Podcasts about writers

This is the how-to book you need right now, the one with “am I ready to query” and “what does my platform need to look like” and “what if no one buys my book” and “what happens if someone buys my book”. We have a great episode, talking about creating this book, writing this book and living this book—because Kate McKean is not only a very experienced agent, she has also lived the answer to all those questions and that's part of what makes it special. Follow: Kate McKean Agents and Books Also find her at agentsandbooks.com And buy this book! Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life#AmReadingKate: Madeleine Roux, A Girl Walks into the Forest (Dark, feminist and rage-y)KJ: Francesca Segal, Welcome to Glorious Tuga (not any of those above things) Alison Espach, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance (somewhere in between)Writers and readers! KJ, here. If you love #AmWriting—and I know you do—and especially if you love the regular segment at the end of most episodes where we talk about what we've been reading, you will also love my weekly #AmReading— find it at kjdellantonia.com or kjda.substack.com or by clicking on my name on Substack, if you do that kind of thing. Your #tbr won't be sorry.Transcript below!EPISODE 453 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaWriters and readers, KJ here, if you love Hashtag AmWriting, and I know you do, and especially if you love the regular segment at the end of most episodes where we talk about what we've been reading, you will also love my weekly Hashtag AmReading email. Is it about what I've been reading and loving? It is. And if you like what I write, you'll like what I read. But it is also about everything else I've been hashtag am doing, sleeping, buying clothes and returning them, launching a spelling bee habit, reading other people's weekly emails. Let's just say it's kind of the email about not getting the work done, which I mean that's important too, right? We can't work all the time. It's also free, and I think you'll really like it. So you can find it at kjdellantonia.com or kjda.substack.com or by clicking on my name on Substack, if you do that kind of thing. Or, of course, in the show notes for this podcast, come hang out with me. You won't be sorry.Multiple Speakers:Is 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.KJ Dell'AntoniaHey, I'm KJ Dell'Antonia, and this is Hashtag AmWriting the weekly podcast about writing all the things, short things, long things, pitches, proposals. This is the podcast about sitting down and getting your work done. And I interviewed someone last week, who told me that they did not realize I did the introduction live, to which I was like, "Wait, does it sound the same to you every time?" Because I don't know, in my mind, I go off on a tangent every single time. So I am KJ Dell'Antonia, as you probably know, author of three novels and a couple of nonfiction books, and former editor at the New York Times, and, gosh, I have, I have done a bunch of things, but I'm not going to tell you about them right now, because I am really excited about my guest today, who is Kate McKean, and she is the creator of Agents and Books, which is a Substack slash, an email newsletter. For those of you that are not Substack users, you don't have to know what that is to get this, but I'm telling you fundamentally that if you're listening to my words right now, you should be signed up for that, and you're probably going to need the book that we're talking about, which is called Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life. It is excellent. It is all the books that I relied on deeply when I got into this industry, rolled up in one book, which doesn't mean you won't buy all the others, because we're writers, and that's what we do. We buy books about writing. We're supposed to right? But I feel like sometimes that's what we do, we buy books about writing, anyway. All right, I'm done introducing, Kate I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for coming.Kate McKeanI'm really happy to be here. I'm excited to chat.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, this is going to be good. So this is, this is the book that anyone who is considering traditional publishing needs as both an encouraging guide to how hard it is going to be to get to all the points that you need to get to be ready to even try to traditionally publishing, and then to the process of traditionally publishing. This is how do you know when you're finished? This is how do you know when to pitch? This is how do you pitch. This is how do you deal with the inevitable rejections when you are pitched, this is what happens next. This is the good news and the bad news and the other news and all the news. And the blurb on the front is that it is a wildly generous guide. It is from Sarah Knight, who I adore, and it is! That is, that is most accurate...Kate McKeanThank you.KJ Dell'AntoniaBlurb that I have ever read, I think, or...Kate McKeanSarah was so kind to read. I know she reads the newsletter too, and we know each other from way back when she was an editor at Simon Schuster. And I could not be more grateful that she said the kind words she did.KJ Dell'AntoniaShe's amazing, and they are and you this is a generous book. So I do have questions, but first I just have to gush for a while. So...Kate McKeanI'll take it.KJ Dell'AntoniaI have kind of an unspoken policy of being very judicious in taking writing advice of any kind from someone who has not published. And there are 100% exceptions to that. I have an amazing freelance editor who she reads and she edits and wow. But there are also people who write books about writing from a place of having written things, and that's about it. And. And you know that truly, I mean, first of all, you're, you're an agent, you've, you know, you've been in this industry, you've got masses of experience. And secondly, although this is your first published book, it is not your first finished book, it is not...Kate McKeanNot at all.KJ Dell'AntoniaEven your first pitched book. It's not the book that got you an agent. And you are so generous in sharing those experiences with people, and they're going to help.Kate McKeanI hope so. I mean, it's not lost on me that the first published book I have about writing and publishing books, and I even say it in the book. You know, I've tried to sell several picture books and several novels, and maybe I'm just not a great fiction writer. You know, it's very possible that is true. We'll find out. I don't know. I do have a picture book coming out in 2026, so one of them did eventually work. It's coming out with Sourcebooks, and I'm very excited. It's, you know, I know that people probably think, Oh, well, you're just, you're an agent. You could just, like, walk into a publisher and get a book deal like my friend. I am sorry that it's not true. If it had been true, I would have written 50,000 books by now, because I actually really, I mean, it's my job, but I also like doing it myself, but I'm not. I'm not special, you know, like I'm special and privileged because I know all the ins and outs, but I'm not. Nobody's just like rolling out the red carpet and handing me 1000's, billions of dollars to write a book.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, what I have said about about my fiction writing experience was, and I feel quite certain it was true for you as well. The thing that I had, and I will own it, is that I knew the people that I was sending my query to would look at it, because they knew who I was. That actually just meant it had to be awfully good, because it also means they're going to remember who you are. And if it sucks, they'll remember that next time. Whereas, if you don't have that particular thing and you send out a query that that sucks, the agent is not going to remember your name. So the next time you roll around and you send a better query, it's going to be fine, but the next time that writer rolls around and sends a better query. People are going to be like, well, yeah, I don't know.Kate McKeanYikes!KJ Dell'AntoniaThis was not so great.Kate McKeanYep!KJ Dell'AntoniaYikes! I got to do this again. I got to send another tactful rejection to this person that I so they're coming into it with... So it's good...Kate McKeanYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaBecause you know, people read it and it's not the slush pile and yay. And it's bad because people read it.Kate McKeanPeople, people really do think that it's who you know and publishing, and of course, that helps, like you just said.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Kate McKeanBut also, you don't want to send your books to your best friends. Like, Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, who my agent is—Michael Bourret at Dystel Goderich & Bourret. Jim is one of my best friends in the entire world, in my life. Like, I do not want Jim to be my agent, even though he's fantastic, because I prefer Jim as my friend. Michael and I have been friends for more than 20 years. Jim and I are much closer. And it's not like, oh, I could just throw away my friendship with Michael, but we just know each other in a way that would lend us to be able to work together really well. And I... KJ Dell'AntoniaMy agent is my friend...Kate McKeanYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaBecause she's my friend, but she was my agent first. But I have a friend, a really good friend, that I have dinner with regularly, that's an agent we ditch about, dish about, and we just have, you know, and I don't want her to be my agent, because then we couldn't talk so much smack about…Kate McKeanYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou know, among other things, and yeah. So yeah. I mean, I do like to to start. I like to remind people that it is actually not who you know in this it's faster to get people to read something if you have a way in, we cannot deny that. But people are actually out there looking for great things. You just have to write a great thing, which you know that's hard.Kate McKeanImpossible sometimes.KJ Dell'AntoniaOr impossible sometimes. All right, so how did you decide to do... write through it? Did it seem like kind of the obvious thing? Or did you feel like, oh, that's been done. Like, how, how did you come to this one?Kate McKeanI, I definitely started the newsletter with the idea in the back of my head that maybe this could turn into a book. Because I had, I had turned newsletters and Twitter feeds and Instagrams and all kinds of things like that into books for 20 years. So obviously that was in the back of my head. But I also knew that there are, as you said, tons of other books about writing and publishing out there, and who am I? And what different thing could I bring to the table? And so I started Agents and Books with just a clear goal of, like, writing posts that were like the nuts and bolts of publishing, so that people could have them in this one little place, you know? And it's not the only place in the world you can learn about publishing. But I was like, I want a little place where, you know, if you can click through and find out about option clauses and query letters and, you know, all the little commission rates and royalties and what's earning out and all these things that you could kind of go to one place and click around and see if you could find it, and that was the goal. And then I also ended up talking a lot about the feelings of writing, because they go hand in hand. You know, it's like you're going to write a bad query letter if you are terrified of writing a query letter, and you're going to put agents on these pedestal if you are terrified of agents that you know, like there were these magical beings that can, like, take our magic wands and bestow the power of publishing on you, like we can't... we're just people who like books like, so I wanted to demystify things. I wanted to like, share the nuts and bolts, but, and I wanted to let everybody know that everybody feels this way, like everybody is terrified, everybody hates it. You know, no one is alone and that that felt like the right tack to take in a book, because I guess I hadn't seen that before, or what hadn't, you know, come right out and said it, you know, like, here's how to write query letter, and here's how not to lose your mind while you do it.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Kate McKeanYou know, because the same, that's the same thing, and I thought about it for a long time, you know, to try the right pitch, honestly, for the book.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no, I can. I mean, one glorious thing that this has going for us at the moment, even besides that, is that it is very timely and immediate. Because I can give you some things about writing query letters that are probably somewhat out. I mean, they're good, but they date quickly. So it has that. But also, you are right. I've not seen that combination of both. Here's how and here's how not to be so terrified that you screw up, and here's how to feel when they start coming back. Or, you know, here's how you're going to feel, because you really don't need me to tell you how to feel. But here's some thoughts on like how to deal with that, and the fact that it has happened to everyone, and also the fact that it has happened to you. Um, I'm that's terrible. I wish you had every single success, but also, since you didn't, I am so grateful that you put that in here.Kate McKean:I mean, my—you know—my beloved book of my heart, literary adult novel, didn't sell. And okay, it did. It didn't. I don't... I can't... I can't magically make it a book. It might be flawed. I don't know. I haven't read it in, like, four years, and I'm fine with that. Um, but I'm going to—I'll just—I'm going to... I'm going to write another one, you know? Because what are the options? Like, I really—I had a moment when my adult novel didn't sell, and I was like, I might—what if I never publish a book? Like, this was my dream. Like, since I was eight years old, I wanted to be a published author. I wanted to see my book on a shelf with my name on it, and what if I don't? Like, what if that just will never happen to me? And it kind of—you know—punched me in the stomach, and... This is telling in so many ways, of the assumptions I was making and the privilege I had and all of these things. But you know that punch in the gut could have made me stop and just be like, "Well, I'm not willing to face that, so let me decide..." Or, if I really want it that bad, I got to go do it again. And just—I'm choosing to do it again. And I cannot control if I publish any more books, except by writing them.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Kate McKeanAnd then that's all I can do. And then I have to hand it over to the other forces in the world to see if anybody likes it. And then, you know—I mean, people got to buy this book, like... but not—I mean, it's not going to be great if nobody buys this book, which, you know... I—it... I can only control so much of that too. But I hope people do.KJ Dell'AntoniaAt least ten people need to be sitting down and clicking right now. It's Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, Kate McKean— is it Kian or Keen?Kate McKeanKeen.KJ Dell'AntoniaKeen. Kate McKean.Kate McKeanYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaM-C-K... you know, what if you just start with "writer"... I mean, honestly...Kate McKeanThere's only two Kate McKean's in the world on the internet. So I'm one of them.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd I feel like, if you just sort of go "agents," "books," "book," "K," you're going to come up with this. Because...Kate McKeanYep.KJ Dell'Antonia:Yeah. That's what's going to help. And the other thing that I really like about this book is the honesty about all the time that you spent not writing, and I mean, you've already said it, but, and it is true. My number one favorite, well, one of my favorite writing books, which nobody else, as far as I know, has ever read, is it's called something like “87 reasons your book won't sell” [78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might]. It's, you know, and it's in its 80… and 15 why it might and the number one reason, the first reason, chapter one, is because you haven't written it yet. You can't sell that. But, I mean, yeah, proposals, fine. That's but, and that's in here if you're writing nonfiction, it's in here to talk about how to do a proposal. But even that, if you haven't written your way to a good proposal, that's not going to sell either. So...Kate McKeanAnd the fear of being late or too late, or you hang missed the bus is so tied up into that, because I'm going to be 46 this weekend, and I my first ever book will be coming out after I have turned 46 and if you had told me at 26 I would have, like, lied down on the floor and cried. That I had 20 more years to wait to get published, because I thought it was going to happen. You're not, you know, all of the bravado and the ego is you have when you're in your 20s and who's, you know, patted on the head for their whole life and told they were a good writer by every English teacher, you know, bully for me. But like the I didn't write any books, you know, like, I didn't write any books to get published until I was in my 30s, and I couldn't have spent any more time doing that because I was trying to build my career as a literary agent. And that wasn't, that wasn't on purpose. I just had to pay the rent too. So, you know, it was I didn't. I dragged my feet for many, many years, as I write about in the book, and then I had a kid, and then you get... you have so little time that you have to choose so deliberately what you do that it can sometimes make you more productive. And so when I had all the time in the world in my 20s as a single person in New York City, living the life of putting everything on credit cards and being in massive debt and not making any money in publishing, but still having buckets of time. I didn't do any meaningful work, and I didn't write a book in my MFA program. I did write a book's worth of stories and essays, but not anything that could have been published as is, and nothing that I used as a springboard for a longer piece, and that's just what happened. That's fine too.KJ Dell'Antonia:Yeah.Kate McKeanBut I'm not late. This is, this is, I needed to be this person to write this book, and then we'll see what happens next.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. I mean, you know, you can't start any sooner than today if you're starting and but I did. I just I appreciated that this book kind of starts with, go ahead, read this book, but also finish your book. Write what you're writing, like, read it. Get ready, daydream, hope for the best, but also find a time, sit down, get some work done, which is, of course, what we say every week on the podcast, because if you don't do the work, yeah, there's nothing. There's nothing anyone can do for you. Well, I mean, I suppose you could become a famous person and then hire someone else, but that is presumably not anyone trajectory, yeah, that's, that's, that's different. That's, that's not the same thing, all right, so what? What was the hardest bit of writing this? This has got a chapter on pretty much anything anybody could imagine. How to read a book deal, how to query, how to you know, how the editors work, how books are sold, all those things. What was the toughest bit?Kate McKeanThe tough bit, honestly, was the what happens after the book sells. And because I realized that I had, I had a view of it for my seat as a literary agent, and every publisher does it a little bit differently and but I've only seen it through the eyes of the books I have sold. So I had to go and ask a lot of editors. I was like, Okay, this is what I think happens. Is this what happens like, when do you get first pass pages? And, you know, do I get? When does the index gain? You know, like, there were just questions I had. I had to make sure I had a consensus answer instead of the this is what happened to me answer, you know?KJ Dell'AntoniaRight.Kate McKeanOr this is my what I think answer. And so it just was, I had to make sure. I had to do more research about that than I anticipated, because I didn't want to make I wanted to make sure I wasn't wrong. You know? Hey, I had to make sure. But it wasn't a hard the writing process at all wasn't what I would call hard. I I'm a fastidious outliner, and I love an outline. Outline is my roadmap, like I know where I'm going in the morning I makes me happy. I'm happy to change it, if I have to, but I love it. I'm an outliner, not a pantser, and when I get going, I can go, but then there's just every other million things to do with a book, you know, like the nine times I've read, and then I recorded the audio last week, and which was so fun, but hard, very, very hard. But maybe it's a little bit like, you know, like you kind of forget the hard part after a while, but I don't have any, like, real pain points with the creation of this book. It was definitely hard. It is a lot of labor. It is a lot of time. There were many times where I was like, if I read this paragraph one more time, I will scream, but yeah, I'd do it again.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo it sounded as I as I read through it like, like, finding your structure was maybe a little more challenging than you expected it to be, because it seems like it would be pretty obvious, but then it sounds like there were things where you're like, well, maybe this goes here, or maybe it goes here. Did it surprise you how much you had to play with the structure in the editing?Kate McKeanYes, it because everything made sense when it came out of my brain.KJ Dell'AntoniaOf course.Kate McKeanYou know, like I could, it makes sense to me that this linked to that and then get... you have an editor. My editor, Stephanie Hitchcock, was wonderful. She was like, oh, yeah, this part does not make any sense. And I was like, Oh, totally. If you step out of it and look at it through somebody else's eyes, you're like, Yeah, I didn't explain anything about, you know, royalty statements or whatever, right?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, the rule is if somebody else says it doesn't make sense, you have to listen. You don't have to do what they say to do to fix it, but you do have to, you have to... Yeah, because you can't hold the reader by the hand. Say, oh, no, no, no. See what I meant...Kate McKeanYeah, yeah, yeah. And a lot of times the way I wrote the outline was kind of the way it came out of my head and it made sense, but, you know, I'm in a vacuum.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I'm torn between talking about the writing of Write Through It and talking about, of course, the contents, which are exactly what our listeners are going to be interested in. So tell me what in here to you, sort of answers the most questions that you get as somebody who gets a lot of emailed questions about this process, because you invite them by having, having an email or having, not by having an email address, which is not an invitation to send people questions. People questions, but by having the agents and plus and books email you, you've put yourself out there as a guide for people and there, I mean, I can name only a few agents in the business that do that, and a couple of publicists, and that makes you like, you know, it gives you a certain profile, and people ask questions. So what in here answers the most questions to you?Kate McKeanI think, I personally, I would say the stuff about a platform, about the marketing stuff and platform. Everybody's worried about their platform. Everybody thinks they have to have 1000 followers on Instagram. Everybody was so worried about this. They and it's, it's shifting all the time. I mean, I hope, I hope we don't get 16 new social media platforms in the next month so that this isn't completely out of date, like things are going to change. I mean, Twitter completely changed while I was writing this book, but I but there's a lot about social media in there, yes, but there are so many other things that are your platform that people don't realize and they think that you have to have these numbers before you're allowed to write a book. And that's not how it is. That's not the rule. There isn't this, like, okay, where you get so many on this platform and so many on that add them together, it equals a book deal. Like, no, but it... the reason you need a platform is because you are going to do this marketing for your book, and that is also okay, because you are going to do it better than the publisher. A lot of you know angst about publishers don't market anything anymore, and nothing ever happens. And like they actually do, could they do more? Yes. I wish every book had a billion dollar marketing budget and 17 people to work on it, but that is not the industry we have. So...KJ Dell'AntoniaThere's not really anywhere to do this stuff anymore.Kate McKeanYeah, yeah, there's nowhere to do it.KJ Dell'AntoniaI mean the world... the world has changed.Kate McKeanYeah, there's, yeah, there's no news coverage for books, hardly anymore, you know? And algorithms are horrible, all these things. So, so if you have a way for readers to talk to you directly and get news from you directly, that's your primary marketing outlet. And so that's why you need it, not because the number equals book deal or validation or proof. It's because that's how you sell books. And it's not the only way, and it's not even a great way, but it is a way that readers need, even, I mean nonfiction 100%, it's like one of the most important things when you're writing nonfiction, and it's getting to be more important for fiction. It's just also more it's useful when you're writing fiction, but it's just not as like, don't, don't even try until you've started a TikTok or whatever.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I just, I just finished a novel that I completely enjoyed, Welcome to Glorious Tuga by — I think her name is Francesca. It's either Sega or Segal [Francesca Segal]. And after I finished it, I thought to myself, you know, I wonder, because, because I'm a writer, readers don't do this, but Is this her first book? You know, does she? Is she somewhere where I can follow her? Because I'm kind of interested in how she did this, I'd like to, and I went to look her up. And fundamentally, this is a person with very little platform that I can see. They turned out to be British. So that is, I think, a little bit different. But there wasn't an email that I could sign up for. There wasn't... I was willing to do all those things. I was kind of jealous.Kate McKeanDefinitely, oh, definitely.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Kate McKeanMy wonderful assistant isn't on social media. And I'm like, Wow, what a life, that's amazing.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, so, I mean, so I there was very little point to that other than that, it's not, apparently required, and yet it's probably required of you. Sorry.Kate McKeanRight, you're not the except…, like, if you don't want to be on a specific platform, then don't do it, because you'll make bad posts.KJ Dell'AntoniaYes!Kate McKeanHate it.KJ Dell'AntoniaYes.Kate McKeanFair game, and also, if your market isn't on there, then don't go on there, or you don't prioritize that.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. But you can still find me on TikTok, and if you would like an example of how to not do something like that. That would be it. Yeah, there's about six things that are pitiful and sad, and I regret them, and I should go take them down, but that would involve looking at them again, and that would be really embarrassing for me. So I'm not going to do it.Kate McKeanI mean, I'm not on TikTok. I do Instagram reels. They're horrible. Reels are like bad Tiktok's from three weeks ago, but doesn't whatever. It's what I have chosen to do. But if, but to the writers out there, if you hate something like you can kind of maybe opt out a specific thing, but that doesn't make you the exception to every rule, right? Like, just because it's hard doesn't mean you get to bail out because everything's hard and you got to do hard things all the time. That's life. Sorry. So yeah. And also, I want to say too, if you are unsafe on a platform. Don't be there, no, but don't that's not a question. No publisher would be like; you should really be on Twitter. And you're like, I'm a trans person. I'm not going to go on Twitter. It is not safe for me. And they'd be like...they're like, yes, cool, cool, yeah, no problem.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah…definitely not. Yeah. So okay, that that doesn't surprise me. I thought you were going to say query letters, but...Kate McKeanI was going to say query letters, but every it's, it's so much, there's always so much query letters.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah and there's others, there's, there's more of an answer to that, like...Kate McKeanYeah, yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou know, there is a way to do that. There's an accessible, checklist-able, figure out, able, learnable process for that, I would argue that there is not that for social media and platform.Kate McKean100%.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat is a really is a it's constantly changing, and it's different for everyone which query letters really, they do change, but they are not different from everyone. Do not make your quality query letter different from everyone else's. That's a bad idea.Kate McKeanNo. It's so annoying. It's, it's, no one is going to be wowed by the inventiveness of your query letter, and it's like sending a singing telegram to apply for a job. You're like, No, don't. Don't do that. No one wants to hire you, if that's what you're going to do.KJ Dell'AntoniaWhat is… can you... can you give us an example of someone getting creative with a query letter, just for fun that is not going to out the person?Kate McKeanYou know, I would say that. Now, everyone is much more educated about query letters, and so the random stuff doesn't happen as often. The memorable things are people doing. And these are the general examples you'll get too. It's like writing the query letter in the voice of your character, which is like, okay, but I'm not signing your character up. I'm signing you up. I would like to talk to them please, you know? And then there's the inexplicably, inexplicably short ones that are like, here's my book. Thanks. You're like, I need context. Like, even when you go to the store to buy a book, you have context for what you're shopping for you know what section you're in. You know if it's a hardcover, paperback, whatever you have context. And if you do not give me context for a query letter, I don't know what you're talking about. And then the ones that really get me too are the ones that are like, you're probably going to hate this. I'm like, okay, cool. You just made the decision for me. Thank you. I have to make 400 decisions today, and now it's 399 Cool. Thank you.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, yeah. Okay, so get that one right. But social media, there is no recipe, but at least there is some advice in, in Write Through It. And yeah, I can't, I can't say enough about how much I suspect most of our listeners would really benefit from and love this book. If you have not, yourself, been in the industry for 20 years, and even if you have, you're going to get stuff out of this. What I got out of it, and what I desperately needed was somewhere, I think, towards the end, you talk about how, you know, 20% of the way into a draft, you're going to hate it, and then with 20,000 words to go, you're going to hate it. And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm there. I'm hating it. We joke around the podcast that we need to create, like, a, like a book growth chart, sort of like for babies, like, oh, you hate your book. You're right on target. Feed it some solid foods next.Kate McKeanYeah, exactly.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Kate McKeanAnd I get a lot of when you go to write another book, you you're like, wow, yeah. And that's what did I forget. Did I ha, but I did it before. You don't know, you don't know how to write this book. You wrote that book, and it's different every time. And that's like a learning curve that you don't get to until you write your first one, whether it's published or not. But like everybody feels this way, my clients, who are graphic novelists, feel this way. My novelist, my, you know, picture book writers, like every single writer I talked to has been like, oh, how do you do this again? Whoops, I forgot.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, yeah. I like you, and I'm a fan of the outline or the blueprint, or, you know, how, however you do it. And I have just hit a point where I need to go back and redo that and that's hard. I would really much rather just chug along the path that I have set for myself. But sometimes you can't do that.Kate McKeanThat's writing too. It's like, the word count doesn't go up, and that's the metric we all want to use about our productivity. But then you have to stop for a week and do your stupid outline or whatever, and you're like, but I didn't get any work done, but you did, because then the next two weeks you can just write a billion words. And yeah, you know, you built a fire, so...KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd yet, the process is hard and slow, and also hard and slow, and even when it's fast, it's still slow, and even when it feels easy, it'll be hard later. Yeah, and I liked that. That was that that's all in here, but not in a bad way, in a Hello, this is what you have signed up for.Kate McKeanYep.KJ Dell'AntoniaIn a “Welcome” kind of way.Kate McKeanYeah, it's you're in the club. Yeah? Everybody hating writing and not being able to stop.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, yeah.Kate McKeanIt's the thing we love to hate the most.KJ Dell'AntoniaI don't hate it when it's going well, I don't, I don't hate it, but, man, it'd be nice if it were easier and faster and more like, I don't know, walk in the park, okay. But it's not. All right, well, so the book is Write Through this, I'm sorry, Write Through It, and it's wonderful, and I've said that about 56 times. So anything else that people should know about why they should go right out, I would recommend getting it in paper, because I think you're going to want to scribble on it, and I also think you're going to want to go back to it a lot. But you know, y'all do you. It's available in all the formats; apparently it was read out loud, too.Kate McKeanOut loud by me.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah!Kate McKeanI think that it's useful to have as in print. And I did write it thinking that you'd go back and forth and be like, Okay, well, today I'm writing my query letter, I've got to go to chapter three or whatever. And the other thing, the other reason I wrote this book, is that if you are a writer, and the people in your life know it, or if you're an editor or freelancer whatever, and they want to ask you questions about publishing, you can just give them the book like I literally wrote it as like a favor to my friends who are writers and editors, whose uncle corners them at the family reunion and says, ‘So I want to write a kid's book.' And you're like, ‘Okay, I would like to go talk to my cousins, but here, I — here's the book for you.' You know? KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Kate McKeanIt is the service I am providing through this book. And so if you want to avoid having people email you to say, can I pick your brain. Be like, oh goodness, I'm just so busy. But you know what? You should have Kate's book, and just send them a link.KJ Dell'AntoniaI love this. I love this. For all of us, it is absolutely going to fill that need. So maybe you want to have three so you can go and hand one…Kate McKeanI mean, I think good plan, it's a great idea. Just buy a case, stick it in your house.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, maybe put it in the back of your car. You never know when you're going to need this.Kate McKeanNo, I think it's a it makes a great gift for all occasions, even if they're not writers.KJ Dell'AntoniaProbably they'd like to be... everybody. Like, there's some statistic about how many people want to write a book. So, yeah, you could just do it.Kate McKeanWhat the saying? That grads, dads, and there's another one...KJ Dell'AntoniaDads, grads, and...Kate McKeanSomething like...KJ Dell'AntoniaMom! Its Moms, Dads and Grads. I know that doesn't wrap run, but that's the Book Riot podcast that, um, that I will yeah and...Kate McKeanYeah, this is a big book buying season. Is like, Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduation. So you know what? I think everyone...KJ Dell'AntoniaFor your graduate and your mother and your father who want to write books, I love it, all right. Well, this was fantastic. You can obviously follow Kate on Instagram. We'll throw that in the show notes, but also have multiple links to her agent's, and books, email, slash Substack, depending on how you like to consume these things you should be getting it. Yeah, that's, that's, that's that. Now, the one thing we always like to end a podcast with is asking people what they've been reading and loving lately. So I hope that's not throwing you under the bus because you can't think of anything because you've been doing this, but I bet I am wrong. So it'd be lovely if it's something people can get either now or soon, because I can see you playing out...Kate McKeanI just, I pulled… I just re-read my clients, Madeleine Roux's [inaudible] hard novel called A Girl Walks into the Forest. It is out on the same day that mine go out.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh wow!Kate McKeanI know it's very exciting. And Maddie Roux has written like 25 books. We have been together a long time, and this book is amazing, and it is dark and it is full of feminist rage, and it is has, like, a Baba Yaga character in it.KJ Dell'AntoniaAwesome.Kate McKeanAnd it's just; it's kind of the book we need right now to, like, kind of burn stuff down. So I highly recommend pre ordering it. I loved reading it again all in one place, like I read your earlier draft, but now I can see it again, and, like, I just re- read it as I also wanted to, you know, keep up with my clients work, but I wanted to read it because it was good. Like, it's just good.KJ Dell'AntoniaGreat, amazing.Kate McKeanI'm like, hugging the book right now.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou are. Yeah, no one will see, yeah I know I've been waving your book around this entire time, and no one sees any of it, but it increases our the enthusiasm level in our voice, or something. So that's fantastic. Well, I mentioned Welcome to Glorious Tuga, which is a saga about it's like a bunch of people. I don't even know how to sell it, other than it's kind of like all creatures great and small set on a tiny island where people can only get off and on for half of the year with, you know, lots of animals and lots of fam…, of people interaction and but also one protagonist who sort of brings you through. And I gosh, if I can't come up with, and I love this book, and I have, I'm having trouble coming up with a great way to sell it, but I hope somebody, I hope somebody does it, because it's super fun. So there was that, but I mentioned that in my last podcast. So I also want to add Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach. That was her book before The Wedding People. It is vastly different. It is a single POV, first person narrative of a girl who loses her sister in a car accident at I think, the age of 13, and her ongoing and continual relationship with her sister's boyfriend who was driving at the time, which sounds really awful. But it's not sad. It's weirdly honest. It's a fantastic exploration of not just grief, but like people, and how we think and how we aren't who we think we are should be. But it is not The Wedding People. It's really different, which I found super interesting. So since y'all are writers listening to this, you might find it interesting, too. All right.Kate McKeanExcellent. That sounds great.KJ Dell'AntoniaThank you so much for talking to me and everyone out there who is listening, buy Write through it. And also keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.Jess LaheyThe Hashtag AmWriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perilla. 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

Let's Talk - MoviesEpisode 88: Karate Kid Legends (2025) - Just WatchedJason Connell and Sal Rodriguez discuss the newest movie in The Karate Kid series, Karate Kid Legends, after seeing it together on opening day, May 30th, 2025.Karate Kid Legends (2025)Synopsis: After kung fu prodigy Li Fong relocates to New York City, he attracts unwanted attention from a local karate champion and embarks on a journey to enter the ultimate karate competition with the help of Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso.Director: Jonathan EntwistleWriter: Rob Lieber, Robert Mark KamenCinematographer: Justin BrownComposer: Dominic LewisCast: Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, Ralph Macchio, Joshua Jackson, Ming-Na Wen, Sadie Stanley, Wyatt Oleff, Aramis Knight, Johnny LawrenceRecorded: 06-03-25Studio: Just Curious MediaListen:BuzzsproutApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAmazon MusiciHeartRadioTuneInWatch:YouTubeFollow:FacebookInstagramHost:Jason ConnellGuest:Sal RodriguezAffiliates:BuzzsproutRiversideWe Edit Podcasts#justcuriousmedia #letstalkmovies #mrjasonconnell #salvadorlosangeles #cinema #classicmovies #movies #moviereviews #film #filmreviews #studios #producers #directors #writers #actors #moviestars #boxoffice #karatekidlegendsSend us a textSupport the show

John Wilson onSir Godfrey “Geoff” Palmer, the scientist whose discovery of a new brewing method revolutionized the industry and saved them millions of poundsBarbara Holdridge, the entrepreneur who co-founded a new record label that paved the way for the audiobook industry Kim Woodburn, the reality TV Star who made gained popular recognition through the TV show How Clean Is Your House?Sly Stone the American genre-bending musician who fronted the band Sly and the Family Stone. Interviewee: Catherine Bisset Catrina Rose Matthew Rubery Arlene HirschkowitzProducer: Ribika MoktanDetails of help and support with pregnancy related issues are available at BBC Action Line. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1KhLYgXHRxyw67mkGRRXQ3R/information-and-support-pregnancy-related-issuesArchive used: Scientific, BBC Radio 4, 04/08/2015; Sunday Morning with Cathy Macdonald; Writers and Company, CBC, 24/11/2002; Child's Christmas in Wales, read by Dylan Thomas, Caedmon Audio, 02/1952 https://soundcloud.com/harperaudiopresents/childschristmasinwales ; The Connor Phillips Show, BBC Radio Ulster, 26/04/2024; How Clean is Your House?, S1 E1, Channel Four Television Corporation, dir Simon Bisset, series producer Steph Harris, A Talkbalk production, 2003; I'm a Celebrity Get me out of here 2009, YouTube Upload, 12/02/2015; An excerpt from Sly on the air at KSOL, courtesy of Arlene Hirschkowitz

Cedric enters the Jot ‘Em Down store, and talks to Abner about the dictionary that Lum has started working on. He also has a letter for Lum from the Oxford…

HOLLYWOOD - Rosemead, California artist Haileigh Eriquez is a winner in the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest and was honored along with ten other artists and twelve writers at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California on April 10th. Her art is published along with the other writers' and illustrators' stories and art in the international bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41 which will be officially released on April 22nd 2025. Haileigh Enriquez was born in 1996 and is a Los Angeles–born artist with a mix of Mexican/Yaqui Native American and Salvadorian roots. Growing up in Rosemead, California, a predominantly Asian/Hispanic community, deeply shaped her identity. She immersed herself in drawing and comic books from an early age and fostered a fascination for character design and storytelling. What started as an escape, turned into a passion. Originally on a path toward a career in the medical field, a personal loss led Haileigh to reevaluate her future and embrace her true passion: art. With the encouragement of her family and mentors, she shifted her focus and enrolled at Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD), where she refined her technique and explored her own personal style. Her work blends fantastical realism, bold colors, and dynamic lines, drawing heavily from her love for comic book art and Mesoamerican mythology. Driven by a desire to create characters that celebrate cultural diversity, Haileigh's work is a joyful exploration of identity, imagination, and resilience. As a traditional artist turned digital creator, she combines realism with imaginative storytelling, crafting unique characters that reflect her identity and the worlds she dreams of. HOLLYWOOD - Mullica Hill, New Jersey author Sandra Skalski is a winner in the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest and was honored along with eleven other writers and eleven artists at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California on April 10th. Her story, "Slip Stone," is published along with the other writers' and illustrators' stories and art in the international bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41 which was officially released on April 22nd 2025. Sandra Skalski's love of fantasy ignited when her kindergarten teacher read Ozma of Oz to the class. Growing up, she spent most of her allowance in the Bookmobile. During the summer, she walked nearly two miles to the nearest library to devour every fantasy and science fiction book she could find. She wrote her first SF story when she was thirteen. It wasn't very good, but she was determined to keep writing. Attending Viable Paradise workshop helped improve her craft. The first time she got the courage to hit submit, it was to the Writers of the Future Contest. Her stories have appeared in Factor Four Magazine, Wyld Flash, Ruth and Ann's Guide to Time Travel Anthology Vol. 2 and 100-Foot Crow. Sandra lives with her husband in suburban New Jersey. She recently retired from a career in chemical engineering, leaving her with actual time to write. When she's not writing, you can find her in the butterfly garden or traveling with her husband. Her greatest joy is spending time with her daughter, son-in-law, and her two beautiful grandchildren. The Contest, one of the most prestigious writing and illustrating competitions in the world, is currently in its 42nd year and is judged by some of the premier names in speculative fiction.

Fresh off the massive critical and commercial success of FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES, friend of the show Sheila Hanahan Taylor is back to share the ins and outs of producing a studio movie. What can writers do to develop a good relationship with a producer? How does a producer serve both the studio's voice and the writer's voice? On today's episode, Sheila unpacks it all! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marty Ross-Dolen joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation discovering the story while writing, inviting the speculative and magical elements into a narrative, rediscovering lost relatives, advocating for our vision and for our books, scaffolding fragmented forms, being raised by a mother in protracted mourning, incorporating letters, photographs, and erasure poetry, when people tell you what your book is supposed to be, living with an inherited sense of grief, unspoken family pacts, when structure is a surprise, and her new memoir Always There, Always Gone: A Daughter's Search for Truth.   Also in this episode:  --being raised in silence around a tragedy -telling 3 stories at once -memoir as erasure   Books mentioned in this episode: -Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas -Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn -Ghostbread by Sonja Livingston -Disconto for My Father by Harrison Kandelaria Fletcher -Fearless Confessions by Sue William SIlverman   Marty Ross-Dolen is a graduate of Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Prior to her time at VCFA, she participated in graduate-level workshops at The Ohio State University. Her essays have appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Redivider, Lilith, Willow Review, and the Brevity Blog, among others. Her essay entitled “Diphtheria” was named a notable essay in The Best American Essays series. She teaches writing and lives in Columbus, Ohio. Connect with Marty: Website: www.martyrossdolen.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martyrossdolen Get the book: https://a.co/d/5HtWU4s https://www.thurberhouse.org/adult-writers-studio – 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

Writers often get stuck at the transition between Act Two and Act Three—especially when the “all hope is lost” moment doesn't quite fit their story. Is this moment supposed to be the character's lowest emotional point? Is redemption supposed to kick in right away? What if your character is still flailing?In this episode, Zena challenges the conventional “lowest point” terminology and offers a more nuanced, flexible way to think about this crucial plot transition—and how understanding this shift can raise the stakes and deepen your protagonist's arc.Want access to office hours like this one?This episode comes straight from Zena's monthly Office Hours, an exclusive perk for anyone who's ever taken one of her courses. These private Q&A sessions are your chance to get unstuck, get clarity, and get expert feedback—directly from Zena herself.Get in on it: Take any of Zena's courses to unlock lifetime access to Office Hours. If you're ready to deepen your craft and get personal feedback from Zena herself, check out her online courses.Seven Deadly Plot Points FREE TRAINING VIDEO#amwriting #authorproblems #shortstory #screenplayformat #writingtips #writersconnection #christianscreenwriter #StoryStructure #WritingTips #PlotDevelopment #ActTwoToThree #ScreenwritingLife Send us a textSupport the show

Send us a textHannah and Laura are wrapping up Indie Intermission with an interview with the author of They Came in the Night, RAVI NOVAIS!! Ravi shares about their writing process, the deeper lore of the world they created, and what's coming next in the series.**This episode contains SPOILERS for They Came in the Night by Ravi Novais.***CW for the episode: discussions of sex, violence, murder, gore, death, abuse, mental illness, vampires, blood, ableism, racism, sexism, religious trauma, homophobia, class issues*Be sure to follow Ravi online at:ravinovaiswritesBluesky: @ravinovaiswrites.bsky.socialMedia Mentions:They Came in the Night by Ravi NovaisCity of Bones by Cassandra ClareVampire Academy by Richelle MeadUnderworld---StarzVan Helsing---AppleTVHush Hush by Becca FitzpatrickAzalea Crowley's worksFrom---MGMInterview with the Vampire---AMCSupport the showBe sure to follow OWWR Pod!www.owwrpod.com Twitter (updates only): @OwwrPodBlueSky: @OwwrPodTikTok: @OwwrPodInstagram: @owwrpodThreads: @OwwrPodHive: @owwrpodSend us an email at: owwrpod@gmail.comCheck out OWWR Patreon: patreon.com/owwrpodOr join OWWR Discord! We'd love to chat with you!You can follow Hannah at:Instagram: @brews.and.booksThreads: @brews.and.booksTikTok: @brews.and.booksYou can follow Laura at:Instagram: @goodbooksgreatgoatsBlueSky: @myyypod

The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup title last night, and it's all sunshine in Sunrise. This team was dominant and is shaping up to be a modern dynasty. Harrison Smajovits joins Mike Fink to discuss why the Panthers are a juggernaut that can't be stopped, if they are a dynasty yet, and what type of team can eventually beat them.Follow The Hockey Writers:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ - https://twitter.com/TheHockeyWriter⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/thehockeywriters_⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.facebook.com/TheHockeyWriters/Substack - https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/Graphics by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Vince Richard⁠ - https://www.behance.net/vincergraphics

"I don't need cars, or planes, or computers. I don't need anything you have. All I need... is BATMAN." - Absolute Batman #5Chris and Erik team up once again to talk all things BATMAN for this 50th Episode Special! Absolute Batman / Absolute DCThe Batman / The Penguin / Sequel News?Hush 2Best Bat-VillainsBest Bat-ComicsBest Bat-WritersBest Batman Animated MoviesAnd so much more! (Episode edited by Chris Carroll)Check out our blog at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more! Follow us on Social Media:Instagram: @ComicZombiePodcastBlueSky: @ComicZombieNetwork InfoThis podcast is a production of the We Can Make This Work (Probably) Network. Follow us below to keep up with this show and discover our many other podcasts – including: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Epik Fails of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠2 Young 4 This Trek⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podcasters Assemble⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: @probablywork⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.probablywork.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ProbablyWorkPod@gmail.com

This week Danielle and Kristine learn how to survive being afflicted with Trench Mouth and Siobhan Murphy joins us to share her adventures spending a summer in the south of France. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alyson Shelton and Lynn Shattuck join Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing about sibling loss, creating an essay anthology as means to advocate for grief, taking care of ourselves while crafting work about loss, helping people tell their stories, laughter and making space for the rest of our lives, coping with rejection, creating a mosaic with essays, feeling empowered, self-acceptance building community, independently publishing as an act of defiance, and their new anthology The Loss of a Lifetime: Advice from Grieving Siblings.   Also in this episode:  -owning out stories -rejecting shame -how no can send us in new directions   Books mentioned in this episode: -Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Viktor Hansen and Amy Newmark -Encyclopedia of an Ordinary LIfe by Amy Krause Rosenthal -The Heart and Other Monsters by Rose Anderon Always a Sibling by Annie Sklaver Orenstein ALYSON SHELTON is an award winning screenwriter and essayist. Her writing is widely published at outlets including The New York Times, Ms. and The Rumpus. She's anthologized in Comics Lit Vol. 1 (Accomplishing Innovation Press), No Contact: 28 Writers on Family Estrangement (Catapult 2026), Root Cause: Stories of Health, Harm and Reclaiming Our Humanity (Editor: Jeannine Ouellette) and The Loss of a Lifetime: Advice from Grieving Siblings (Contributor and Co-Editor). She's best known for her Instagram Live series inspired by George Ella Lyon's poem, Where I'm From where she's hosted close to 200 writers. The poem also provides the spine for her memoir in progress.@byalysonshelton on Instagram, Threads, Youtube. www.alysonshelton.com   Lynn has been publishing essays on the topic of sibling loss for more than a decade. She was a paid columnist at Elephant Journal for ten years; several of her essays on the topic of grief and sibling loss have gone viral. Lynn co-founded the website lossofalifetime.com, a hub of resources for those who've experienced sibling loss. She also co-edited the essay collection, The Loss of a Lifetime: Grieving Siblings Share Stories of Love, Loss and Hope; the book is expected to be available in June, 2025 https://www.instagram.com/lynn_shattuck/   Connect with Alyson: Alyson Shelton on The Body Myth podcast: https://ronitplank.com/2022/03/22/the-body-myth-from-childhood-gymnastics-to-puberty-to-motherhood-a-body-judgment-story-ft-alyson-shelton/ Website: www.alysonshelton.com   Connect with Lynn: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynn_shattuck/   Get the book: https://www.lossofalifetime.com/book www.lossofalifetime.com – 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

Send us a textHannah and Laura must pass trials in an abandoned city in order to become wise ones. They discover that their friends Connor and Sara are facing dangerous trials, too! That's right! Today's episode is covering the third season of Prime Video's The Wheel of Time, with our guests, Sara (of Fiction Fans fame) and author, C.M. Caplan!! We discuss moments that made us cry, casting of characters, and how we felt about the adaptation overall.**This episode contains SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time series on Prime Video.**Be sure to follow our guests at:Sara: Fiction Fans podcast and TarValon Talks podcastC.M. Caplan: @cmcaplanwrites @thecmcaplanMedia Mentions:The Wheel of Time---Prime VideoThe Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon SandersonThe Rings of Power---Prime VideoThe Fall Is All There Is by C.M. CaplanThe Diplomacy of the Knife by C.M. CaplanFiction Fans podcastSupport the showBe sure to follow OWWR Pod!www.owwrpod.com Twitter (updates only): @OwwrPodBlueSky: @OwwrPodTikTok: @OwwrPodInstagram: @owwrpodThreads: @OwwrPodHive: @owwrpodSend us an email at: owwrpod@gmail.comCheck out OWWR Patreon: patreon.com/owwrpodOr join OWWR Discord! We'd love to chat with you!You can follow Hannah at:Instagram: @brews.and.booksThreads: @brews.and.booksTikTok: @brews.and.booksYou can follow Laura at:Instagram: @goodbooksgreatgoatsBlueSky: @myyypod

On this Solstice Radio Special, seven Sundial Writers present their thoughts on the space, the time, the emotion "Between Light and Dark".

Wally Lamb is the author of six New York Times bestselling novels: I'll Take You There, We Are Water, Wishin' and Hopin', The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She's Come Undone. He also edited Couldn't Keep It to Myself and I'll Fly Away, two volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women's prison in Connecticut, where he was a volunteer facilitator for twenty years. He's been on the show three times in the past. Those interviews can be found in our archives. The River is Waiting is his first novel in nine years. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about it. It's the first time Wally has put York Correctional Institution into his fiction. And he puts other parts of himself into this novel, as well. He talks about rendering real life experiences into fiction, how to weave politics and current events into your prose, making unsympathetic characters sympathetic to your reader, what writing in the present tense does to your prose, what Wally may have learned about writing and life from the inmates he's worked with, a little about the writing group he's been part of for 20 years, and much more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. 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 April 28, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

They always say ‘write what you know’, right? Well, authors Gareth and Louise Ward (two British ex-cops who moved to New Zealand and opened a bookshop) fully leaned into it with The Bookshop Detectives series – all about, you guessed it, British ex-cops who move to New Zealand and open a bookshop! The murders are fiction though – and they join the podcast to share their experience writing book 2 in the series. 00:00 Welcome02:56 Writing tip: yWriter app04:47 WIN!: Whisky Valley by Joan Sauers06:04 Word of the week: ‘Moiety’07:26 The world of words: 'Jail' vs ‘Gaol’09:28 Writers in residence: Gareth and Louise Ward10:35 Gareth’s other writing and magician life12:36 Buying a bookshop together15:17 Leaning into ‘write what you know’18:18 The collaboration process21:38 Incorporating local culture and the setting24:12 Real-life inspiration for the book 2 climax25:37 Advice for aspiring cosy crime writers28:24 Tips on co-writing a book30:10 The value of constructive feedback31:27 Future projects and adventures35:15 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.

New contributor Jim Parker has written a poem that pretty much describes himself perfectly. It's called A Man Like Me.

The Stanley Cup Final is a fun one with three overtime games so far and plenty of action. The Florida Panthers are one win away from winning the Cup? How did they get there? Can the Edmonton Oilers adjust? What is it about Brad Marchand that makes him so tough to stop? Harrison Smajovits and Matthew Zator join Mike Fink to dive into it all as we look ahead to Game 6.Follow The Hockey Writers:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ - https://twitter.com/TheHockeyWriter⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/thehockeywriters_⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.facebook.com/TheHockeyWriters/Substack - https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/Graphics by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Vince Richard⁠ - https://www.behance.net/vincergraphics

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 Antonia Crane, author of Spent. Follow Antonia on Instagram @antoniacrane.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:Start 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-seminarThe Multi-Passionate Writer's Life: https://writingworkshops.com/products/the-multi-passionate-writers-life-zoom-seminar-with-courtney-kocakHow 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-seminarCreating Your Podcast: https://www.roadmapwriters.com/products/creating-your-podcast-0Podcasting for Writers: How to Start, Sustain & Grow Your Podcast: https://writingworkshops.com/products/podcasting-for-writers-how-to-start-sustain-grow-your-podcast-4-week-zoom-workshop

WVFP PODCAST NYC discusses the ALt LIT DRAMA of deleted tweets and accusations of misogyny at Back Patio Press with writer Emiliy Sipiora, editor at Elizabeth Ellen's Hobart Magazine Danielle Chelosky and comments from writer Nathaniel Duggan's twitter page

In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms and digital interfaces, the way we read—and what we read—is undergoing a profound transformation. From scrolling news on smart devices to listening to AI-narrated audiobooks, global reading habits are shifting rapidly. As artificial intelligence permeates both the creation and consumption of literature, it's vital to ask: how is AI affecting our engagement with fiction and non-fiction? And what does this mean for authors, readers, and the future of storytelling?

Send us a textI wanted to start the show today with a disclaimer. I do not and never have condoned criminal behavior. I was a cop for 25 years, and my heart is with the men and women who enforce the law and bring criminals to justice. That being said, I wanted to bring you, the listener/viewer, a different perspective. One from an unapologetic outlaw living out the last chapters of his life (who knows, maybe he will live to a 100). I think it's good to see both sides of the coin. I may not agree with everything he says or stands for, but we can sit down and have a civilized conversation, something that is desperately missing in today's society, I think.  So, my guest on today's show George Christie, has spent some time in prison and was the president of the Ventura Chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club from 1978 to 2011. In 2011 he walked away from the Hells Angels and resigned his membership. A short time later, the club turned their backs on him and considered him in ‘bad standing,' which is a kick in the gut for someone who dedicated his life to the outlaw club. It's kind of like it never happened. George's life is like something out of a movie. He has gone to war with rival bike gangs like the Outlaws and Mongols and has had at least two contracts out to kill him. He was in the hot seat on the news show 60 Minutes, where he was grilled by Mike Wallace.  He spent a year in solitary confinement and also carried the Olympic torch for the 1984 games in Los Angeles and had a blowup with the Kennedys. One thing is for sure: George is not boring! Please enjoy part one of my interview with George Christie.In today's episode we discuss:·      Lessons learned from coming from an immigrant family.·      Joining the Marines and later working for the Department of Defense. ·      Deciding to devote his life to the Hells Angels. ·      The process and initiation for becoming a Hells Angel.·      How George was elected club president in a short amount of time. ·      Being the spokesman for the Hells Angels.·      There is nothing more important to a member of the Hells Angels than the club. Everything else takes a back seat. How did he function like that? There is work, spirituality, marriage, kids, and friends. They all play second fiddle if you're an Angel.·      Carrying the Olympic torch. Feuding with the Kennedys/Shriver's and winning! All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Ride over to George's website to learn more about him and his books!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.What would you do if you lost the one you loved the most? How far would you go to quench your thirst for vengeance?https://a.co/d/2UsJPbaSupport the show

How can you make your life and work more meaningful? Bestselling author Tim Duggan on ideating and writing bestselling non fiction books, creating killer opening lines and plotting. We also talk about how to unclog our creativity, find meaning in our work and life through a simple hack. We discuss:Tim's outlining and editing process for non-fictionFinding the “anchor points” that define your personal valuesHow to identify and shape a powerful book questionThe case for working less, but more meaningfullyBuilding your Substack and ecosystem of trust with readersLessons from the happiest country on Earth*About Tim DugganTim Duggan is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and former media executive with a passion for meaningful work and big ideas. He co-founded Junkee Media, one of Australia's leading independent publishers, and served as Chair of the Digital Publishers Alliance. His books Cult Status and Killer Thinking became celebrated guides for purpose-driven businesses and creatives, and his latest, Work Backwards, explores how we can redesign work and life around what truly matters. Tim also writes on his Substack OUTLET, lives in Mallorca with his husband, and speaks globally about creativity, optimism, and the future of work.Resources and Links:

Sean Williams was a Writers of the Future winner in 1992 and published in Volume 8. He became a judge in 2003. He is a NYT bestselling author of 60 books and over 120 short stories for adults, young adults, and children. Sean wrote the cover story based on Craig Elliot's cover art for “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Volume 41” titled “Under False Colours.” In this episode, we discuss his journey as a writer, which is an inspiration in and of itself to the amateur, and the importance of short stories in establishing oneself as an author. Sean is one of the nicest people you will ever know, and this episode will provide some insight into why. Learn more about Sean at https://seanwilliams.com/

Let's Talk - MoviesEpisode 87: The Karate Kid (2010) - Just RewatchedJason Connell and Sal Rodriguez revisit The Karate Kid remake.The Karate Kid (2010)Synopsis: Work causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the 12-year-old boy embraces Kung Fu, taught to him by a master.Director: Harald ZwartWriter: Christopher Murphey, Robert Mark KamenCinematographer: Roger PrattComposer: James HornerCast: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Rongguang YuRecorded: 06-03-25Studio: Just Curious MediaListen:BuzzsproutApple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsAmazon MusiciHeartRadioTuneInWatch:YouTubeFollow:FacebookInstagramHost:Jason ConnellGuest:Sal RodriguezAffiliates:BuzzsproutRiversideWe Edit Podcasts#justcuriousmedia #letstalkmovies #mrjasonconnell #salvadorlosangeles #cinema #classicmovies #movies #moviereviews #film #filmreviews #studios #producers #directors #writers #actors #moviestars #boxoffice #thekaratekidSend us a textSupport the show

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with one of Canada's most beloved novelists, Catherine Bush, about her debut collection of short fiction, Skin (Goose Lane Editions, 2025).  In Skin, Catherine Bush plunges into the vortex of all that shapes us. Summoning relationships between the human and more-than-human, she explores a world where touch and intimacy are both desirable and fraught. Ranging from the realistic to the speculative, Bush's stories tackle the condition of our restless, unruly world amidst the tumult of viruses, climate change, and ecological crises. Here, she brings to life unusual and perplexing intimacies: a man falls in love with the wind; a substitute teacher's behaviour with a student brings unforeseen risks; a woman becomes fixated on offering foot washes to strangers. Bold, vital, and unmistakably of the moment, Skin gives a charged and animating voice to the question of how we face the world and how, in the process, we discover tenderness and allow ourselves to be transformed. Catherine Bush is the author of five novels. Her work has been critically acclaimed, published internationally, and shortlisted for numerous awards. Her most recent novel, Blaze Island, was a Globe and Mail and Writers' Trust of Canada Best Book of the Year, and the Hamilton Reads 2021 Selection. Her other novels include the Canada Reads longlisted Accusation; the Trillium Award shortlisted Claire's Head; the national bestselling The Rules of Engagement, which was also named a New York Times Notable Book and a L.A. Times Best Book of the Year; and Minus Time, shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award. The recipient of numerous fellowships, Bush has been Writer-in-Residence/Landhaus Fellow at the Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society in Munich and a Fiction Meets Science Fellow at the HWK in Delmenhorst, Germany. An Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Guelph, she lives in Toronto and in an old schoolhouse in Eastern Ontario. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West.Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ - Boston's News Radio on the free #iHeartRadio app!

More books every gardener should have!Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ - Boston's News Radio on the free #iHeartRadio app!

Books every gardener should have!Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ - Boston's News Radio on the free #iHeartRadio app!

A Novel.Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ - Boston's News Radio on the free #iHeartRadio app!

On today's Bible Answer Man broadcast (06/13/25), Hank answers the following questions:My son says the letter “J” was invented later, and Jesus is not the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew. Is Yeshua the proper name of Jesus? Robert - Arlington, TX (0:47)Are tornadoes, earthquakes, and natural disasters accelerating enough that we can consider them a sign of the end-times? Fred - Fort Wayne, IN (4:03)How do I address atheists who claim that there is absolute scientific evidence for numerous transitional forms in the fossil record? Walter - Topeka, KS (7:54)Did the Gospel writers have extensive knowledge of the Old Testament, or were they totally inspired by God? Jim - Shreveport, LA (15:11)Did the disciples who were fishermen or ordinary men study the Old Testament after they started their mission? Jim - Shreveport, LA (18:12)My father passed away. He was a believer. Where did he go? Is he “absent from the body…present with the Lord”? Dan - Gig Harbor, WA (20:27)Is it biblical to be slain in the Spirit, speak in tongues, and receive prophecies? David - San Antonio, TX (21:59)

On today's program, Christian music artist Michael Tait admits to living a “double life” after accusations surfaced that he had sexually groomed and assaulted multiple young men over the course of a decade. We'll take a look. And, Southern Baptist abuse survivor died last week after a brief illness, sending shock waves through the community of abuse reform advocates. Before her death, she took part in a deposition, publicly revealing details of her abuse by an SBC leader. We'll have details. Plus, pro-Israel evangelical Johnnie Moore is named chair of a Gaza aid group. But first, the trustees of Truett McConnell University have called for an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against a former professor—and placed its president on leave under suspicions that he had helped cover it up. Truett McConnell University President Emir Caner has been placed on administrative leave following a special called meeting of TMU trustees Friday (June 6). The school, affiliated with Georgia Baptists, has been embroiled in controversy following allegations of sexual abuse against a former professor. 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 Laura Erlanson, Kathryn Post, Tony Mator, Kim Roberts, Bob Smietana, Yonat Shimron, Shannon Cuthrell, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. A special thanks to Baptist Press for contributing material for this week's podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT:    FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I'm Warren Smith, coming to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I'm Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we'd like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today's program, Christian music artist Michael Tait admits to living a “double life” after accusations surfaced that he had sexually groomed and assaulted multiple young men over the course of a decade. We'll take a look. And, Southern Baptist abuse survivor died last week after a brief illness, sending shock waves through the community of abuse reform advocates. Before her death, she took part in a deposition, publicly revealing details of her abuse by an SBC leader. We'll have details. Plus, pro-Israel evangelical Johnnie Moore is named chair of a Gaza aid group. Natasha: But first, the trustees of Truett McConnell University have called for an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against a former professor—and placed its president on leave under suspicions that he had helped cover it up. Warren: Truett McConnell University President Emir Caner has been placed on administrative leave following a special called meeting of TMU trustees Friday (June 6). The school, affiliated with Georgia Baptists, has been embroiled in controversy following allegations of sexual abuse against a former professor. Natasha: The school also launched a third-party investigation. Warren: The school hired Richard Hyde with Phoenix Research, and it has installed John Yarbrough, TMU's director of alumni and public policy, as acting president. Natasha: TMU alumna Hayle Swinson went forward last week with allegations that former TMU professor Bradley Reynolds groomed her and sexually abused her while she was a student athlete. Warren: Reynolds was employed at the school until February 2024 after Swinson went to police. Reynolds allegedly sent hundreds of emails and text messages to Swinson over a long period of time, some of them sexually explicit. It is unclear whether school administrators knew about Reynolds' behavior before 2024. Natasha: Next, breaking news from the Christian Music world. Warren: Days after an investigation revealed allegations of sexual assault against Christian musician Michael Tait,

In 1710, the British Parliament passed a piece of legislation entitled An Act for the Encouragement of Learning. It became known as the Statute of Anne, and it was the world's first copyright law. Copyright protects and regulates a piece of work - whether that's a book, a painting, a piece of music or a software programme. It emerged as a way of balancing the interests of authors, artists, publishers, and the public in the context of evolving technologies and the rise of mechanical reproduction. Writers and artists such as Alexander Pope, William Hogarth and Charles Dickens became involved in heated debates about ownership and originality that continue to this day - especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence. With:Lionel Bently, Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the University of CambridgeWill Slauter, Professor of History at Sorbonne University, ParisKatie McGettigan, Senior Lecturer in American Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. Producer: Eliane GlaserReading list:Isabella Alexander, Copyright Law and the Public Interest in the Nineteenth Century (Hart Publishing, 2010)Isabella Alexander and H. Tomás Gómez-Arostegui (eds), Research Handbook on the History of Copyright Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016)David Bellos and Alexandre Montagu, Who Owns this Sentence? A History of Copyrights and Wrongs (Mountain Leopard Press, 2024)Oren Bracha, Owning Ideas: The Intellectual Origins of American Intellectual Property, 1790-1909 (Cambridge University Press, 2016)Elena Cooper, Art and Modern Copyright: The Contested Image (Cambridge University Press, 2018)Ronan Deazley, On the Origin of the Right to Copy: Charting the Movement of Copyright Law in Eighteenth Century Britain, 1695–1775 (Hart Publishing, 2004)Ronan Deazley, Rethinking Copyright: History, Theory, Language (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)Ronan Deazley, Martin Kretschmer and Lionel Bently (eds.), Privilege and Property: Essays on the History of Copyright (Open Book Publishers, 2010)Marie-Stéphanie Delamaire and Will Slauter (eds.), Circulation and Control: Artistic Culture and Intellectual Property in the Nineteenth Century (Open Book Publishers, 2021) Melissa Homestead, American Women Authors and Literary Property, 1822-1869 (Cambridge University Press, 2005)Adrian Johns, Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates (University of Chicago Press, 2009)Meredith L. McGill, American Literature and the Culture of Reprinting, 1834-1853 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002)Mark Rose, Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright (Harvard University Press, 1993)Mark Rose, Authors in Court: Scenes from the Theater of Copyright (Harvard University Press, 2018)Catherine Seville, Internationalisation of Copyright: Books, Buccaneers and the Black Flag in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2006)Brad Sherman and Lionel Bently, The Making of Modern Intellectual Property Law (Cambridge University Press, 1999)Will Slauter, Who Owns the News? A History of Copyright (Stanford University Press, 2019)Robert Spoo, Without Copyrights: Piracy, Publishing and the Public Domain (Oxford University Press, 2013)In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production

"If everyone can take out the fancy words from their language, we would all do better—law students and seasoned professionals alike." That observation comes from Christina Crozier, clinical assistant professor at the University of Houston Law Center and of counsel at Haynes Boone. In this conversation with hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders, Christina reveals four simple hacks that can improve legal writing, from the “lunch test” for word choice to guidance on sentence and paragraph length. Tune in for her insights about AI's impact on research and writing, the importance of verification in an era of hallucination, and her work rebooting the Appellate Advocate publication.Connect and Learn More☑️ Christina Crozier | LinkedIn☑️ University of Houston Law Center☑️ Haynes Boone☑️ Todd Smith | LinkedIn | X | Bluesky☑️ Jody Sanders | LinkedIn | X | Bluesky☑️ Texas Appellate Law Podcast on LinkedIn | X | Instagram | Bluesky☑️ Texas Appellate Counsel PLLC ☑️ Kelly Hart & Hallman, LLP | LinkedIn☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon...

This week, the DIA podcast heads to Grand Rapids, MN, for an onX Fish writer experience and photo event. Tony sits down with Joel Nelson, marketing manager at onX Fish, and Tony Jenniges, senior brand manager and content marketing for Outdoor Sportsmen Group. The three discuss their trip to Grand Rapids. How the onX Fish app is helping them be better informed when hitting the water. They also share their approach to exploring and breakdown new waters with the app, and how anglers can do the same.   Presented by: Strike Master (rapala.com/us_en/strikemaster), On-X Fish (onxmaps.com/fish), Arnesen's Rocky Point Resort (arnesens.com/), & Visit Cook County (VisitCookCounty.com) 

Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis by Poets & Writers

The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei by Poets & Writers

Big Chief by Jon Hickey by Poets & Writers

Make Your Way Home by Carrie R. Moore by Poets & Writers

Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation by Sarah Yahm by Poets & Writers

According to Deborah Baker, author of Charlottesville: An American Story, America has become the Charlottesville of the Unite the Right Rally of August 12, 2017. Baker, who grew up in Charlottesville in the shadow of Jefferson's Monticello, watched in shock as neo-Nazis marched through her hometown in August 2017 with torches and flags. What began as her attempt to understand how such hatred could manifest in a progressive college town became a deeper reckoning with America's buried histories and recurring tragedies. The fascist ideologies that once seemed confined to internet forums and fringe rallies have now, she argues, been institutionalized at the highest levels of government. The warning signs were there in 2017—but too many people, from university administrators to progressive leaders, chose to look away. If we close our eyes, she warns, it won't go away. five key takeaways1. America Has Institutionalized ExtremismWhat began as fringe internet movements and basement trolling has now moved into the mainstream of American politics and government institutions. The ideologies that shocked people in Charlottesville 2017 are now, according to Baker, embedded at the highest levels of power.2. Progressive Institutions Failed to Take the Threat SeriouslyUniversity administrators, mayors, and police chiefs in liberal Charlottesville told citizens to "stay home" and ignore the approaching Unite the Right rally. This pattern of progressive leadership closing their eyes to fascist organizing represents a dangerous institutional failure that continues today.3. White Supremacy Has Always Married Anti-Semitism with Anti-Black RacismThe Nazi flags at Charlottesville weren't separate from the Confederate monuments debate. White supremacist ideology consistently portrays Jews as the puppet masters behind Black civil rights movements, combining European fascism with Southern white supremacy into a unified hateful worldview.4. America's "Buried Histories" Keep RepeatingBaker discovered that Charlottesville had experienced a similar white supremacist rally in the 1950s that had been completely forgotten. This pattern of burying ugly chapters allows the same mistakes to be repeated, as communities fail to learn from their past encounters with organized hate.5. Economic and Political Destabilization Creates Fertile Ground for FascismThe conditions that radicalized figures like Richard Spencer include the "forever wars," the 2008 financial crisis, and the broader betrayal of working-class Americans. These "self-inflicted wounds" by American institutions create the chaos that fascist movements exploit to gain followers.Deborah Baker was born in Charlottesville and grew up in Virginia, Puerto Rico and New England. She attended the University of Virginia and Cambridge University. Her first book, written in college, was Making a Farm: The Life of Robert Bly, published by Beacon Press in 1982. After working as a book editor and publisher, in 1990 she moved to Calcutta where she wrote In Extremis; The Life of Laura Riding. Published by Grove Press and Hamish Hamilton in the UK, it was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography in 1994. Her third book, A Blue Hand: The Beats in India was published by Penguin Press USA and Penguin India in 2008. In 2008–2009 she was a Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis C. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at The New York Public Library. There she researched and wrote The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism, a narrative account of the life of an American convert to Islam. Published by Graywolf and Penguin India, The Convert was a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award in Non-Fiction. The Last Englishmen: Love, War and the End of Empire was published in October 2018. For this book she received a Whiting Creative Non-fiction grant and a Guggenheim fellowship. Charlottesville is her sixth work of narrative non-fiction. She is married to the writer Amitav Ghosh and lives in Brooklyn and Charlottesville.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Game 3 was about as lopsided as they get for a Stanley Cup Final game, as the Panthers won 6-1. It's one of those games that can be seen as an outlier. How will Game 4 be different? How will the Oilers adjust? What is it about the Panthers that makes them special? Jim Bay joins Mike Fink to dive into it all!Follow The Hockey Writers:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ - https://twitter.com/TheHockeyWriter⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/thehockeywriters_⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.facebook.com/TheHockeyWriters/Substack - https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/Graphics by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Vince Richard⁠ - https://www.behance.net/vincergraphics

Send us a textHannah and Laura are still on Indie Intermission and covering the second half of They Came in the Night by Ravi Novais! This book is a total romp with some great characters and LOTS of spice. Hannah and Laura also chat about some amazing YA books, a very mysterious author, complications in documentaries, and another unique movie double feature.**This episode contains SPOILERS for They Came in the Night by Ravi Novais. Spoiler section begins at: 49 min 10 secs.***CW for the episode: discussions of neurodivergence, developmental disabilities, violence, blood, gore, sex, abusive relationships, vampires, mental illness, sexism, misogyny, nepotism, death, murder**Media Mentions:They Came in the Night by Ravi NovaisStrange Pictures by UketsuPersepolis by Marjane SatrapiMickey17---HBOMaxLove on the Spectrum---NetflixTalk To Me Sis podcastGood Hang podcastRaybearer by Jordan IfuekoRedemptor by Jordan IfuekoThe Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan IfuekoNamina Forna's worksAsunder by Kerstin HallGone Girl by Gillian FlynnGone Girl---AppleTVBridgerton---NetflixSleeping with the Enemy---HuluBe sure to follow OWWR Pod!www.owwrpod.com Twitter (updates only): @OwwrPodBlueSky: @OwwrPodTikTok: @OwwrPodInstagram: @owwrpodThreads: @OwwrPodHive: @owwrpodSend us an email at: owwrpod@gmail.comCheck out OWWR Patreon: patreon.com/owwrpodOr join OWWR Discord! We'd love to chat with you!You can follow Hannah at:Instagram: @brews.and.booksThreads: @brews.and.booksTikTok: @brews.and.booksYou can follow Laura at:Instagram: @goodbooksgreatgoatsBlueSky: @myyypod

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!This week, I'm joined by publicist Emily Florence, and we're talking about how to set publicity goals before you start chasing them, why a Today Show appearance might not sell nearly as many books as you think, and how to make your marketing feel less like shouting into the void and more like having conversations that matter.Here's what we get into:Why knowing your goals (career author? credibility? visibility?) makes all the differenceThe surprising truth about big media hits (and what works better)Building an author platform that doesn't rely on hacking the algorithm or pretending to be someone you're notHow to build a real-deal, supportive author community (no fake “collabs” required)

This week Danielle and Kristine learn how to survive this week's listener suggestion: having a bad roommate!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Maureen Stanton joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about her writing beginnings in fiction and using the scenic and immersive to move readers, falling in love with creative nonfiction, revisiting and recreating a love story, discovering the question behind her book, facing the blank page, bad first drafts, writing an illness narrative, placing an essay in Modern Love, authenticity on the page, the long winding path to publishing, not thinking your book will ever get published, working on multiple projects while querying, how love evolves, and her new memoir The Murmur of Everything Moving.   Also in this episode: -the fog of grief -killing our darlings -submitting to writing contests   Books mentioned in this episode: -Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott -Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt -The Liar's Club by Mary Karr -This Boys Life by Tobias Wolff  -Argonauts by Maggie Nelson -Barbarian Days by William Finnegan   Maureen Stanton is the author of The Murmur of Everything Moving: A Memoir, winner of the Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence; Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood, winner of the Maine Literary Award for memoir and a People Magazine "Best Books Pick"; and Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: An Insider's Look at the World of Flea Markets, Antiques, and Collecting, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award in nonfiction and a Parade Magazine "12 Great Summer Books" selection. Her nonfiction has been widely published, including in The New York Times, Fourth Genre, Creative Nonfiction, Longreads, New England Review, Florida Review, River Teeth, The Sun and many others. Her essays have received the Iowa Review prize, The Sewanee Review prize, Pushcart Prizes, the American Literary Review award, and the Thomas J. Hruska award from Passages North. She's been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maine Arts Commission, the MacDowell Colony, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. She teaches creative writing at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and lives in Maine.    Connect with Maureen: Website: https://www.maureenstantonwriter.com LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/maureenstanton41 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maureenstanton41 Threads: https://www.threads.com/@maureenstanton41 LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/maureen-stanton-6693ab11  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maureen.p.stanton Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maureenstanton.bsky.social   – 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

Even with the availability of new forms of storytelling, the memoir remains as one of the favored ways for combat veterans to tell their stories about war for a public eager to know. In American War Stories: Veteran-Writers and the Politics of Memoir (University of Massachusetts Press, 2021), Dr. Myra Mendible examines how combat veterans use the memoir to tell their stories of war and to engage in political conversations about war itself. Using memoirs by US veterans of the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, Dr. Mendible shows how these "true fictions" can shape knowledge about war, how veteran-writers use the "politics of credibility," the aesthetics of war and silence, and the often-ignored political function of the war memoir. 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

Gillian McAllister graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time and the Sunday Times bestsellers Everything But the Truth, Anything You Do Say (titled The Choice in the US), No Further Questions (titled The Good Sister in the US), The Evidence Against You, How to Disappear, and That Night. Her newest novel, Famous Last Words, is the focus of this interview. Gillian joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett from England to talk about writing a compelling first chapter, plotting and structure, subplots, twists, research and revision. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. 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 April 18, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)