I want to engage. Why Your Writing is a Like a Time Machine Kelton Reid: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I hope that listeners find this interview before they read the book, because kind of all of those things come through in this fantastic book, and Austin Kleon actually said almost exactly the same thing about his methodology, I think, early on in his creative process was to read obituaries as kind of a, you know, I mean, just a reminder that, like, life is temporary. We don’t really, no one knows how long they’re going to be here, right? Elan Mastai: I do live, I’ve never done that. I do live only about maybe seven or eight blocks from a cemetery. If I wanted to get really grim, I could hop over there. Kelton Reid: And you’ve written horror before. Elan Mastai: I suppose, yeah, I could gaze longingly at the tombstones. No, I mean, you know, the other thing is, again, I mean, this is more of a personal answer, but I have two young daughters, and they’re not going to read the work I’m writing right now, but I love the idea that in the future, they could discover my work, my voice, what was, you know, the things that I was thinking about, the stories that I was telling when they’re older, and that is a kind of time machine. All the art you create, the writing you do is a kind of time machine, because it’s a portrait of who you were at the time. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: That inspires me as well. You know, I mean, I want to be, it’s like that idea of like, I could be gone at any time, but that I could still communicate with my children, you know, years after I’m gone is, it’s also something that inspires me every day. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Well, before we wrap up with your advice to your fellow scribes, I’ve got one more fun one for you. If you could choose one author from any era for an all expense paid dinner to your favorite spot in the world, who would you take and where would you take them? Elan Mastai: Oh, wow. That’s a really good question. I’m going to say Neal Stephenson, the science fiction, primarily science fiction author because when I read his books, I just feel like I’m learning so much, and his storytelling is so bold and ballsy, and he has such a scope of his vision, and I’ve been reading his books since I was like, you know, a teenager, and watching him progress. So you know, I don’t know him, but I know something of him from the work that I’ve been reading since the first one I read was Snow Crash in like 91 or 92. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: I went back and read his earlier books, and it’s like he’s been developing as a writer for basically, you know, for most of my conscious adult life, and so I would love to take him out for dinner, because I think it would be a fascinating conversation. Where would I take him? There’s a great restaurant in New York City called Estella, which I’ve never had a bad meal there, so I would take him to Estella in New York City. It’s in SoHo. I mean, it’s very fancy, but I mean, you know, if somebody’s paying for it, it’s not me, right, it’s all expenses paid. Kelton Reid: Nice, nice. Three degrees of separation on The Writer Files, I believe that the founder of Wired Magazine, Kevin Kelly, is buddies with Neal Stephenson, so we will link to that episode as well. Well, can you leave us with some advice for writers on how to keep the cursor moving, how to keep the ink flowing? Elan Mastai: Finish things. That would be my biggest advice. It’s very easy to start things, it’s very hard to finish them, but until you finished it, you don’t know what you have. So just kind of push through. It’s okay to write badly. That is the hardest thing, you know. You know what it’s supposed to feel like in your head, it just doesn’t seem to be coming out on the page, but you are going to rewrite everything so many times. Your favorite books, your favorite movies, your favorite songs, your favorite everything, those were not first drafts. Those are the result of months and months, years and years of rewriting and revising and rethinking, and so you can’t get discouraged by all the stuff that you love, even though it seems so much better than what you’re doing, because it wasn’t good when it started. None of it was good when it started. Nobody starts amazing, and so I would just say my advice is to finish things, and then rewrite. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I mean, it’s sort of like Writing 101 advice, but in my career, that feeling of finishing something, allowing it to not be great, because I find in the confidence to rewrite and rewrite and get it there over time, that’s been everything for me. Yeah, over time, you do get better, you know. Every time you write something and you finish it and you rewrite it and you put it out into the world, whether or not people love it or hate it or are indifferent to it or never even knew it happened, every single time you do that, you go through the whole process, the next time you start a first draft, it’s better. Every single time. So it’s a long process. It’s a lifelong thing becoming the kind of writer you want to be, but like anything, it’s all about the muscles you exercise, the patience you have, and how far ahead your vision for yourself is. So that would be my advice, and the best possible result of this podcast is a couple people who listen to it turn off their … turn the podcast off right now and go and finish whatever it was that they started and couldn’t finish. Kelton Reid: Yes, yes. Click stop here, and we will talk to you later. Awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much for doing this. All Our Wrong Todays comes out February 7th, is that correct? Elan Mastai: That’s right, February 7th. Kelton Reid: And you can pre-order it now. It is a fantastic, almost indescribable sci fi tinged love story that we can’t begin to explain here, but it is fantastic. Kudos on the novel, and where can listeners connect with you out there? Elan Mastai: Well, there’s my website, ElanMastai.com. It’s E-L-A-N-M-A-S-T-A-I.com. You can get in touch with me, there’s like a, you know, you can connect with me by email through the website. I’m also on Twitter, @ElanMastai. I’m on Facebook, Elan Mastai, I have an author page there. Goodreads, you know. I’m around. I’m not that hard to find. And fortunately, although my name is hard to spell, once you’ve figured out how to spell it, there’s no other Elan Mastais out there. I’m the only one. Kelton Reid: Right. Elan Mastai: So once you actually figured out how my name’s spelled, it’s very easy to find me. Kelton Reid: You’re good. You’re halfway there. Awesome. And you are on tour starting February 7th, it would appear. Elan Mastai: Yup. Kelton Reid: I’m going to try to catch you February 8th in Denver, Colorado, at the Tattered Cover Bookstore. Elan Mastai: I love the Tattered Cover. It’s great. Kelton Reid: Me, too. Me, too. Elan Mastai: Yeah, it’s got this awesome record store right next door. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Elan Mastai: And there’s the Denver Film Society Movie Theater. It’s a great little complex. Kelton Reid: Yes, yes. Well, best of luck with everything. Hopefully, you will come back and talk to us again on your next adventure, and we look forward to what comes next, and especially reading this amazing, amazing book. So congrats. Elan Mastai: Thanks so much, Kelton. Thanks very much for having me on your show. Kelton Reid: Thanks so much for joining me for this half of a tour through the writer’s process. If you enjoy The Writer Files podcast, please subscribe to the show and leave us a rating or a review on iTunes to help other writers find us. For more episodes or to just leave a comment or a question, you can drop by WriterFiles.FM and you can always chat with me on Twitter @KeltonReid. Cheers. Talk to you next week.

Creator of the I Love My Kindle Blog   Interview starts at 10:46 and ends at 44:02 If people were evolving away from reading long-form reading, we would not have series. But right now people will say, “Oh yes, that's great. It's a 200-page book, but I want a thousand pages about this character. So I think you can make an argument that people are more into long-form reading that they were in the past.   News “Mall CEO claims Amazon Books will open up to 400 physical storefronts” by Sam Machkovech at ars technica - February 2, 2016 “Amazon Plans Hundreds of Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores, Mall CEO Says” by Greg Bensinger at The Wall Street Journal - February 2, 2016 Business Insider photos of Amazon's Seattle Book Store - February 3, 2016 “Unsubstantiated Rumor: Amazon to Open as Many as 400 Bookstores” by Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader - February 2, 2016 Woody Allen interview in May, 2015 in which he whines about Amazon deal   Tech Tip “Amazon's Echo speaker can finally order you an Uber” at The Verge - February 5, 2016 “Amazon's Kindle e-readers are getting a big software update soon” by Sam Byford at The Verge - February 3, 2016 5.7.2 Software update pages at Amazon.com for Kindle Voyage, Paperwhite (6th Generation), and Kindle “CBS Sports app for the Fire TV expected to be released this week in time for Super Bowl 50"   Interview with Bufo Calvin I Love My Kindle blog I Love My Kindle blog subscription for Kindle - 99 cents a month The Collected I Love My Kindle Blog Volume 1 The Measured Circle blog by Bufo Calvin “How an e-book is like a treadmill at the gym” by Bufo Calvin   Content Winter Men by Jesper Bugge Kold, an AmazonCrossing translation into English. Available as a free advance download for Prime members through Kindle First if you have not already downloaded a Kindle First book for February.   Next Week's Guest Len Vlahos, new owner of The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver   Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Persepctive" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD.    Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

Cory meets up with Denver comic, road dog and reader of books Sam Tallent. Enjoy their interview at Tattered Cover Bookstore in downtown Denver, that details one of the founding members of the Fine Gentlemen's Club history with Denver and the punk rock scene.He talks about as a youngster, his family sleeping in their car outside of bookstores, his stay at Mouth House and how he went from a kid from Elizabeth to one of the biggest personalities in the Denver comedy scene.This episode features an intro from Those Who Can't Star Adam Cayton-Holland who plugs his cd release show at Hi-Dive Friday the 10th. Shout out to Renegade Brewing and Sexpot Comedy. Drink Craft Beer. Smoke Weed. Eat Pizza.

Cathy Langer, head book buyer for the Tattered Cover Bookstore, moderates a panel featuring three success authors in a discussion of the business skills required to be a "Literary CEO." Joining Cathy in the 710 KNUS AM studios are Nick Arvin, author of The Reconstructionist, and Erin Blakemore, author of The Heroine's Bookshelf.  Also participating by phone from New York is Eli Gottlieb, author of The Face Thief. As co-hosts David Biondo and Dean Rotbart point out, writing and successfully publishing a book is very much a business - requiring many of the same skills that any successful entrepreneur must master. Do you have the right product line (subject matter)? How much will it cost to produce (time, lost opportunities, out-of-pocket expenses)? What's your marketing plan (if no one buys the book, then what)? Do you have the self-discipline and dedication to see the project through? What type of team do you need to assemble to get the job done (agent, publisher, PR, editor, etc.)? This is the second of three related segments. Original air date:  February 26, 2012Photo: Nick Arvin, The Reconstructionist

The Business Unconventional "book club" continues its exploration of the business skills required by successful book authors.   On this segment, the final of three related segments, guest moderator Cathy Langer and three successful authors share insights that aspiring authors can use to help them along their journey, including the question of how to connect with a good book agent. Cathy is the head book buyer at Colorado's famed Tattered Cover Bookstore.  Joining her in this conversation are Nick Arvin, author of The Reconstructionist; Erin Blakemore, author of The Heroine's Bookshelf; and Eli Gottlieb, author of The Face Thief. B. Unconventional airs each Sunday morning at 8 a.m. (MST) on 710 KNUS in Denver.  The program, hosted by David Biondo and Dean Rotbart, is also streamed over the Internet at www.710KNUS.com.  Original air date:  February 26, 2012Photo: Erin Blakemore, The Heroine's Bookshelf