Author and award-winning poet Natasha Sajé , whose new book is Terroir: Love, Out of Place ( Trinity University Press ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Natasha Sajé, who discussed the concept during our conversation, referring to “The Flash Forward” and “The Flash Back.” As long as your readers know the present moment of a scene, and that scene is clear to them, you can move around in time to inform the moment, making it richer and deeper. In Natasha’s book...
Jun 21, 2021•54 min•Ep. 683
Marcia Butler , author of Oslo, Maine ( Central Avenue Publishing ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Marcia Butler, who suggests writing a 1200 word short/short story in the first person point of view. But do not use the pronouns “I” “Me” or “My” until at least halfway through, and preferably at the very end. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 682...
Jun 15, 2021•52 min•Ep. 682
An interview from the archives with Vermont Author Alec Hastings, whose 2013 debut novel was Otter St. Onge and the Bootleggers: A Tale of Adventure , published by The Public Press . This one first aired on The Radiator ! This week's Write the Book Prompt is to write about a flight delay (which I'm presently experiencing...) Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 681...
Jun 13, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 681
Award winning British Author Rupert Thomson , whose latest novel is Barcelona Dreaming ( Other Press ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was inspired by my conversation with Rupert Thomson, who mentions Christine Schutt as an author who values "sentence magicians," those writers who particularly focus on sentence-level writing and revision to the benefit of their prose. Rupert refers to the way one excellent sentence can flow into the next, and how the best of these transitions will create tens...
May 31, 2021•56 min•Ep. 680
An interview from the archives with British Author Diane Setterfield . We discuss her novel, Bellman & Black ( Atria/Emily Bestler Books ). Diane Setterfield’s novel Bellman & Black begins with a child’s prank that has far-reaching consequences. Today’s Write the Book Prompt is to write about such a moment in the life of one of your characters--an act of thoughtlessness or cruelty that reverberates long past what he or she might have expected. Good luck with your work in the coming week,...
May 24, 2021•50 min•Ep. 679
Vermont poet and author Erika Nichols-Frazer , who has edited a new collection on themes of mental health, A Tether to This World: Stories and Poems About Recovery (Main Street Rag) . We are joined later in the hour by the poet A. E. Hines , a contributor to the collection. This week we have two Write the Book Prompts, thanks to the generosity of my guests. The first was offered by Erika Nichols-Frazer, who credits it to the poet Chelsie Diane. Write a letter to yourself that starts with the phr...
May 19, 2021•45 min•Ep. 678
Author David Laskin , in a conversation from 2013 about his book. The Family: A Journey Into the Heart of the Twentieth Century ( Penguin) . In March 2021, he published a novel, What Sammy Knew (Penguin) . This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to write about someone who follows through on a bad idea, even though they know it will be a bad idea. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 677...
May 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 677
Vermont Author Joseph Covais, whose debut novel is Quiet Room , the first in the "Psychotherapy With Ghosts" trilogy ( New Line ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider an alternative to the conventional discovery of a ghost -- that blood curdling scream and dash out of the house with your arms in the air. If you spent the night in an old, unfamiliar home and found a ghost leaning over you in the middle of the night, could you maintain your presence of mind and ask the spirit a questi...
May 03, 2021•47 min•Ep. 676
Author David Arnold , whose new novel is The Electric Kingdom ( Viking Books for Young Readers ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, David Arnold. His first inspiration for The Electric Kingdom came to him as he was a new stay-at-home Dad, caring for his newborn son. It was the image of a boarded-up farmhouse in the middle of the woods. (I suggested that maybe his new-dad brain was trying to encourage him to rent a cabin as a writing retreat. He said no...) For...
Apr 26, 2021•46 min•Ep. 675
Two interviews from the archives. Ralph Culver , author of Both Distances ( Anabiosis ), has a new book coming in the fall: A Passable Man ( MadHat Press ). And James Fallon is the author of The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain ( Current ). This week's Write the Book Prompt is again visual. Take a look at the photo, below, and write! Image via https://unsplash.com/@bewakoofofficial Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next...
Apr 25, 2021•57 min•Ep. 674
