The Stories Between Us
Two writers, Shawn Smucker and Maile Silva, married to each other, explore the highs and lows of creativity, publishing, and the writing life.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 29 minutes
- Episodes
- 185
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2023
165 Bryan Allain on Perseverance, Grief, and Creativity
Today we have a great conversation with Bryan Allain about the publication of his middle grade book, Lake Mason and the Super Q Trials. He tells about this journey to book two in the series, why he w…
164 Our Three Favorite Books of 2022
Maile and Shawn decide on their three favorite books of 2022. Shawn's favorite is no surprise to those of you who have been listening to the podcast. Maile's favorite has, dare she say, changed her l…
163 Martha Anne Toll, Debut Novelist at 65
Today, Martha shares the story of her long and winding journey to publication, releasing her debut novel at the age of 65. There are valuable lessons that come with that kind of perseverance. What if…
162 Hannah and Nathan Anderson on Collaborating With Spouses (and Their Beautiful Advent Book)
Hannah Anderson came to writing through desperation. Her husband Nathan grew up in a home full of creative people and loved to draw. Today we're talking about how they collaborate (while raising chil…
161 It's a First for Sean and Jamie Dietrich (Sean of the South)
We couldn't wait to talk with Sean Dietrich about his new book, You Are My Sunshine, but let's be honest, what we really couldn't wait for was having his wife Jamie on the podcast. She claims she's n…
160 Looking Beneath the Surface with Patrice Gopo
Let's talk about place and belonging! Essayist and children's author Patrice Gopo joins us today to explore what it might look like to use our imagination when considering other people's stories. Wha…
159 Leslie and Ned Bustard Talk Creativity, Cancer, and the Gift of Art
Leslie Bustard is a poet, a publisher, and a gatherer of creative people. Ned Bustard is an artist, a writer, and a publisher. Of course, they are both much more than that, but today we take some tim…
158 Join Our Writing Community for Free
Today we have a special announcement to make: our online writers' community, also called The Stories Between Us, is now open to any writer who would like to join. And it's free. But registration will…
157 Adam Perry Brings the Ghosts
At 16 years old, he had a weekly comic in the Lancaster paper. At 19, he had finished writing his first middle grade novel. Now, numerous books and years later, Adam Perry is trying something new: he…
156 Sarah Westfall and Being Human Together
Today the wonderful Sarah Westfall joins us to talk about community--is digital community real? Is it good? Is there anything we can do to bring it to a more complete place?
She also talks about her…
155 The Practice that Makes All the Difference
Maile talks about what she's returned to that is making all the difference in her creative life, as well as why she wasn't crazy about the beginning of one of Shawn's favorite books. There's a brief …
154 Getting 2% Better
We're back! We're talking about a book that has challenged the way we prioritize writing in our lives, a book that has reminded one of us about the kind of writing we actually want to do, and we're a…
153 A Final Episode
In this, our final episode of the season, we talk about how, occasionally, hard things happen in life that change our creative direction. The key, we think, is to pay attention, to ground ourselves i…
152 After Less-Than-Stellar Book Sales...What Now?
What now?
That's the question Shawn and Maile explore after Shawn's recent check-in with his agent. Unimpressive book sales make it difficult for an author to continue to receive offers on new books,…
151 Creative Goals and the Life of a Writing Mama
Shawn finds an 8-year-old goal he set way back in 2014, so he and Maile spend some time talking about it. Maile shares her perspective when it comes to goal-setting in the midst of raising six childr…
150 Take What You've Learned...and Make it Yours
Graduation is in the air. Today we're talking about our own high school and college graduations, what our hopes and expectations were as young writers, and what we would tell our 18-year-old selves a…
149 That Thing That Will Transform Your Creative Life
Today we're reflecting on having reached the age where we have a high school graduate, what we're reading and watching, and, perhaps most importantly, that one thing that can transform your creative …
148 Writing for the Fun of It
Today we're talking about a recent interview we watched with Anthony Doerr, author of the Pulitzer-prize winning book All the Light We Cannot See, along with the recent Smucker household favorite, Cl…
147 Devi Laskar Does It Again
Today we're talking with author Devi Laskar about why a timed writing practice is so helpful, how she settled on second person for the point of view of her newest novel Circa, and how she gets past t…
146 Katy Stafford Writes a Memoir
When Katy's fiance called off their engagement a week before the wedding, she was thrown into a tailspin. But in the ensuing weeks, months, and years, she discovered a strength in herself she didn't …