The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

"Every project I do has made me more fit and better to do my next project," says Allison K. Williams. It’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the very best in the genre of telling true stories, how they got to where they are and the tools, tips, and tricks that make them so good at what they do. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara. Today’s guest is none other than Allison K. Williams. She’s @GuerillaMemoir on Twitter and you can visit her website at idowords.com. Allison is a performer, an editor, and a writer. She also hosts the Brevity Podcast so I recommend subscribing to that wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, while you’re doing that, why don’t you consider subscribing to this show if you don’t already. Share it with your pals if you think they’ll get some value. This is our tiny corner of the Internet and we’re making it bigger each and every week. That’s on you, brah. Oh, and you gotta sign up for my monthly newsletter. I send out my monthly reading recommendations and some other tasty goodies straight to your inbox on the first of the month. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it? Be sure to give your buddy Brendan a follow on the socials: @BrendanOMeara on Twitter and @CNFPod on Twitter. I post cool audiograms and quote cards on Instagram @brendanomeara. One more, there’s a Facebook page for the podcast if you do most of your hanging out over there. Remember, kids, if you can’t Do, Interview! See ya!

Earl Swift, author of Chesapeake Requiem, stopped by CNFPod HQ to talk about his reporting and writing life.

Today I present to you Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of the Lost World. The entirety of the book is brilliant but the way Steve talks about T-rexes and the Asteroid are some of the most compelling reading you’ll come across. What’s so great about this show is Steve’s passion for his work and the story behind the book, which is part serendipity, but more just how doing your THING, whatever that is over and over and over again SHOWING UP and what good things can come if that happens. It’s what I like to say is BEING IN THE GAME. You can’t be noticed, you can’t be recognized unless you’re putting it out there. I love Steve’s passion and energy and I hope you do too. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, and Stitcher!

"I find it inspiring to see people have successes. It makes me want to do better stuff," says Scott C. Scott is an author and illustrator and his latest wonderful creation is Adventures in Drawing: A Guided Sketchbook. This thing is tons of fun. I love drawing as a way unplugging my brain from my daily nonsense. His Instagram feed is chock full of his amazing and playful sketches and water colors. His great showdowns are hilarious and cute and fun. I won’t do them justice by talking about them so you should visit Scottc.com or look him up on Insta at Scottlava. We talk a lot of creative insecurities, comparing yourself to others, and the importance of community in any artistic pursuit. I wish I had two hours to talk to Scott, but we’ll have to made due with one. One other thing...are you subscribed this pod? Go find it on Apple Podcasts, Sticher, Google Play, and Spotify. And if you’re feeling kind, leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Please share this with a buddy. Go find Scott at scottc.com and follow him everywhere. Buy his book. Buy his merch. Buy a great showdown print. I deserpately want the Infinifty War print and the Spiderman Homecoming print, and the Wonder Woman print. I was thinking of suggesting a Titanic and Iceberg Great Showdown, but that seemed in bad taste. Thanks for listening CNFers. Much love from your humble host. If you can’t DO, Interview! SEE YA!

Candice Hare, on-air talent for TVG, joins me on the show this week.

"The great thing is if you find the right story it often is more interesting than fiction because it's weird and quirky," says author Matthew Polly. Today’s guest is Matthew Polly. You can find him on Twitter @MatthewEPolly or visit his website mattpolly.com. He’s the author of three books of nonfiction, most recently Bruce Lee: A Life. He’s a graduate of Princeton and a Rhode’s Scholar, so you can say my 1050 SAT score didn’t exactly level me up any in this conversation. You think you know Bruce Lee, but you have NO idea. None. But after 500 pages about the Kung Fu master you come away knowing the whole story. In this episode you’ll learn about Matt’s approach to writing biography, taking risks, how comedy writing helped Matt find his voice as well as who was the most influential writer to Matt as he developed as a writer himself.

"We're not each other's competition; we're each other's colleagues," says Jennifer Gregory. Content marketing superstar Jennifer Gregory came by the show this week. Her book, the Freelance Content Marketing Writer, could be a life changer for you. @ByJenGregory on Twitter, @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter.

"Revision as you go along can be tremendously destructive of what you're doing," says author Paul Willetts. I’ve had quite a run of late of guests from the other side of the pond as it were. Today is no different as I welcome Paul Willetts to the show. Paul is very smart and he loves the work. He is the author of several books of nonfiction, most recently King Con: the Bizarre Adventures of the Jazz Age’s Greatest Imposter.” Yes, that’s right. Hey, there CNFers, I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is my show... it’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about the art and craft of how they approach telling true stories: doc filmmakers like Emer Reynolds, narrative journalists like Susan Orlean and David Gran, memoirists like Mary Karr and Andre Dubus III, and essayists like Hope Wabuke, to tease out origins, routines, and habits, so you can improve your own work and maybe realize you’re not alone out there. Cuz it can be a lonely, desolate, hell scape and sometimes we need some reassurance that someone who has quote-unquote made it feels the same way. Hey, you know the drill. Reviews and ratings on Apple Podcasts, the app most of your are listening to this show on are gold. Would you consider taking a few moments out of your day to leave a review? And while you’re at it, visit brendanomeara.com for show notes and to sign up for monthly newsletters. I’ve been doing that for a few years. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it. Well...Paul Willetts, everybody for Episode 112, we talk about how he struggles with beginnings, walking as writing, revision, building scenes. I hope you like it. I know I I did. Here’s me and Paul.

"You're really finding the film in editing the documentary," says Emer Reynolds. The brilliant filmmaker Emer Reynolds' documentary The Farthest chronicles the incredible story behind the Voyager Mission and the desire to seek out the unknowable while also seeking to be known. The Golden Record, Carl Sagan, the personification of this little spacecraft carrying with it everything that makes us human. My guest today is based in Ireland and talks about the craft of making doc film, her obsessiveness with research, and how exciting and empowering making a film is. If you love film and true stories, as well as the vast reaches of space, then you’re going to love this. If you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, please head over to Apple Podcasts and do so. And consider leaving a rating or a review to help with the show’s visibility. Also, head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to subscribe to my monthly newsletter where I send out my book picks and other goodies from the podcast. Please share this episode across your platforms if you dig it. Thanks to Hippocamp for the support. You only have this week to use that promo code CNFPOD, so get on it to save $50. Be sure to head over to brendanomeara.com to sign up for the monthly email newsletter. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

"I want to make something happen and I just work really hard to do it," says today's guest Scott Neumyer, a writer and host of the Anxiety Diaries Podcast. Today’s guest has a voice as smooth as velvet. It’s a voice you want to listen to over and over again and you know what? You can! Today I welcome Scott Neumyer to the show. Scott Neumyer is a writer who has been published by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, GQ, Esquire, Wired, Men's Fitness, and many more publications. He is a contributor to the anthology Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles, which Simon Pulse published in 2018. He is also the creator and host of the popular Anxiety Diaries Podcast. He lives in central New Jersey with his wife, two daughters, and two cats. You can find his work at scottwrites.com This is the show where I speak to the best creators about telling true stories, how they’re told, and why it matters so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. I’m Brendan O’Meara, and this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. Scott has been working hard on his new podcast, Anxiety Diaries, and it’s raw, it’s honest, and it showcases interesting people across the mental health-sphere. In this episode we dig into his origin as a writer, influential writers, lots about the craft of interviewing, and how to launch a successful podcast. If you dig the show, please subscribe and leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Joe Rogan doesn’t need anymore. I need them. Me. Okay, CNFers, thanks for listening, let’s get right into it.

"I could leave my father as a mystery, because he was the mystery I was trying to solve," says Jean Guerrero. Today I’m joined by a special guest. You may have heard of her, maybe not, but nevertheless her name is Jean Guerrero. She is a television reporter for KPBS in San Diego covering immigration. Too bad that’s not a topical subject. She is the winner of the PEN/FUSION Emerging Writers Prize and has worked for the Wall Street Journal and has won several reporting awards. Most recently she is the author of Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir, a story about discovering her father by crossing borders both physical and spiritual. This is the show where I speak to the world’s best artists about telling true stories, how those stories are told, and why it matters to them. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara and this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast! Hey, did you enjoy the show? Be sure to tweet us some love, I’m @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod and Jean is @jeanguerre. If you have a moment and you made it this far, please consider leaving an honest review on Apple Podcasts and if you want more goodies, head over to brendanomeara.com to sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. Once a month. No Spam. Can’t beat it. The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is sponsored by Hippocamp 2018. Now in its fourth year, Hippocamp is a three-day Pennsylvania writing conference that features 50+ speakers, engaging sessions in four tracks, interactive all-conference panels, author and attendee readings, social activities, networking opps, and optional, intimate pre-conference workshops. The conference takes place in lovely Lancaster, from Aug. 24 through the 26th. Past keynotes have been Lee Gutkind, Mary Karr, Dinty W. Moore, and Jane Friedman (all have been past guests on the podcast. Whaaaat?) This year Abigail Thomas will be the featured speaker. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com and click the “Conference” tab in the toolbar and if you enter the keyword CNFPOD at checkout you will receive a $50 discount. This offer is only good until Aug. 10 or until all those tickets are sold. There are a limited number so act now! Like RIGHT NOW. Hippocamp 2018: Create. Share. Live.

“Working outside of journalism before working in journalism can be a useful thing in terms of seeing how the world works,” says Katie Baker. Hey there, CNFers, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories, whether that’s narrative journalists, documentary filmmakers, essay and memoir writers and radio producers, I try unpack their lives and their work so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. I’ve been a fan of today’s guest for quite some time. Today for Ep. 108 I welcome Katie Baker to the show. She’s a staff writer for The Ringer. Prior to that she worked for Grantland, so there’s a Bill Simmons continuity thing going on there. Her work often focuses on a singular subject and she’s one of those writers that when you see her byline you know you’re in for some fun. Naturally I’ve linked to some of her work in the show notes. She’s @katiebakes on Twitter. Hey, if you enjoyed the show, let me know. I’m @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter. You can also email me. I’d ask that if you like this episode and others that you kindly subscribe to the podcast and share it across your social platforms. Also, please consider leaving an honest rating or review on Apple Podcasts. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to subscribe to my monthly reading list newsletter. Once a month. No Spam. Can’t beat it.

“The work that you put in is what comes out,” says freelance Seattle-based sports writer Matt Pentz. Well, well, well, what’s going on CNFers, my CNF Buddies, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast whereby I interview purveyors of the almighty true story. Today is no different as I welcome Matt Pentz, @mattpentz on Twitter, for Episode 107 of the podcast. Matt is a freelance sports writer based out of Seattle. In this episode we dig into his co-written expose on the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team that he wrote with Andrew Helms for The Ringer. We get real granular on how he collaborated on that piece. We also talk about how he handles his days as a freelancer and other influential writers. Share the episode if you dig it and tag me on social @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter. You guys are the social network so when you share it, I know you’re digging it. Thanks for listening everybody. If you dig the show, consider leaving an honest review on Apple Podcasts and sharing with a friend. Reach out on the socials if you have questions, concerns, or feedback. Also, if you head over to brendanomeara.com, not only will you find show notes for every episode, but you can sign up for the ever-growing monthly reading list newsletter where I share my book recommendations for the month, as well as what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

“I couldn’t, as an adult, get past the story of how her life ended. And I wanted to tell the story of she lived,” says Rebecca Fish Ewan. And away we go, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories. For Episode 106, I welcome Rebecca Fish Ewan, author of By the Forces of Gravity (Books by Hippocampus 2018), a love story between friends that ends in tragedy told through free-verse poetry and cartoons. It’s a great reading experience and a wonderfully told story of adolescence in the 1970s Berkley. You can buy the book by visiting books.hippocampusmagazine.com or via Amazon. In this episode we dig into how Rebecca chose to write the story in the way she did The power of community Writing from the POV of her 12-year-old-self And dealing with self doubt Rebecca is @rfishewan on Instagram, her preferred social network and is @rfishewan on Facebook. Go check her out. If you’re not subscribed, be sure to hit up Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, and Stitcher so you get a fresh delivery every Friday. Share this with people you think will dig it. Ad let me know what you think of it, what you got out of it. I’m @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. Pick a network, any network and let’s connect. If you dig the show and you have a minute, please leave a review over on Apple Podcasts. If you show me evidence of your review, I will edit a piece of your writing of up to 2,000 word. Also, show notes and the like are at brendanomeara.com. While there you can sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. Four books and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. You can’t beat that.

"It was always the story behind the headlines I found more intriguing," says Jonathan Green (@jonathanjagreen on Twitter). This is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories where we dig into origins, work habits and process so you can be a better a better storyteller. For Episode 105 I welcome Jonathan Green, author of “Sex Money Murder: A Story of Crack, Blood, and Betrayal” to the show. Jonathan’s story of how he became a journalist is inspiring in that he didn’t have the traditional route. We talk about his origin Using Tape Recorders Making the extra call Forming relationships among sources and much, much more. If you’re not already subscribed to the show, please head over to Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, or Stitcher and subscribe so you can get this into your feed every Friday. Thanks to you, thanks to Jonathan for his time. Before you go on about your day, would you be so kind as to consider leaving a review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts? I’d love to see us get to 100 ratings or reviews and we’re almost halfway. It takes just a few moments, but those few moments help immeasurably. Also, if you head over to brendanomeara.com, not only will you find show notes for the episodes, but you’ll also be able to sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. In it I share my reading recommendations for the month and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @BrendanOMeara and followed the podcast @CNFPod on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. You can also email me if you have any questions or concerns. If you’re struggling with your work, I’d love to help you out. So, you know, it’s been a while since I tried to get my wife to subscribe to the podcast and you know what she said: Okay, see you right here next Friday. Have a great CNFin’ week, friends. Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction.

Here we are again, welcome to The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories. I’m Brendan O’Meara. I gotta say right up top that there’s been some serious issues with my hosting, Podomatic for those in the know, with the RSS Feeds. Shows are coming up unavailable in Apple Podcasts and it disappeared from Google Play and Stitcher. They say they’re on it, but it’s been three days with no improvement. You can still stream the episodes from the embedded player on my website, brendanomeara.com, but in the meantime, downloading through the most popular and widely used platform—Apple Podcasts—is impossible until Podomatic gets it fixed. You might say I’ve been shopping around for other options. Episode 104 brings back Elizabeth Rush to the podcast. Her new book Rising: Dispataches from the New American Shore (Milkweed Editions) is out. She could be coming to a city near you so check the show notes for the Rising Tour. I think that’s what Bruce Springsteen called his tour when his Rising came out. In this episode we talk about: Rising sea levels How to turn bleak material into something beautiful How Elizabeth finds teaching energizing And sexual harassment while doing fieldwork, something she’s never been asked about and was happy to get to talk about. So that’s where we’re at. Please bear with me on the RSS nonsense. If you follow the social feeds, that links you up to my website so go find @CNFPod and @BrendanOMeara on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. Follow Elizabeth @ElizabethaRush on Twitter for all things Rising. If you made it this far I suspect you might like the show and want to help it out. Would you mind leaving an honest review on Apple Podcasts? That helps with validation and visibility. Let’s try and get to 100. We’re 57 ratings away at the moment. If a small fraction of you take out your phones, click on the star you deem appropriate, hit submit, that’s all you gotta do and you will have helped out the show in a major way. That takes like 10 seconds, if you want to leave a review, I will still edit a piece of writing up to 2,000 words for your kindness and time. Just send me a screenshot of the review with the date and we’ll get started. I also have a great monthly reading list newsletter where I send out four book recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. I don’t get any kickbacks or anything, so it’s just things I dig and endorse for your pleasure. First of the month. No Spam. Can’t beat that.

“What interests me are questions that don’t have answers,” says Dennis Overbye. Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction. So what is this show? It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to artists about telling true stories. Today’s guest for episode 103 is Dennis Overbye, @overbye on Twitter, a science writer for the New York Times. He’s a Pulitzer Prize-finalist and author of two books: Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe and Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance. I’d love it you subscribed to the show wherever you get your podcasts and share episodes across your social streams with people you think might get some value from the interview. You are the social network.

"You have to decide how you want to live in this ecosystem that is morphing around you," says Jane Friedman Hey, CNFers, guess what? Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction. It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. For Episode 102 of CNF Pod, I welcome Jane Friedman, the titan (though not like Thanos) of the publishing industry, whose book The Business of Being a Writer, published by the University of Chicago Press, is the best and most frank book on earning a living with words. It debunks a lot of myths and, quite honestly, could save a bunch of people from getting into the biz on false delusions and might even save more people from pursuing an MFA, a degree, IMO, that leads to more debt than fulfillment, controversial as that may be. And I have one, earned on the false pretenses of career advancement, but that’s not why we’re here. Jane talks about her upbringing in a small mid-western town, I wish it was Pawnee, but it wasn’t. How a writing career is very much individualistic Dealing with shame Playing the long game Embracing Change instead of fighting it And getting beyond the idea that the book is the be all, end all Jane can be found on Twitter @janefriedman and you can find me @BrendanOMeara on Twitter and Instagram. The Podcast is @CNFPod on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. If you have a minute or two, please consider leaving a review on iTunes/Apple Podcasts. That would mean the world to me and will help this podcast reach more people looking to tell their best true story. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to subscribe to my monthly reading list newsletter. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

"You can’t be passive and just sit back and wait for things to happen," says Andrew J. Chamberlain. I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories: leaders in narrative journalism, podcasting, radio, doc film, essay, and memoir and tease out origins, habits, routines, tactics, so you can improve your own work. For Episode 101, I welcome fellow podcaster Andrew Chamberlain. He hosts The Creative Writers Toolbelt, a podcast that gets real granular on the writing process. He has a fiction slant, but his experience interviewing and with ghost writing opened the door for him to come on my show. As an FYI, I went on his show not too long ago, so you should go and check that out. I’ll include it in the show notes. Andy breaks it down for you in this episode. Many of the tools apply to fiction, but if you’re anything like me, you want your nonfiction to read like fiction so I think you’ll get a lot of tasty nuggets from this one. Hey, if you haven’t subscribed, go and do that on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, and soon Spotify, still waiting for approval on Spotify, but it’s coming, I promise. Today’s podcast is brought to you by the 2018 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference. Now in its 6th year, the CNF Writers’ Conference is three days celebrating the art, craft, and business of writing true stories. May 24th through 26th in downtown Pittsburgh. Details at creative nonfiction.org/conference. Listeners of this podcast receive 20% off the registration price by entering coupon code CNFPODCAST during checkout. Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes for this and 100 other episodes. Follow me on Twitter @BrendanOMeara or @CNFPod. The podcast is on Facebook @CNFPodcast. Sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. It comes out on the first of the month and gives you a sampling of good books and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

"If I can get through the horribleness of the first draft, I have a chance," says Mary Karr. Today’s podcast is brought to you by the 2018 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference. Now in its 6th year, the CNF Writers’ Conference is three days celebrating the art, craft, and business of writing true stories. May 24th through 26th in downtown Pittsburgh. Details at creative nonfiction.org/conference. Listeners of this podcast receive 20% off the registration price by entering coupon code CNFPODCAST during checkout Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmag.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction. Whoa, boy, CNFers, it’s Episode 100 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. 100? Here for the first time? This is my jam, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories: leaders in narrative journalism, memoir, doc film, radio, and personal essay to tease out tactics, habits, origins, and routines so you can improve your own work. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your pods and share with a fellow CNF Buddy. Man…Are you serious? 100 episodes and for this special occasion we here at CNF Pod HQ bring you Mary Karr. I’m sure 99.9% of you know who she is, but if you don’t here’s the rundown: She’s the best-selling author of The Liar’s Club, Cherry, Lit, The Art of Memoir, and five books of poetry, including her latest, Tropic of Squalor published by Harper. Mary is a professor at Syracuse University and is best known and most responsible for the boom in memoir when The Liar’s Club kicked all our asses and showed us what a personal story could be. We talked a lot about the importance of patience, working through dozens of drafts, the nature of talent, and cellos, yes, cellos. She’s @marykarrlit on Twitter and Facebook and her website is marykarr.com. Be sure to stick through the end of the show where Mary reads two amazing poems from Tropic of Squalor. You don’t want to miss out on that tasty goodness. If you head over to brendanomeara.com you’ll find show notes as well as a chance to subscribe to my monthly reading list newsletter. And, no, if you click through and buy books I don’t get any kickbacks so you can rest assured that I’m selecting books that I enjoyed and get no compensation for. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat that. You can also support the podcast by leaving a review on iTunes as that helps our little corner of the internet get a little bit bigger. If you leave an honest review and send me a screenshot, I’ll coach up a piece of your work of up to 2,000 words. No diggity. That’s gonna do it, CNFers. Here’s to the next 100 CNFin’ shows up in your ears.

"I'd rather find the story and excavate it than make it up," says bestselling author and New Yorker staff writer David Grann. The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to the best artists about telling true stories and tease out origins, tactics, and habits so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. Welcome, CNFers, my CNFbuddies, oh, I’m feelin’ good today and boy do I have a treat for you. But first, if you don’t subscribe to the show, go and get it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, and soon Spotify and join our little tribe in this true story corner of the Internet. For Episode 99 I welcome David Grann, a New Yorker staff writer and the best-selling author of The Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. This is the best book I’ve read all year and with good reason. We dig into his approach to writing this book as well as key literary influences and why he ultimately landed on telling true stories. Killers of the Flower Moon, a National Book Award finalist, is now available in paperback. You can find more about David at his website davidgrann.netlify.com and follow him on Twitter @DavidGrann. Big thanks as always to you the listener and to David for taking the time. Hey, wanna help the show? Share this episode with a friend and think about giving it a review on iTunes. If you leave an honest review, send me a screenshot of it and I’ll coach up a piece of your work of up to 2,000 words. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to subscribe to my monthly reading list newsletter. I give out my reading recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat it. Is that it? I think it is. Thanks for listening, CNFers. I’m out.

"I think it's important to get perspectives from people who don't write exactly what you write," says Lisa Romeo. You know the drill…It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with leaders in the field of nonfiction about telling true stories, narrative journalists, doc film makers, essayists, memoirists, and radio producers to tease out tactics, habits, and routines, so you can apply those tools to your own work. If you don’t already subscribe to the show, do it on Apple Podcasts. Google Play Music, Stitcher, and very soon, Spotify. If the episode or episodes strike a chord, share it with your friends. You are the social network, not those other goons. Episode 98 feature Lisa Romeo (@lisaromeo on twitter), whose memoir Starting with Goodby: A Daughter’s Memoir of Love after Loss” tells the story of her late father and the continued relationship Lisa has with him in memory. It’s not a downer. Lisa writes it with such great tact that you never feel weighed down. Quite the opposite, really. She talks about: Brain dumps Writing right away as a form of note taking even while close to the trauma Getting perspectives from people outside your genre And the Power of Paper Habits Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes and to sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter. Operative word monthly. I send out my reading recs along with what you might have missed ffrom the world of the podcast. You can even ask for my new CNF Pod Zine! Issue No. 1 is out. Also, if you leave an honest review on iTunes and send me a screeshot of it, I’ll coach up a piece of your writing of up to 10 pages or about 2,000 words. That’s not reserved for five-star reviewers. You can leave a two-star review and I’ll still honor the deal, though if you made it this far you likely think the show has more than two stars worth of value, but whatever. These are things that move the meter in the podcastosphere, so those are deeply appreciated.

"If you're not doing something that scares you, at least a little bit, then you're wasting your time artistically," says Jeff Geiger. So, imagine a candle and it has two wicks, one on the top and one on the bottom. Now picture me lighting the candle at both ends. Do you see this fresh imagery? It’s almost as if this candle will burn out before its time. I only wish this represented something. What’s this? It’s not Friday! What is the meaning of these CNFin’ shenanigans? Well CNFers, I’m going to try and kill myself and do two episodes a week. Is this sustainable? The short answer is, of course, no, but if it can be managed that’s twice as many CNF buddies, twice the reach, twice the insights and double the insanity. This Taco Tuesday I bring you the one and only Jeff Geiger, jcgeiger.com, j.c.geiger on Instagram. Jeff recently won a Moth Grand Slam event, a five-minute oral true story. Unfortunately you won’t hear that story, but his winning that event is what opened the door to have him—a novelist by trade—on the Creative Nonfiction Podcast. What is this podcast wayward listener? It’s the show where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction or tellers of true tales: leaders in narrative journalism, documentary film, essay, memoir, and radio where I tease out origins, habits, routines, and debilitating self-doubt so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. Jeff’s book “Wildman,” was named a 2017 YA book of the year by Amazon and is one of those great coming of age books that is fun and illuminating to read. This episode is chock full of good and tasty nuggets. Jeff talks about his: Failures Transformation Oral story telling Not getting sucked down into the sunk costs of writing years in a different genre. Bonus: Jeff is one of those amazingly energetic and energizing people, so I think you’ll get done with this episode and want to do your best work. So go ahead and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. It’ll be on Spotify soon as well the normal places (iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher). Share this with a friend if you think they’ll dig it. Share it across you social platforms to spread the word. CNFers, this is what we do. Enjoy episode 97 with Jeff Geiger! So, we hit the 40 rating/review mark and I wanna thank all of you for taking the time, but let’s not stop there. Let’s get to the 50s, because reviews and ratings will help this little corner of the internet gain a bit of traction so we can reach and empower more tellers of true tales. Head over to brendanomeara.com for show notes, but also to subscribe to my monthly newsletter where I hand out my nonfiction (and sometimes fiction) recommendations for the month as well as tidbits from the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat that. Got a question or concern? Ping me on Twitter @BrendanOMeara or @CNFPod. Like the Facebook page @CNFPodcast or send me an electronic mail gram. As always, thanks for listening. Good bye till next time.

"When you need stuff done in conservation, you've gotta connect with the heart," says Emily Poole, illustrator for "Birdnote." Hey, it’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show were I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in narrative journalism, doc film, memoir, essay, and radio and tease out habits, origins, routines and punishing self doubt so that you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. I’m your host, Brendan O’Meara, hey, hey… Today’s episode is a little different for a couple reasons. One, it’s the first IN-PERSON interview in the history of the podcast. Two, it’s with an illustrator, whose book, "Birdnote: Chirps, Quirks, and Stories of 100 Birds from the Popular Public Radio Show" (published by Sasquatch), is out now. Said illustrator is Emily Poole (epooleart on Instagram). Emily banged out 100 original illustrations and the cover for 101 paintings in about three months time. How’d she do it? Bird by bird, buddy #AnneLamott. In this episode you’ll learn about: How Emily set up her days to accomplish this incredible feat of work. How she’s able to process useful criticism vs. criticism that’s more hurtful than helpful. And why art is important in the world of conservation. Anyway, this was a fun conversation and I hope you dig it. Be sure to pick up a copy of Birdnote for the bird lover in your life. It won’t disappoint, and neither will Episode 96 with Emily Poole! Subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your pods and consider leaving an honest review on iTunes to help bolster our little corner of the CNFin' Internet.

"I have a body of work that's based on work," says Mike Sager.  Hey, today I bring you the incomparable Mike Sager, @therealsager on Twitter. He of The Sager Group. He of the National Magazine Award. He of he talks you listen. In Episode 95 of the creative nonfiction podcast he talks about his humble start in journalism, suspending disbelief, the power of creating something, and journalism as sport. His collections of journalism include: The Lonely Hedonist, which includes all new material, Wounded Warriors, The Someone You’re Not, Stoned Again, The Devil and John Holmes, and Revenge of the Donut Boys, which features the iconic profile of Rosanne Barr, a feature that feels timely with the reboot of the show.  All of these books you can find at thesagergroup.net where you can buy them and learn a thing or two. His collections are an education. You wanna be good? You wanna be great? You gotta read Mike’s work, after you listen to this episode of course.

"In order to go fast, you've gotta go slow," says Kevin Wilson on Episode 94 of the podcast. Oh, the intro is back. The oral surgery disaster is ongoing, but I’m powering through. Might lose my bone graft because my stupid body won’t pump blood to it. It’s friggin’ bullshit, but all I can do is keep my fingers crossed that the surgery wasn’t for nothing. There are some podcasts that make me want to go out and be a better man and Kevin Wilson, back for his second at-bat for The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, is one of those guys. He’s president and founder of KWBaseball. He’s a hitting coach to developing players and several pros. His second book, Finding Clarity: A Mindful Look into the Art of Hitting, sounds like a baseball book. I know what you’re thinking, “Brendan, I don’t like sports. I don’t care about baseball. WTF, man.” Like Kevin’s #Goodbatting book we spoke about on Episode 32, “Finding Clarity” has so much value to anyone in any discipline. You can overlay your own experience onto the wisdom Kevin shares. You can read the book over a cup of coffee, but spend several hours journaling over the quick-hit questions at the end of the chapters. I’m telling you, give this one a chance. He talks about finding his “Why” Intentionality Sharing Failure Listening And slowing down to go faster If you don’t already subscribe, consider subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. I’d deeply appreciate a rating or a review on iTunes if you can spare the time. Show notes are available at brendanomeara.com. There you can sign up for my montly reading list newsletter. It’s a fun bit of goodness that hits on the first of the month. Once a month. No spam. You can’t beat that. This show is produced, hosted, booked, and edited by me, Brendan O’Meara. I’m on Twitter and Instagram @BrendanOMeara. The podcast is @CNFPod on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook.

"What I wanted to do was show the commonality of all life on earth...it seemed important to me that we're related," says Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. You'll excuse that there's not traditional intro and outro to this show. You might even prefer it. I've had what I can only hope is a MINOR complication with recent oral surgery and don't want to talk and thus compound the problem at hand. I won't bore you. EMT returns to the show to talk about her new book "The Hidden Life of Life: A Walk Through the Reaches of Time (Penn State University Press, 2018). Carl Safina, author of "Beyond Words," writes, "We are lucky to have shared some time on Earth with Elizabeth Marshall Thomas...Reading her is like looking through a telescope and realizing that the brightness you see actually happened long, long ago and has taken all this time to reach your own eyes." Dig the show? Consider leaving an honest review on iTunes and I will coach up a piece of your writing up to 2,000 words. Reviews are the currency that drives the podcast economy and I'd be thrilled if you added your two cents. Maybe I'll be able to talk next week. In the meantime, enjoy Episode 93.

"Lack of information can ruin people's lives in a profound way," says Norwegian medical student and co-author of "The Wonder Down Under," Ellen Stokken Dahl. So I had oral surgery this week so my capacity to speak with my face mouth is greatly hampered. Welcome to the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories, teasing out their origins, habits, and routines, so that you can apply some of those tools of mastery to your own work. What’s goin’ on CNFers! CNFbuddies! I recorded this interview with Ellen prior to the surgery so I sound like a human person through the interview. She along with Nina Brochmann wrote "The Wonder Down Under: The Insider’s Guide to the Anatomy, Biology, and Reality of the Vagina." It’s quite a fun read. Both Ellen and Nina are touring the U.S. as we speak since the book caught fire after their TEDxOslo talk about “The Virginity Fraud," breaking myths about the hymen and such got over 2 million views. It's up near 3 million now. Go take a look in the show notes. I spoke only with Ellen for this episode because Nina got sick at the last minute. Only one brilliant Scandanavian for you this week... Ellen hits on: How her curiosity led her to women’s health Co-authoring a book and co-writing a TED Talk How the lack of information can ruin lives And processing a new sense of global visability Yeah, a little house keeping, I’d love for you subscribe to the show so you can get one of these nifty little podcasts every Friday. Also, if you leave an honest review on iTunes I’ll edit/coach up a piece of your work up to 2,000 words. You give me one minute of your review time, I’ll give you a couple hours of mine. Not a bad deal for you. Okay, now it’s time to hear the brilliant … for episode 92, wow.

"Anybody who gets into journalism for fame for fortune or awards right off the bat I write off as an idiot," says Mary Pilon. So what’s the meaning of this? Mary Pilon again? For one I could listen to 52 episodes of Mary, but when we recorded I spliced the interview in two parts to shorten it and I’m glad I did at this point because my guest this week cancelled. What’s the lesson kids? Get interviews in the can. When I can it’s brilliant. Can’t always happen. Mary Pilon’s second book, The Kevin Show, is out now. She’s also the author of the bestseller The Monopolists. Her work appears in the New Yorker, NBC, the New York Times, Grantland. She’s been featured in Best American Sports Writing. She’s a boss. So for episode 91 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the worlds best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in narrative journalism, doc film, radio, essay, and memoir, and tease out origins, routines, habits, key influences, favorite books and movies so that you can browse those tips and see what works for you, I’m sharing a bit of Mary’s origin story: How did she become one of those Best 30 Journalists Under 30? How did she get to the Wall Street Journal and How did she survive her New York Times layoff? How did she ignite her freelance career? What’s an anchor gig? And the best advice she received from the late journalist David Carr. We dig into all that fun stuff. Pair this episode with Ep. 18 and Ep. 90 and you’ll have the perfect Mary Pilon trilogy. Little bit of housekeeping: I’m still doing edits for reviews. Give an honest review of the podcast on iTunes—one to five stars, your choice—show me proof, and I’ll coach up a piece of your work of up to 2,000 words. You can also leave an honest rating, which takes quite literally less than 10 seconds to do once you’re in iTunes.

"I can't think about writing a big project. It's too overwhelming for me but I can think about a thousand words a day and then this magical thing happens which is you end up with 90,000 words," says Mary Pilon (@marypilon). Hey, there CNFers, my CNFbuddies, I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is my podcast. The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is the show where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction: leaders in narrative journalism, essay, memoir, radio, and documentary film to tease out origins, habits, routines, key influences, mentors, self-doubt, so you can ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool, I’m not alone. I’m not a loser.’ And apply those tools of mastery to your own work. I welcome back Mary Pilon who hasn’t been on the show since Episode 18, now we’re on Episode 90. Mary comes back because she has a new book out: The Kevin Show: An Olympic Athlete’s Battle with Mental Illness.”  Feel free to say hi to me on Twitter, @BrendanOMeara or @CNFPod, Instagram @BrendanOMeara where I’m showing how I’m making the first issue of CNF Pod Zine. What? A zine? Oh, yeah. And Facebook, @CNFPodcast. Say hi, my friends say I’m a pretty cool guy. That’s it CNFers, have a CNFin’ great week.

"I have to remind myself that I have to be a little nuts to do this. I think all writers have to be a little crazy," says Sarah Minor. This week I bring you Episode 89 with Sarah Minor, @sarahceniaminor on Twitter and @sarahcenia on Instagram). She is a professor and a writer and her essay "Threaded Forms: Decentered Approaches to Nonfiction," looks to knitters, stitchers, and quilting bees to discover new and subversive models for writing memoir.  In this episode we talk about: Visual Essays How boredom dictates her direction Losing voice and finding it And the ever-present battle of dealing with social media Let's do this. Okay, if you go over to brendanomeara.com you'll be able to sign up for my monthly reading list newsletter that has book recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No spam. Can't beat it.  You can say hi to me on Twitter and Instagram @BrendanOMeara. @CNFPod is the podcast Twitter page and @CNFPodcast is the Facebook page. You'll find me hawking over those territories all the time. 

"It's usually when you stop trying so hard that something happens," says Rachel Corbett, a New York-based writer and author. Hey, there CNF-buddys, I’m comin’ at you live from my shiny new digs. New house up in Eugene and I’ve got a nice little office I can call my own. There’s no foam on the walls yet, so please pardon the audio, but we’re making strides to be the best. Part of that is me shutting the front door and getting the hell out of the way. I still haven’t quite figured out a way to completely edit myself out of these interviews. But I’m working on it. Don’t worry… Rachel Corbett joins me this week for Episode 88 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in the world of narrative journalism, essay, memoir, radio, and documentary film where I try and tease out origins, habits, routines, mentors, key influences, so you can apply some of their tools of mastery to your own work. Rachel is a freelance journalist whose work appears in a few rags you might have heard of: The New Yorker, the New York Times, etc. She’s also the author of You Must Change Your Life, The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin. She is @rachelncorbett on Twitter. Rachel hits on some key points about carving out your own niche How things come easier when you stop trying so hard Listening vs. talking Getting away from the work so you can come back refreshed. And the power of being dumb and defeated (some of us were born this way). Stay tuned to the end of the show for some incentivized calls to action. In the meantime, here’s my conversation with the brilliant Rachel Corbett.

"I like to start from the present," says Hope Wabuke. "It's vibrant and visceral and has these questions that are lingering throughout time but we can access them." Let’s talk to Hope Wabuke this week for episode 87… She’s @hopewabuke on Twitter and at hopewabuke.com. Hope is a poet, though she knows it, and her essay “The Animal in the Yard” is one of six 2018 Pushcart nominations for Creative Nonfiction Magazine, no we’re not a couple, but our friends tells us we like each other. I had a real hard time cutting this interview down, something I do to all of them, because she is so wise and illuminating throughout, that I left it largely untouched.

"My best advice to people who want to write in any capacity is just do it. Get started. It doesn't matter where you publish," says Noah Strycker, author of Birding Without Borders. My guest today for Episode 86 of the Creative Nonfiction Podcast is Noah Strycker, author of Birding without Borders: An Obsession, A Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World.

“To be sincere is to be powerful and creative nonfiction allows me to do that, to be sincere," says Jamie Zvirzdin. Hey CNFers, hope you’re having a CNFin’ good week. It’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction: leaders in the world of personal essay, memoir, narrative journalism, documentary film, and radio and try to tease out origins, habits, and craft so you can experiment with any cool nuggets you hear. Today’s guest was the runner up in Creative Nonfiction’s “Science and Religion” contest from Issue 65. It’s Jamie Zvirzdin and her essay “Shuddering Before the Beautiful”: Trains of Thought Across the Mormon Cosmos details Jamie’s conflict with the Mormon church and her ultimate break from it, but doing it in a very empathetic way. There’s no vindictiveness in the story. She just lays it all out there. So we dig into that a bit. In this episode you’ll also learn: Her Fragment Heaven and Graveyard Hell How she’s really analog when it comes to scheduling Her addiction to learning And lots of influential books and writers I think Tom Petty said, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus!” So here’s my conversation with the great Jamie Zvirzdin.

Hey there CNF buddies, hope you’re havin’ a CNFin’ great week. What fuels you? What gets your engine revved up? What makes you redlined? For me it’s an interview and, dare I say, a riff… It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in the world of narrative journalism, memoir, documentary film, radio, and essay and try tease out the origins and habits so that you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. For Episode 84, I welcome Adam Valen Levinson. Adam’s a smart guy, a real smart guy, and he’s written the wonderful book “The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East.” Flip the book over and here’s a blurb from Buzz Bissinger, “Adam Valen Levinson is too young to have written a book this good: eloquent, analytical, funny, sad.” Still not impressed? Peter Theroux said, “A fabulously written primer on the darkest countries in the world—or not so dark, as Valen Levinson shows with his toolkit of sharp sociology and brilliant humor.” Well, I feel inadequate. Here’s a little more about Adam from his dust jacket bio: He is a journalist and travel writer whose work focuses on human stories in conflict areas. His work has appeared in numbers outlets, including VICE, the Paris Review, Al Jazeera, and Haaretz. He is an affiliate of the Middle East Institute in Washington DC and a Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University, studying humor as a key to cultural understanding. Damn. I make donuts and talk to people. Okay, so here’s that part where I ask you that if you dig the show, consider subscribing and sharing it with a fellow CNFer. Leave an honest rating on iTunes, which takes a few seconds, or leave a rating and a review and in exchange, I’ll coach up a piece of your work, up to 2,000 words. That’s the deal. That’s like a $100 value once I’m all done because I read things three times and mark things up like it’s my job.

"Going toward solitude and away from excuses has really helped me," says Victoria Stopp. Hey there, CNFers, my CNF buddies, hope you’re having a CNFin’ great start to the new year. Jan 1 is just a day like any other, but we as a culture have assigned supreme import to that day. If you’re coming here for the first time because your resolution is to listen more podcasts or you want to kickstart projects in the genre of creative nonfiction, then let me tell you the deal: This is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast—hello—the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction: leaders in the worlds of narrative journalism, documentary film, radio, essay, and memoir and try to tease out habits, routines, and origins so that you can use their tools of mastery in your own work. I’m Brendan O’Meara. For Episode 83 of the podcast, I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Victoria Stopp. You can find her on Twitter @victoriastopp or at her website victoriastopp.com. Her book Hurting Like Hell, Living with Gusto: My Battle with Chronic Pain, published by McFarland, tells the story of how she became mired in chronic pain after a traumatic neck injury. The book goes into great detail about her journey and how low and powerless it made her feel. Spoiler alert: she’s here to talk about it. In this episode we also talk about being super disorganized, finding solitude, how writing keeps pulling Victoria back even after she tried giving it up. Dig the show? Share this with a friend and consider subscribing. I ask that you leave an honest rating or a review on iTunes. Ratings take five seconds; reviews about a minute. 2018 is all about growth and having ratings and reviews helps with visibility. Did you know that I have a monthly newsletter? It’s true. I send it out on the first of the month and it contains my book recommendations for the month as well as what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. Once a month. No Spam. Can’t beat it. Also consider leaving an honest review over on iTunes. You’re already doing a lot by listening, but if you can spare a minute or two I’d deeply appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter @BrendanOMeara and the podcast now has its own Twitter account @CNFPod. It also has a Facebook page, so if you want the full immersive Creative Nonfiction Podcast experience, be sure to Like or Follow all the channels.

Hey, there CNFers, Happy New Year. It’s 2018 and we’re gettin’ rollin’ here for the biggest, baddest year for The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. And what is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast? It’s the show where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction: leaders in the worlds of narrative journalism, documentary film, radio, essay and memoir, and tease out the habits and routines so that you can apply their tools of mastery to your own work. I’m Brendan O’Meara. And to kick off the New Year, I’m actually not interviewing anyone because I’ve been traveling around creation at significant personal cost to see family and friends on the East Coast. So Episode 82 is me reading “The Language of the Gods,” my essay for Chris Arvidson’s and Diana Nelson Jones’ collection of baseball essays in “The Love of Baseball: Essays by Lifelong Fans.” The essay does have some footnotes, something I used to love, but am starting to have mixed feelings about, so when the footnotes appear, you’ll hear me say FOOTNOTE and I’ll read it followed by END FOOTNOTE. They’re not too disruptive. This is gonna be a big year, so if you dig the show, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, share it with a friend, and leave an honest review on iTunes. I’m extending my offer to edit a piece of your work up to 2,000 words and an hour of my time just for leaving a candid review. Just send me a screenshot of the review when it posts and I’ll reach out.

"Research is this vehicle that allows you to follow your interests however long you want to follow it," says Rachel Wilkinson. For Episode 80 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world's best artists about creating works of nonfiction, I spoke with Rachel Wilkinson, a writer and research based out of Pittsburgh, PA.  Her essay, "Search History," won Best Essay for Creative Nonfiction Magazine's Science and Religion contest for Issue 65. It's Google as religious experience, how the very act of asking questions is very faith-based, and, if we're getting grim and dystopian, how this technology, which is getting increasingly sentient, might supplant us some day. #spitoutthebone (Metallica reference for all y'all.) In our conversation we talk a lot how she crafted this essay and how it hangs on a big idea rather than sheer character drive, David Foster Wallace, The War of Art, the fun of research, embracing failure, and trusting—yes, trusting—self-doubt.  Self-doubt is my spirit animal.  Hey, are you digging the show? I'd love it if you subscribed to the show, shared it with a fellow CNFer. Leave an honest review on iTunes and I'll give you an editorial consult on the house. Just send me a screenshot of your review and I'll reach out. Thanks for listening!

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of several books including "Tamed and Untamed," says, "I don't think I followed a very traditional pathway. I did what I felt like doing." What shenanigans are we up to here? It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction. Leaders in the worlds of narrative journalism, personal essay, memoir, radio, and documentary film come here to talk about their origins, inspirations, and work habits so that you can apply their tools of mastery to your own work. For episode 80, I had the privilege of speaking to Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, who co-authored “Tamed and Untamed” with Sy Montgomery (of episode 79 fame). Elizabeth’s career is wide, vast, and prolific as you’ll soon hear. We talk about: Lessons she learned from reading Hemingway The Power of Ignorance Walking off with wolves How circumstances organize the work And the clear feeling of the early hours While we continue to party on here in the intro I cordially ask you for HONEST reviews over on the iTunes. It’s what drives visibility and credibility to CNFers like yourself. Send me a screenshot of your review and I will give you a free hour of my time to edit a piece of your work. You give you get. T’is the season. Make sure that review is time stamped in December 2017 and you’re golden. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the podcast. Thanks for listening.

"I have never picked the safe option and I have never regretted choosing what I've chosen ever," says Sy Montgomery. Hey there, CNFers, hope you're having a CNFin' good week. My, oh, my, where do we start? Maybe if you're new to the podcast I should let you know what it's about. This is the show where I speak to the world's best artists about creating works of nonfiction: leaders in narrative journalism (like Susan Orlean), personal essay (like Matthew Mercier), memoir (like Pulitzer Prize-winner Madeleine Blais), radio (Joe Donahue), and documentary film like (Jeff Krulik and Penny Lane). As of now it's mainly writers, but I'm scurrying like heck to get more filmmakers and radio producers on the show.  It's my job to tease out origins, habits, routines, and points of craft so that you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. I also hope that in having these conversations you might also not feel as lonely or alone in your artistic pursuits. You'll notice every single guest has the same set of anxieties you have and they manage to get the work done. I deal with my own self-hatred and lack of worth from the moment my alarm goes off at 4 a.m. so there you have it. Today's guest is Sy Montgomery and you probably know her from her gargantuan bestseller The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the World of Consciousness. It was a National Book Award Finalist and just one of the literally dozens of books Sy has written about animals.  In this episode we talk about: Sy getting her start as a business writer in Buffalo, NY Belief in projects even when you don't believe in yourself Being open to your expectations of a story changing as you go And much, much more Frankly, I came away from this conversation feeling good, just good, and the people who make you feel that way are the people you want to surround yourself with. I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, but whatever.  Before I send you off into the Animal Kingdom with Sy, here's that part where I ask you to leave an honest review on the iTunes. Any review posted from now through the end of 2017 gets an hour-long editorial consult from me, which is a $50 value if you like putting dollars and cents on things. Simply send me a screenshot of your review and I'll reach out. My pile of editorial is growing thanks to you. Reviews are the currency we play with to reach more people and empower them to do the kind of work they find most inspiring.

"For me, I'm thinking about the writing from the very first second I get an assignment," says Louisa Thomas, who made the 2017 volume for Best American Sports Writing. "I'm thinking about tone, and texture, and influences." I’m here to showcase the world’s best artists and how they create work of nonfiction so you can use their tools of master to improve your own work. Louisa Thomas joins me this week. She’s @louisahthomas on Twitter. She recently made the big book for The Best American Sports Writing for her piece Serena Williams, Andy Murray, and a Political Wimbledon. In this episode we talk about: Her biography Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams. Working with Problematic Writers and How Not to be One Mercenary Writing And what she learned working with New Yorker editor David Remnick How she organizes her titanic feats of research and much more People are taking advantage of my free hour of editorial work and coaching, about a $50 value. Want in? All you have to do is leave an honest review on iTunes and have it postmarked by the end of December. Send me a screenshot of your review and you’ll be on your way. Reviews validate the podcast and increase its visibility so we can reach more CNFin’ people. I’m not even asking for a 5-star review, merely an honest one because that comes from a more authentic place. All right, enough of my stupid face, time to hear from Louisa Thomas, thanks for listening.

For episode 77, I welcome Blaire Briody, that’s @blairebriody on Twitter. She is a freelance journalist who has written for The New York Times, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Fast Company, Glamour, among others. Her first nonfiction book, The New Wild West: Black Gold, Fracking, and Life in a North Dakota Boomtown. The book was the 2016 finalist for the Lukas Work-in-Progress Award from Columbia Journalism School and Harvard University, and she received the Richard J. Margolis Award for social justice journalism in 2014.  Blaire won Proximity Magazine’s second annual narrative journalism prize for her piece “It Takes a Boom,” which chronicles Cindy Marchello, the lone woman in the vast fracking sites in North Dakota. Ted Conover, author of several books and immersion journalist of the highest order, judged the contest, you can also hear him back on Ep. 50 of The Creative Nonfictoin Podcast, and here’s what he had to say about Blaire’s gold-medal piece: "This vivid portrait of a woman trying to work oil fields during the fracking boom rings totally true—we seldom meet people like Cindy Marchello in narrative journalism, but I don’t doubt for a second they’re here. I love the frankness and the matter-of-factness. Both Blaire Briody and her subject won my heart, and admiration." Nice… Speaking of being thankful, reviews and ratings have been flowing in and I want to extend a big, big thanks to those who are doing that and taking advantage of my editing offer as a result. What’s this? In exchange for an HONEST—it doesn’t have to be a good one, just an honest one—review on iTunes, I’m offering an hour of my time to work with you on a piece of writing. All you have to do is leave your review and when it posts, email me a screenshot of it. As long it’s postmarked any time between Nov. 2017 and the end of Dec. 2017, the offer stands. Reviews are the new currency and your help will go a long way toward building the community this podcast sets out to make, to empower others to pick up the pen or the camera or the microphone and do work that scratches that creative itch. Okay…now what? The first half of this interview had to be completely cut out. Why? There were some nasty internet gremlins wreaking all kinds of havoc with our connection. It sounded like an old, old Apple computer chugging in the background with some heavy thumps thrown in, maybe an aquarium’s aerator. I mean, it was weird, but more than that it was extremely distracting, so instead of putting you through that, fair listener, I’m going to sum up that first part of the interview in a few hundred words, then we’ll get to the second half that I recorded through a different connection and that sounds just fine.

“Joan Didion said ‘Writers are always selling people out’ and I have chafed against that because I don’t feel like I want to be," says Episode 76 guest Erica Berry. In a week where Creative Nonfiction reached its Kickstarter goal to support its monthly offshoot True Story, what better than to have the latest True Story author on the show? I’m your host Brendan O’Meara, and this is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with leaders in narrative journalism, essay, memoir, radio, and documentary film and try to extract the stories, habits, and routines, so that you can apply their tools of mastery to your own work. For Episode 76, I welcome Erica Berry. She’s an essayist, journalist, and eavesdropper. She’s a liberal arts fellow and MFA candidate in creative nonfiction at the University of Minnesota. She spent nine months at the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in rural Sicily co-producing a documentary about endangered culinary traditions. Now she’s working on a book of essays about fear and that’s what brought her here today. Not fear of the podcast. This is a safe place after all, but the fear she courted in Beasts Among Us, her True Story story, about the myth of the werewolf. It’s a chilling tale that feeds off of local lore and Erica’s own visit to the town where people swear they saw the man-wolf. And to start off the podcast, I have a treat, but first a little housekeeping. I’m still offering a free hour of editing/coaching for a piece of you writing. All you have to do is leave an honest review—notice I didn’t even say a nice review—of the podcast on iTunes, take a screenshot that also shows the date of your review, and email that to me. Anything postmarked from November 2017 to the end of 2017 is eligible. It’s my way of saying thank you. One friendly Canadian has already redeemed the gift and I hope dozens, if not more, of you will as well. So Erica was gracious enough to read from the first section of her story Beasts Among Us, so we’re going to ease into that. As a warning, the hairs on your arms might just stand up.

Chris Arvidson says, "There’s so much great real stuff happening that it seemed dumb to make up anything." What’s going on, CNFers? Before we get started I want to tease something. I have something I’d like to offer you loyal listeners and the thing is I could say it now, but I think I’m going to hold off until the very end of the show. Is that mean? That’s kinda mean isn’t it? Sorry about that…no I’m not… This week I welcome Chris Arvidson for Episode 75 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in narrative journalism, radio, essay, memoir, and documentary film and try to tease out their stories, habits and routines so you can improve your own creative practice. Chris co-edited along with Diana Nelson Jones The Love of Baseball: Essays by Lifelong Fans published by McFarland. It’s a beautiful book and we talk about its genesis, what makes for good baseball writing vs. horrible baseball writing, what’s the most important thing for Chris when developing a story, the organic nature of building a network, favorite books on writing, and much more. Chris also edited the anthologies Reflections on the New River and Mountain Memoirs. You can find more about her and her work at chrisarvidson.com. You feel good? You read to go? Let’s get to episode 75 with Chris Arvidson. Dig the show? Leave a nice review on iTunes. Thanks, CNFers!

Welcome back to another episode of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction to try and tease out the origins, habits, and routines so that you can apply their skills of mastery to your own work: narrative journalists, New York Times bestselling authors, award-winning filmmakers and, yes, even a Pulitzer Prize winner. Today’s guest is an extra special one: Madeleine Blais, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing while at the Miami Herald for her story Zepp’s Last Stand. I took her memoir class back in 2003 at UMass Amherst and we always managed to stay in touch over the years. She’s a friend and a treasured mentor to me, so I’m delighted to speak with her about her career and her latest book To the New Owners: A Martha’s Vineyard Memoir. Maddy is also the author of Uphill Walkers: Portrait of a Family, In These Girls Hope is a Muscle, which was named one of Sports Illustrated’s 100 best sports books of the 20th century, The Heart is an Instrument: Portraits in Journalism. And her piece that would eventually become the book for In These Girls, is the lead piece in “The Stories We Tell,” an anthology showcasing the best women journalists. We talk about her early career and a pivotal moment that pointed her toward feature writing vs. hard news, how she likes to cut against the grain when vetting stories, judging for the Pulitzer Prize, and many of the influential books that helped form her self-guided apprenticeship. Why wait any longer? Here’s the brilliant Madeleine Blais. Like the show? Please leave a nice review on iTunes! Thanks for listening.

Patsy Sims says, "The novel I always wanted to write didn't have to be fiction." No it didn't. Hey, CNFers, it's The Creative Nonfiction Podcast the show where I speak with the world's best artists about creating works of nonfiction. I try and tease out the origins and tactics from leaders in narrative journalism (like Susan Orlean), personal essay (like Elizabeth Rush), memoir (like Andre Dubus III), radio (like Joe Donahue), and documentary film (like Penny Lane), so you can apply their tools of mastery to your own work. Pasty Sims is the author of The Klan, Can I get an Amen!: Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Rivivalists, and, most recently, she's the editor of The Stories We Tell: True Tales by America's Greatest Women Journalists (The Sager Group, 2017).  Patsy has been such a champion of creative nonfiction that it's easy to forget that she was one of the pioneers in the 60s and 70s. She was the Dumbledorian headmaster of Goucher College's Creative Nonfiction MFA program and few people—myself included—ever asked her about her origins and her writing. But that's sort of the myopic nature of MFA students. Again, myself included. This is my way of atoning. That's neither here nor there. In this episode we talk about: Book projects as mini-educations. Paying attention to people who aren't paid attention to Building relationships Persistence Her fascinating approach to digesting notes and a lot, lot more As you know, it's about this time I kindly ask for reviews as they are the currency that validates this enterprise. It takes less than 60 seconds and it helps out a ton. There are 19 ratings and reviews and none of them are from family members. Scouts honor. Also, I have a pretty slick monthly newsletter where I share my monthly reading recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. I'd love for you to join this growing list. Once a month. No spam. Can't beat it. Dig the show? Share it with a fellow CNF-buddy. 

Hattie Fletcher says, "[True Story] is a snack in between the main meal." The main meal being the quarterly magazine "Creative Nonfiction." You could say we have something in common. It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in the world of narrative journalism, documentary film, essay, memoir and radio and try to deconstruct how these masters go about the work so that you can improve your own. This week I welcome back Hattie Fletcher, who is the managing editor for Creative Nonfiction magazine. What prompted a second trip? Hattie, along with Lee Gutkind and the team over at Creative Nonfiction, started a $27,000 Kickstarter campaign to support the second year of True Story, their monthly offshoot to the quarterly magazine. True Story is a 5-10,000-word stand-alone piece in chapbook or digital form. It’s pretty rad. In this episode we talk about what makes the green-lit pieces pop and what the rejected pieces have in common, and also some of the goodies you can expect with a pledge. I hope after listening to this you’ll head over to the Kickstarter campaign and pledge some hard-earned dough so they can keep doing the work they’re doing on True Story. Full disclosure, I don’t get any kickbacks of any kind. What a guy. Though, it would be nice if you shared the episode and even left a nice review over on iTunes to help validate the podcast so I can keep doing this thing. I’d hate for the business office to come down and slam the door shut on this enterprise. Keep the reviews coming so I can keep the doors open at CNFHQ. Links and show notes are available at brendanomeara.com.

Elizabeth Rush told me, “I’m just a mule. I just show up every day and climb very, very slowly up that mountain.” What’s up, CNFers?! Hope you’re having a CNFin’ good week. It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction: leaders from narrative journalism, memoir, essay, radio, and documentary film and try to tease out their stories, habits, and routines so that you can apply their tools of mastery in your own work. This week I welcome Elizabeth Rush to the CNFHQ. Elizabeth’s latest essay “Something Like Vertigo” appeared in Issue 64 of Creative Nonfiction and I wanted to talk to her about it. In this episode you’ll hear about: Her working in pie shops The importance of planning and deconstructing the end goal by working backward Pitching Poetry Her “aha!” moment And how telling true stories got her out of her own head And of course before we get to that I want to say thanks. Thanks for listening. Thanks for leaving reviews. Sometimes when I listen to other podcasts I get the impression that the hosts feel like it’s we the listener who is lucky to hear them. I want to flip that around and say what a privilege it is to make this podcast for you. It’s my great pleasure to bring this to you every week. But for now, if you get any value from this, anything at all, please share it with a friend and leave a nice review on iTunes. They keep adding up and they mean greater visibility and greater reach. Let’s keep building them up and get to triple digits. It starts with you and it takes under a minute to leave a short one, a little longer if you put some elbow grease into it. Entirely up to you, friends. Want show notes? Visit brendanomeara.com.

Erica Westly, this week's guest, says, “I try to picture myself telling the story to someone at the bus stop." It's the Creative Nonfiction Podcast where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction. Leaders in the world of narrative journalism, memoir, essay, radio, and documentary film share their tools and tricks with you so you can improve your own work. Today I’m happy to introduce you to Erica Westly, @westlyer on Twitter, a freelance journalist based out of Chicago. She’s also the author of Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game. It is published by Touchstone. We talk a lot about Erica’s career moves and pivots, how she worked through the titanic research effort she did on the book, and also how the book was kind of her last-ditch try at writing true stories. But before we get to that I want to thank the 19 folks who have left five-star ratings and reviews of the podcast. That’s incredibly generous and kind. Just last night, in a span of five minutes, I left reviews for Tim Ferriss, Chase Jarvis, Brian Koppelman, three of my favorite interviewers, on iTunes. They don’t need my help, but if I’m going to ask y’all for reviews, I better be leaving reviews too. Let’s keep adding to the total because the more we get, the more visible the podcast will be, and the more people we can reach so that we’re empowering a community of people eager to do this type of creative work, to tell true stories that connect us. Erica grew up in North Carolina, studied dance, but pivoted to sciences, and ultimate journalism, something that finally clicked for her. We pick up the conversation where she feels most engaged in the creative process.