Podcasts about writers

In this Write Big episode, Jennie reflects on the winter solstice as a powerful metaphor for the writing life. Using the natural turning of the year—from darkness back toward light—she explores what it means to keep choosing your work, especially when fear, rejection, discomfort, or uncertainty creep in. Writing big, she reminds us, isn't about eliminating darkness; it's about practicing the return to what lights you up again and again.#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Join the Blueprint SprintStarting January 12 and rolling though February, KJ Dell'Antonia and Jennie Nash will lead you through the 14 foundational questions that every writer should ask of themselves and their book, whether you're just getting started, are mid-draft or starting on on the whatever-number revision with weekly assignments, live events, workbooks and updated access to all the Blueprint resources. All you need to do is be a paid subscriber and stay tuned—we'll let you know how to get signed up.I NEED a January Blueprint!What if you want even MORE? Then you could be one of a very few #AmWriting subscribers who join our first ever Blueprint Sprint cohort. 6 weeks of working together and write-alongs, 5 group-only live sessions, which will be recorded for anyone who can't attend and a members-only community dedicated to helping you create a Blueprint that leads you to the book you want to write, ending with direct feedback from me and from Jennie on your flap copy and 3 page Inside-Outline.We're keeping this small on purpose—we max out at 10 and we might drop that down—so applications to join this group open today and will be evaluated on a first-come, first serve basis. Once we have 10 people, we will close down the application, so get yours in early! Early-bird pricing is $1000 until December 22, after that the price goes up to $1200 (if there are spaces left by then).What are we looking for? 10 writers who are prepared to commit to the process and to the cohort, who do what they set out to do when they set out to do it, who welcome constructive feedback and are willing to do what it takes to build a blueprint for the book they want to create. Writers who know that sometimes you must look a hard truth in the face and cut your losses, that what goes in the scrap heap is rarely resurrected but that the scrap heap is a necessary part of the work. Writers who won't take no for an answer, but can hear “not this” and feel both disappointment and a burning determination that the next effort will be the one that gets there.Also: no a******s.What will you need to apply? We want to hear about your professional and publishing backgrounds, but no publishing experience is necessary. We want to know where you are with this current project, but “still noodling” is a fine answer. The primary requirements are first, a readiness to do the work and second and more ephemerally, our sense of what makes a cohesive cohort.If that sounds like you, here you go—the time to apply is now. 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

The Daily Brief is on break till January 1. In the meanwhile, allow us to introduce the writing team.Today, we're talking to Pranav Manie.Pranav Manie, aka DJ Easy Money Sniper. Manie is Zerodha's resident DJ, and one of India's most popular business nerds on the internet.

With the final few days of the year upon us, now is a great time to pause and reflect on how things went in 2025. You deserve to celebrate all the wins you had–big and small–before you set your sights on a new year of goals. This week, I'm sharing some of the highlights of my year along with a framework for looking at 2025 in a judgement-free way so you can extract the wisdom you gained this year without being mean to yourself if you fell behind the goals you set last January. *** You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here. DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

Living Writers 2025-12-24 - WCBN Public Affairs Programming - T Hetzel

Batman is an Absolute beast! Superman has the Absolute best covers! With the Dark Knight and Man of Steels's DC Absolute Series flying off the shelves there is no better time to explore what it takes to tell the best Kryptonian tales and adventures of the Caped Crusader than now. Strap yourself into the Batmobile we present you these episodes from the archives for this MEGA EPISODE:GHL 431 - Best Batman Family Stories - Discover storytelling beyond the Bat!GHL 432 - Best Alfred Pennyworth Stories - Did you think we'd forget Batman's true father?GHL 402 - Best Batman Writers of All Time - Want to guess at our list?GHL 351 - Best Superman Stories - Learn what an alien can teach us about being humanGHL 106 - Top 5 Batman v Superman Stories - Strap in for when The Big Blue Boyscout and Gotham's Son come to blowsLearn what it takes to tell the best of the best comic book stories in the DC Comics Universe. Is it style? Or substance? Join us for this in-depth celebration of top dogs: Batman and Superman! Follow Adam Mallinger on BlueSky ► https://bsky.app/profile/bitterscriptreader.bsky.social#SpookySeason2025 Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/jawiinFor exclusive bonus podcasts like our Justice League Review show our Teen Titans Podcast, GHL Extra & Livestreams with the hosts, join the Geek History Lesson Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/JawiinGHL RECOMMENDED READING from this episode► https://www.geekhistorylesson.com/recommendedreadingFOLLOW GHL►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geekhistorylessonThreads: https://www.threads.net/@geekhistorylessonTik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@geekhistorylessonFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/geekhistorylessonGet Your GHL Pin: https://geekhistorylesson.etsy.comYou can follow Ashley at https://www.threads.net/@ashleyvrobinson or https://www.ashleyvictoriarobinson.com/Follow Jason at https://www.threads.net/@jawiin or https://bsky.app/profile/jasoninman.bsky.socialThanks for showing up to class today. Class is dismissed!

Amy is joined by authors and educators Gloria and Bob Rees to discuss midrash --stories we write to interpret scripture and create meaning -- exploring the endless possibilities of imagination and the radical power that women hold to write our own midrash and change the spiritual landscape.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyGloria Gardner Rees has taught English in the US, China, India, and Nepal. Her studies include nutrition, gerontology and adult development. Currently, she is involved in interfaith, humanitarian, and environmental work. In addition to writing midrash, she is co-editing a collection of essays by Latter-day Saints titled Pillars of my Faith.Robert A. Rees is a scholar, poet, and humanitarian. He is the author of “Toward a Mormon Feminist Midrash: Mormon Women and the Imaginative Reading of Scripture,” Sunstone (2012) and “The Midrashic Imagination and the Book of Mormon,” Dialogue (Fall 2011). His most recent book is Imagining and Reimagining the Restoration (Kofford Books, 2025).

Feeling overwhelmed by everything it takes to self-publish your book? From ISBNs and editing to printing and launching—most Christian writers get buried in the to-do list before they ever hit publish. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, Shelley Hitz shares the Kingdom Writer's Path—a simple, Spirit-led 5-step self-publishing roadmap that helps you go from idea to impact without the tech confusion or hustle. You'll learn: • What to focus on first (and what can wait) • How to build momentum in just 15 minutes a day • And how to publish with peace, clarity, and confidence If God has called you to write, we'll help you finish.

Gretchen McGowan joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about the grit and glam of the 90s in New York, her career producing independent films, the thrill of creating something from nothing, honoring our own process, willing to be self-deprecating, negotiating manuscript revisions in digestible ways, keeping writing momentum in mind, getting character-you into trouble, when everyone around you seems to have it figured out, loving the hustle of NY, scrappiness, her role as the head of Goldcrest films, and her memoir Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking. Info/Registration for Ronit's 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story  This episode is brought to you by Prose Playground. If you've been writing for years but haven't published, have tons of ideas but can't get them on the page, if you have a book coming out, or you're simply curious about writing, join Prose Playground—an active, supportive writing community for writers at every level. Visit www.ProsePlayground.com to sign up free.   Also in this episode: -doing what works -transcendental mediation -women's career memoirs   Books mentioned in this episode: -Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb -An Unfinished Woman by Lillian Hellman -The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith -Fast Draft Your Memoir by Rachael Herron   Gretchen McGowan is an award-winning producer and the head of production for Goldcrest Films in New York City where she has overseen titles such as Cat Person, Carol and Restrepo. Gretchen independently produced Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control, helped to make his iconic film Coffee and Cigarettes and has made over sixty films across the globe. Her new memoir is Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking.   Connect with Gretchen: Website: www.gretchenmcgowan.com Links: https://linktr.ee/gretchenmcgowan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretmcgowan Info/Registration for Ronit's 10-Week Memoir Class Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story https://www.pce.uw.edu/courses/memoir-writing-finding-your-story   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social

What was at the top of your reading list this year? As 2025 draws to a close, we bring back an annual tradition: conversations about favorite books! During part one of this two-part episode, our guests share their favorite books that they read in 2025. Fiction, nonfiction, adult, YA, or kids' books — we discuss it all. Our guests: Emily Clasper, director of the Rochester Public Library and Monroe County Library System Laquanda M. Fields, "the fab librarian" and libraries fellow at NC State University Libraries Michael Solis, executive director of Writers & Books Justin Murphy, freelance journalist, author of "Your Children are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York," and research and communications coordinator at Our Local History Mona Seghatoleslami, music director, host, and producer for WXXI Classical 91.5 FM  ---Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Original Release Date: Monday 22 December 2025    Description:   Dean and Phil got together high atop a certain “historic building” in downtown Los Angeles to watch the sunset on the winter solstice, to enjoy a lovely bottle of Malbec, and to record this week's show! They discuss Dean's holiday travels, the big forthcoming change to the annual Oscars telecast, and the changes in the beaks on songbirds at UCLA! After that, they discuss the unique legacy of actor-turned-filmmaker Rob Reiner, and take the time to analyze several of his films. Then, two film noirs (Tension and Where Danger Lives), a fairly bizarre war film (36 Hours) and the biggest box office hit of Brad Pitt's career all get reviewed!

Are you ready to graduate from the grind in 2026? Then here’s your most important project: Future You. Learn more “Eye opening and provocative.” “Challenged me to get out of the starting blocks and far down the path of really thinking about this next phase of my life in very different ways. I now feel like I have a solid road map.” “I wish I’d taken this program earlier.” __________________________ Start the new year right with new habits. FREE 3 session program – 3 Fridays in January at Noon Eastern January 2, 9 and 16 Sign up here __________________________ What if the most creative chapter of your life hasn't happened yet? Today's conversation is about second acts that arrive not quietly—but boldly. Kim Gottlieb-Walker published her debut novel at age 78 after a 50-year career as a photographer. She also leads the Vintage Writers, a lively weekly Zoom group of women authors over 70. Joining her is Roselyn Teukolsky, a former math and computer science educator who retired and now writes fiction. This conversation explores creative courage, identity shifts, the power of starting something new – and the value of community. Kim Gottlieb-Walker and Roselyn Teukolsky join us from California. _________________________ Planning for retirement? Check out our recommended Best Books for Retirement _________________________ Bios Kim Gottlieb-Walker's  career as a photographer covered a wide range of subjects, from classic rock and roll, reggae, and politics in the ‘60s and ‘70s to major motion pictures and television shows. Now in her late 70s, she has reinvented herself as a novelist. While still at UCLA (where she  received a BA in Motion Picture production) and shortly thereafter, she shot for underground LA newspapers and magazines including Crawdaddy, the Staff, and Music World. She  also shot the stills for John Carpenter's Halloween, The Fog, Christine and Escape from New York and worked at Paramount Pictures for nine years as the production photographer for Cheers, and five years for Family Ties. For three decades she  was an elected representative for still photographers on the National Executive Board of IATSE Local 600, the International Cinematographers Guild. Her coffee-table photo books Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae and On Set with John Carpenter were published by Titan Press (UK) distributed by Random House (USA) and both are now in multiple printing. They have editions in Japanese, Russian and French. She's  had gallery shows in London, Los Angeles and New York. Her novels are  Lenswoman in Love – a novel of the 1960s & ‘70s (her debut) and the not-yet published historical novel Caterina by Moonlight, about a girl growing up in renaissance Florence in the late 15th century. Her short story “Summer of Love – 1967” appears in the multi-award-winning anthology Feisty Deeds. Former math and computer science teacher, Roselyn Teukolsky, is the author of A Reluctant Spy, an unconventional spy thriller, and The Fourth Woman, a cautionary tale about online dating. Teukolsky has long been intrigued by the dilemmas faced by smart women in male-dominated settings. Working as a computer science teacher has given her the familiarity to create an authentic female protagonist, a brilliant computer scientist, who, in the latest novel, must ward off a ransomware attack and an online-dating predator. Teukolsky has a B.Sc. in Math and Chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and an M.S. in Math Education from Cornell. She is the author of the Barron's review book for AP Computer Science, which is currently in its 12th edition. Roselyn's favorite pastime is tournament bridge. She wrote How to Play Bridge with Your Spouse … and Survive (Master Point Press) in 2002. She lives in Pasadena, CA, with her husband, Saul Teukolsky. ________________________ Have a Question You’d Like Answered on the Podcast? Click here to leave a voice message or email me at joec@retirementwisdom.com _________________________ For More on Kim Gottlieb-Walker  Lenswoman in Love www.Lenswoman.com for an overview of her photographic history www.TheRenaissanceWoman.net www.KimGottliebWalker.com – her author website. — For More on Roselyn Teukolsky A Reluctant Spy The Fourth Woman _________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like Why Retirement Was Just the Beginning – Neal Lipschutz A Creative Pursuit with an Intergenerational Assist – Neil & Michelle McLaughlin Edit Your Life – Elisabeth Sharp McKetta __________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You'll get smarter about the investment decisions you'll make about the most important asset you'll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren't quite done yet, discover what's next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn't just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master's degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He's the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ___________________________ Wise Quotes On a Writing Community “One of the things I’ve loved best about this recreation of my life is the number of people it’s brought into my life because the writers are a very supportive community. And it keeps your brain alive. There’s so much you have to learn with the learning curve of writing a book that it keeps your brain cells going. It stimulates them. I think there are many people out there who, after having had very active careers that are now retired and are feeling at lost ends. Every person has met interesting people during their lives, has had things happen to them, have had tragedies, have had happiness. Everybody has experiences in them that they might want to communicate. And writing, even though it seems like a very solitary occupation, it gives you a chance to put all of your life experience out into the world and to then connect with other people, other writers, to get the support that you need and to learn all of the different aspects of it. So it’s a very satisfying way to spend your retirement. Oh, well, it’s an amazing group of women. They’re all over 70. They’ve all reinvented themselves as writers. Some were writers beforehand, but most have reinvented themselves. And they cover all different kinds of writing of every genre. There’s self-help, there’s romance, there’s mystery, there’s historical fiction, and they’re all very talented, alert, wonderful women. And we meet every Tuesday on Zoom and commiserate and celebrate and give advice. And it has been the most wonderful support group. So we’re not isolated in retirement. We have interactions with people who have similar goals and similar challenges. It’s a tremendous support group.” – Kim Gottlieb-Walker On Age as an Asset ” It is never too late to reinvent yourself. It’s totally within your reach. You don’t have to depend on anyone else. All you have to do is sit down and let your ideas flow. And I wouldn’t worry about ageism because now that we’re in an age where you can self-publish, it doesn’t matter how old you are. And the fact that we have had such rich lives and so many experiences informs the writing and gives the writing depth and gives it reality because it’s based on our real experiences. No matter what you’re writing, you’re bringing your life experiences into it, which is incredibly valuable. So don’t worry about ageism. Don’t worry about the publisher. Just get it out on paper. Do it yourself.” – Kim Gottlieb-Walker On Starting to Write “A lot of my friends have said to me, Oh, they would love to write a book. They would love to write a book. They’re going to write a book. But the point is, if you don’t sit down every day at the same time, backside in the desk, it doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t. Even if you sit and do nothing. I would ask, what are you going to do in the next 10 years? And I say, I don’t know what I’m going to do. And I say, Well, why not write in the next 10 years?” – Roselyn Teukolsky

Memoirist and professor Maggie Andersen on turning a Chicago theater coming of age into No Stars in Jefferson Park, translating performance craft to the page, writing honestly about love, loss, and disability with care and permission, and trusting the long arc of a creative life.  You'll learn:Why writing “for others” can be generous without self-erasure (and how to tell the difference). What theater can teach memoirists about scene movement, including emotional marks, entrances, and exits. How to borrow “page-turner” pacing without sacrificing literary depth. What to cut or keep when you're thinking like a live audience rather than a solitary reader. How to shape a memoir around friendship and time, even when you're learning the form as you write. What “truth with care” can look like in memoir, including permission, restraint, and choosing what must be faced on the page. Ways to involve the people you're writing about early, so the work stays accountable to real humans. Why your definition of “making it” may change, and how timing, fit, and rejection can still lead to publication.  Resources and Links:No Stars in Jefferson Park About Maggie AndersenMaggie Andersen has published fiction and nonfiction in magazines such as Salt Hill, Blood Orange, the Los Angeles Review, Creative Nonfiction, Grain, Cutbank, and DIAGRAM. She has been a finalist for the Montana Prize for Nonfiction and has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. She is an Associate Professor of English at Dominican University and an ensemble member at the Gift Theatre. Her debut memoir, No Stars in Jefferson Park, was published by Northwestern University Press in October 2025.   For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers' Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you're enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

In this episode of New Books Network, I speak with Zubeda Jalalzai about her book Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan (Bloomsbury, 2023). Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan, analyzes the role literature and poetic sensibility played in colonial British and American writings on Afghanistan from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. The book also examines how literature and literariness themselves have shaped Western discourses framing Afghanistan. British Romantic Orientalists of the nineteenth century studied the region in depth and were drawn to what they perceived as an alien space—one in which they could remake themselves in print and in life. Writers who followed, including scholars, civil servants, and wives or professional women, were inspired by the region and at times crossed ethnic, national, and imaginative boundaries. The book explores the connections forged in print through both fantastic and familiar assumptions about Afghanistan and its people. Qaseem Ahmadzai have studied Intellectual History in Sweden. His research focuses on postcolonial theory, historiography, and non-Western intellectual traditions, with particular attention to Afghanistan and the broader Pashto-Persianate and Islamic worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Nicholas Boggs is the New York Times bestselling author of Baldwin: A Love Story, the first major biography of the iconic figure in more than three decades. He is the recipient of a 2023 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and fellowships from the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the Scholars-in-Residence program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Gilder Lehrman Center and Beinecke Library at Yale, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell. Most recently he was the 2024-2025 John Hope Franklin Fellow at the National Humanities Center. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he received his BA from Yale and his PhD from Columbia, both in English, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. He now resides in New York City. Nicholas joined Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about his path to writing nonfiction, what moved him to write a biography of James Baldwin, how he went about structuring the book, perseverance versus talent, research, how his background in music influences his writing, surprises in writing the Baldwin biography, writing what you don't know, and more.To learn more about Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You will find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It's stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It's perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. If you'd like to contact us, email writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on December 19, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

We’ve all heard of the ‘muse’ but what about the ‘mewwwws’? That’s the sound of authors' cats, and in this episode, Susannah Fullerton discusses her wonderfully titled book, Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them – exploring the unique relationships between famous authors and their feline companions. Susannah shares how she researched the topic, choosing the authors and the magical publishing story, as well as offering tips to aspiring nonfiction writers. 00:00 Welcome07:26 Writing tip: Follow the formatting guidelines09:36 WIN!: Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson12:24 Word of the week: ‘Clerisy’12:59 Writer in residence: Susannah Fullerton14:10 Explaining her book, Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them14:45 The inspiration for the book17:50 Choosing and placing authors in the book19:30 Animal protection and authors22:30 Research methods24:40 Organising all her notes26:41 The timeline of writing the book27:35 The pitching process30:01 The joy of getting published32:22 Publicity and promotion of the book36:34 Merchandising and collaborations37:27 Balancing lecturing and writing38:22 Where her ideas come from 42:51 The timeless appeal of classics46:32 Advice for aspiring nonfiction writers48:58 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yugoslavia cultivated extensive literary connections with its nonaligned friends. Writers from Yugoslavia traveled to nonaligned countries and brought back accounts of their observations and experiences, published in the press and as book-length travelogues; and many authors and culture workers fostered literary networks with fellow nonaligned countries. Part 2 of 2.With Nataša Kovačević.Remembering Yugoslavia is a Yugoblok podcast exploring the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created, produced, and hosted by Peter Korchnak.Show notes and transcript: Yugoblok.com/Nonaligned-Literature-2/Instagram: @rememberingyugoslavia & @yugo.blokJOIN YUGOBLOKSupport the show

In this episode of New Books Network, I speak with Zubeda Jalalzai about her book Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan (Bloomsbury, 2023). Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan, analyzes the role literature and poetic sensibility played in colonial British and American writings on Afghanistan from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. The book also examines how literature and literariness themselves have shaped Western discourses framing Afghanistan. British Romantic Orientalists of the nineteenth century studied the region in depth and were drawn to what they perceived as an alien space—one in which they could remake themselves in print and in life. Writers who followed, including scholars, civil servants, and wives or professional women, were inspired by the region and at times crossed ethnic, national, and imaginative boundaries. The book explores the connections forged in print through both fantastic and familiar assumptions about Afghanistan and its people. Qaseem Ahmadzai have studied Intellectual History in Sweden. His research focuses on postcolonial theory, historiography, and non-Western intellectual traditions, with particular attention to Afghanistan and the broader Pashto-Persianate and Islamic worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In this episode of New Books Network, I speak with Zubeda Jalalzai about her book Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan (Bloomsbury, 2023). Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan, analyzes the role literature and poetic sensibility played in colonial British and American writings on Afghanistan from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. The book also examines how literature and literariness themselves have shaped Western discourses framing Afghanistan. British Romantic Orientalists of the nineteenth century studied the region in depth and were drawn to what they perceived as an alien space—one in which they could remake themselves in print and in life. Writers who followed, including scholars, civil servants, and wives or professional women, were inspired by the region and at times crossed ethnic, national, and imaginative boundaries. The book explores the connections forged in print through both fantastic and familiar assumptions about Afghanistan and its people. Qaseem Ahmadzai have studied Intellectual History in Sweden. His research focuses on postcolonial theory, historiography, and non-Western intellectual traditions, with particular attention to Afghanistan and the broader Pashto-Persianate and Islamic worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/central-asian-studies

In this episode of New Books Network, I speak with Zubeda Jalalzai about her book Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan (Bloomsbury, 2023). Literary License and the West's Romance with Afghanistan, analyzes the role literature and poetic sensibility played in colonial British and American writings on Afghanistan from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. The book also examines how literature and literariness themselves have shaped Western discourses framing Afghanistan. British Romantic Orientalists of the nineteenth century studied the region in depth and were drawn to what they perceived as an alien space—one in which they could remake themselves in print and in life. Writers who followed, including scholars, civil servants, and wives or professional women, were inspired by the region and at times crossed ethnic, national, and imaginative boundaries. The book explores the connections forged in print through both fantastic and familiar assumptions about Afghanistan and its people. Qaseem Ahmadzai have studied Intellectual History in Sweden. His research focuses on postcolonial theory, historiography, and non-Western intellectual traditions, with particular attention to Afghanistan and the broader Pashto-Persianate and Islamic worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Carla Kaplan is the author of Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford (Harper Books). Kaplan is an award-winning professor and writer who holds the Stanton W. and Elisabeth K. Davis Distinguished Professorship in American Literature at Northeastern University. She has published seven books, including Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters and Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance, both New York Times Notable Books. A recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities “Public Scholar” fellowships, Kaplan has been a fellow in residence at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute; is a fellow of the Society of American Historians; and serves on the board of Biographers International. She divides her time between Boston and Cape Cod. *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. This episode is sponsored by Ulysses. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ulys.app/writeabook⁠⁠⁠ to download Ulysses, and use the code OTHERPPL at checkout to get 25% off the first year of your yearly subscription." Available where podcasts are available: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, etc. Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Write a Novel,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ the debut audio course from DeepDive. 50+ hours of never-before-heard insight, inspiration, and instruction from dozens of today's most celebrated contemporary authors. Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brad's email newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠proud affiliate partner of Bookshop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jane Austen is one of the most enduring novelists of all time. But what do we know about the woman behind the stories? To celebrate Austen's 250th birthday, we're revisiting Eleanor Wachtel's conversation with Carol Shields about her 2001 biography, Jane Austen: A Life. Carol Shields herself was a writer and a lifelong Austen fan, and she talks about how Austen's stories about marriage, money and family offer insight into who the novelist really was. Check out the rest of the Writers & Company archive: https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/writers-company

Welcome everyone to a very special Cops and Writers with my friend Ian Bick. Back in November, I visited Ian at his studio in Connecticut, where Ian interviewed me (That episode went live on 12-16-25 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-in-with-ian-bick/id1662286355?i=1000741596571,  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EWrquIqAYL4z0FbW3xDE0?si=39oDYHc3SEGiwBT8udhxhw, https://youtu.be/aU5xLdhR_5s?si=Tdarr4_9xdd3p0mK) and he was gracious enough to let me interview him. First off, I have to thank the most awesome and legend in the law enforcement community, retired DEA Special Agent, Author, Podcast Host, Public Speaker, and all-around good guy, Steve Murphy, for the introduction. You may know Steve from the Netflix story, DEA Narcos, and his popular Game of Crimes Podcast. Ian Bick is an entrepreneur, storyteller, and host of the hit podcast Locked In with Ian Bick, where he explores real stories of incarceration, redemption, and the human capacity for change. His content has reached hundreds of millions of viewers across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify. At 18, Ian became one of the youngest nightclub owners in the country. But the rapid success came with high pressure, debt, and a gambling addiction that led him to make destructive choices. At 21, he was convicted of federal wire fraud and served three years in federal prison. In January 2023, he launched Locked In with Ian Bick, a podcast that gives a platform to former inmates, law enforcement, attorneys, survivors, and others whose lives intersect with the criminal justice system. Today, the show has become one of the fastest-growing justice-focused podcasts in the country, known for its raw honesty, emotional depth, and willingness to go where most media won’t. Ian now speaks in prisons, schools, recovery programs, and reentry organizations across the United States, connecting with people who feel stuck or defined by their mistakes. His message is real and rooted in lived experience. It was such a pleasure getting to know Ian and his producer, Matt (Matty Ice). They rolled out the red carpet for me and made this an incredible experience. As of today’s recording, one of the TikTok reels Ian made from my interview is getting close to half a million views! https://www.tiktok.com/@ianbick/video/7584901104773729566?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7145094841457509930 In today’s episode, we discuss: ·      What was it like growing up for you? What did your folks do for a living? ·      He wanted to be an FBI agent. ·      When he got bitten by the entrepreneur bug? ·      Ian’s gambling addiction. When did that start, and what did it look like? ·      Being convicted of wire fraud and spending 3 years in federal prison. ·      The shocking way Ian was taken into custody! ·      Prison life. What surprised him the most and least? ·      Drugs, cellphones, and other contraband in prison. ·      Was the population voluntarily segregated by race, like in most state prisons? Were there any prison gangs? ·      How he was mistaken for a pedophile.    ·      Was he ever physically assaulted? ·      His time in solitary confinement. · Halfway house life. ·      The Mister Beast Challenge. What was the most difficult part of this and the easiest? ·      The guest or moment when things really clicked for Ian’s podcast that pushed him to the next level. ·      What is the best way to grow a podcast?     All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.     Visit Ian's website to learn more about him and his podcast, Locked In With Ian Bick!      Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel! Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!! Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series. Please visit the Cops and Writers website.

Welcome, writers and book lovers. The Bleeders is a podcast about book writing and publishing. Make sure you subscribe to the companion Substack: https://thebleeders.substack.com/welcomeToday's guest is author and entrepreneur Ali Kriegsman, joining The Bleeders to talk candidly about her path through traditional publishing, burnout, rejection—and ultimately choosing to self-publish her debut novel "The Raise" on her own terms.In this episode, Ali breaks down what it really took to launch a book without a traditional publisher: owning 100% of her rights, deciding not to invest in PR, building a highly visual TikTok-driven campaign, and treating herself as the CEO of her own book launch—and it WORKED. Ali even earned the Reese's Book Club stamp of approval!Ali opens up about the ego hit of not selling her novel on submission, the mindset shift required to embrace self-publishing, and how redefining success helped her rebuild confidence in her creative work. We also dig into the realities of book marketing, the trade-offs between traditional and self-publishing, genre confusion, rights ownership, audiobook decisions, and why writers have to decide what they're optimizing for—whether that's bestseller lists, longevity, or adaptation potential.Subscribe to Ali's Substack New Motives, follow her on Instagram @alikriegs, and buy your copy of The Raise on Bookshop.org, Amazon, or wherever books are sold!The Bleeders is hosted by Courtney Kocak. Follow her on Instagram @courtneykocak and Bluesky @courtneykocak.bsky.social. For more, check out her website courtneykocak.com.Courtney is teaching some upcoming workshops you might be interested in:How to Make 2026 Your Best Writing Year Yet: Manifest Your Writing Goals: https://writingworkshops.com/products/how-to-make-2026-your-best-writing-year-yet-manifest-your-writing-goals-zoom-seminar-with-courtney-kocakNew Year's Newsletter & Pitch Party Extravaganza (use code BLEEDERS for $100 off): https://www.courtneykocak.com/store/new-years-newsletter-pitch-party-extravaganza-2026How to Build a “Platform” for Writers Who Shudder at the Thought: https://writingworkshops.com/products/how-to-build-a-platform-for-writers-who-shudder-at-the-thought-zoom-seminarStart a Newsletter to Supercharge Your Platform, Network and Business: https://writingworkshops.com/products/start-a-newsletter-to-supercharge-your-platform-network-business-zoom-seminarLand Big Bylines by Writing for Columns: https://writingworkshops.com/products/land-big-bylines-by-writing-for-columns-zoom-seminarSo You Want to Start a Podcast?: https://writingworkshops.com/products/start-podcast-workshop-courtney-kocakEdit & Elevate: Revision Intensive: https://writingworkshops.com/products/edit-elevate-revision-intensive-zoom-seminar-with-courtney-kocak

In the light of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization's statement on AI and eligibility for the Nebula Awards, I recorded this bonus episode of the podcast to give you my perspective on where we are and where we're headed, regarding AI and the creative arts and, well, civilization as a whole. For more like this, subscribe and follow along at StoryADay.org And please share this with a friend.

358. Ian Randal Strock Talks the Amazing History of Punctuation Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast 7 days ago7 days ago Write a comment 102 plays102 View all likes2 Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast 285 followers 285 359 tracks 359 In the beginning, there was no punctuation. Texts were written so that their letters ran together withnospacesorpunctuation and without any distinction between lowercase and capitals. It was up to the reader to discover where each word or sentence ended and the next began. Then, through orators and actors, marks were made to show pauses and stops and emphasis, and thus punctuation was born. Ian Randal Strock is the perfect guest for this topic. As a successful editor, author, and publisher, he has taken it upon himself to thoroughly research the history of punctuation and why it is so important to literature. In this interview, Ian discusses his book “Punctilious Punctuation,” and how bad punctuation is an immediate turn-off for an editor or reader. This leads to the importance of knowing the rules before breaking them. What is the solution for the current wave of language devaluing…especially as we witness on social media texting? The back cover copy says you will laugh and you will cringe, and this is certainly true. So, enjoy this very fun episode. BTW, ever wonder why commas and periods always must be inside quotation marks? Learn more at ianrandalstrock.com/

359. Christina Hess, Head of Illustration at Ringling College, Exploring the Value of Art School and AI's Impact on Illustration Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast, Christina Hess, L. Ron Hubbard, John Goodwin, Ringling College of Art and Design 4 hours ago4 hours ago Write a comment 30 plays30 Writers & Illustrators of the Future Podcast 285 followers 285 359 tracks 359 Christina Hess is the Department Head of Illustration at Ringling College of Art & Design. In this interview, we discuss the value of art school and the impact of AI on art. Christina is an illustrator known for blending historical and natural themes across a wide range of projects. Her portfolio includes everything from numismatic designs (the study of coins, tokens, medals, and paper money) to illustrated cookbooks, rendered in various media such as graphite, watercolor, oil, and digital. Two 2026 United States coins will feature designs by Christina. The new quarter showcases scientist Dr. Vera Rubin. She also designed a new $1 coin depicting Native Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui as part of the Native American $1 Coin Program. Christina's illustrations have been featured in publications such as the Society of Illustrators West, Spectrum Fantastic Art, ImagineFX, and 3x3 Magazine. And if that's not enough, she is a wonderful person, and her students at Ringling are extremely fortunate to have her! Learn more at www.christinahess.com/about

A Christmas song about finding an old memory hidden inside a photo album.

Our fractal series continues as the sisters delve into the challenges of writer's block and share their strategies to overcome it. They discuss the interval method as a technique to manage writing sessions, the importance of external feedback and how crises impact creativity. ---⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TRANSCRIPT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUPPORT OUR SHOW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/Endoftheworldshow---HTS ESSENTIALS⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUPPORT Our Show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/Endoftheworldshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PEEP us on IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/endoftheworldpc/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Most writers start revision by re-reading their manuscript from page one — but that's the least effective way to improve a book. In this episode, Jenny explains a clearer, more strategic way to revise using the Blueprint and the 3D Revision Process. You'll learn how to step back, see your book with fresh eyes, and create a plan that actually moves your manuscript from good to great. We also invite you to join the upcoming Blueprint Sprint.In this episode you'll learn:* Why a full-manuscript read is often the wrong first step in revision* The mindset shift every writer needs before diving into revisions* How to use the Blueprint to create a clear, confident revision plan before touching your pagesJoin the Blueprint SprintStarting January 12 and rolling though February, KJ Dell'Antonia and Jennie Nash will lead you through the 14 foundational questions that every writer should ask of themselves and their book, whether you're just getting started, are mid-draft or starting on on the whatever-number revision with weekly assignments, live events, workbooks and updated access to all the Blueprint resources. All you need to do is be a paid subscriber and stay tuned—we'll let you know how to get signed up.I NEED a January Blueprint!What if you want even MORE? Then you could be one of a very few #AmWriting subscribers who join our first ever Blueprint Sprint cohort. 6 weeks of working together and write-alongs, 5 group-only live sessions, which will be recorded for anyone who can't attend and a members-only community dedicated to helping you create a Blueprint that leads you to the book you want to write, ending with direct feedback from me and from Jennie on your flap copy and 3 page Inside-Outline.We're keeping this small on purpose—we max out at 10 and we might drop that down—so applications to join this group open today and will be evaluated on a first-come, first serve basis. Once we have 10 people, we will close down the application, so get yours in early! Early-bird pricing is $1000 until December 22, after that the price goes up to $1200 (if there are spaces left by then).What are we looking for? 10 writers who are prepared to commit to the process and to the cohort, who do what they set out to do when they set out to do it, who welcome constructive feedback and are willing to do what it takes to build a blueprint for the book they want to create. Writers who know that sometimes you must look a hard truth in the face and cut your losses, that what goes in the scrap heap is rarely resurrected but that the scrap heap is a necessary part of the work. Writers who won't take no for an answer, but can hear “not this” and feel both disappointment and a burning determination that the next effort will be the one that gets there.Also: no a******s.What will you need to apply? We want to hear about your professional and publishing backgrounds, but no publishing experience is necessary. We want to know where you are with this current project, but “still noodling” is a fine answer. The primary requirements are first, a readiness to do the work and second and more ephemerally, our sense of what makes a cohesive cohort.If that sounds like you, here you go—the time to apply is now.Links & Resources* Learn more about the Blueprint tools* Substack about how each genre has a different primary goal in the Blueprint * #amwriting Episode about the Blueprint origin story and why it's such a powerful tool: Transcript Below!#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.“Revision means stepping back, thinking big picture, and being brave enough to rebuild.”SPONSORSHIP MESSAGEHi writers, the Winter Blueprint Challenge 2026 is on, and I can't wait to do it, and I can't wait to tell you about it. Okay, so this time around, we're going to have two ways to play. First, we'll run the Blueprint for supporters, 10 weeks of Blueprint assignments, live events, and encouragement starting January 12, 2026—or, and this is the big news, apply to join our very first Blueprint cohort—10 of you will become a small group that receives direct feedback from me and from Jennie on flap copy and the three page Inside-Outline, and joins five group only live sessions and becomes a part of a members-only community dedicated to helping you create a blueprint that leads you to the book you want to start and finish. Applications to join this group open December 15, 2025 and will be evaluated on a first come, first-serve basis. Once we have 10 people, we're going to close down the application. So get yours in early. Early-bird pricing for the small cohort is $1,000 until December 22 after that, the price goes up to $1200 (if there are even spaces left by then). I am so excited about this. So get your application in early. The regular Blueprint will run for supporters at the usual supporter pricing, but this other cohort is going to be really special details on how and where to apply are in the show notes, or they're going to be pretty prominently displayed at AmWriting podcast.comEPISODE TRANSCRIPTMultiple SpeakersIs 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. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay. Now, one, two, three.Jennie NashHey everyone, it's Jennie Nash, and this is the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast the place where we help you play big in your writing life, love the process, and finish what matters. Today, I want to talk about why most writers approach revision the wrong way, and how to use the Blueprint to do it right. Most people think revision starts with reading the whole manuscript, but the truth is I think that's the last thing you should do. Before we dive into why I think that, and what I think you should do instead, I want to talk a little bit about what I call the “revision mindset.”When you finish a manuscript, it's really tempting to think, okay, I've got it, I did it, I'll just polish it up a little and be done. But real revision requires openness—being open to seeing the strengths and the weaknesses and the changes that you need to make in the manuscript to take it from good to great. This can feel really vulnerable. I know for me, at this point, I worry that changing one thing is going to break everything else. You feel so close to the finish line that you don't want to touch anything. But holding that tightly—that kind of clenching—is exactly what stops the revision process from working. It's important to remember that revising is big-picture work. It's not line editing. Revising is stepping back, seeing what's really on the page, and being willing to reshape it. So a “revision mindset” is that openness and that willingness to look at it, to be real about what's there and what you want it to be, and to be willing to do what it takes to get it there. So a good revision is going to start with that mindset. And if we start there, you can begin to see why doing a full manuscript read-through from page one, marching straight through all the way to the end, is going to lead to trouble. There are two particular things that happen if you approach revision in that way.The first problem is when you go to read the book from page one chronologically all the way through—maybe you wrote it that way, maybe you didn't—but in any case, if that's how you approach revision, what tends to happen is that you fall into line editing instead of big-picture thinking. You begin to think, oh, this line is really great, or maybe I should fix that line, or maybe the flow here is a little off from this line to the other. You stay in the weeds, and you lose sight of structure and purpose and the big arc of your story or argument. The second problem with starting revision with a full manuscript read is when you ask somebody else to do that reading for you. Basically, what you're doing is handing over your power to somebody else. You're saying you look at this, tell me what you think, tell me how to fix it, tell me what's wrong. And the problem with that is the tendency to get feedback and then just do everything they ask without thinking strategically through what you want to do or what you want your revision to accomplish. And a corollary of that problem is that usually when people are doing that full manuscript read for you, they're just dumping all this stuff on you. They're giving you this long litany of things that they see in the manuscript, or things that they think you should fix, and that list might include small things and big things and important things and not important things. It's so easy to just get overwhelmed with the process.As a book coach, that's what I see all the time. People get into revision, they get overwhelmed, they freeze up, they don't know what to do first. It's so easy to feel defeated. And that's the moment when so many writers stall out and shelve the project. They put it in a folder on their desktop—the proverbial drawer—and it's just away, and they're done, and they can't face it. And then the idea of going back to that huge amount of work and trying to figure it out becomes too daunting, and they just don't. So I don't recommend starting your revision with the full manuscript read.I have a different approach that I teach book coaches at Author Accelerator, and it's called the “3D revision process.” It has three parts. The first is a process of inquiry. We use the Blueprint to ask key questions about the project. The second step is mapping everything out using the outline at the end of the Blueprint in a specific way. And the third step is strategizing. We look at that outline and we prioritize what changes need to be made using the stoplight strategy. I'm going to explain all these things in a minute, but the point is that this process gives you clarity, confidence, and a specific, actionable plan for approaching your revision—which is the dream.Okay, so let's walk through it. Step one is this process of inquiry, and using the Blueprint to walk us through that. In an earlier episode, which I'll link to in the show notes, I talked about why I created the Blueprint and why I refer to it as a process of inquiry, rather than a story structure method. The process of inquiry allows the writer to look at the foundational aspects of what they're writing and to look at the work from this big-picture angle that usually they skip. There are 14 questions no matter which genre you're working on, but they all start with these really basic questions, like, why are you writing this book? What's your point? Who's your reader, and what do they want? And are you giving it to them?Using the Blueprint to start a project, and answering these questions before you begin, is a really powerful way to think about what you want to do in the book, and a powerful way to get your vision clear. But when you have a finished manuscript and you go back to these questions, it's a whole different ball game. It's almost like a test. Can you answer these questions clearly and confidently based on what you know is there? Have you, in other words, put on the page the vision that you had in your head? So you go through the 14 questions honestly, answering them based on what you actually have, and it becomes this kind of assessment or challenge or test, like, did I do what I wanted to accomplish? And it's really easy in those 14 questions to see if you didn't. If you can't confidently answer one of the questions, you know that that's pointing toward a potential weakness in the book.If I give the 14 Blueprint questions to somebody who has written a manuscript that they love and that is close to the vision that they had for it, they're able to knock those questions out and answer them with such authority and power, and it's just an amazing thing to see. And when they can't, and they're coming to the questions with that openness I talked about before, then it's like, okay, look, we still don't have this piece nailed down. We still have to figure out this part of the story or the argument that you're making, so it becomes a first pass at what is really there and what strengths and weaknesses are on the page.The second step in the “3D revision process” is to map out what you have, and we do this with the outline that is at the end of each of the Blueprints. If you've gone through the previous questions in the Blueprint, you're looking at those foundational aspects, the structural elements of the story, all the things that hold up what you've written, and then the outline is, okay, here's what I've actually written. If you're at the start of a project, you want that outline to be no more than three pages. I'm very strict about this, and there's a reason for that. It's because we need to contain or constrain the creative process so that we can see what it is you're wanting to make or to build. If someone goes on and on at that stage of the writing process, they're not making good decisions and they're not thinking about the big picture. But when you keep it to three pages, you're forced to do that, and it's a really awesome process.With revision, I loosen those rules, and the reason is that for revision, I want this outline to be what I call an “as-is outline.” So this is not what you intend to write, or what you hope to write, or what you plan to write, which is what it is at the beginning of a project. Now it's what is actually there. So the as-is outline is capturing what you actually wrote, not what you intended to write. So you use the manuscript, obviously, to get this information and to pin down an outline of what is actually there. And there's still a constraint. I suggest that you keep this as-is outline to about 10 pages, and you absolutely need to follow the rules of the genre that I outline in the Blueprint. Each of the genres has a specific outline and a specific thing that we're looking for in that outline, and I designed that to solve for the things that people most often get wrong in that genre.I wrote a Substack post, which I'll link to in the show notes, which explains what each of those things are, and I'll link to that in the show notes. But you want to follow the rules of the outline, so that you make sure you're not making the foundational problems of that genre. But then you have these 10 pages to capture what you've actually done on the page, and this as-is outline is where the big insights happen. When you step back and you look at this as-is outline, you can see where the momentum drops, where scenes or chapters repeat themselves, where your structure might be broken, where a subplot might take over, or, in nonfiction, where you veer off in some other direction. You can see where two memoir scenes are doing the same emotional work, or where a nonfiction chapter doesn't drive towards the outcome that you're leading your reader to. You can see so much in this outline, and that's why this process is so powerful. The outline becomes a kind of X-ray of what you've actually written on the page.And that leads us to step three of the “3D revision process” which is you're going to analyze that outline. You're going to bring some strategic thinking to what you have there. Each of the Blueprints has a checklist for their particular outline, and you want to go through those checklists and really ask yourself, have I done this? Have I done that? Have I done the other? The kinds of questions that checklist asks are things like, am I giving the reader what they want and expect? Does my outline include the essential elements of my genre or category? What's missing, what's out of order, what's unclear, what's unnecessary? So it's strategic thinking about the material that you have created.One of my favorite books about the creative process is Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull. It's the story of the creation of Pixar, the company, and in that book, he talks about the Brain Trust, which is a very small group of writers who help each other to create the best possible stories. And they have this process in the Brain Trust that's called giving good notes. And good notes are clear, they're factual, they're strategic, and that's what you're doing here for yourself. You're giving yourself good notes. And if at this point you want to bring in a trusted partner to help you brainstorm and to help you look at your material and look at your notes and help you brainstorm solutions, this is a great time to bring in somebody to help you brainstorm and to look at your as-is outline and look at the notes that you've made for yourself, because instead of just handing the job over to somebody else, you're saying, I have done this work of looking at my work in a strategic way. I know what I've done well, I know what my weaknesses are, and now I'm ready to solve those problems.So a great critique partner or a trusted beta reader or a book coach…obviously, are great people to bring in at this stage of the process. And what's awesome is you're not asking them to sit down and spend 15 or 20 hours reading a whole manuscript and trying to figure out what you want or what you were trying to do, or how it all lands for them, and giving you this info dump of information. You're asking them to look at your Blueprint, to look at your answers to the 14 questions, and your as-is outline, and your analysis of that outline. And what you'll be doing, either on your own or in partnership, is prioritizing what needs to happen in the revision.The tool that I teach coaches to do this is called the “stoplight strategy.” And what we're doing is we're trying to categorize the problems that we see in a manuscript by their severity. So red light problems are major structural issues, yellow light problems are medium-level issues, and green light problems are line-level edits. I designed the stoplight strategy because so many writers think that revision is about green light issues. So many of them start with line-level edits. And as I spoke about before, the tendency if you're doing a full manuscript read is to fall into that rhythm of just seeing the green light things, or maybe a few yellow light things. But it's very hard to see the red light things, which are the things that are going to bring your book down. They're the fatal flaws, and most writers never find the time to actually look at those things.So they might be things like, I've got to start this novel in a totally different place, or I have to chop off five chapters of my memoir, or I have to restructure my entire nonfiction argument in a different way to make it land. But if you've approached the process that I'm explaining with that openness, that revision mindset, and that curiosity about how can I make this better, and if you've gone through it in this systematic way, and you found some red light issues, they tend not to sting quite so much. They tend to feel manageable. Okay, I can fix this one big thing. And if I fix this one big thing, the next thing that I need to fix is probably going to be obvious, and then the next one is going to be obvious. So you're leading yourself to a prioritization of what needs to happen in the revision, rather than looking at everything in the same way, meaning every little green light issue has the same weight as the yellow light issues and the same weight as the red light issues.When we step out of doing the work chronologically, and we approach it in this more strategic way, we tend to focus on the red light issues. And again, they just tend not to feel quite so awful.So the next step in the process is you take that as-is outline, and you turn it into a “what's-next outline,” a map of what the book is going to become in revision. On that outline, you mark what gets cut, what gets moved, what needs to be added, what shifts are you going to make because of the big changes, and you actually make them in the outline, so that the outline reflects where you're going with your revision.And that's how we close the gap between what you've written and what you want to write. That's where you get closer to your vision of what you want this book to be. And that's why this process is so powerful, because now you have a clear map of what you need to do in revision. You have a clear plan for how you're going to go execute those things, so you're not guessing and you're not lost in overwhelm. You have this what's-next outline that you're going to go in and follow. And if you want to start at the beginning and make all the revisions in chronological order, you can. Or if you want to go in and fix the big red light issues first, you can. And you can use this what's-next outline as a kind of external hard drive to hold all the changes that you want to make in your revision, so that you're not holding them all in your head.Doing the revision in this way might actually mean going in and working on, let's say, chapter 10, 11, and 12, and not touching anything else. It might mean going in and working on chapters 13 and 27 and not touching anything else. It's not necessarily a chronological process. You're going to follow the what's-next outline and do what needs to be done in the manuscript.And once you do that, now is the time when a full manuscript read can make a lot of sense. Now you can go through from beginning to end knowing that you don't have any big structural issues. There are no red light issues in this manuscript anymore. There are no yellow light issues. You don't have to think about those or worry about those. You can go through and do the thing that most people do at the beginning of their revision process, which is polishing the prose and making everything sing and working on the line-by-line writing. You've already done the heavy lifting.If you're excited about using the Blueprint in your revision and you want to work through it with a community of other writers who are doing it too, we'd love to have you join our upcoming Blueprint Challenge. You're going to go through the Blueprint step by step along with people who are revising their books or people who are starting from scratch. It's the same 14 questions, and people will be working on fiction, they'll be working on memoir, and they'll be working on nonfiction. KJ is going to be leading the charge of this Blueprint, and she's going to be doing some write-alongs and AMAs and different things to support people while you work through those Blueprint questions. And I'm going to be in there a few times as well.This is the fourth time we've done the Blueprint Challenge at the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast, and it gets better and better every time as more and more people do it. And you can find critique partners in there to help you with your Blueprint questions, maybe to look at your as-is outline, because they understand the process. They understand what's going on. They understand what this is all about. And it's just a really fun and powerful way to approach either a new book or the revision of a book that you want to work on.You can check the show notes for details on how to sign up for the Blueprint Challenge. This challenge works if you have a new idea that you want to work through, or a new-ish idea. You can be a little bit into it, and the Blueprint process is still really effective. And it also, of course, works really well if you're revising something, or maybe you're stuck revising something, or overwhelmed by the revision process that you're in.You can start at the beginning of the Blueprint process and go through what I've just described here, and at the end of the challenge, be in a really great place to move forward with your project. We'd love to have you join us. So again, check the show notes for details.We give everyone who joins the Blueprint Challenge a downloadable copy of the Blueprint book and a workbook to work through. But if you're not able to do the challenge at this time and you want to go through this process yourself, you can just grab a copy of my Blueprint book at any bookstore and work through those 14 questions and your outline at the end. However you do it, we're excited to support you on your way.So until next time, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.NarratorThe Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perrella. 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

On today's program, the judicial commission of the Anglican Church in North America has handed down its long-awaited verdict in the months-long trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch. And that verdict is, “Not Guilty.” We'll have details. And, International Servants has been making big claims about its decades of ministry work in Belize—but verifying those claims has proven more difficult. We'll take a look. Plus, Elevation Church—the North Carolina-based megachurch led by Steven Furtick—has announced the launch of Elevation College. But first, St. Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida, has officially voted to leave the Presbyterian Church in America. The church, originally led by Dr. R.C. Sproul, joined the PCA in 2023. It first considered a vote to leave this summer, but delayed the vote while referring the matter to the church's board of elders, also known as its session, to study the situation and return with a recommendation. Its lead pastor, Burk Parsons, was suspended from his role as a teaching elder in the PCA in June after being found guilty by a church judicial commission of three charges related to, among other things, a “domineering” and “intimidating” leadership style, which included accusations of bullying and slander. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today's program include Kim Roberts, Kathryn Post, Jessica Eturralde, and Aaron Earls. A special thanks to Lifeway Research for contributing material for this week's podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.

Hollywood is at a breaking point—and audiences can feel it.On In the Tank Podcast #522, Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, Chris Talgo, S.T. Karnick, and Donald Kendal dig into what's reshaping movies and TV right now: DEI-era gatekeeping, studios quietly changing course, shrinking opportunities for creators, and the growing role of AI in entertainment.They're joined by Christian Toto, returning for his fifth annual appearance, to break down how Hollywood's incentives filtered out creative voices—and why so many films now feel safe, preachy, and lifeless.The panel also tackles Disney's new AI deal involving OpenAI's Sora platform and what it means for writers, actors, and storytelling itself. Plus: the crew runs through their “Unhinged” list of the worst movies and TV of 2025—and what might actually be worth watching next.If Hollywood has lost its edge, this episode explores why—and what comes next.Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET every Friday on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook.Visit our sponsor, Advisor Metals: https://climaterealismshow.com/metalsChapters: 00:33 Intro01:57 Special Guest Introduction03:55 Support Our Sponsor! 05:50 Unhinged: Worst Movies of 2025 22:08 Film Affected By DEI49:15 AI in Movies? Good or Bad?1:19:25 The Future of Movies: Embracing The ExperienceSTORIES COVERED ON THE SHOW:DEI To Blame? - Writers and other roles in movie companies are being filtered by DEI politics in Hollywood. Does this have an effect on the quality of films?https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-lost-generation/https://variety.com/2025/film/news/hollywood-drops-dei-programs-donald-trump-disney-paramount-amazon-1236327202/AI in Movies - Where is it good, and Where does it suck?https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-openai-sora-agreement/https://archive.ph/2xtns Optimism for the Future: the best films of 2025, what to look forward to in 2026 and beyond.https://x.com/vegasstarfish/status/1961588349799731453https://www.imdb.com/calendar/ In The Tank broadcasts LIVE every Thursday at 12pm CT on on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Tune in to have your comments addressed live by the In The Tank Crew. Be sure to subscribe and never miss an episode. See you there!Climate Change Roundtable is LIVE every Friday at 12pm CT on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Have a topic you want addressed? Join the live show and leave a comment for our panelists and we'll cover it during the live show!

What if the reason you haven't started writing your novel has nothing to do with how much you know?“I'm not ready yet” is one of the most common things I hear from writers. And on the surface, it makes sense. You want to feel prepared before starting something as big as writing a novel.But not feeling ready usually has very little to do with knowledge. More often, the root cause is a lack of clarity. In this bonus episode, I'm sharing stories from three writers who spent months, and even years, stuck at the starting line because they didn't know how to move from idea to writing. You'll hear about Tiara, who loved writing short stories but froze when she tried to write a novel. Jennifer, who dreamed about her YA fantasy for years but felt she needed more credentials before she could begin. And Sheila, a doctor and teacher who had read the books, taken the courses, and still couldn't put it all together.None of them suddenly became more qualified. What changed was their process.In this episode, you'll learn:[04:00] How a short story writer overcame her fear of full-length novel projects by shifting her mindset around perfectionism and learning to trust a step-by-step approach.[06:15] Why one aspiring author spent years frozen at chapter one and how a simple scene-by-scene roadmap helped her go from stuck to a complete first draft in just 90 days.[08:30] How one writer learned to use genre to map out her story's key scenes—and why this finally made everything click for her after bouncing between over-planning and under-planning for years.If you've been telling yourself you're not ready, this episode will help you rethink that.And if you want a clear, step-by-step path to help you finally start and finish your novel, you can get on the waitlist for the next round of Notes to Novel. Doors open January 22.Your story doesn't need more prep work. It needs one clear direction. And I'll help you do that.

In this episode, THE NAKED GUN writers Doug Mand and Dan Gregor take us inside the making of one of the boldest studio comedies in years. They break down how they approached structure in a spoof film, why emotional arcs matter just as much as jokes, and how committing fully to the stupidest ideas can sometimes be the smartest choice. Doug and Dan talk candidly about fearlessness, rejection, impostor syndrome, and why every movie is a miracle. It's ultimately a funny, honest, and deeply encouraging conversation about sustaining a creative life in comedy. --- Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL Workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- use code HOLIDAY25 for 50% off your first month. Episode Links: The Naked Gun (on Paramount+) Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL merch shop⁠⁠⁠⁠ TSL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Screenwriting Life is produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Hurwitz⁠⁠⁠⁠ and edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kate Mishkin⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thescreenwritinglife@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we things get holly as we talk holiday tradition, east coast research missions, and listening to our inner voices...sometimes, as we review Mike P. Nelson's Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025).    Want more? Join the Frightday Society, at http://thefrightdaysociety.org As a Society Member, you'll have access to all Screamium content (Behind the Screams, It's Been a Weird Week, A Conversation With..., Toast to Toast PM with Wine Kelly, Cinema Autopsy, the Writers' Room, bonus episodes of Captain Kelly's Cryptids & Conspiracies, Byron's Serial Corner, and so much more! You'll also be part of our interactive community dedicated to the advancement of horror, hauntings, cryptids, conspiracies, aliens, and true crime. All things frightening. Keep our mini-fridges full of blood...I mean...not blood...normal things that people drink...by going to http://shop.frightday.com Theme music by Yawns Produced by Byron McKoy Follow us in the shadows at the following places:  @byronmckoy @kellyfrightday @frightday This is an Audio Wool Original.

Free Video Tutorial for ScreenwritingWriters are constantly told there's a right way to structure chapters, paragraphs, and point of view—but is that actually true? In this episode, Zena Dell Lowe explores why great storytelling isn't about following formulas and why clarity always matters more than cleverness. This episode is for writers who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure whether their stylistic choices are working, and want permission to trust the story they're telling.Watch this episode on YouTube Sign up for The Storyteller's Digest, my exclusive bi-monthly newsletter for writers and storytellers. Each edition delivers an insightful article or practical writing tip straight from me, designed to help you master your craft and tell compelling stories.The Storyteller's Mission Podcast is now on YouTube.  Subscribe to our channel and never miss a new episode or announcement.Support the Show!Contact us for anything else!Send us a textSupport the show

Publishing Talks started as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. It has been great fun talking with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. Today’s […] The post Publishing Talks Interviews Jordan Fleming, Owlcrate Press first appeared on WritersCast.

Wrestle Heist #1 steals the show, Mary Shelley gets her due, and Edenfrost sparks a deep discussion about folklore, history, and storytelling. Subscribe to the Major Spoilers Podcast Network Master Feed! Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure the Major Spoilers Podcast continues far into the future! Join our Discord server and chat with fellow Spoilerites! (https://discord.gg/jWF9BbF) REVIEWS STEPHEN WRESTLE HEIST #1 Writer/Artist: Kyle Starks Publisher: Image Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Release Date: December 17, 2025 A former pro wrestler—who has a brush with death thanks to a crooked promoter—assembles a crew of fellow wrestlers he's screwed over... to rob him blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year. From the outrageous, action-packed mind of multi-time Eisner nominee KYLE STARKS (Peacemaker Tries Hard, Sexcastle, I Hate This Place), with eye-popping colors by VLADIMIR POPOV (Where Monsters Lie, Fearscape), comes a no-holds-barred heist caper packed with body slams and backstabs. [rating:4.5/5] You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/4pAIAtg MATTHEW VR TROOPERS #5 Writer: Mairghread Scott Artist: Sebastián Píriz Publisher: BOOM! Studios Cover Price: Release Date: December 17, 2025 A daring rescue leads to shocking revelations! Ryan and J.B. storm Ziktor Industries to save Kaitlin, only to find she's suffered a humiliating fate! With a little help from Ryan's mother, Amy, the Troopers battle back—but Grimlord has a new weapon in store…one with ties to Ryan's past. Will their greatest threat prove to be the one they never saw coming? [rating:3/5] You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/49fxtQP RODRIGO MARY SHELLEY - THE ETERNAL DREAM Writer: Alessandro di Virgilio Artist: Manuela Santoni Publisher: Mad Cave Studios Cover Price: $19.99 Release Date: January 13, 2026 Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream is an expressively illustrated fictional account of the life of writer Mary Shelley, as told by her famous invention, Frankenstein's monster. With cameos by a variety of other famous writers and historical figures, this graphic novel is perfect for fans of literary and feminist history. The extraordinary life of the woman who created one of fiction's most enduring characters: Frankenstein's monster. Born at the turn of the 19th century to the famous philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft (forerunner of the feminist movement) and William Godwin (novelist and radical politician), Mary Shelley lived a life in constant flight from social conformity. Her struggle birthed a pop culture phenomenon. Now in print for the first time in English, Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream chronicles Shelley's relationships with other important artists and writers, including her eventual husband Percy Shelley, and the 'butterfly effect' of love, hardship, tragedy, and inspiration that led to the creation of the infamous monster. [rating: 4/5] You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/4q5mxL6 DISCUSSION EDENFROST Writer: Amit Tishler Artist: Bruno Frenda Publisher: Mad Cave Studios Release Date: 2024 Two Jewish siblings summon the power of a Golem to fight their way through the fires of the Russian Civil War. Will the monster be their salvation, or hasten their demise? After losing their parents in a pogrom, teenage siblings Alex and Yuli use the mystical power of a Golem to survive the chaos of the Russian Civil War. In a harrowing journey through war-torn Ukraine, the duo will face the harsh reality of warfare, ethnic bias, and national pride as they fight for their own place in the world. You can purchase this issue via our Amazon affiliate link - https://amzn.to/498A7b0 CLOSE Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com A big Thank You goes out to everyone who downloads, subscribes, listens, and supports this show. We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to our ramblings each week. Tell your friends! [su_signoff]

Wrestle Heist #1 steals the show, Mary Shelley gets her due, and Edenfrost sparks a deep discussion about folklore, history, and storytelling. Subscribe to the Major Spoilers Podcast Network Master Feed!

Wrestle Heist #1 steals the show, Mary Shelley gets her due, and Edenfrost sparks a deep discussion about folklore, history, and storytelling. Subscribe to the Major Spoilers Podcast Network Master Feed!

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!This episode starts with a question that's been tapping me on the shoulder all year: What would it look like to choose ease without giving up momentum?I'm reflecting on the past year in book writing and publishing, and sharing what I'm carrying forward into 2026. Less hustle-for-hustle's-sake. More sustainable progress that feels livable.I talk about why consistency in book sales matters more than viral spikes, and why realistic goals tend to outperform ambitious ones you can't maintain. There's an honest look at marketing, too. It takes time. It's rarely linear. And there's no shortcut that replaces steady effort and experimentation. Finally, I dig into the quieter side of growth: building community, focusing on connection over vanity metrics, and staying open to adapting your approach as the market (and your life) changes.READY TO FINALLY BE IN THAT "CAN'T STOP WRITING" FLOW?Grab the free nonfiction or memoir kickstart that's helped hundreds of authors get out of their heads and into the flow: 

The first time you draft a book under contract can be an exceptionally challenging experience. There are craft-level challenges (“how do I make the stakes even bigger for this sequel?”), timeline challenges (“I need to write a book in how many months?”), and emotional challenges (“what if I'm actually a fraud and my last book was my only good idea?”). You are not alone in these struggles, and today, I'm breaking down my advice for the major worries most authors face after having written three Book 2s so far in my career. *** You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here. DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

Hi there, Today I am delighted to be arts calling author A.M. Sosa! (amsosa.net) About our guest: A. M. Sosa (they/them) is a queer Mexican-American writer from Stockton, CA, and a graduate of UC Irvine's MFA Programs in Writing where they were awarded the 2022 Henfield Prize. They have received support from Tin House, Community of Writers, and the Carolyn Moore Writing Residency. Their debut novel, And I'll Take Out Your Eyes, is being published by Algonquin, and their fiction has been published in Zyzzyva and the Santa Monica Review. Instagram: @unapinchebruja About AND I'LL TAKE OUT YOUR EYES, now available from Algonquin Books! BUY NOW AT: BOOKSHOP | TERTULIA | BARNES & NOBLE | AMAZON Cría cuervos y te sacaran los ojos: Raise crows and they will take out your eyes. A boy wakes up with a knife in his hand. It's the early '90s in Stockton, CA, when Christian is caught sleepwalking in the kitchen by his family--the beginning of a curse unleashed by an aunt. To save Christian and the family from the curse, the family seeks out a curandero who promises salvation, but at a price Christian wishes he didn't have to pay. As Christian grows up the curse follows him. His father emotionally and physically torments him, his mother's health spirals, his relationship with his brother deteriorates; nothing goes his way. Christian finds solace in a group of friends, bonded together by the sufferings that plague their community. As the childhood chaos of ripping and running in order to survive breaks way to an adolescence beyond his local neighborhood and a lifeline in the form of writing, Christian must decide: be consumed and enact the same violence that has plagued him, or break the cycle, once and for all. And I'll Take Out Your Eyes is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the power of memory and the curses we inherit from our family, and how to overcome them. Told in a voice that is clear and unflinching, this is ultimately a story of redemption. PRAISE FOR AND I'LL TAKE OUT YOUR EYES: > And I'll Take Out Your Eyes is a kaleidoscopic wonder of a debut. Never boring, A.M. Sosa seems somehow capable of pulling off any form or point of view. Any sentence might be as explosive, as tender, as breathless, as surprising as life. And there is so much life in this book. If nothing else, it is rare to find a novel as alive as this one. Sosa has arrived with a cannon shot.— Matthew Salesses, author of Craft in the Real World and The Sense of Wonder Thanks for this amazing conversation, A.M.! All the best! -- Arts Calling is produced by Jaime Alejandro. HOW TO SUPPORT ARTS CALLING: PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A REVIEW, OR SHARING THIS EPISODE WITH A FRIEND! YOUR SUPPORT TRULY MAKES A DIFFERENCE. THANKS FOR LISTENING! Much love, j artscalling.com

Sarah Gallucci joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about being the child of a teen mom, early influences on our ideas of love and relationships, pressure to have sex, having nothing left to give a relationship, feeling like you need to getting sex over with, manipulative sex, coercive sex, giving a partner a hall pass, when relationships become incredibly messy, nonconsensual sex that becomes coercive sex, TEDx talks, blogging and going viral, the hey day of mommy blogging, pivoting from journalism to reporting on our own life, when the culture shifts, writing real sex, strategies to writing about sex, why writing real sex is imperative to literature for safety, going viral, how we experience pleasure, inaccurate, writing about real sex, measuring the brokenness of a marriage, when family stops speaking to us after publication, writing from a raw, unprocessed place, writing when you're in the thick of it, choosing self-publishing over traditional publishing, the autonomy of self-publishing, the aftermath of divorce, and Laid: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Marriage.   Also in this episode: -trusting your truth Books mentioned in this episode: -Hunger by Roxanne Gay -Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay -Wild by Cheryl Strayed -Pushed by Sapphire   Sarah Gallucci is the author of Laid: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Marriage. She has written reported features for CNN, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Harper's Bazaar, among others. Sarah works as a professor at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is also a speaker, and has given two TEDx talks. Most importantly, Sarah is the mother of two with storytelling, creative healing, and pasta in her blood.   Connect with Sarah: Website: www.SarahGallucci.com Instagram: @_Sarah_Gallucci_ TikTok: @_Sarah_Gallucci_ Threads: @_Sarah_Gallucci_ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Laid-Memoir-Love-Sex-Marriage/dp/B0DVCBXVZ7/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 Talks: https://www.sarahgallucci.com/speaking   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

Ann Schlee! Lettice Cooper! Authors! Welcome to episode 145 of Tea or Books? In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer younger authors or older authors (thank you Lindsey for the suggestion!) In the second half,

Today I'm diving deep into the writer mindset with my dear friend and accomplished therapist, coach, author, and speaker Molly Carroll.We cover so much ground from the transformative power of morning rituals to reframing our resistance through a completely new lens. Molly shares incredible insights about self-care through the creative process, and honestly, so much more than I could have hoped for.I encourage you to turn in to hear more.

Bay Area Filmmakers Jamal Trulove and DLo Louis talk about their new festival that's hitting Oakland.

The Diary of a CEO's Director of Trailers, Anthony Smith, on capturing attention in the first few seconds, building cliffhangers and emotional momentum that keep audiences watching (or reading), and testing hooks and packaging without losing trust or story.You'll learn:Why you only have 3–5 seconds to earn attention, and what that changes about your opening lines and first scenes.How to take the guesswork out of hooks by testing titles and thumbnails to see what audiences actually care about.Ways to pull a more compelling later moment forward and work in reverse when the early material is setup.What makes a cliffhanger work across books and videos, and how to raise the stakes so people feel “gutted” not knowing the answer.How to build an “emotional rollercoaster” so the narrative never flatlines.Why sound and silence can help storytelling work, creating intensity and then giving the audience space to breathe.How to balance intrigue with respect for your audience by offering a “moment of value” instead of holding everything back.Why giving away too much can kill curiosity, and how to protect the reason someone keeps reading or watching.Resources and Links:

We've been following A. Muia and her writing journey for several years. She's been a longtime listener of the podcast and supporter of the show. We chatted in 2022 about getting an agent, the frustrations of the publishing industry and how to break into it, and all the things talented writers who have a strong manuscript but few publishing contacts encounter when trying to get their work published. Basically, most of us. A Desert Between Two Seas published in September. It's a novel told in 14 linked stories set in 19th century Baja California, Mexico. It won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and, as a result, was published by the University of Georgia Press. It was also a finalist for the Iowa Short Fiction Award and is a 2026 Top Pick for the Southwest Books of the Year. All this, ultimately, was done without an agent. She joined me on the podcast to talk about all this because I find her experience so relatable. It gave us much to talk about in terms of selling a book without an agent, the experience of publishing with a university press, winning literary prizes, marketing your work, what she wishes she knew then that she knows now, how she'll approach her next project, and much more. We also talked about publishing in literary journals and how she targeted the literary journals she did, as well as the most useful writing advice she's received. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. She shares even more advice and insights there. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It's stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It's perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on November 25, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

It's on again!The Blueprint is one of our most popular offerings—Our 10 step plan to help you define the book you want to write before you write 100k words in search of it—but this time we're going in fast and we're knocking this puppy out in just 6 weeks. Starting January 12 and rolling though February, Jennie Nash and I (this is KJ) will lead you through the 14 foundational questions that every writer should ask of themselves and their book, whether you're just getting started, are mid-draft or starting on on the whatever-number revision. We'll have weekly assignments and live events (recorded so no one missed anything). We'll have workbooks and updated access to all the Blueprint resources. There will be chat and solidarity and all the energy that comes from being a part of a community all working together to reach the same goal. Plus, every time we've done a Blueprint, somebody ends up with a book deal (listen here: An #AmWriting Success Story! ). That could be you. I LOVE Blueprint season. As Jennie says in the episode, the Blueprint comes from her realization that over and over again in her book coaching career (which is long and storied) she was seeing people come to her with the same mistakes—300-350 page manuscripts that lacked an inner structure, or an internal point, that meandered, were all plot and no heart or tried to offer instruction without ever conveying why it was so badly needed and what it would change for the reader.Her secret is that she developed the Blueprint for revision (and she recorded a whole episode about that, coming later this week) and then realized that using it from the get-go works, too.Look, I'm the first to tell you that the Blueprint doesn't solve everything. But it helps… a lot. So get ready to Blueprint, whether you're starting a new project or revising the current one (that's where I'll be)—and if you're not already a supporter of the podcast (the only way to access the Blueprint) you should be. Right now it's $100 a year, going up January 1.Oh I am so IN, counting the days.What if you want even MORE? Then you could be one of a very few #AmWriting subscribers who join our first ever Blueprint Sprint cohort. 6 weeks of working together and write-alongs, 5 group-only live sessions, which will be recorded for anyone who can't attend and a members-only community dedicated to helping you create a Blueprint that leads you to the book you want to write, ending with direct feedback from me and from Jennie on your flap copy and 3 page Inside-Outline. We're keeping this small on purpose—we max out at 10 and we might drop that down—so applications to join this group open today and will be evaluated on a first-come, first serve basis. Once we have 10 people, we will close down the application, so get yours in early! Early-bird pricing is $1000 until December 22, after that the price goes up to $1200 (if there are spaces left by then).What are we looking for? 10 writers who are prepared to commit to the process and to the cohort, who do what they set out to do when they set out to do it, who welcome constructive feedback and are willing to do what it takes to build a blueprint for the book they want to create. Writers who know that sometimes you must look a hard truth in the face and cut your losses, that what goes in the scrap heap is rarely resurrected but that the scrap heap is a necessary part of the work. Writers who won't take no for an answer, but can hear “not this” and feel both disappointment and a burning determination that the next effort will be the one that gets there.Also: no a******s.What will you need to apply? We want to hear about your professional and publishing backgrounds, but no publishing experience is necessary. We want to know where you are with this current project, but “still noodling” is a fine answer. The primary requirements are first, a readiness to do the work and second and more ephemerally, our sense of what makes a cohesive cohort.If that sounds like you, here you go—the time to apply is now. 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

Hey cops and writers, thanks for being here with us today for another episode of the Cops and Writers podcast! I’m Patrick O’Donnell, and I will be your host for today’s show. Before I start, can I ask you all a favor? If you are enjoying this podcast, could you please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? It is so important, thank you. This show is listener supported, so thanks to all of you who keep this show going! I would especially like to thank those of you who are patrons of the show. Most notably, Frances Sheldrick, Kathleen Donnelly, Fran Cross, Katherine Kovacic, Richard Towles, Ryan Ta, Carl Vonderau, Melinda Colt, Jodi Burnett, and Richard Rybicki. Your generosity helps pay for the software, equipment, and my time producing this show. Yes, you too can become a patron for less than a cup of coffee or a pint of Guinness. Just go to patreon.com/copsandwriters. Welcome everyone, for my interview with my friend, podcaster, author, and retired NYPD Detective, Vic Ferrari. Vic worked a distinguished twenty-year career with the NYPD as a patrol officer and later moved up to the organized crime unit, working in the auto theft squad as a detective. Vic is now an author with nine books published, the most recent NYPD: Behind The Blue Wall Of Silence, and host of his very popular podcast, NYPD Through The Looking Glass.  It’s always fun chatting with Vic and hearing his stories from the NYPD. Please enjoy my conversation with the one and only, Vic Ferrari!   In today’s episode, we discuss: ·      Vic explains the title and intro to his newest book, NYPD: Behind The Blue Wall Of Silence. ·      A nude sunbathing cop on the roof of a precinct. ·      The herpes triangle. ·      What’s a rip? ·      Cops vs Firefighters football/hockey games. Why the bad blood? ·      Off-duty shenanigans. ·      Principal Fran Dresser and the power of the press.    ·      Citizen complaints. ·      Working plainclothes in the anti-crime unit. ·      Wendy the whiner. ·      Hats and bats. ·      What happens to someone who assaults a horse used for crowd control? ·      His brother’s solution to the homeless problem. ·      Vic’s podcast, NYPD Thorough The Looking Glass. ·      Vic’s livestream with Det. Marique Bartoldus on 12-17-25 at 7:00 pm Eastern.   All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast. Check out Vic's Amazon Author Page! Check out the new Cops and Writers YouTube channel! Check out my newest book, The Good Collar (Michael Quinn Vigilante Justice Series Book 1)!!!!! Enjoy the Cops and Writers book series. Please visit the Cops and Writers website.