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

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

“Learn how acclaimed writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block.” Each week, host Kelton Reid chats with guests like Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, on life after becoming a laureate; #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry on her past life as a YA mid-lister; Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, on his conflicted feelings after winning a National Book Award; NY Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline, on what she learned from literary lion Philip Roth; #1 NY Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane on what he borrowed from Clint Eastwood; and bestselling author, Matt Haig, on the process behind his novel, The Midnight Library, and serial guest hosts: neuroscientist Michael Grybko, journalist Adam Skolnick, and short story writer Robert Bruce.

  1. 18 OCT

    How Bestselling Crime Novelist Walter Mosley Writes: Redux

    Note: I revisited a chat with the amazing Walter Mosley from 2021. Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, took a timeout to chat with me about how he didn't write a sentence he liked until age 35, the sprawling muse of Los Angeles, and his conflicted feelings after winning a big National Book Award. “Write your truth, and believe in it. And if your mother doesn’t like it ... too bad.” – Walter Mosley Walter is the first Black man to receive the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters for lifetime achievement in writing. The critically acclaimed author, playwright, screenwriter, and producer has written over 60 books including fiction (literary, mystery, and science fiction), writing guides, memoir, a YA novel, has won dozens of prestigious awards (including an Emmy), and been translated into 25 languages. His bestselling historical mysteries feature infamous, hard-boiled detective "Easy" Rawlins, a black PI living in the Watts neighborhood of LA. Blood Grove (Easy Rawlins Book 15) is the latest in that series and described as "... a novel of vast scope and intimate insight, and a soulful call for justice by any means necessary." Walter's work has also been adapted for film and TV including Devil in a Blue Dress (starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle and Jennifer Beals) and the HBO production of Always Outnumbered (starring Laurence Fishburne and Natalie Cole). Preview a sample of a podcast at the break from this week's sponsor Look Closer: The Found Fiction Podcast, more at foundfiction.org. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Walter Mosley and I discussed: His winding career path How the apex of post-hippie Los Angeles, California affected his writing What it was like to work with the late, Oscar-nominated filmmaker John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) Why you need to read your drafts out loud And more! Show Notes: WalterMosley.com Walter Mosley Amazon author page Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology: A Library of America Special Publication (Amazon) Roger Zelazny Amazon author page Walter Mosley on Facebook Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    33 min
  2. 4 OCT

    How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Anne Lamott Writes

    *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 today and enter code writerfiles10 to get that discount. Buy your ticket now before they sell out! We’ll see you there.* #1 New York Times bestselling author, Anne Lamott, spoke with me about 40 years of teaching writing, how to write more bravely, on sh*tty first drafts, and sharing hacks she’s learned over her career at the Writers Rising 2024 retreat. Anne Lamott is the author of 20 books, including New York Times bestsellers Help, Thanks, Wow; Dusk, Night, Dawn; Traveling Mercies; and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, as well as seven novels. Her latest book, Somehow: Thoughts on Love was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Publishers Weekly praised “…her ability to distill complex truths with a deceptive lightness” in their starred review. Anne is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, and was recently a columnist for The Washington Post. She has taught at UC Davis, writing conferences across the country, and is currently an artist in residence at A Writing Room Collective. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Anne Lamott and I discussed:  The debt of honor that is the writing life Why you don’t have to know everything to finish your book What it was like getting inducted into the California Hall of Fame next to Mark Zuckerberg and Serena Williams The importance of accountability for staying on track Why you need to stop not writing and get your butt in the chair And a lot more! Show Notes: Writers Rising 2024 awritingroom.com Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (Amazon) Somehow: Thoughts on Love By Anne Lamott (Amazon) Anne Lamott Amazon Author Page Anne Lamott on Twitter Anne Lamott on Facebook Anne Lamott on Instagram Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    37 min
  3. 27 SEPT

    How NY Times Bestselling Author Ashley Audrain Writes: Redux

    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 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: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. 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 ashleyaudrain.com The Whispers By Ashley Audrain (Amazon)  Ashley Audrain Amazon Author Page Ashley Audrain on Instagram Ashley Audrain on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    31 min
  4. 20 SEPT

    How Critically Acclaimed Debut Author Bryan VanDyke Writes

    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: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. 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 In Our Likeness: A Novel by Bryan VanDyke (Amazon) Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    41 min
  5. 13 SEPT

    How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Mark Oshiro Writes

    #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: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. 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 Jasmine Is Haunted by Mark Oshiro (Amazon) Mark Oshiro Amazon Author Page Mark Oshiro on Instagram Mark Oshiro on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    43 min
  6. 6 SEPT

    How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Emily Henry Writes: Part Two - Redux

    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: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. 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 emilyhenrybooks.com Happy Place By Emily Henry (Amazon)  Emily Henry Amazon Author Page Emily Henry on Instagram Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    36 min

About

“Learn how acclaimed writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block.” Each week, host Kelton Reid chats with guests like Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, on life after becoming a laureate; #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry on her past life as a YA mid-lister; Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, on his conflicted feelings after winning a National Book Award; NY Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline, on what she learned from literary lion Philip Roth; #1 NY Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane on what he borrowed from Clint Eastwood; and bestselling author, Matt Haig, on the process behind his novel, The Midnight Library, and serial guest hosts: neuroscientist Michael Grybko, journalist Adam Skolnick, and short story writer Robert Bruce.

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