Episodes

Amy and I discuss Lady Sunshine, how Woody Guthrie and Fleetwood Mac inspired her book, crafting the lyrics for the songs included in Lady Sunshine, taking someone’s art and finishing it, her unique Covid writing spot, and much more.

John and I discuss Bad Moon Rising, the inspiration for Heidi Kick, weaving timely issues into his mysteries, connecting his community in rural Wisconsin with the bigger themes and conflicts in culture, the most challenging part of writing for him, how the pandemic upended his next book’s storyline…

Saumya and I discuss What a Happy Family, wanting to focus on mental health and the ways we do and do not talk about it, how memories are filtered through our own experiences, the origins of the title, balancing two careers and a young child, and much more.

Alka and I discuss The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, providing Malik with his own story and his popularity with readers, finding the balance between wearing her reader hat and her writer hat while writing, the inspiration for the Royal Jewel Cinema, launching her Reimagine series on Instagram, and much …

Clare and I discuss Hostage, the idea that it is far more terrifying when you do not know where a threat is coming from, landing a plane herself at a flight simulation center (listen to learn if she successfully landed), tackling radicalization, how her copy editor saved her from making a mistake r…

Emma and I discuss Songs in Ursa Major, how the relationship between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell inspired her story, crafting the lyrics for the songs in the book, growing up with music as a language in her house, what she learned from writing the screenplay for Songs in Ursa Major, and much mor…

Sarah and I discuss We Are Satellites, what happens when a medical technology developed for one condition is used for another purpose or has a commercial application instead, how she chose to tell the story from four POVs, the ethical and moral issues related to using technologies in new and cuttin…

Kristan and I discuss Pack Up the Moon, how reading books about other people’s grief provides a safe way to cry over the things in your own life, why she chose to incorporate letters into her book, providing a story for a group of people who don’t often get their own story, the origin of her title,…

Jess and I discuss Americanon, the way these thirteen books shaped culture, gender roles and beliefs in the U.S., evaluating American identity in terms of a different canon of books, looking into what books were owned in any given era, how she decided which books to include in Americanon, and much …

Philip and I discuss The Appalachian Trail, crafting the history of the trail from the perspective of the people who built it and how and why they did so, the difficulty of knitting together a very long and narrow space that traverses many landscapes, Bill Bryson and his impact on the Appalachian T…

Pam and I discuss The Woman with the Blue Star, looking for the gasp in a story, her struggle to write this book, how publishing during a pandemic is like learning to walk all over again, how each one of her books reflects a time in her life, the types of characters she identifies with, and much mo…

Jeff and I discuss Attachments, crafting a story about relationships, his personal connection to the novel, how watching soap operas helped him write this novel, creating Sleepless in Seattle and behind-the-scenes details about its development, and much more.

Laura and I discuss A Special Place for Women, how she loves the fake dating trope, exploring what happens when activism becomes performative instead of genuine, what her writing process look like, her COVID-19 book release video, and much more.

Steven and I discuss his new book The Guncle, including humor in his stories, how Auntie Mame and other magical caregivers inspired this story, the special message in his Acknowledgments, how The Editor came about, and much more.

Ly and I discuss her new book House of Sticks, the extent to which her father’s PTSD shaped her childhood, immigrating to the United States through a humanitarian program when she was three, writing about her family, the multi-layered meaning of the book’s title, wanting to provide hope for others …

Elizabeth and I discuss what constitutes a summer/beach read, reading habits and tackling our TBRs, finding diamonds in the rough, our favorite books of summer 2021, and more. Listen to the episode to hear our summer 2021 picks!

Cate and I discuss her new book Mergers and Acquisitions, what she learned while writing for the wedding section of The New York Times, focusing on how people view commitment in today’s world, juxtaposing her own love story with the wedding announcements she created, and much more.

Genevieve and I discuss her latest book Letters Across the Sea, focusing on Canadian stories that have been long forgotten, where she got the inspiration for this book, the enormous responsibility that historical fiction writers have to teach the mind and touch the heart, and much more.

Emiko and I discuss her latest book Tokyo Ever After, how drafting this book helped her reconcile her own identity, her writing process and how it has evolved, why it took her a while to write this book, what a privilege it is to blend in, how her stunning cover came about, viewing stories as “wind…

Ayanna and I discuss her new book Blackface, her desire to encourage honest and sustained conversations about race, understanding the history of performing blackness and connecting these performances from Shakespeare to minstrel into one long arc, the need for the full rainbow of stories from black…

Chanel and I discuss her latest book The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, how this is the first time she has written about a real life heroine, the incredible amount of research she conducted for this novel, which book of hers holds a special place in her heart, bringing Cuban stories to life, and much…

Katherine and I discuss her new book The Siren, using three points of view to slowly disseminate information to the reader, how she enjoys writing about the messiness of life, taking unexpected life paths, how lives are lived in chapters, and much more.

Georgia and I discuss her new rom-com It Had to Be You, why she switched to the rom-com genre, how her own wedding inspired her to write this story, her fascination with weddings, teasing out a balance between tradition versus modernity, and much more.

Tovah and I discuss her new book Lilyville, her difficult relationship with her mother and their generational chasm, how she came up with the delightful format of the book, incorporating “Lilysisms” into her story, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro after her mother died, her upcoming show, and much more.