The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

Note: A revisiting of an amazing chat I had with Ashley Audrain. Also ... We’re excited to be partnering with Writers Rising as one of this year’s sponsors, and as a special gift to our listeners, we were able to get you a 10% discount on your in-person or virtual retreat ticket. Visit WritersRising.com [https://awritingroom.com/retreat24/ref/57/] today and enter code writerfiles10 to get that discount. Buy your ticket now before they sell out! We’ll see you there. New York Times bestselling author, Ashley Audrain, spoke to me about giving herself permission to write sh*tty first drafts, writing in public, and her second novel THE WHISPERS. Ashley Audrain’s debut novel, The Push, was a New York Times, Sunday Times (London), #1 international bestseller, and a Good Morning America Book Club pick. It has sold in more than 40 territories, and a limited TV series is currently in development.  Her latest, The Whispers, is described as “ … a propulsive page-turner about four families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens – and what is lost when we give in to our own worst impulses.” The New York Times Book Review wrote, "Expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered …. [The Whispers] delivers a sucker-punch ending you’ll have to read twice to believe.” And #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune called it, “[An] electrifying … razor-sharp page-turner.” Ashley Audrain previously worked as the publicity director of Penguin Books Canada, and prior to that, worked in public relations. [Discover The Writer Files Extra [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id984527862]. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file, Ashley Audrain and I discussed:  * Why she felt intimidated by writers while working in PR * How to write claustrophobic, voyeuristic fiction * Why she is drawn to the darker side of literature * Tapping into the messiness of midlife ennui * How to escape your kids * And a lot more! Show Notes: * Writers Rising 2024 [https://awritingroom.com/retreat24/ref/57/] * ashleyaudrain.com [https://ashleyaudrain.com/] * The Whispers [https://amzn.to/3WXKQh0]By Ashley Audrain (Amazon)  * Ashley Audrain Amazon Author Page [https://amzn.to/43uX0jU] * Ashley Audrain on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ashleyaudrain/] * Ashley Audrain on Twitter [https://twitter.com/audrain] * Kelton Reid on Twitter [https://twitter.com/KeltonReid] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Critically acclaimed debut author Bryan VanDyke, spoke with me about the writer’s life in NYC, pushing the boundaries of literature and speculative fiction, and his latest novel about AI tech, IN OUR LIKENESS. Bryan VanDyke is a former staff writer for The Millions, and he graduated from writing programs at Columbia University and Northwestern. As a digital strategist, he advised and partnered with technologists, startup founders and venture capitalists. His “eerily timely debut novel,” IN OUR LIKENESS, draws on his experience and dramatizes many of the as-yet-unanswered questions about “the wonders and chaos” of artificial intelligence. Described as a “Frankenstein-esque tale befitting the information age,” CNN journalist and author of Age of Revolutions Fareed Zakaria called the book “A total triumph.” [Discover The Writer Files Extra [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id984527862]. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Bryan VanDyke and I discussed:  * Feeling like a double agent while he was struggling to get published * His love of genre science fiction and literary lions * What it was like to edit a book about AI during a sea change in the tech * How he edits his work on the go * Grabbing a drink with William Faulkner at Grand Central Terminal * And a lot more! Show Notes:  * bryanvandyke.com [https://www.bryanvandyke.com/] * In Our Likeness: A Novel [https://amzn.to/3TBbrQu] by Bryan VanDyke (Amazon) * Kelton Reid on Twitter [https://twitter.com/KeltonReid] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#1 New York Times bestselling author, Mark Oshiro, spoke with me about what journalism taught them about book editing, capturing a transitional age with young adult and middle-grade fiction, and their latest novel JASMINE IS HAUNTED. Mark Oshiro is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of young adult books including Anger Is a Gift, as well as middle-grade books The Insiders, You Only Live Once, David Bravo, and Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena. They are also the coauthor (with Rick Riordan) of The Sun and the Star: A Nico Di Angelo Adventure. Their upcoming middle-grade novel JASMINE IS HAUNTED (Starscape, Hardcover; October 1, 2024), is described as a "heartfelt, funny, fast-paced, and spooky” (Rick Riordan), tale about the gravity of grief and the courage it takes to overcome it. Mark Oshiro won the 2024 Georgia Author of the Year Award and the 2019 Schneider Family Book Award. [Discover The Writer Files Extra [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id984527862]. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Mark Oshiro and I discussed:  * The strange circuitous route to bestseller and the public perception of debut authors * Why their journalism background prepared them for a full-time fiction career * How they teamed up with the author of Percy Jackson & the Olympians * On writing queer stories with characters of color * The outsized influence of Octavia Butler * And a lot more! Show Notes:  * www.markoshiro.com [https://www.markoshiro.com/about] * Jasmine Is Haunted [https://amzn.to/4dVkVOy] by Mark Oshiro (Amazon) * Mark Oshiro Amazon Author Page [https://amzn.to/3TsZ09n] * Mark Oshiro on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/markdoesstuff] * Mark Oshiro on Twitter [https://x.com/MarkDoesStuff] * Kelton Reid on Twitter [https://twitter.com/KeltonReid] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Note: A revisiting of an amazing chat I had with the humble Emily Henry. #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry, returns to chat with me about depressing first drafts, what it's like to be a genre-bending, commercial fiction superstar, and her “glittering” new novel HAPPY PLACE. Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, and has sold over three million copies of her novels. Her latest is Happy Place, an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and her first hardcover novel, described as a book “...about reluctant exes who make a pact to pretend to date during an annual friends’ trip...” Author Taylor Jenkins-Reid called it "Another knock-out from the champ.” The Washington Post wrote that the book, “Blur[s] the lines between women’s and literary-leaning commercial fiction, departing from the fantasy spaces of bodice rippers and misty moors to depict a world that looks a lot more like, well, our own…” Emily's books have been featured in Buzzfeed, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and many more.  [Discover The Writer Files Extra [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id984527862]. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file, Emily Henry and I discussed:  * What it feels like to (still) be living inside a lightning strike * Why it’s easy for her to stay humble as a writer * How to write rom-com at the top of readers’ intelligence * Her take on superhero movie tropes * Why making a reader laugh is so much harder than making them cry * And a lot more! Show Notes: * How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Emily Henry Writes: Part One [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5uo0YaLVMWUF6k2jhD02bu] * emilyhenrybooks.com [https://www.emilyhenrybooks.com/bio] * Happy Place [https://amzn.to/433Ko2v] By Emily Henry (Amazon)  * Emily Henry Amazon Author Page [https://amzn.to/3aTzIhy] * Emily Henry on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/emilyhenrywrites/] * Kelton Reid on Twitter [https://twitter.com/KeltonReid] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

NOTE: This is an updated replay of my amazing chat with #1 New York Times bestselling author and screenwriter-producer Dennis Lehane. His latest novel, Small Mercies, was an instant NY Times Bestseller named an Amazon Editors' pick for Best Books 2023. Stephen King said of the book “Small Mercies is thought-provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” Enjoy! New York Times bestselling author and screenwriter-producer, Dennis Lehane, spoke to me about what he learned from Clint Eastwood, working on "Mr. Mercedes" with David E. Kelley, and his new Apple TV+ show "Black Bird." Dennis Lehane is the bestselling author of 13 novels including four adapted into films of the same name: 2003's Academy Award-winning film Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood; 2007's Gone Baby Gone; 2010's Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese, and 2016’s Live by Night directed by Ben Affleck. His latest is the limited Apple TV+ series, Black Bird, described as a "...fascinating, ripped-from-the headlines story [and] true-crime drama..." based on the 2010 memoir by James Keene and Hillel Levin, “In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption." "Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton), cuts a deal with the FBI to enter maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend a suspected serial killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser)." Black Bird premieres globally with the first two episodes on Friday, July 8, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday. Lehane was a staff writer on the acclaimed HBO series "The Wire" and also worked as a writer-producer on HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire" the Netflix series, "Bloodline," and a writer and producer on the television adaptation of Stephen King’s "Mr. Mercedes." [Discover The Writer Files Extra [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm [https://mailchi.mp/b93a5bdd9b99/writer-files-extra]] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id984527862]. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Dennis Lehane and I discussed: Why he sucked at everything except writing and playing pool How he landed a literary agent while parking cars Dealing with impostor syndrome early on Why he prefers screenwriting to novel writing today Why narcissists have no place on a TV set And a lot more! SHOW NOTES: Small Mercies [https://amzn.to/4gfSb4K] by Dennis Lehane (Amazon) Dennis Lehane Amazon Author Page [https://amzn.to/3bDDATJ] Black Bird | Apple TV+ [https://tv.apple.com/us/show/black-bird/umc.cmc.30gx1y8nwthydkrvhqu156p3] Dennis Lehane on IMDb [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1212331/] In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption [https://amzn.to/3IamsB9] by James Keene and Hillel Levin (Amazon) Kelton Reid on Twitter [https://twitter.com/KeltonReid] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]