GrottoPod
Conversations with working writers on the craft of writing, the writer’s life, and the broader writing community, recorded at the Writers Grotto in San Francisco, California.
- Update frequency
- every 10 days
- Average duration
- 52 minutes
- Episodes
- 154
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Episode 54: Kimberley Lovato On The Art of Travel Writing
Everybody, it seems, aspires to be a travel writer. This week’s guest, Kimberley Lovato, author of Unique Eats and Eateries of San Francisco and two more books, is already there. Join us as Lovato sh…
00:58:31 |
Tue 20 Feb 2018
Episode 53: Julie Lythcott-Haims On Late-Career Blockbuster Success
Many authors come to writing later in life, but few make the kind of splash Julie Lythcott-Haims did. She was a Dean at Stanford (and, before that, an attorney) when she quit to pursue an MFA in her …
01:03:35 |
Tue 13 Feb 2018
Episode 52: Ben Marks On Bringing History to Life
Ben Marks, the general manager of Collectors Weekly, brings his colorful backstory to the GrottoPod on this week's episode. Join us as we trace his wanderings from a childhood in San Rafael to a care…
00:58:49 |
Tue 06 Feb 2018
Episode 51: Dennis McNally, Scribe to the Grateful Dead
Some people want to meet their heroes; writer/historian Dennis McNally made a career out of meeting his. Already the author of the definitive Beat biography, Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Ge…
01:04:40 |
Tue 30 Jan 2018
Episode 50: Mary Ladd On How Cancer Changed Her Writing
Writer Mary Ladd was carving out a niche for herself as a San Francisco food and nightlife scribe when she ran headlong into a diagnosis of breast cancer. Looking ahead to a long road of treatment, i…
01:01:36 |
Tue 23 Jan 2018
Episode 49: Maw Shein Win, Poet Laureate of El Cerrito
Maw Shein Win is the place where punk and poetry meet. Win is a prolific poet -- and the poet laureate for the Bay Area city of El Cerrito. She's also the former percussionist, along with Mark Dutche…
01:01:23 |
Tue 16 Jan 2018
Episode 48: Larry & BQ On Managing Your Writing Career
What’s your New Year's resolution? Does it have something to do with writing? Do you want to write and publish more (or less)? Ease into the new year -- and your literary resolutions -- with Larry an…
00:48:30 |
Tue 09 Jan 2018
Episode 47: Po Bronson & Ethan Watters On Starting a Writers Collective
For next “best of” GrottoPod episode we return to our roots -- and the San Francisco Writers Grotto’s roots -- with guests Po Bronson and Ethan Watters. The Grotto co-founders joined us for GrottoPod…
00:57:05 |
Tue 02 Jan 2018
Episode 46: Lee Kravetz’s ‘Strange Contagion’ Takes Off
This week, we travel back in time to visit with GrottoPod producer Lee Kravetz as he anticipates the release of his second book, Strange Contagion, last June -- and then return to the present as Lee …
01:00:50 |
Tue 19 Dec 2017
Episode 45: Shanthi Sekaran’s ‘Lucky’ Year
2017 has been quite a year for our inaugural GrottoPod guest, Shanthi Sekeran. Her novel, Lucky Boy, has been named to several “best of” lists, including NPR’s Best Books of 2017, and she’s travelled…
00:49:19 |
Tue 12 Dec 2017
Episode 44: Guinevere de la Mare’s ‘Love Letter to Reading’
Guinevere de la Mare, author of I’d Rather Be Reading, calls the compilation of art and essays “a love letter to reading.” De la Mare's life-long love of reading led her to create the Silent Book Clu…
00:59:59 |
Tue 05 Dec 2017
Episode 43: Jennifer March Soloway: All About Agents
How do agents spend their time? This week, Jennifer March Soloway, associate agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, joins her old running buddy BQ and Larry in the GrottoPod to clear up some of t…
01:06:09 |
Tue 28 Nov 2017
Episode 42: Cristina Garcia, From Cuba to Berlin
This week, seven-time novelist Cristina Garcia joins the GrottoPod to discuss the evolution of both her best-selling debut novel Dreaming in Cuban (1992) and herself, tracking her path from Havana to…
00:59:03 |
Tue 21 Nov 2017
Episode 41: Larry & BQ At The NaNoWriMo Halfway Point
How’s your NaNoWriMo coming? This week, Larry and BQ pause at the annual novel-writing sprint’s halfway point to reflect on their experiences keeping up a 1,700-words-per-day pace, and to discuss the…
00:56:38 |
Tue 14 Nov 2017
Episode 40: Kitty Stryker On Activism, Consent and Juggalos
Activist, sex worker, lecturer, Juggalo, editor and writer Kitty Stryker has no shortage of interests and no trouble staying busy. Already a widely-published journalist and essayist, her new book Ask…
01:02:52 |
Tue 07 Nov 2017
Episode 39: Kaitlin Solimine’s Glimpse Into China
Kaitlin Solimine thought her future would be in international business -- until a high-school Mandarin class changed the course of her life. Two decades later, this former exchange student, East Asia…
00:55:14 |
Tue 31 Oct 2017
Episode 38: Grant Faulkner’s Pep Talks For Writers
Sometimes writers just need a pep talk. Fortunately, Grant Faulkner's new book provides 52 of them. Faulkner, the author of Pep Talks: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo and Executiv…
01:05:11 |
Tue 24 Oct 2017
Episode 37: John Roderick On How to Make Agents Want You
The Long Winters frontman John Roderick joins us on the GrottoPod this week and talks about how making a splash -- anywhere -- can lead to a book deal. Roderick, who formed the long-running Seattle b…
01:21:46 |
Tue 17 Oct 2017
Episode 36: Zen And The Art Of Literary Readings
This week, Larry and BQ honor San Francisco’s biggest (and liveliest) literary festival, Litquake, by focusing this guest-free episode on literary readings: what makes them succeed (or not!), how the…
00:55:35 |
Tue 10 Oct 2017
Episode 35: Litquake Founder Jack Boulware
On the eve of Litquake, San Francisco's renowned literary arts festival, co-founder Jack Boulware joins the GrottoPod to talk about his life in the literary scene. Boulware is also the co-founder of …
01:06:35 |
Tue 03 Oct 2017
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