Paula Priamos is no stranger to suspense. She spent her childhood in courtrooms thanks to her father's career as a defense attorney. She learned the language and the pacing of this world and dove into the underworld connected to the law when she wrote her first book, a memoir about her father's life and death called The Shyster's Daughter. In her second book, Inside V, Paula moves to fiction to tell a dark twisting story about a couple thrown into chaos by an accusation and subsequent trial. In ...
Jan 25, 2018•49 min
Chloe Benjamin is equally adept at creating myths and busting them. The Immortalists has enjoyed a tremendous amount of buzz, listed as one of the most anticipated books of 2018 on more than one list. This is the kind of buzz usually reserved for debut novels or novels from household name authors. Chloe is, instead, a second-time author following a first novel that sold well, but on a more modest scale. In the publishing industry, like any other industry, there are many myths, and not just the o...
Jan 18, 2018•41 min
Cecil Castellucci has been writing for young people for over fifteen years, has published a stack of books and writes an ongoing comic book through an imprint with Marvel. She knows the world of YA and gave me the lowdown on that world in this incredible conversation. We talk about her latest book, Don't Cosplay With My Heart, which I loved and read in a single sitting. I expect you will, too. We dive into tons of hot-button topics in this episode: capturing the teen experience, why people are s...
Jan 11, 2018•49 min
Joanna Penn is a prosperous writer. Yes, you read that correctly. I wanted to begin the New Year with an episode guaranteed to inspire. Once I connected with Joanna, I knew she was the one to share with you first in 2018. Not only is she day-job free, Joanna Penn makes a solid six-figure income from writing and travels extensively to places that fascinate her to research her books. Before you glaze over, I promise you – this is far from a get rich quick scheme. It took Joanna four years to build...
Jan 04, 2018•50 min
Anu Partanen never planned to move to the United States. She was very happy living as a journalist in Finland until she fell in love with an American, and ended up moving to NYC so they could marry and be together. Once moving here, Anu became even more aware of the advantages her home country had provided: universal high-quality health care, childcare, maternity leave, elder care, and on and on. For the first time, she was presented with bills and policies that didn't make sense to her. As a jo...
Dec 28, 2017•50 min
Everyone has heard the classic trope write what you love. In some cases, I have felt a bit bullied by this concept. "How am I supposed to know what I love most?" I have wondered. I think the best thing you can do to figure this out is to listen to this conversation with Mark Frauenfelder and listen to how he followed what was fascinating to him and wrote books and articles about these things along the way. In this conversation we talk about the day job that Mark escaped to write and it is the wo...
Dec 21, 2017•44 min
A journalist and author of numerous non-fiction books on the Middle East, Malu Halasa has just published her first novel, Mother of All Pigs. Born in Oklahoma, her Jordanian Filipina heritage gave her a unique perspective from the beginning. After growing up in Ohio, she attended Barnard College in New York and now lives in London. From this vantage point, she's taken on the fascinating world of the Middle East and has worked hard to expand the number of voices heard from that area. Throughout t...
Dec 14, 2017•46 min
Sandra Scofield is like a warm hug from writing itself. For ages, I've loved Sandra Scofield's The Scene Book with its reassuring composition notebook cover and its practical advice about writing great scenes. When I learned that Sandra had a new book about writing coming on, I knew I had to have her on the show. Her latest, The Last Draft, tackles that tricky topic of revision and polishing your work until its ready to be read by others. I adored talking with Sandra because her approach is so g...
Dec 07, 2017•51 min
David Rocklin found a novel in a photograph. While researching his first novel about the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, David Rocklin was struck by an image she had taken of the Prince of Abyssinia. The image wouldn't let him go and despite his hesitation and fear in taking on such an enormous topic, he wrote his second novel, The Night Language, anyway. I am loving discussing how people incorporate history into writing and the ways that novels force us to look at stories different than ou...
Nov 30, 2017•49 min
Lisa Cron is a woman on a mission: she wants to help you write your story so that your reader is glued to the page from the moment they pick up the book. She's going beyond plotting versus pantsing to a new level of story analysis. We dive into the WHY of your story, and what you hope to achieve by telling it. Lisa is not about the slow exploration and wandering through story options; she wants you to get to the meat right away. If you've felt frustrated and unsure of what the point is of the bo...
Nov 23, 2017•51 min
There are genres and then there are subgenres. One of the things I love about speaking with writers across all types of books is learning about the complicated world their books inhabit. In this case, Piper Huguley writes historical black romance, and this sits inside the romance novel world, but in a completely new way. I was so moved talking to Piper about how she focuses on an era that has been so glossed over, and tells stories that bring the people of the time to life, people who have been ...
Nov 16, 2017•45 min
Since writers can be a fearful bunch, I️ wanted Fran Krause on the show as soon as I️ saw his work. He decided to explore an idea he had to illustrate irrational fears. He started out with his own, but before he finished drawing them, people began submitting theirs. Now-as he puts it- many fears later, his latest book from this project is out. I️ love this project because reading about these fears made me feel less alone. Even if they weren’t always fears that I️ related to, I️ still felt connec...
Nov 09, 2017•51 min
Steven Tagle wants every writer to know about the Fulbright. A few episodes ago, when Patricia Park was on the show, she mentioned something that made my ears perk up: that she had researched the portion of her book that took place in Korea by applying for and receiving a Fulbright Scholarship. For my listeners abroad: You DON'T have to be a US citizen to apply. In this episode we explore the practical steps to applying for a Fulbright, how Steven researched which country he chose to apply to, a...
Nov 02, 2017•44 min
It's almost November and you know what that means... No- not Thanksgiving- NaNoWriMo! What does that mean, you might ask? It stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is a crazy 30 days where writers all over the world try to write a 50,000 work draft in one month. Just last week, I was in New Orleans with a bunch of amazing people, including Episode #33 Kate Newburg and Episode #39 Tasha Harrison , and it was too exciting not to record an episode together right there in our Air Bnb. We ha...
Oct 26, 2017•44 min
Victor LaValle writes good stories. My husband has been devouring his catalogue of novels with a singular force. "This is so good," he announces from his side of the bed. The last few months, when he makes this kind of statement, it has been from inside the world of Victor LaValle. Not only has his fiction seduced Barry, but LaValle has also created a series of comics. The man crush was inevitable at that point. It was an interesting challenge to interview Victor and talk about his latest book, ...
Oct 19, 2017•39 min
Yes, you read that right. On Tuesdays, Scott O'Connor shows up at my house along with a band of students. It really is the most incredible good fortune. When I was offered the chance to host a novel writing workshop this summer, of course I said yes. Get to talk about writing with a bunch of fellow writing nerds in my own house every week? Yes please. And, even beyond that, to learn with a teacher who is the perfect blend of encouraging and practical. I'm so so glad he succumbed to my persistent...
Oct 12, 2017•46 min
Patricia Park is one of the few writers I know up to taking on Jane Eyre. I'm not talking about talent. As well you know, there has been no end of that among the guests on the show. I am talking about the kind of willpower that lead her to spend ten years exploring every nook and cranny of the world of her novel, Re Jane. To give you a preview, this exploration involved winning a Fulbright to go and study in Korea for the middle portion of her novel. Beyond that, she thought she needed to take a...
Oct 05, 2017•45 min
I wish I had been smart enough to come up with Joe Fassler's book idea. As a fellow interview lover, Joe has been writing the column By Heart for the Atlantic long enough to amass a who's who of interview subjects. You know, people like Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Elizabeth Strout, Michael Chabon, Emma Donoghue, Mary Gaitskill... the list goes on. His topic? What piece of writing inspired you enough that you read it over and over and practically memorized it because it had such an impact on your ...
Sep 28, 2017•47 min
Paul McVeigh wrote a story in an afternoon that took twenty years. How is that possible? We gather images over time, trying to figure out how they fit together. Paul had pieces of a story that didn't quite fit until suddenly, they did. And then the story came out almost all at once in a single sitting. How do you know when it's time to write a story? And how do you know when to give up on an idea? These are questions that have plagued so many writers and my clients. Paul was the perfect person t...
Sep 21, 2017•46 min
Gabriela Pereira doesn't think you NEED to get an MFA. However, need and want are two different things. An MFA grad herself, Gabriela realized that many writers struggled with the dilemma of whether to MFA or not to MFA and took her own grad school experience and created a template so others could get all the benefit of the degree with none of the loans, debt and stress that can come along with going back to school. Gabriela is a wealth of information and was incredible generous in sharing that ...
Sep 14, 2017•48 min
Scott Stabile has earned the right to share advice. There are many books out there that share life advice. There are whole sections in bookstores dedicated to this sort of book. But I have not encountered many where I am so willing to trust the advice of the author. It's often hard to imagine that a writer would relate to my life, or understand the particular thing I have been through and that we could connect. Scott is an excellent antidote to this belief. His life experience, which includes hi...
Sep 07, 2017•49 min
We've all been there: podcast bankruptcy. Having so many episodes stacked up in the queue to listen that it feels like the only way to proceed is to give up, delete everything and start over. Not to fear- this August, the Secret Library has your back. catch up on some of my favorite episodes from the show so far, or listen again and learn even more from these incredible guests now that you have more time writing since you last tuned in. I hope you enjoy listening and I'll be back with an incredi...
Aug 31, 2017•45 min
We've all been there: podcast bankruptcy. Having so many episodes stacked up in the queue to listen that it feels like the only way to proceed is to give up, delete everything and start over. Not to fear- this August, the Secret Library has your back. catch up on some of my favorite episodes from the show so far, or listen again and learn even more from these incredible guests now that you have more time writing since you last tuned in. I hope you enjoy listening and I'll be back with an incredi...
Aug 24, 2017•49 min
We've all been there: podcast bankruptcy. Having so many episodes stacked up in the queue to listen that it feels like the only way to proceed is to give up, delete everything and start over. Not to fear- this August, the Secret Library has your back. catch up on some of my favorite episodes from the show so far, or listen again and learn even more from these incredible guests now that you have more time writing since you last tuned in. I hope you enjoy listening and I'll be back with an incredi...
Aug 17, 2017•51 min
We've all been there: podcast bankruptcy. Having so many episodes stacked up in the queue to listen that it feels like the only way to proceed is to give up, delete everything and start over. Not to fear- this August, the Secret Library has your back. catch up on some of my favorite episodes from the show so far, or listen again and learn even more from these incredible guests now that you have more time writing since you last tuned in. I hope you enjoy listening and I'll be back with an incredi...
Aug 13, 2017•51 min
We've all been there: podcast bankruptcy. Having so many episodes stacked up in the queue to listen that it feels like the only way to proceed is to give up, delete everything and start over. Not to fear- this August, the Secret Library has your back. catch up on some of my favorite episodes from the show so far, or listen again and learn even more from these incredible guests now that you have more time writing since you last tuned in. I hope you enjoy listening and I'll be back with an incredi...
Aug 03, 2017•1 hr 7 min
Kameron Hurley is a marvel. The first thing I noticed about Kameron Hurley is how incredible her laugh is. She has a laugh that dares you not to join in, to enjoy the conversation and what she has to say. I hope you enjoy it, because I did- I absolutely adored it. Kameron is a two-time Hugo award winning writer and yet, she still holds a solid day job. This is the truth of a writing career, even one as well-awarded and Kameron Hurley's. I so enjoyed talking about what it was like to dive into th...
Jul 27, 2017•47 min
Megan Hannum is about to help you face your first draft without fear. Have you ever been writing away, actually building some momentum in your writing only to have these sorts of fears creep in: "Is there enough detail? I'm only writing plot, how is anyone going to know what anything looks like??" Or perhaps yours is "I need to do a LOT more research before I write this. I have no idea what the dating customs of medieval Mongolia actually are. Guess it's back to the drawing board for the next si...
Jul 20, 2017•47 min
J. Ryan Stradal's hit novel Kitchens of the Great Midwest came out in 2015. Most often, we hear from writers right when their book has just come out. They go on book tours and radio shows and NPR, if they are well-connected. I have been thrilled to talk to writers in this stage of the process, but the longer I work on this show, the more curious I am about the other parts of the writing journey- before the book is finished, or after it has gone out in the world and taken on a life of its own or,...
Jul 13, 2017•58 min
Dal Kular didn't plan on becoming a novelist. After recording nearly sixty episodes of The Secret Library, I realized I had a full catalogue of interviews with experts. People who were at the end of the writing journey, in some way. They had either published books as the writer, publisher, or had engaged in the process already and were looking back in order to discuss it. This began to feel like a disconnect between the guests and the listeners I knew were out there taking the show in. So many p...
Jul 06, 2017•50 min
