Memoir Nation

This week’s episode is one for book lovers, book collectors, aspiring authors, and every kind of writer. It’s always helpful to know what booksellers know—because bookstores do so much more than just provide a place for browsing and buying books. Join us to talk with Josh Cook of Porter Square Books about his new book, The Art of Libromancy, and why bookselling is political, what authors should think about when speaking to booksellers, and what you need to know about Amazon and Bookshop and the landscape of buying books. Plus, Grant and Brooke swap stories about their time working in bookstores, and Brooke promised to share in the show notes a link to her essay about her months spent working (and bunking) at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris in 1999. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this week’s extra-inspiring show, guest Dhonielle Clayton treats us to a generous conversation about effecting change in the industry and how that inevitable comes with backlash. We talk about representation in publishing, Penguin Random House’s recent firing of two high-profile publishers, and book bans—among other important topics, like packaging and IP and how kids seeing characters that look like them in fiction opens up unimagined possibilities for their futures. We also encourage you to check out the work being done at We Need Diverse Books as supplemental to this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What will other people think? What will be the consequences of sharing my truth? These are among some of the questions that hold memoirists back, and their realities post-publication can cause “vulnerability hangovers.” Exposure, fear of fallout, concern for people we love—memoir doesn’t make it easy. With very recent experience informing her, this week’s guest, Susan Kiyo Ito, generously wades into the territory of these themes. If you’re grappling with exposure pre- or post-publication, you won’t want to miss this show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re living through a golden age of memoir, and guest Jennifer Leigh Selig’s Deep Memoir is a new contribution to the “how-to” space for memoirists who want to explore the how and the why of memoir writing. This episode will help listeners consider their own “why” when it comes to that age-old question of why to keep at it, and also to celebrate a genre that’s finally getting its due. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s Write-minded takes on grief, and why, as our guest Claire Jiménez says, “it’s where language collapses.” Jiménez’s new book deals with loss and grief and what happens in a family in the aftermath of a disappearance of a child, and yet, she weaves in humor and the history of American colonization of Puerto Rico and so much more. Grant and Brooke share their own experiences with grief, and also writing and thinking about grief as it manifests on the page and in the body, and why feeling grief is a gift of the human experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Write-minded is interviewing an established writer whose star is on the rise. Elwin Cotman’s new story collection blew us away for how he played with form and takes readers on an expected journeys. His stories don’t fit into any box—including length, and we loved it! On this week’s show Grant also announces his departure from NaNoWriMo and what some of his new ventures will be. We’re celebrating creation and recreation and taking on new forms, on the page and in real life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Write-minded reaches broadly into the topic of intimacy to explore its many permutations—not just romantic, but innocuous, violent, collective, and more. Guest Stacey D’Erasmo invites us to consider intimacy in writing, how we do it, how we feel it as readers, and also to consider acts of intimacy, like an older actress showing her authentic self as she ages. Intimacy is felt, and not always something we know how to put words around, so this conversation is a particular treat, thought-provoking and enticing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s guest is John McMurtrie, the esteemed former editor of the San Francisco Chronicle’s book review section. Join us as we explore the transition of book reviews from traditional media like TV and radio to online outlets like Amazon and Goodreads. His is an interesting take about how things were and how things are, along with insight about what a book reviewer is looking for when considering what books to review. Join us as John shares valuable insights on breaking into book reviewing and what he considers to be the key elements of a great book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it really mean to consider your own social responsibility as a fiction writer? Guest Naomi Kanakia confronted that very question as she considered her modeling as a trans author writing YA books for teens. What if hers was the first book a genderqueer or trans kid ever read? What did she owe her reader? These are some of the questions at the heart of this week’s episode, but we also look under the hood of the publishing industry a bit, too, from the perspective of an author who’s “inside/outside,” who’s writing across many genres, from sci-fi to lit fic, and who has a certain kind of privilege but still lives on the margins. A truly interesting episode with a guest who’s not afraid to speak truth to power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Strap on your seatbelts ’cause we’re going for a ride—into the wild world of book publishing. Guest Kathleen Schmidt is a leading voice in publishing. Her popular Substack, Publishing Confidential, is a go-to source for tell-it-like-it-is realities about the industry and what authors can and should expect. We talk shop this week, touching upon author platform, Barnes & Noble, and why advances make no sense. This is a not-to-be-missed episode for anyone who’s ever published or wants to be published. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An episode about friendship, writing about friendship, and how friendship influences our writing lives. As a community-minded podcast, Write-minded has often touched upon the importance of a broader net of friendship on our writing. This week we get a bit more specific with guest Tomas Moniz, who’s written a new book about male friendship and whose entry into the writing world was shaped by his community of writer friends. This week we’re reminding you to reach out to a friend, thank a friend, be grateful for our friends, and we thank our listeners for being a friend to Write-minded! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s Write-minded show examines the nuanced and deep exploration at the heart of guest Lissa Soep’s new book, Other People’s Words. A consideration of the ways others’ voices echo in our own, her book and this episode shows us a kaleidoscope of how we conjure and recycle and tap into the words of others. There’s much to unpack here, too, from how we inner monologue in a way that is really dialogue to honoring the collective legacies we carry and give voice to. It’s easy to get philosophical with this week’s theme and guest, and we do, covering everything from death and loss, to letters written and kept, and even AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ready for a reprieve? Join Brooke and Grant and this week’s guest, Neely Tubati-Alexander, for a conversation about whether romance and rom-com writers are having more fun. We dive into questions of the success of the genre, what publishers are looking for, and how a writer gets into romance writing in the first place. A light-hearted episode in celebration of escapism and reading as brain candy and Tubati-Alexander’s latest release, In a Not So Perfect World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Write-minded wades into the important topic of writing about childhood trauma. Trauma is at the heart of many of our stories, whether you’re writing coming-of-age or only touching upon childhood stories in the context of specific memoir scenes (or raw material for fiction). Javier’s memoir, Solito, is a stunning book about his nine-week journey from El Salvador to the US as an unaccompanied minor when he was just nine years old. The original journey nearly killed him, and in this generous interview he speaks to how the journey of writing about his experience saved him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's important to learn from the challenges of a failed book rather than allowing it to define your career. The publishing industry can be harsh and unforgiving to writers in this situation. Unforgiving as in agents abandoning the writer or publishers turning away future work, not because of its quality, but because of the one book that didn’t sell well. This week, we're joined by guest Ethel Rohan, whose story serves as a reminder that regardless of how brutal this industry can be, perseverance and reinvention can lead to triumph, and Ethel’s story is testament to that truth. This episode is a great reminder to keep moving forward through the challenges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A fun episode about aesthetic, language, and paying attention to style and taste in writing. This week’s guest K-Ming Chang talks about disorientation as a style, language as something that lives in the body, and hating plot. This is a playful interview that focuses on the experiential and reminds us that we all have an existential position on our own writing. Chang’s meditation on language is expansive and inviting, and invites us to consider all the ways we are the stories we’re told. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ghostwriting and work-for-hire are great ways to break into the publishing industry and to make a living as a writer. Guest Aubre Andrus shows us a side of the writing and publishing business that can seem a bit elusive. And more and more writers are taking on work for hire projects due to mass media layoffs and greater transparency by celebrities when it comes to writing collaborations. Also, this week’s book trend features Womb House Books, found online here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s Write-minded floats into the magical and surreal world of Ingrid Rojas Contreras, who talks about her new memoir, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, about her curandera-storytelling mother and their shared history of amnesia, and about why to her magical realism is just realism. Grant and Brooke consider what gets passed down to us from our families and how our stories and histories are in our bones and lived experience, and how reading stories from writers whose lives are vastly different from our own can invigorate our writing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this gorgeous, sensualistic, tactile, provocative episode of Write-minded, we explore the senses with Janet Fitch of White Oleander fame. In this interview, Janet takes us on a tour through the senses, making the point that our language is impoverished and we can—and must—do more to become more sophisticated observers on the page. This is an episode you’ll carry with you into your next writing or reading session, keeping an eye out (and tastebuds at the ready and an ear attuned and the nose trained) for the next sensual experience or opportunity. Revel in the possibilities and ideas Janet offers to employ the superpowers each of our senses hold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's episode moves beyond inspiring and into the territory of important, essential, and recommended listening—and reading. Guest Dr. Brian H. Williams, author of the debut memoir, The Bodies Keep Coming, joins us to talk about his experience as a trauma surgeon, and what being on the hospital frontlines can teach us about racial inequities in America. On the writing side of things, Brooke and Grant talk about how hard it can be for memoirists to truly open up, especially if you’re not used to sharing your feelings, or if there’s a perception that you don’t want the book to be too much “about you.” Dr. Williams touches upon all this, and shares how, as a self-professed man of few words, he pushed himself to be so self-revealing in his memoir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hidden stories are at the heart of many a novel and memoir, driving writers, often from very young ages, toward exploration, uncovering, and the desire to seek for and know truths. Vanessa Chan’s new novel, The Storm We Made, is one such story, spawned by the unlikeliest of spies—a discontent mother and wife in 1930s British Malaya who, in becoming a spy for the Japanese, unwittingly ushers in the most violent war her country has ever seen. Vanessa talks about her novel, its journey, and the idea that she herself is a hidden story. This is a not-to-be-missed interview with an exciting debut author whose book is getting tons of buzz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Books were just books for hundreds of years, but in the past 20 years, we've experienced major shifts in how we read and write. Plus, we’re on the brink of another revolution with AI that will change what we know and think we know about book publishing. This week’s guest, Maja Thomas, is the Chief Innovation Officer at Hachette, and her job, essentially, is to figure out the future of the book. She’s the only Chief Innovation Officer in all of publishing, so it’s a treat to hear what she has to say about trends, disruptions, innovations, and yes, AI. Don’t miss her insights! Also, in the trend we mention this Foreign Policy article from Dave Karpf about the future of AI maybe not being as disruptive as we all think. Worth a read. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy New Year! On this week’s Write-minded, Brooke and Grant take stock of last year’s resolutions and hold their own feet to the fire on what was cast out for resolutions, and what was accomplished (or not). We’re probing the resolution, therefore, as we head into 2024—assessing its pros and cons, musing about who we’d be without a goal, and considering whether all the resolution really needs is not to be bound by such a tight timeline. Tune in to probe, explore, turn over, and consider your own relationship with resolutions as we head into a new year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we’re slowing down, inviting listeners to contemplate another world both far and not far away from this one where there’s no electricity, no internet, no immediate access to all the information of the world at your fingertips. This was the world our guest Baron Wormser occupied for nearly twenty years, and the subject of his memoir, The Road Washes Out in Spring. We’re channeling a state of mind, beckoning listeners to attune to your surroundings, to what calls and what moves you. And maybe you’ll emerge out the other side of today’s show having reached a meditative, ruminative state. We hope so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Write-minded we’re coming back to a well-loved topic: Community! Only we’re tackling it from some new angles, like the notion that not every community will be the right community for you, and the fact that there are shadow sides to community, and how we and others behave in community. Guest Alexa Bigwarfe talks about her experience in the community of writers and within the publishing community—what it was like to be new to this space, how she grew into her leadership role, and why it’s so meaningful to take advantage of what publishing has to offer authors, from trade shows, to industry events, to writing and publishing conferences. Tune in to start to think about one event you might attend in 2024! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join Grant and Brooke this week for a conversation about truth—emotional truth, essential truth, truth as the core driver of all stories. Plus, they share how many words they wrote during November—not nearly as many as either had hoped. Guest Jamila Minnicks speaks about her new novel, Moonrise Over New Jessup, and its powerful protagonist, sense of place, and homage to her ancestors, all of which delivers on this show’s promise of weekly inspiration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's guests are the coeditors (and contributors to) Letters to a Writer of Color. Listen in to hear the profound insights and inspirational origin story that led to Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro’s collaboration on their powerful anthology. Contributors to this collection include Kiese Laymon, Myriam Gurba, Madeleine Thien, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and others. Our conversation this week circles how writers of color write and talk about and translate their experiences, the ways writers can get hemmed in and how they refuse to be hemmed in, and also the power of commonalities across experiences, even when those experiences are so varied. Not to be missed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pep Talk alert! Whether you’re writing a ton or writing a-none, this week’s episode is geared toward writers who are feeling the strain of the Muddy Middle. Grant and Brooke talk about strategies for staying on track and offer up encouragement for ways to keep with it—including how to break the wall. Brooke’s references to Esther Perel’s podcast episode, “Breaking News Is Breaking Us,” can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Brooke shares an interview she recorded with Allison Gilbert about her new book, Listen World!, a biography of the most famous woman writer you’ve never heard of. If you’re any writer, but particularly a woman writer, knowing about Elsie Robinson (1883-1956) will bring you needed inspiration during this NaNoWriMo season. She models how to believe in yourself, how to face rejection and keep going, and how perseverance is the most necessary skillset when it comes to getting our work out into the world. You’ll marvel at what she was able to do—way pre-Internet. For reference, find Allison’s CNN article about the reparative efforts underway to retag history so that gender is included/searchable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy Halloween Week and Happy Start of NaNoWriMo. This week’s episode is a twofer because we’re bringing you a little dose of horror through our exploration of gothic stories with this week’s guest Isabel Cañas, who also happens to be a ten-year veteran of NaNoWriMo. Watch magic happen as Write-minded intertwines these two cultural events—one spooky-scary and the other downright inspiring. We’re kicking you off with some great advice and a big high-five—and if you’re still on the fence about whether you’re doing NaNoWriMo, get off and join the November writing craze. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With her new memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, guest Maggie Smith provides an example of how to break conventional form to gorgeous results. This interview covers narration, structure, and Maggie’s process of constructing this memoir, as well as how her background as a poet informed her approach to the writing. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation mostly about narration, but we also touch upon writing about others and Maggie confesses she’s surprised by the gigantic success of this book. You’ll want to tune in to hear why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Whether you already love fanfiction or don’t really get it, you’ll want to tune into this episode for the sheer appreciation of its presence in the literary world. More than 100 million people worldwide are reading or writing fanfiction. We know that fanfiction writers have been wild over the years for Star Wars and Harry Potter and Twilight, but now fanfiction is increasingly likely to be a source of content for movies and TV shows—and community and friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s co-authoring duo, Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché, take us inside their relationship and share authentically and honestly about some of the considerations unique to writing your book with someone else. With tools available to authors that allow writing together over distance and time zones, many writers are keen to coauthor and explore new terrains with a creative collaborator. This week offers insight and permission, and a few tips from lessons learned on the journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One month out from National Novel Writing Month, this episode hopes to inspire listeners around the truism that the very best way to write a novel is simply to try it. NaNoWriMo encourages that effort, outcome irrelevant. Take heed from guest Kayvion Lewis who suggests in this episode to write the thing that sets your heart on fire. Also, as promised in today’s Book Trend, we encourage you to check out Dave Chesson’s video on Amazon’s recent category changes which can be searched on YouTube: “INSANE Amazon Category Change.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s episode considers the intersection between dreaming and writing and how to harness not dreaming per se, but the midnight mind. The midnight mind speaks to a kind of liminal state where we can be more open, more creative, less blocked—and Gover’s interview and new book are encouraging to writers and authors around writing for writing’s sake, and not only for publication and outcome. There’s much to unpack this week as we settle into the joy of writing, accessing more subconscious creative states, and thinking about how our dreams are sources of creativity for us whether we remember them or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s episode is an exploration of form, and why some stories are better contained in short story form rather than a novel. Guest Ghassan Zeineddine shares the evolution of his short story collection, Dearborn, as well as some of his process, including research and spending serious time with subjects who sometimes play roles in stories years down the road. Dearborn is part-celebration, part-astute observation of the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan. This episode also contains a bit of history about how Dearborn became the US city with the highest concentration of Arabs and Arab Americans, and also lends insights into process, craft, and why the short story form is sometimes just right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Write-minded explores point of view, especially those stories told with less conventional points of view. Uncommon points of view stick with you—and Brooke and Grant cover books they love that have ghost points of view, dog points of view, and the kind of point of view where the reader is part of the story. This week’s guest Jimin Han walks us through some of her narration choices for her new novel, The Apology, and shares insights into her writing process, her characters, her inspirations, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Write-minded is kicking off our sixth year this week with an episode focused on the skinny around what agents do, what they’re thinking about, and how to think about working with an agent—all through the lens of our guest, Lisa Leshne of The Leshne Agency. Lisa brings an honest and fresh perspective to the hard work of agenting, how authors want to think about being strategic partners with their would-be agents, and we touch upon some recent publishing news, like the future of AI and the Simon & Schuster buyout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Two of our favorite memoir episodes from last year revisited, with guests whose memoirs showcase exceptional craft—so much so that they’ll be teaching a fall memoir course with Brooke that starts next month. We’re revisiting these two authors whose memoirs have so much to teach writers about good writing, storytelling, and creating an experience that has real staying power. Tune in or relisten—and we’re back next week with fresh episodes and a brand-new season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we’re celebrating two of our more accomplished guests of last year. Grant and Brooke talk about the joy of interviewing authors we’ve long admired, and highlight these two fabulous shows with Gish Jen and Peggy Orenstein, two authors at the top of their game. These are great shows to revisit for their insights from writers who’ve been at their craft for a while, and have a thing or two to impart to writers at all stages of their career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we’re revisiting our favorite two book biz episodes from last year. Both episodes got more listener feedback than any others—and if you missed the money episode, there’s so much here to be inspired by. For all writers and aspiring authors, there’s not enough we can say about being savvy about the business side of authorprenuership, which is why we’re spotlighting these two shows for our August round-up of our favorite shows of the past year. Happy Summer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the first of our summer favorites series, featuring Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Ana Reyes. We’re revisiting our favorite episodes of the past year during the month of August, so we invite you to tune in or relisten as we celebrate and honor high-stakes fiction with two writers whose books we felt pushed the limits of fiction and made us think more critically about complex topics that wiggle their way into readers' hearts and souls. Happy Summer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s show takes on an age-old topic—that of all the ways family’s feelings, impressions, and reactions play a role in our writing. No relationship is more complex and multilayered than that of the parent and adult child, which is why Brooke wanted to bring on her mom, Gail Warner, as a guest to discuss writing and how the act of self-expression is not an isolated experience. We have considerations, many of which involve our family—and this episode opens that conversation between one mother and daughter. It’s also the final episode of the fifth year of Write-minded, for which Grant conjures up an imagined parade to celebrate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's guest Ben Purkert, author of the newly released novel, The Men Can’t Be Saved, gives us some insight into the art of writing complex characters, including the downright unlikeable ones. Atrocious acts and bad behavior are at the center of storytelling, and when constructed well, supposedly unlikeable characters are often more gripping and memorable than likable ones. We’re titillated and drawn forth by a character’s conflict, bad behavior, and perhaps even downfall. A good author challenges their readers to be interested in their unlikeable characters—even through their flaws. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this community-minded podcast, we love to host a community-focused episode from time to time. Guest Kellye Garrett shares the many ways that community has been a boon and a boost in her writing life and writing career. She shares about communities she’s founded, communities she’s been a part of, and the ways that community has supported her and championed her along the way. Grant and Brooke touch upon how and why building community can be hard for people, recognizing the reality that finding community can be anxiety producing, too. Brooke recalls an early She Writes mantra—“Writers don’t let writers write alone”—which encapsulates the energy behind this week’s show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week’s episode spotlights one of the most popular types of stories we see in both memoir and fiction—the coming-of-age narrative. Guest Yasmin Azad, author of Stay, Daughter, shares her considerations for writing her coming-of-age memoir. An episode about craft, the timeline of coming-of-age, why coming-of-age stories endure the way they do, and Brooke and Grant share some of their favorite coming-of-age memoirs and novels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Write-minded is expanding our literary horizons beyond the written word and into the myriad forms of visual creative expression that can accompany text. Guest Kelcey Ervick joins us to talk about her new book, The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature, Artists and Writers on Creating Graphic Narratives, Poetry Comics, and Literary Collage, a compilation of pieces from graphic and visual artists of all sorts. In the episode we touch upon how to approach this space if you’re not artistically inclined, and what it means that “outside” forms are becoming more mainstream. Lots of interesting food for thought, and inspiration for getting more expansive with your own creative process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we’re talking about purpose and passion with guest N.D. Jones, a prolific author of fantasy stories and series who’s also a nonfiction author and publisher with a beautiful and creative online presence. This week’s show is inspired by Jones’s desire to articulate her “why,” and Brooke and Grant discuss how important purpose—the why—is for authors who might be feeling a little lost in the quest to get published. This week’s focus is platform, brand, spin-offs, content—all within the context of purpose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Grant and Brooke return to a topic we love—taking the leap, saying yes to the dare, finding inspiration in the thrill of writing the book you want to read. Guest Krystal Marquis has a special personal story, too, about taking on the dare to write a book from her brother. If you’re a writer who’s trying to find a story to write, or someone looking for a little boost of creative inspiration in your life, this episode will surely light a little fire. And maybe help you set your sights on saying yes to your own dare, and certainly saying yes to the many opportunities NaNoWriMo offers writers for staying on top of their goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is an onstage interview with Brooke Warner and this week’s guest Nicole Chung. Brooke interviewed Nicole at the Bay Area Book Festival in May. The conversation is wide-ranging and covers the topics and themes central to Nicole’s new memoir, A Living Remedy, as well as questions and considerations central to memoir and telling the stories that must be told. Don’t miss this thoughtful and relatable interview. If you’re writing your story, Nicole’s words will make you feel like you can and should keep going! Also, Write-minded is celebrating our 250th episode this week. We thank you for your loyal listenership! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.