The Creative Nonfiction Podcast with Brendan O'Meara

This episode was originally a three-parter from back in the day. It features Brian Mockenhaupt, author of the critically acclaimed By-Liner Original "The Living in the Dead." Enjoy the hell out of this throwback all mushed together into one episode.

Mary Pilon is the New York Times best-selling author of "The Monopolists" and a freelance "story person".

Brin-Jonathan Butler, a freelancer writer whose much-acclaimed work has appeared in SB Nation Longform, Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, and Harpers, stops by the podcast to talk about his approach to his beautiful writing.

Charles Bethea is an Atlanta-based writer-at-large whose work has appeared in Outside Magazine, Grantland, and The New Yorker. He has even hiked the Appalachian Trail. That should give you an idea of the intense focus this guy has. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, subscribe to brendanomeara.com, and share this with a friend! Thanks for listening!

Eva Holland is a freelance journalist who writes gripping narratives about the outdoors. Her piece "Unclimbable", written for SB Nation Longform, is getting a lot of attention and so too is she. Eva offers terrific insights into the life of a freelancer and how she got her start in this crazy biz.

My guest is Glenn Stout, series editor for the Best American Sports Writing anthology, longform editor at SB Nation, and author of several books including Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, A Championship Season and Fenway’s Remarkable First year. He talks about reading poetry in a baseball uniform outside Fenway Park while taking swigs from a two-liter bottle of bloody Marys. Yeah…it’s good. He also talks about his first writing assignment and also the ONE thing a writer can control. Hear about all that… and more …. on the next episode of #CNF.

Greg Hanlon is a crime editor at People Magazine and also a freelance sports writer. His piece "Sins of the Preacher" was anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing 2015 edition. His "The Many Crimes of Mel Hall" was a notable selection. That's called a hell of a run! In this conversation we hit up a lot nuts and bolts and also what Greg looks for in a story before he goes all in.

Sarah Einstein joins me to talk about her wonderful new book "Mot: a Memoir." Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a nice five-star review on iTunes!

Carrie Hagen is the author of "We is Got Him," a gripping narrative of the first ransom kidnapping in the United States. This book, her first, reads like a seasoned pro, like a writer in total command. I hope you enjoy this conversation and if the audio is a bit off, I apologize. It's always a challenge with my primitive equipment to make it sound like your other favorite podcasts. Bear with me, brighter skies are ahead. That said, Carrie's insights into her book a fascinating and helpful to anyone embarking on this kind of writing. Enjoy!

Joe DePaulo is a freelance features writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, SB Nation Longform and The Boston Globe Magazine, just to name a few. In this conversation we talk about some of the work that we turn to for inspiration and guidance. We also delve into Joe’s life as a freelancer, how he balances the harsh realities of making a living and doing the work he loves. That’s should whet your appetite enough for the time being. If you have the time, give the podcast a download/subscription, maybe give it a review. If these things add up I may be able to afford better equipment and produce an increasingly better listening product. Give a visit to brendanomeara.com and slam down your email so you stay up to date on the podcast and other musings. It’s a weekly email that goes out on Tuesdays. That’s it. Listen to Joe speak words!

John Scheinman won the Eclipse Award for feature writing in horse racing for his piece "Memories of a Masters" about the late Dickie Small. There's a bit of horse racing talk here so if you want to know John's sleeper pick for the Kentucky Derby this year stay tuned. About halfway through we really get into the weeds about reporting and some of the anxiety that comes with having to interview people. I think it's helpful to those who may suffer the same kind of performance anxiety I feel when I need to pitch or interview an intimidating figure. Thanks for listening. If you get a chance, sign up for the email updates at www.brendanomeara.com and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Maggie Messitt is the author of The Rainy Season: Three Lives in the New South Africa. Messitt is a writer, reporter, author, teacher, student, dog owner, and super kayaker and we delve into her writing process, how she handles her notes, and her Bookshelf for the Apocalypse (a new segment to the Hashtag #CNF podcast). There's so much great stuff here (and more I want to revisit in a Part 2). You'll get plenty of wisdom from Messitt here. I hope you enjoy this re-re-birth of the podcast. I have a new microphone so hopefully this means better quality and more consistency as I speak with more practitioners of narrative nonfiction. For more show notes be sure to visit www.brendanomeara.com and subscribe to the podcast. It all starts with you. Thank you so much! Love, Brendan

Author Richard Gilbert talks about his wonderful memoir "Shepherd." We talk about the process he went through creating the book and how the best artists simply produce more work. Apologies to listeners: The audio is a bit messy in places. My goal is to get better equipment only if people are listening. So, if you listen, bear with me, better times are coming ... maybe ... I'm putting up a donations button on the website. If you think the show is worth $1, give a $1. The more I raise, the better the listening experience will be.

Brian Mockenhaupt, an intrepid and elite reporter of the living, turns his eye to those long gone. And as we near the 150th anniversary of that bloodiest battle at Gettysburg, Mockenhaupt, through his deft skill as an information gatherer, writes a compelling story about friendship, love, and loss in the most famous battle of the Civil War and its putrid wake for those left behind. It culminates with President Lincoln presiding over a newly created memorial to the felled Union soldiers, a speech where he turns the volume down so we may hear the ghosts of Gettysburg.

Sheri Booker’s memoir Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner City Funeral Home chronicles her near-decade long experience immersed the culture of death. Everything from picking up bodies to preserving them in the inner sanctum of Wylie Funeral Home. In it Booker learns that death knows no age and that a funeral home is every bit a part of a community as a church. She also addresses the age-old question of whether or not bodies move on the embalming table.

In Episode 4, I welcome Harrison Scott Key, winner of Creative Nonfictin's "Southern Sin" essay contest. The essay, titled "The Wishbone", is a hilarious account of Key's father suiting up his too-old son to win a pee-wee football game. In this conversation, we talk about "The Wishbone", where Key found his comedic sensibility, his forays into improv and stand up, and the mechanics of humor writing.

Well, what didn't we hit on? It was a pop culture kind of podcast. Let's face it, it had to be since author and Barrelhouse nonfiction editor Tom McAllister joined me to talk about "Bring the Noise: The Best Pop Culture Essays from Barrelhouse Magazine". McAllister is the author of "Bury Me in My Jersey: A Memoir of My Father, Football, and Philly." He is also a professor of creative writing at Temple University and, most recently, is the editor of "Bring the Noise". As McAllister riffs in his hilarious introduction, BTN is a treatise "on the the stupid things we love". Yes, there's the stupid things we love, but BTN shows how beautiful these stupid things are when in the hands of seventeen artful storytellers whose personal stories elevate popular culture to the adult table. In it you'll find professional wrestling, roller derby, Barry Bonds, stalking Aaron Grenier, and the "never-ending reality of The Hills" and, in true Barrelhouse style, the Patrick Swayze question.

Susan Kushner Resnick is the author of "Goodbye Wifes and Daughters," which won a gold medal for nonfiction from the Independent Publisher’s Book Awards. Her first book, "Sleepless Days: One Woman’s Journey Through Postpartum Depression," was the first PPD memoir by an American author. In her latest book, "You Saved Me Too: What a Holocaust Survivor Taught Me About Living, Dying, Fighting, Loving, and Swearing in Yiddish," Susan writes of the chance encounter she had with Aron Lieb, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, and the blossoming love and friendship that came from that meeting.