Avsnitt
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Calling all lovers of true tales about the sea! This week I'm talking with Eric J. Dolin, bestselling author of numerous books that explore some aspect of American history, generally as it relates to the sea. His latest book is "Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World." Eric has a really interesting through line that started with him studying to be a marine biologist, then morphed into studying environmental policy, and includes a big list of cool, interesting jobs, including curatorial assistant in the mollusk department at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.
We covered:
- Eric's winding path to writing, which started with wanting to be Jacques Costeau as a kid, wended through getting three degrees in marine biologist, and ended with him working in government jobs (managing a fishery, for example) while saving up to make the leap to writing full-time
- How winning awards can keep you going, even when you're not selling as many books as you'd like
- HOT TIP: Eric's new book, "Left for Dead," would make a great Father's Day gift!
- How "people are overly impressed with writers", and that recognition can also keep you going
- The skills he developed as a student that help him write books
- How researching his current book generally leads to the idea for his next book
- The secret cove in Marblehead where Eric gets his reading done during the summer
- How reading books from the 1800s and early 1900s (as part of his research) changes his language
Visit Eric at ericjaydolin.com.
For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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In this final section of my conversation with "Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth," Kate Schapira, we cover:
- Finding ways to bring her work to groups that are already gathering for another reason (hint: need to a professional development speaker or workshop leader to talk on working with climate anxiety?)
- Using the concept of cross-pollenization as a guiding principle
- The writers whose work has changed Kate's life
- The books, beverage, and songs that Kate can't get enough of
For full show notes, with links to everything Kate and I discuss, visit katehanley.substack.com. And to get each interview in one ad-free episode delivered straight to your inbox or podcast feed, visit katehanley.substack.com and become a paid subscriber.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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In this second part of my conversation with Kate Schapira, author of "Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth," we cover the squishier parts of writing, including:
- The process of deciding just how vulnerable to be in your writing
- The emotional difference between writing poetry and writing prescriptive non-fiction
- How her inner critic is a salty SOB
- How a writing group holds you accountable to write despite what your inner critic is telling you
- A peek inside the mechanics and beauties of Kate's writing group
- The illusion of innocence (WOW this really blew my mind open)
- Trying to be a good person vs. trying to have a good effect
For full show notes, with links to everything Kate and I discuss, visit katehanley.substack.com. And to get each interview in one ad-free episode delivered straight to your inbox or podcast feed, visit katehanley.substack.com and become a paid subscriber.
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This week I'm talking with Kate Schapira, author of "Lessons from the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth," which takes readers through the practical skills and emotional shifts needed to navigate our way to a more livable future.
Kate is also the author of six books of poetry, and her prose has appeared in The Rumpus, The Toast, and other places. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where she teaches nonfiction writing at Brown University. And fun fact about Kate, she has never met a tide pool that she didn't like.
In this episode we covered:
- How her grief over climate change inspired her to set up a table at a park in downtown Providence with a sign that said "Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth" and start talking to folks
- How that act of inspiration/desperation became a book
- The kinds of things people talked to her about at the booth
- Why she consciously chose NOT to pursue writing as a career path (it's her...side hustle? side passion that sometimes pays a little?)
- How to create a little more space when it feels like the walls of worry about the future are closing in
- The four-word mantra that helps her stay creative
- The genius (and new-to-me) concept of 'productive dissociation'
For full show notes, with links to everything Kate and I discuss, visit katehanley.substack.com. And to get each interview in one ad-free episode delivered straight to your inbox or podcast feed, visit katehanley.substack.com and become a paid subscriber.
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In part three of my conversation with multiple New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of "A Very Inconvenient Scandal" and "The Deep End of the Ocean," among many other titles, we talk about how having writer friends is so important, even if you "jealous them", the vision of the future that's fueling her to keep writing, and the recent books that made her swoon.
- The writers--and books--that make Jacquelyn jealous (a word that she uses as a verb, as in, "I'm jealousing her."
- Her love for British crime shows, including the ones that are currently keeping her up way too late
- The BBC podcast she's addicted to
- The beauty of enjoying nature--through a window
- The saying on the mug that she brought home from the Erma Bombeck conference that is her current motto
- The songs Jacquelyn listens to when she needs a pick-me-up
- The meal "that's probably 2,000 calories per bite" that she would ask for if someone said they would make her anything she wanted
For full show notes, with links to everything Jacquelyn and I discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you'd like to receive these episodes ad-free, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com.
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In this second part of my interview with the brilliant and hilarious Jacquelyn Mitchard, we talk about the squishier side of creativity–the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that affect your work, even if you're not fully conscious of it, including:
- The specific reader Jacquelyn imagines as she writes
- Why she's devoted to social media, and why she thinks of it like having a hamster
- How some of her books have 'missed the mark' (but she's not going to tell you which ones)
- The pep talk that gets her through those moments of feeling like a pretender
- The small rewards Jacquelyn uses to congratulate herself for getting another few good sentences down on paper
- The John Prine lyric that sums up her views on aging
- What she learned from growing up on the West side of Chicago (and the viewpoint of her father's that she outright rejects)
For full show notes, with links to everything Jacquelyn and I discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you'd like to receive these episodes ad-free, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com.
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This week I am thrilled to be talking with Jacquelyn Mitchard, the New York Times bestselling author of 23 novels for adults and teenagers. Her newest novel is "A Very Inconvenient Scandal," and her first novel, "The Deep End of the Ocean" was the first selection of the Oprah Winfrey book club and has sold more than 3 million copies and been translated into 34 languages.
We covered:
- How losing her husband in her late thirties put her on a quest to publish a novel "to prove that I could have a second act"
- How, when Oprah called, she deleted the messages because she felt it must have been a friend pranking her
- How she would most definitely NOT write even if she didn't get paid
- How the hardest part of the work is coming up with the idea
- How Jacquelyn's dreams help her write her books
- How she writes her book one sentence at a time, from start to finish, like building a skyscraper
- The realities of being chronically sleep deprived
- The difference between copying and stealing
- Living on the Cape, yet hating the beach
- Why she only ever has one cup of coffee
For full show notes, with links to everything Jacquelyn and I discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you'd like to receive these episodes ad-free, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com.
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In the final installment of my interview with generous and prolific writing goddess Sari Botton (she publishes Oldster Magazine, Memoir Land, and Adventures in Journalism on Substack, authored And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen X Weirdo, Goodbye to All That, and Never Can Say Goodbye, and was the essays editor at Longreads), we talk about what's coming up next for her, as well as her favorite shows, books, songs, time, and food.
- What projects she’s dreaming about creating next
- The two things she knows she needs to shift (including a great tip for folks with Sephardic Jewish heritage!)
- Plus, Sari’s favorite show, the last book she devoured, her go-to karaoke song, and her ideal dinner (hint: it’s shellfish heavy)
If you want to hear these interviews in one, ad-free episode, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com. Full show notes available there, too.
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In part two of my interview with Sari Botton, founder of Oldster Magazine and author of And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Gen X Weirdo, we dive deep into the inner stuff, including:
- Her favorite part of sharing her work with the world
- How she navigates the ethics of including other people in her personal writing
- How her inner critic loves to tell her she doesn’t haven’t permission to write about what she wants to write about—and how she gets past it
- How getting older, and developing arthritis, is making her re-think some things, including her beloved wooden clog collection
- Her personal role models
- That thing that just won’t remove itself from Sari’s bucket list, even though she’s trying to move past it
If you want to hear these interviews in one, ad-free episode, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com. Full show notes available there, too.
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Sari Botton is the author of And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Late-Blooming, Gen-X Weirdo and Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York. She's also the creator of Oldster, a Substack newsletter devoted to exploring the joys of getting older. (Her Oldster questionnaire was a direct inspiration for my starting this podcast.)
Sari was my first ever guest on Finding the Throughline--I'm replaying her episodes this week.
- The continuing ed class she took as a 20-something that lead to her personal writing career
- The thing her uncle told her when she was 10 that sparked a lifelong fascination with growing older
- Why she loves Substack—as both a writer and a reader
- The thing about trusting your instincts that Shalom Auslander first told her in 2010 that it took her 10+ years to believe
- The incredible power of writing annoying, non-work stuff down on your to-do list (even if you’re already done it)
- What she does to cheer herself up and clear her head
- Her morning routine (including what exactly goes in her mug)
If you want to hear these interviews in one, ad-free episode, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com. Full show notes available there, too.
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In this final part of my interview with Sonya Huber, professor at Fairfield University and author of Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.
We talked about:
Her beautiful vision of the future include a possible memoir of living with anxiety and… goat writing retreats!
Sonya’s four aunts who were nuns and role models for living a joyous, industrious life
The classic short stories Sonya reads and re-reads for inspiration
The insanely awesome sounding “coffee smoothie” she makes each morning
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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[Sonya Huber, inner stuff]: How your personal writing can deepen your relationships + how not to hate writing
In this episode I'm talking with Sonya Huber, author of eight books including Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto and professor in the low-residency MFA at Fairfield University about the mindset piece of writing–the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that affect your work, even if you're not fully conscious of it, including:
Ways to handle the anxiety that comes when in the months before your book is published
How to deal with the fear that you’re personal writing will hurt someone in your life, or get it ‘wrong’
How writing about your own life can deepen relationships with people close to you
“Sometimes books really matter to people in ways you don't even imagine they will”
How getting long Covid inspired Sonya to write three books in three years
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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This week I am interviewing Sonia Huber, a prolific and award winning writer in many genres, but primarily in creative nonfiction. Her book of essays on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System was named a best book of 2018 by The New Statesman. Her other books include Love and Industry (2023), Voice First: A Writer's Manifesto (2022) and Supremely Tiny Acts (2021). Her essays have been included in the Best American Essays series numerous times. And she is a professor in the department of English at Fairfield university and in the Fairfield low residency MFA program. Despite all these places where Sonya's work has appeared, I found her on Substack, where she publishes a newsletter called Nuts and Bolts with Sonya.
We covered:
Why and how Sonya works on multiple books at one time (“maybe because I’m super distractible”)
Not being afraid to follow a tangent
Having zero expectations for your writing output, and just having fun exploring the things you’re curious about or mulling over
How much “tiny steps add up to bigger works”
How farm-sitting goats pays as much or better than writing
The book about writing that was written in 1938 that played a huge role in Sonya’s approach to writing
Sitting down for one hour in the mornings even if you’re bored or uninspired to “unsnarl one tiny knot I’ve made for myself”
Strategies for keeping your various ideas accessible, if not exactly organized
Using writing as a tool for dealing with chronic pain
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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In this final part of my interview with Joanne McNeill, author of Wrong Way (a novel set in the near future at a company that manages driverless cars) and Lurking (a non-fiction look at the history of the internet from a user’s perspective), we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.
We talked about:
The novel The Lodgers by Holly Pester, about the housing crisis, and how it hurts a little bit every time she has to put it down because it’s so good
Joanne’s sci-fi inspirations, including Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, Ursula Le Guin, and Octavia Butler, and what specifically about their work fuels her writing
How avant garde sci fi novels used to sell hundreds of thousands of copies–and how this hunger for challenging work is still present, even if you’re not a fancy city elite
A tiny sneak peek at the new book she’s working on. OK, not really, but she does share how she’s trying to write this one differently and push back on the ideas she’s created about how she writes best
Joanne’s answers to the fast 5 questions–a book she was stunned by, where she gets her coffee beans, the Kate Bush song she finds so meaningful that she only listens to it a couple of times a year so it doesn’t lose its power, her favorite season, and the perfect wrap sandwich she would ask for if someone offered to make or buy absolutely anything she wanted.
Joanne’s website: https://www.joannemcneil.com/
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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In this episode I'm talking with Joanne McNeil, author of Wrong Way (a novel set in the near future at a company that manages driverless cars) and Lurking (a non-fiction look at the history of the internet from a user’s perspective), about the inner workings of creativity–the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that either help you do your work, or get in the way.
Warning, there’s a tiny bit of cursing and a mention of sexual harassment in the workplace–not a specific story, but just the topic in general, so take care while listening.
We talked about:
The thrill of writing an op ed and indulging that desire to be right…
…. compared to writing something more personal (fiction or nonfiction) and being more reflective and offering more of yourself
Reckoning with the fact that since her novel, Wrong Way, happens at work and the main character is female, she’d need to include scenes of sexual harassment in order for it be authentic–and really not wanting to go there (“I kind of wrote them in a flurry”)
Resisting the urge to overcompensate for the fact that she doesn’t have the ‘right’ writer’s resume
Why she still considers herself to be an emerging writer
How having writers who come from outside the traditional writing pipeline is so important for the future of writing…
…and how those writers will naturally take longer to develop (so please don’t tell yourself it’s ‘too late’ or ‘taking too long’!)
A mini rant about the use of AI to create art, and being the cheesy romantic who says “humanity is important”
Joanne’s website: https://www.joannemcneil.com/
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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This week I am talking with journalist, essayist, and novelist, Joanne McNeil. Joanne's first novel Wrong Way came out in 2023. It's a sci-fi novel set in the near future that takes a look at the intersection of the gig economy and big tech and is both satirical and touching–it also made a lot of lists of the best books of 2023 and The New Yorker called it “a literary sneak attack on the very idea of 'the future.'” Joanne's first book, Lurking, is a nonfiction look at the history of the internet from a user's perspective. Joanne is also an important tech critic and has been writing professionally for 20 years.
We covered:
How posting on message boards in the early days of the Internet led Joanne, a kid from a working-class Massachusetts town, to pursue writing
Getting strategic about your career, especially when you don’t come from the traditional path of Ivy League undergraduate degree and top tier MFA
The often slow but vital work of building a diverse community
How residencies are like gift cards–and how to create your own residency if need be
Joanne’s list of must-have supplies for a writing residency: bulletin board, push pins, Post-It notes, and a detailed list of what to get at Trader Joe’s
Acknowledging the fact that one hour to yourself can serve as a residency when you need it to
Joanne’s website: https://www.joannemcneil.com/
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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In this final part of my interview with Hayley Krischer, journalist and author of the soon-to-be-released “Where Are You, Echo Blue?” we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.
We talked about:
The incredible allure of hot tubs
How re-watching “The Actor’s Studio with James Lipton” was a key part of her research process for “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”
What she learned from studying actors about getting in to the psychology of her characters
The Instagram influencer who’s helping Hayley understand her perimenopausal body and learning how to take care of herself (Health with Holland)
Thinking ahead to when her youngest child is out of the house
A preview of both her YA novel that’s coming out in 2025 (think Charles Manson meets Goop meets teenage girls) and the adult novel she’s writing next
The 620-page novel Hayley read in four days because she couldn’t put it down
The exact morning beverage (my second guest who swears by Peet’s Coffee Major Dickinson blend) the fuels Hayley, and the (dark) song that gets her fired up when she needs a kick in the pants
Hayley on Instagram and Threads: @haylerkrischer
Hayley on TikTok: @hayleykrischerauthor
Hayley’s website: hayleykrischer.net
Hayley’s Substack:
Hayley’s upcoming book (pre-order it now so that you have it for as much of the summer as possible, it’s gonna be the best juiciest beach read of the year): Where Are You, Echo Blue?
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
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In this episode I'm talking with Hayley Krischer, author of the upcoming “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”, which is poised to be the beach read of the summer, about the squishier side of creativity– including:
The steps Hayley takes–and the tools she uses–to immerse herself in the world of her novels and inside her characters’ psyches
What she does when she’s feeling stuck
How good it feels when you connect with someone who loved your work in the real world
The YA author Hayley fan-girled all over when she realized he was also an audience member at a reading she was attending
How writing and editing can feel “horrible,” “like torture”--and the parts that make Hayley feel like jumping for joy
How her inner critic loves to tell her she should be able to write a novel while also taking five-mile hikes every day
How the months between when you’re done working on a manuscript and the book is published is a tough time, mentally–and how to navigate it
The self-care practices helping Hayley through (the journaling practice, the supplements, the breathing exercise that helps her sleep)
Busting the myth that writers make a lot of money and how hard it is to make a bestseller list
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
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This week I am talking with journalist and novelist Haley Krischer. Haley's journalism has won awards and appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, and Elle, among other places. She has profiled celebrities like Tatum O'Neill and Celine Dion and Gabrielle Union, and she's reported on trends through a feminist lens. Haley's first two novels were for young adults: “Something Happened to Allie Greenleaf” and “The Falling Girls.” This summer, her first adult novel is coming out: “Where Are You, Echo Blue?” It's about a journalist's obsessive search for a missing Hollywood starlet. And I for one am so looking forward to packing that on my summer vacation.
We covered:
Which former child actor/celebrities Hayley obsessively researched for her upcoming book, “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”
How she found herself working at the Boston Globe in college and found all the journalists “these grimy, sexy, fascinating people”
The brilliant wisdom she tells her kids about power of just keeping going.
The circular editorial career that led her to being an author
The “pure insanity” that keeps her coming back to the page
The writing program Hayley signed up for that took the story she’d been working on for 20 years and could never sell and helped her revise it into a form that sold to a major publisher in four days (her first YA novel, “Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf”
The exact mechanical pencil she used to write her upcoming YA novel that’s coming out in 2025
The author that inspired Hayley to write a novel in longhand
Why you should never trust yourself to remember that great idea and the myriad ways Hayley captures those ideas, wherever they may happen
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
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In part three of my conversation with author of Building Boys, Jennifer Fink, we talk about the mind trip that is beginning to envision retirement.
I have to point out that this is the third interview in a row where my guest mentions that they have a phrase written on a Post-It note hanging above their computer monitor. In addition to sharing what she’s written on her Post-It notes (plural–there are two), Jennifer shares some of her go to shows, snacks, and songs.
The lure of leaving it all behind and becoming a flight attendant: “After raising teenagers, unruly passengers? Cinch”
The Building Boys Book Club Jennifer is currently dreaming up
What’s written on the Post-It note above her computer (there are two of them, actually)
Finding ways to connect more directly with the people who value your skills and expertise
Thinking about retirement, and having more regular access to scuba diving
Envisioning being able to work only on the things closest to your heart and having plenty of time for relationships
The Netflix show the world went crazy over a couple years ago that Jennifer just discovered
The secret to making movie-theater-caliber popcorn
Her go-to Pandora station
Why December 23rd is the best day of her year, hands down
Connect with Jennifer:
At her website: buildingboys.net
At her Substack (email newsletter): buildingboys.substack.com
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
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