Writing Stories
Each episode of Writing Stories features an interview with a contemporary author about how her book went from an idea in her head to an object on a shelf. Join us on Writing Stories for honesty, struggle, and triumph, for writing community, publishing insight, and inspiration to persist in whatever difficult but meaningful journey you've chosen for yourself.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 30 minutes
- Episodes
- 78
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
With My Background in Publishing, I Knew Nothing Was Make-or-Break
In this episode Samantha Browning Shea talks about MARROW and covers:
writing her own book as a literary agent for others
when her first novel didn't find a publisher
writing with small ch…
"This is my start" — Lorraine Russell tells the story of Love and Shadows
Lorraine Russell tells the story of Love and Shadows. Along the way she covers:
Self-publishing on Amazon
Using Fiverr to find cover designers and editors
Fear of failure
Getting yoursel…
"I'm not writing just for myself" — Danielle Teller tells the story of FORGED
Danielle Teller tells the story of Forged and talks about:
success as a writer
rule-breaking
the pitfalls of newspaper articles in novels
When your a…
“There’s Someone Out There...I just Have to Find Them." — Christine Kalafus tells the story of FLOOD
Christine tells the story of FLOOD and talks about:
Copy editing your own work
Thinking about text structure like architecture
Agent shenaniga…
Two Things That Are Anathema in Publishing — Deesha Philyaw tells the story of The Secret Lives of Church Ladie
Deesha Philyaw tells the story of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Along the way she covers:
Being in the Norton Anthology of Literature
The ways Church La…
"Your Life Can Be Set Up Like An Artist's Residency" — Sasha Hom tells the story of Sidework
Sasha Hom tells the story of Sidework.
Along the way she covers:
Profluence
Including multiple nows in your writing
Making appreciation a discipline
Polyphonic nature of restaurants and m…
A Safe Place to Explore — Jennie Case tells the story of We Are Animals
Jennie Case tells the story of We Are Animals.
Jennie talks about:
- control, safety, and risk in the creative process
- speaking to the current moment
- how to gesture toward the place…
"Are You All In?" — Rebe Huntman tells the story of My Mother in Havana
Rebe talks about:
querying (and querying again!)
hiring a publicist
writing about grief
art vs archiving
enjoying the ride
the changing publishing industry
The Dignity of Small Things — Libby Maxey tells the story of Indwelling
Libby Maxey talks about:
- using sonnets to put the pandemic in a box
- writing 'off of' other writers
- the ancient tradition of starting a book with an author's address to the book
- …
Have The Audacity — Dori Lumpkin tells the story of Antenora
Dori Lumpkin talks about:
Comp titles and queries
Religious tea drinking
Setting up a book signing
Method writing (like method acting)
Book tattoos
"I Learned the Hard Way" — Emma Pattee tells the story of TILT
Emma Pattee talks about
Postpartum creativity
Writing by hand
Navigating the distance between one's own vision and feedback and finding one's breaking point with a project
Confusing a de…
"Charge into the Messiness" —Wayne Scott tells the story of The Maps They Gave Us
Wayne Scott talks about
Writing well-rounded characters that can surprise us
Trying to sell a book that publishers don't think will sell to women
Marriage as a story
EM Forrester's Aspec…
"It's really annoying to write a novel" — Mariam Rahmani tells the story of Liquid
Mariam Rahmani talks about:
Preserving voice
How to know when you are ready to bring editors and other readers in to your process
Racialized pay gaps and racialized double-standards in p…
Do what you have to do to get the work done — Cally Fiedorek tells the story of Atta Boy
Cally talks about:
Hardware and software in a story
A need to detox from the marketplace
Woeful inefficiency in the writing process
Zadie Smith and 'obsessive perspective disorder '
Furi…
Questioning Assumptions — Nicole Graev Lipson tells the story of Mothers and Other Fictional Characters
Nicole Graev Lipson tells the story of Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. Along the way we talk about:
Sexism in publishing
The 'mother shelf'
Microscopic truth and Brenda Ueland
W…
Once I found the voice and the mode of the narrative, I could just PLAY — Shubha Sunder tells the story of Optional Practical Training
Shubha Sunder talks about:
Constructing a narrative through the things that people say to the main character
Characterization as a "portrait in the negative"
Writing through divorce and …
"I DO belong over here on this side" — Nanda Reddy tells the story of A Girl Within A Girl Within A Girl
Nanda Reddy talks about:
Deadlines and focus
Manuscripts in drawers
Querytracker
critiquematch.com
Accepting previously rejected parts of ourselves as part of the process of writing ficti…
Don't Revise, Explode — Elyse Durham tells the story of Maya and Natasha
Elyse Durham talks about:
Remaining open and flexible in the process
Following your fascinations
Focusing
Most adorable book deal celebration
Ballet, Greek Orthodoxy, and the body
Histo…
"Oh, you want a plot? I'll GIVE you A PLOT" — Emily J. Smith tells the story of Nothing Serious
Emily J. Smith talks about:
Graphing plot points and clues
That whole job/money/housing/social class/art tangle
Validation, connection, tech, and writing
Bouncing back from failure
Bring…
"Take Your Time" — Olufunke Grace Bankole Tells the Story of The Edge of Water
Olufunke covers:
-The importance of the relationships in the process of publishing your work
-What makes her a 'real' writer
- Savor…