The Secret Library Podcast

The Truth about Writing Books.

Education Arts How To

Update frequency: every 8 days
Average duration: 45 minutes
Episodes: 278
Years Active: 2016 - 2025

#87 Paula Priamos Turns Suspense Inside Out

Paula Priamos is no stranger to suspense. She spent her childhood in courtrooms thanks to her father's career as a defense attorney. She learned the language and the pacing of this world and dove i…

00:49:02 | Thu 25 Jan 2018

#86 Chloe Benjamin on the Immortalists

Chloe Benjamin is equally adept at creating myths and busting them. The Immortalists has enjoyed a tremendous amount of buzz, listed as one of the most anticipated books of 2018 on more than one lis…

00:40:40 | Thu 18 Jan 2018

#85 Cecil Castellucci on Writing for Young People

Cecil Castellucci has been writing for young people for over fifteen years, has published a stack of books and writes an ongoing comic book through an imprint with Marvel. She knows the world of YA a…

00:48:30 | Thu 11 Jan 2018

#84 Joanna Penn on building a full-time writing life.

Joanna Penn is a prosperous writer. Yes, you read that correctly. I wanted to begin the New Year with an episode guaranteed to inspire. Once I connected with Joanna, I knew she was the one to share w…

00:50:20 | Thu 04 Jan 2018

#83 Anu Partanen on the Nordic Theory of Writing

Anu Partanen never planned to move to the United States. She was very happy living as a journalist in Finland until she fell in love with an American, and ended up moving to NYC so they could marry …

00:49:52 | Thu 28 Dec 2017

#82 Mark Frauenfelder on Broad-Spectrum Enthusiasm

Everyone has heard the classic trope write what you love. In some cases, I have felt a bit bullied by this concept. "How am I supposed to know what I love most?" I have wondered. I think the best thi…

00:44:10 | Thu 21 Dec 2017

#81 Malu Halasa on redefining American Fiction

A journalist and author of numerous non-fiction books on the Middle East, Malu Halasa has just published her first novel, Mother of All Pigs. Born in Oklahoma, her Jordanian Filipina heritage gave he…

00:45:44 | Thu 14 Dec 2017

#80 Sandra Scofield gets you to the Last Draft

Sandra Scofield is like a warm hug from writing itself.

For ages, I've loved Sandra Scofield's The Scene Book with its reassuring composition notebook cover and its practical advice about writing gre…

00:50:42 | Thu 07 Dec 2017

#79 David Rocklin on finding a novel in a photograph.

David Rocklin found a novel in a photograph.

While researching his first novel about the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, David Rocklin was struck by an image she had taken of the Prince of Abyss…

00:48:40 | Thu 30 Nov 2017

#78 Lisa Cron on Writing from the Why

Lisa Cron is a woman on a mission: she wants to help you write your story so that your reader is glued to the page from the moment they pick up the book. She's going beyond plotting versus pantsing t…

00:51:18 | Thu 23 Nov 2017

#77 Piper Huguley Expands History

There are genres and then there are subgenres. One of the things I love about speaking with writers across all types of books is learning about the complicated world their books inhabit. In this case…

00:44:30 | Thu 16 Nov 2017

#76 Fran Krause on Our Deep Dark Fears

Since writers can be a fearful bunch, I️ wanted Fran Krause on the show as soon as I️ saw his work. He decided to explore an idea he had to illustrate irrational fears. He started out with his own, b…

00:50:32 | Thu 09 Nov 2017

#75 Steven Tagle on Fulbrights for Writers

Steven Tagle wants every writer to know about the Fulbright.

A few episodes ago, when Patricia Park was on the show, she mentioned something that made my ears perk up: that she had researched the po…

00:43:53 | Thu 02 Nov 2017

#74 Crushing NaNoWriMo with Kate Newburg + Tasha Harrison

It's almost November and you know what that means...

No- not Thanksgiving- NaNoWriMo! What does that mean, you might ask? It stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is a crazy 30 days where w…

00:44:00 | Thu 26 Oct 2017

#73 Victor LaValle on Amazing Stories read While Young

Victor LaValle writes good stories.

My husband has been devouring his catalogue of novels with a singular force.

"This is so good," he announces from his side of the bed. The last few months, when h…

00:38:53 | Thu 19 Oct 2017

#72 Scott O'Connor teaches in my living room

Yes, you read that right. On Tuesdays, Scott O'Connor shows up at my house along with a band of students.

It really is the most incredible good fortune. When I was offered the chance to host a nov…

00:45:35 | Thu 12 Oct 2017

#71 Patricia Park on Trusting the Process

Patricia Park is one of the few writers I know up to taking on Jane Eyre.

I'm not talking about talent. As well you know, there has been no end of that among the guests on the show. I am talking abou…

00:45:13 | Thu 05 Oct 2017

#70 Joe Fassler Lights the Dark

I wish I had been smart enough to come up with Joe Fassler's book idea.

As a fellow interview lover, Joe has been writing the column By Heart for the Atlantic long enough to amass a who's who of inte…

00:47:08 | Thu 28 Sep 2017

#69 Paul McVeigh on How a Story is Born

Paul McVeigh wrote a story in an afternoon that took twenty years.

How is that possible? We gather images over time, trying to figure out how they fit together. Paul had pieces of a story that didn't…

00:46:24 | Thu 21 Sep 2017

#68 Gabriela Pereira on to MFA or not to MFA

Gabriela Pereira doesn't think you NEED to get an MFA.

However, need and want are two different things. An MFA grad herself, Gabriela realized that many writers struggled with the dilemma of whethe…

00:48:26 | Thu 14 Sep 2017

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