#AmWriting

KJ
  • 4.8 (250)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

#AmWriting is a podcast and Groupstack hosted by KJ Dell’Antonia, Jess Lahey, Sarina Bowen, & Jennie Nash. Listen, read and join up for hard-won advice and inspiration to help you play big in your writing life and finish work that matters. amwriting.substack.com

  1. 2d ago

    Bonus Margin Notes: Finishing the Blueprint: Recognizing the Shift from Planning to Writing

    In a bonus #amwriting podcast episode, host Jennie Nash talks with academic writing coach Kathy Mazak of Scholar’s Voice (and host of Academic Writing Amplified) about how writers keep going after completing a blueprint and finish what they start. Mazak explains her mission-based work helping academics—especially women and non-binary scholars—publish their research by aligning time management and writing with an academic mission statement. She argues that big blocks of time are unrealistic and that one to two hours once or twice a week can be enough if protected and supported by project management systems. They discuss common obstacles like not honoring writing time, fear of disappointing oneself, and harsh peer review, and emphasize mindset work as at least half the solution. Mazak describes managing multiple projects by focusing on a top three, letting others “sleep,” and “killing” stalled “zombie projects,” plus recognizing stage transitions and solving the right problem at the right level. She shares details on her 12-week Navigate program (scholarsvoice.org/navigate) and why members stay for years. #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Learn more at http://scholarsvoice.org/. Transcript Jennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Jennie Nash, and you’re listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. Hey everyone, it’s Jennie, and I’m here with a bonus episode of the podcast because a lot of our community has been working on their blueprints this summer to begin a new project, find momentum for one that’s gotten derailed, or to work on a revision. And obviously stopping to think before you write is critical, but then the question is, what next? And how, how do we keep going? How do we finish what we started? And I invited my friend Kathy Mazak to join me today to have a conversation about this and to get her insights on this topic. Kathy, we’re in a business mastermind together. That’s how we met, [00:01:00] and we, um, immediately connected because Kathy runs a company called Scholar’s Voice, which you can find at scholarsvoice.com. She has an incredible strategic mind, and her work focuses on helping tenured professors get their research and writing out of the endless backlog and actually submitted and published. So it’s a different kind of writing than we normally talk about on the podcast, but I know we have a lot of a- academics in our audience, um, who are trying to write nonfiction or fiction or memoir, but also probably trying to publish the papers that are sitting on their desk. And Kathy helps so many people do that work and do it well, and she has really Amazing systems for doing that. And so she’s gonna talk a little bit about her program and what she offers at the end, um, or maybe at the beginning too. But, [00:02:00] um, welcome Cathy. Cathy: Yay. Thank you so much for having me. So I know that we met in the business mastermind, but I’ve been following you for many years before that, and been listening to this podcast, and been subscribed to this podcast for, like, at least since 2019 when I started to, like, look at other writing podcasts. Jennie: Yeah. Cathy: And so it is ... It actually has been, like, a dream of mine to be on this podcast, so it’s, like, so- Look at us ... great that we’re doing this here today. Yes. Jennie: I completely forgot to say that you have a podcast as well. What is, what is the name of that? Cathy: Yeah. The podcast is called Academic Writing Amplified. It has, like, we’re headed towards 350 episodes all about, like, getting your, uh, academic papers out there in the world when you’re a busy professor. So yeah. Jennie: One of the things that I most like about your business is the way you describe it as it’s really mission based. Yeah. It’s, it’s [00:03:00] really about helping academics take control of the narrative. Yeah. Right? Do you- Yeah ... do, will you tell us about that, ‘cause I love that. Cathy: Yeah. So for me, right, like, as a writing coach, so I was a full professor, like I went through, I have a PhD. I, I, I got my tenure track job. I went all the way through all the ranks, um, before I left and started this, uh, academic adjacent business. But I do it because, like, my big, like, mission is that the more, especially women and non-binary academics who get their papers out in the world, like, the more those voices are changing fields, and influencing research, and influencing thinking. And I just think, like, that is just so important. That’s why the business is called Scholar’s Voice, ‘cause it’s about getting more diverse, typically marginalized voices out in these research spaces. Um, so [00:04:00] to me that’s my mission, and when I have ... You know, when, when scholars come and do my program they write an academic mission statement, and really their whole time management, um, and writing project management, and sustainable writing practice is designed to, like, support that academic mission. So it’s a very mission based, uh, business for me. But it’s also, like, a, like my clients, like w- who take my programs are also, like, putting their academic missions, like, right at the center of their work. Which also puts writing at the center. Because to me, like, the writing is absolutely, is, is, like, the path to creating this better career, this focus on writing. Jennie: Well, and an academic has courses to teach and committees to go to, meetings to go to, and, you know, so many other demands on their time. And somebody trying to write a book has- Yep ... not [00:05:00] exactly those things, but probably a day job, and kids, and, you know, aging parents they have to care for, and the dog, and the car, and, you know, it’s, it’s writing in, in the real world. Mm-hmm. And the way you set your program up is you’ve honed this over so many years, i- and it’s designed to, to help people actually get the work done. Yeah. So can you tell us a bit about how you structure that program? ‘Cause I think it’ll be instructive to helping folks. Like, okay, here, you’ve finished your blueprint, now what? So- Yeah ... how do you, how do you get people to do it? Cathy: Yeah, yeah. So the first part is that I think that many people, when they think about writers, right, like if they just imagine themselves as a writer, they think that the ideal is, oh, I have like eight hours a day to dedicate to writing, or all my life, or whatever, you know, dreamy scenario we have in our minds. And I [00:06:00] think, like, for academics, i- the, the... it’s like, oh, I need to be on a sabbatical, or I need to not be teaching. I need to... I cannot be doing any other thing. Um, or I can be doing other things, but I need like these big blocks of time to write. And the problem is, like you’re saying, like writing in real life, like that just doesn’t happen. And then when it might happen for academics is over the holiday breaks, like the semester breaks or the summer, but that also isn’t true because you’re also like, you know, being a mom and, and th- you know, doing things with your family, and managing your house, and maybe your aging parents, and whatever else. Like there’s never a time where there’s like nothing going on. So we have to stop thinking that that’s the ideal and rather think, like what I tell my people, and they- Fight me on this, but at the beginning. But I tell them, actually one to two hours once or twice a [00:07:00] week is enough. Jennie: Ah. And Outro: they’ll be like, “No, Cathy: no, Outro: no, Cathy: I Outro: need-” Say that again. Cathy: Yeah, no. Say that again. One to two hours once or twice a week is enough, ‘cause remember, like, the low end of that means one hour a week, and the high end of that is four hours a week. And so a lot of times people come in and, and I’m, you know, for your, for the audience here, like, think about are you doing one hour a week consistently? Are you doing two hours a week consistently? If you’re not, then let’s just, like, back up and go there instead of thinking like, “Oh no, I need these big blocks of time that I can never actually get and hold.” ‘Cause that’s the other thing, it’s so hard to hold a big block. Um, like a four-hour block is hard to o- to hold. Uh, and also Outro: hard- Oh my gosh, four hours? ... to maintain your energy through. Cathy: No, no, people- What? No ... people have Outro: all kinds of ideas. Cathy: And I’m like, and, and the other thing too I think is related to this idea, like for my people, right, that the work day is, like, this eight-hour day. [00:08:00] Like, but you can’t ... I’m thinking you’re not knowledge work for eight hours a day. Like, your brain can’t do that, you know? So we really have to start, just, like, dial it back and start with, like, can I get consistency? Consistency doesn’t have to mean every day. Could I get consistent with one or two hours once or twice, or twice a week, and actually do writing during that time so I have project management skills that mean when I sit down I know what to work on, and see how that works? Because guess what? If you did that, you would be ... Like, everything would be moving towards publication, and there would be many more words on the page. Jennie: Well, I love that so much because one of the things that I find is- Well, with writing or business or anything is I’ll say, “Oh, I’m working so hard, and I’m so busy on it, and I’m spending all this time on it,” but really what I’m doing is sitting down at my desk and- Yeah rearranging, you know, [00:09:00] the folders on my desktop again. Or- Yeah ... um, you know, oh, I’ll just go take a little peek over on Instagra

    Bonus Margin Notes: Finishing the Blueprint: Recognizing the Shift from Planning to Writing

  2. 3d ago

    Write Big: Stop Begging to Be Chosen Part 2

    Jennie Nash introduces an upcoming series of Write Big episodes that share her vulnerable, behind-the-scenes process of turning Write Big concepts into a Write Big book, thanking listeners and inviting paid subscriptions. In this episode, she revisits her “don’t wait to be picked” stance while confronting her own feelings as her book submission process stretches seven or eight months with rejections. She examines the discomfort beneath wanting to be chosen—entitlement and exceptionalism, loneliness and the desire for an ally, embarrassment about ambition, doubts tied to leadership and authority, and the burden of carrying the project alone if she isn’t picked. Jennie argues that whether writers are picked or not, the creative road is still hard and what matters is one’s response, which she frames as the core of writing big. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

    Write Big: Stop Begging to Be Chosen Part 2

  3. Aug 14

    BookLab: The Art of Storytelling with Kathleen Barber

    Jennie Nash hosts a #amwriting podcast BookLab with guest Kathleen Barber, author of Truth Be Told and newly released Sisterhood Above All (co-written with Amayah Shaienne), and discusses Barber’s range across thrillers and romance, her character-first approach, and how RushTok inspired an authentic sorority-rush thriller featuring Madison, Shay, and Ava as tensions escalate and someone dies. They define RushTok as viral TikTok coverage of University of Alabama sorority recruitment and note its broad international fascination. In the BookLab, they evaluate three first-page submissions by asking “Would we turn the page?” They praise Heather’s Trust Me for strong voice, vivid Austin setting, and an intriguing problem hook, with minor notes about genre context. They decline Odeon Omega due to unearned logistics and too much dialogue despite an intriguing title/advert. They find Empty Spaces compellingly written but confusing from too many names and unclear stakes, suggesting more interiority and clarity. #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Connect with Kathleen Visit Kathleen’s website to find her books and more: https://www.kathleenbarber.com Transcript Jennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Jennie Nash, and you’re listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. This is a book lab session where we answer the most important question about your first pages. Would we pick up the book? Would we turn the page? Today, I have a really special guest with me. I have Kathleen Barber here, who is so many things. She’s the author of Truth Be Told, which was adapted as a series on Apple TV, Follow Me, Both Things Are True, and just brand new, like it came out four days ago, Sisterhood Above All, with, I’m gonna try her name, Amaya Chen? How do you- Barbara: Yeah. Uh, um, yeah. That’s, that’s very close. I think it’s Amaya Chen. Jennie: Okay. Yeah. Uh, so we’re gonna hear about that in a minute. Um, I haven’t, I haven’t cracked it open yet, but I’m so [00:01:00] excited for it. Um, Kathleen’s also an Author Accelerator certified book coach and a former attorney, and she lives in Washington, DC with her family. So welcome, Kathleen. Barbara: Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here. Jennie: So I watched your unboxing the other day. It was so fun, and I didn’t realize that we had scheduled this right on top of, like the actual- Oh ... launch of your book. Barbara: No, that, that’s okay. It’s, it’s great. Um, it gives me something to think about that’s not just, like, spiraling. Like, is anybody gonna read my book? Is anybody gonna like it? Um, so it gives me something else to focus on. Jennie: Well, it’s so interesting you say that because I think of you as this really seasoned pro and, you know, it’s been really interesting for me to watch your career because you’ve written some really different kinds of books. You did a ... Well, your first book was obviously a big thriller and a huge success, and at one point, you pivoted to romance, and now you’re doing ... Well, I, I saw that book list [00:02:00] called Sisterhood Above All, a soapy thriller Yes. Yes ... which is such a great description, and you did it with a collaborator. So you just seem interested in story to me. Barbara: I, I am. Yeah. I’m always very ... I always start a story with the characters. Um, and so then their story kind of spirals out from there. Um, yeah, so I, my last book that came out before this one was, was a rom-com. Um, and I was really nervous when I started writing it. I was like, “How am I going to write this when I’ve been writing suspense and thrillers before?” And it turns out that, like, at the heart of it, stories are stories, and people are people, and, you know, in a romance, happy things happen. In a thriller, bad things happen, but things still happen. Jennie: Amazing. So give us the overview of the brand new book, ‘cause it’s, it’s really juicy. Barbara: Yeah. Yeah, so I’m really excited about it. Um, Sisterhood Above All is a thriller set during sorority rush, and so it follows three different [00:03:00] women who are involved there. There’s Madison, who is the president of what’s she perceives as to be the coolest sorority on campus, so she’s kind of the gatekeeper, and there’s Shay, who is the president of a rival sorority and trying to shake, shake up the Greek institutions, and then there’s Ava, who is a potential new member. She’s going through rush. She’s desperate to join Madison’s sorority, um, and she might be a little too desperate. Uh, so you know, it’s a thriller. Bad things happen. Somebody dies, um, you know, and things kind of spiral out, spiral out of control. Jennie: But tell us about the collaboration, ‘cause it’s- Yeah ... so interesting how that came about and how it went and- Barbara: Yeah. You know, it was, it was a lot of fun. Um, I, like many writers, write alone, and I had never really considered collaborating with anybody before, um, but- But when I was kind of talking about this, I, I’d been pitching my agent a sorority themed thriller for a while. [00:04:00] Um, and at one point when, when Rush Talk was getting really big a couple summers ago, she was like, “This is the moment. This, you should write this book, but I think that in order to make it feel more authentic, we should bring in somebody who’s living this in this moment.” Um, so one of her colleagues found Amaya, who, um, was up until very, very recently an active member of a sorority at the University of Alabama, and brought us together. And Amaya and I got along right away, and we both had kind of the same vision for what we wanted the book to be, and so collaborating with her was, was a lot of fun in a way that I had been nervous that it wouldn’t be. But it was, it was a really good time, and I’m really, really proud of the book. Jennie: So for those who don’t know or weren’t following, can you tell us what Rush Talk- Barbara: Yeah was Jennie: or is Barbara: or- Yeah ... shall be? Yes, yes, yes. So, um, so if you’re gonna join a sorority, um, you go through, you go through recruitment and which is very slangily [00:05:00] called rush. Um, and so on TikTok a few years ago, um, people started sharing about their experiences during sorority rush, but specifically, uh, during sorority rush at the University of Alabama. Um, and it really took on a life of its own, like people were watching it like it was, you know, a television program. Uh, they made a documentary about it, which, you know, I’ll, I will let you make your own conclusions about the documentary. Um, but people just got really, really into it, and people... And it was kind of appealing to people who had gone through sorority rush at some point, were thinking about going through a sorority rush, or who were just invested in, you know, watching people have these kind of outlandish experiences and, and share them. So, um, it Jennie: was a lot of fun. My understanding was that it got very, very popular in other countries? Barbara: I- it’s definitely... [00:06:00] Yeah. You know, um- So sorority, some, some sororities are international. Not, not all of them are. Um, but by and large, when they say international, they mean that there are chapters in Canada, not that, like, there are chapters in, you know, like Europe or, or other countries. And so it just, it’s something that is so unique and so, like, uniquely about, like, this type of college experience that I think it’s been really interesting to people in lots of different places. Jennie: Yeah, yeah. Fascinating. So obviously the book has been out, like, mere hours here. But, um, how does it feel? Are you, are you- It’s exciting you said you were excited and proud and- So Barbara: exciting. Yeah. I’m, I’m, I’m really, really proud of the book. I love it. I mean, I know everybody, like, loves their own books, but I do. I truly, like, love this book, and I just really hope that the readers do too. Jennie: You know, it’s not true that everybody loves their book. I, I was dying to have somebody on the podcast who will never come on the podcast. But I- Yeah ... I heard a story about somebody who [00:07:00] got a seven-figure deal for a book that they really didn’t actually love, and then- Oh, no ... they, they wrote it. It came out, and then when they had to co- come time to do the publicity, they just dreaded it. They, it was like a, just they did it for the money. They got the money, and then didn’t, didn’t wanna talk about it, like felt sort of ashamed about it. And I was like, “Oh, please, come talk about that.” But of course they, they won’t. So... Barbara: That’s wild. Isn’t that wild? That’s wild. Yeah. I just, I just can’t even imagine how that would feel. Um, I mean... Jennie: I know. Well, I, uh, the cover of this, um, of this new book, Sisterhood Above All, is- is really cool too. So we will link to it in the show notes, and everyone can go read it and check it out, and, um, Kathleen’s other books, I’ve read them all, and you have such range and, um, like I said, [00:08:00] interesting stories. So with that, let’s get to our, our Book Lab entries. We just always wanna start by thanking those who submitted. It’s not easy to do this, to put your stuff out there with no context and no ability to talk back or anything and have random s- people on the internet, you know, talk about your stuff. So really appreciate the, the risk-taking of doing that, and we do this in order to help us all get better and, and learn, you know, what works and, and, um, for your own self or your own writing, what, what you want it to be. So what we’re gonna

    BookLab: The Art of Storytelling with Kathleen Barber

  4. Aug 7

    Hot Seat Coaching: Refining Andrew’s Gothic Vampire Chapter

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit amwriting.substack.com Jennie Nash hosts a hot seat coaching episode with #amwriting producer Andrew Perrella, who shares a 5,000-word draft of his Gothic vampire novel to be offered to paid subscribers. Jennie praises the draft as unusually strong and “authoritative,” then coaches Andrew on higher-level editorial concerns: pacing, density of information before the action, and adding more interiority so readers understand Abrianna’s reactions and risk-taking, especially her choice to follow a vampire into an alley. They discuss the funeral setting, the presence of major characters (including an executor and Seward), and the theme that multiple people are watching Abrianna while the reader lacks key knowledge (including that the vampire is her mother). Jennie recommends using and updating the blueprint as a living “as-is” outline to track reveals, and they set a four-week deadline for Andrew to deliver 50 pages plus the blueprint.

    Hot Seat Coaching: Refining Andrew’s Gothic Vampire Chapter

  5. Jul 31

    Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time Part 2

    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

    Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time Part 2

  6. Jul 24

    BookLab: 3 First Pages, 3 Vibes, One Question

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit amwriting.substack.com I knew we’d get a huge response to our callout for first page submissions for a BookLab with Jo Piazza and I was right. I zipped through the google doc, skimming (there is a particular art to choosing the right submissions without ruining the freshness for me when I read and respond) and I did brilliantly, if I do say so myself (including a very funny callback to our sudden Dr. Pepper digression). Listen for our constructive takes on these 3 first pages and some excellent advice on the art of the first page in general. #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The first line of Jo’s current hit, The Parisian Heist: It’s terrible to be rich. Don’t you want more? Jo’s the creator of Under the Influence (the podcast) and Over the Influence (the Substack) and the national and international bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance, Everyone is Lying to You (KJ’s fave!), We Are Not Like Them, You Were Always Mine, Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, The Knockoff (KJ’s other fave!) and How to Be Married but most importantly, her current book, The Parisian Heist, is just out and great for readers and writers alike. Ready to submit your first page for consideration for a future episode of BookLab? That’s a supporter benefit, link below, below the paywall. #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. More about The Parisian Heist: Emma, a struggling American artist in Paris, thought she had left her dreams behind when she took a job cleaning for the city’s wealthy elite. Then she meets Stella Swanson, the widow of one of the most notorious art dealers in the business. The Swansons move in a world where billionaires, oligarchs, and heads of state pay fortunes for masterpieces. Drawn in by their dazzling wealth and the pull of a dangerously charming grandson, Emma becomes both a player and a pawn in a family battle to protect their empire and conceal its crimes. In the late 1800s, the young widow Jo van Gogh inherits hundreds of paintings from her brother-in-law Vincent that the art world deems worthless. Determined to prove their genius, and to secure a future for herself and her young son, she becomes consumed by Vincent’s legacy. As her devotion deepens, a vanished painting and a thwarted love affair leave her unsure who she can trust and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process. From glittering auction houses to the idyllic canals of Amsterdam and the grand museums of Paris, the lives of these two women converge as Emma uncovers the Swanson family’s darkest secrets and agrees to mastermind a daring heist inside the Musée d’Orsay. The stakes have never been higher, and these women refuse to be written out of history, no matter the cost.

    BookLab: 3 First Pages, 3 Vibes, One Question

  7. Jul 17

    Margin Notes: Monsters in the Archive with Caroline Bicks

    On the #amwriting podcast’s Margin Notes, host Jennie Nash talks with Caroline Bicks, Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine and co-host of the Everyday Shakespeare podcast, about her book Monsters in the Archives: A Year of Fear with Stephen King. Bicks describes how she became the first invited into King’s Bangor archives after King called to meet her, and how her sabbatical became a year of researching five formative works (including Carrie, Night Shift, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, and Pet Sematary) to understand how horror language creates lasting fear. She explains choosing a first-person narrative that blends literary criticism, archival discovery, and her own anxiety, including eerie moments in the archive and insights into King’s word-level edits, literary influences, and Shakespearean foundations, especially The Shining’s ties to Hamlet. #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Read the Book * Monsters in the Archives by Caroline Bicks Transcript Jennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Jennie Nash, and you’re listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. Welcome, everyone. This is Margin Notes, the part of the podcast where we’re talking about the big decisions writers face in their work and creative lives. I’m here today with a super special guest. I’m so excited to speak with Caroline Bicks. She is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine, where she teaches courses in Shakespeare, early modern culture, and horror fiction. And she’s the author of all kinds of very cool books ... about Shakespeare, including one on cocktails. Um, and, uh, is the co-host of the Everyday Shakespeare podcast, and we are here today to talk with her about her new book called [00:01:00] Monsters in the Archives: A Year of Fear with Stephen King. Welcome. Caroline: Thank you. Thanks for having me. Jennie: So this is gonna be the strangest interview you’ve probably ever done. I Caroline: don’t know. Because- I’ve talked to a lot of people around the world about this Stephen King book. Jennie: I couldn’t read your book. I, I couldn’t read it. I can’t read horror. Yeah. Which listeners of this podcast are gonna laugh about, ‘cause I’m actually coaching someone live and they’re writing gothic horror, and they’re probably like, “All you talk about is horror, Jennie.” But, um, it’s actually the reason why I wanted to talk to you, because you made a decision in the writing of this book that I thought was super cool. Mm. Which was you put yourself in it. Caroline: Yeah. Jennie: And you’re a scholar. Caroline: Yeah. Jennie: And you’ve written scholarly books, and you approach this with a scholarly perspective, but you, you really put yourself in it. And, and so [00:02:00] I was reading it for that part of the story and I had to skip over huge chunks of, of the, of the work. Because what you’re doing in this book is you’re getting at this question of- W- what, what is scary in writing? Like, how does it actually work? How does it act- what is the magic or the function that makes us feel this thing? And you actually feel it yourself while you’re going through it, and I found it quite terrifying actually. So, um, that’s kinda what I wanted to talk about is how did you make the decision? Well, first of all, you were the first person, I wanna make sure I get this right, ‘cause this is very cool. Yeah. You were the first person who was invited to the archives, the Stephen King archives. Caroline: Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s a bit of a story, so I won’t spend too much time on it, but just the mo- Oh, no, do. It’s good ... when I ch- when I took this position... So I’ve been a Shakespeare professor my whole adult life, ba- as soon as I graduated from grad school in the late ‘90s, [00:03:00] and I was at Boston College for 15 years. I took this position at University of Maine nine years ago as a Shakespearean. Um, so it is an endowed chair in Stephen King’s name because he’s our most famous alum. So when I took the position, I, it was because I’m a Shakespearean, not because I’m a horror specialist. Um, I had always been a Stephen King fan since I read him when I was 12, and he scared the beje- Jesus out of me, um, with The Boogeyman story. Jennie: Right. Caroline: Um, so when I took this position though I was told, “You’re never gonna meet Stephen King. Don’t even make contact with him.” I’m like, “Fine, you know, this is still a great job. I’m excited.” Um- Thanks Jennie: for the money. Yeah. Caroline: Thanks for... You know, no, it’s a wonderful fund. It was funded by the Harold Alfond Foundation, and it’s to support the public humanities, which is an incredible mission. So, um, I get to give money away to people. You know, it’s a great, great position, but I was not a horror specialist. And particu- a- and as an adult, I actually wasn’t reading horror because it scares me too much. You know? Yeah, yeah. Um, but it had grabbed me when I was a teenager. So it was about four years into the [00:04:00] job when I got a call at home from Stephen King, which just, uh, uh, my jaw hit the floor. And he said, “You know, I think it’s time we meet.” I’m like, you know, I, I really fan-girled because I really, I have so much admiration for him and respect. Um, I invited him to come talk to our students. He was brilliant, generous, funny, kind, and I felt so at ease that I felt like I could ask... You know, and I got to know him professionally. We had a good professional relationship that developed from there. When I had a sabbatical year coming up the next year- I could have written another Shakespeare book. I had another one in my head. I’ve written a bunch of them but I knew that he and Tabitha had just collected all of his manuscripts and put them in a climate-controlled space attached to their home in Bangor, and I thought, “You know, this is an incredible opportunity. I would love to dig in there and be the first one in there, and just read those early drafts of the books that scared me so much when I was a teenager, and try to just explore why. Why were they sticking in my head still?” Um, again, I am not a specialist in... I’m not a cognitive scientist. I’m not a [00:05:00] specialist in horror literature, but I’m obviously highly trained in how to do literary analysis and how to do archival work, not Shakespeare, because we don’t have any of his works, but, you know, I, I understand what that process is. So back to your question about why I wanted to bring myself into it, which was, you know, I had been experimenting with first-person storytelling after I got tenure. You know, ‘cause it’s a long process, Kate. Right. And most of my writing had been academic writing, but I really had always loved storytelling And I got a piece into the Modern Love column. I started to have some success with publishing my first-person stories, and I was like, “You know, I love this.” So when I had this opportunity to go into his archives, they generously said yes, was amazing. I thought, “You know, I really wanna tell this story. I don’t wanna write an academic book. I want this to be the story of a literature scholar, but really the story about a scared kid.” Jennie: Yeah. Caroline: You know, you, you never lose that scare, you know, I don’t... This is the thing. Fear has stuck with me with those stories [00:06:00] for 40 years. So I was fascinated, and I just wanted to understand how he had crafted the language so that it was sticking in my head still. Because when I was talking to people around, you know, whenever you mention Stephen King to people, you know, if they’ve read him, they remember specific lines and specific words, and I was like, “That’s an extraordinary, um, 50 years on to have that power.” So, um- Well- Anyway. Yeah. Go ahead. I, I could talk about this forever, so you tell me- Oh, no, it’s- ... where you wanted to pick up from this. Jennie: It’s so good. Well, I have to tell you this funny anecdote, which is that my college roommate was from Bangor, Maine, and babysat his kids in that house. Caroline: Oh, that’s insane. Jennie: So when I went to visit her, she drove me by that house. There you go. And I was like, “Oh, hell no- Yeah ... would I ever babysit in that house.” Like, it’s- Caroline: It’s ‘cause it’s like a gothic, it’s like straight out of Haunting of Hill House ... Jennie: actually, and like these spiderweb gates that, and you describe that in the [00:07:00] book and, and the- Yeah ... archives are in that house. They’re Caroline: in the house. They’re attached to the back. I know. And it, it was so, it was, it was insane. It was like a full-on 360 experience writing this book. Um, and I, I knew, like, so I did the research for a year. I didn’t even know if this would be a book. I just knew I wanted to have the opportunity to be in there because it, I knew it was a great opportunity, and I was so curious, you know? Yeah. So I, I came out of the year with just tons of notes and observations, but I didn’t have a book, you know? Yeah. And then I started experimenting with writing a chapter, and I just, the storytelling just came forward and then when I got an agent and she, you know, s- I, I, I was able to get a contract based on a proposal and that one chapter I had written and I was really fortunate to have a fabulous editor, David Ebershoff, at Hogarth, who is just such a wonderful writer himself, and he really encouraged me to bring my voice in and bring my story in even [00:08:00] more. Um, so that’s- And- ... that’s the story of that. Jennie: Was it hard for you as a scholar to

    Margin Notes: Monsters in the Archive with Caroline Bicks

  8. Jul 10

    Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time

    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

    Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time
See All (538)

4.8
out of 5
250 Ratings

About

#AmWriting is a podcast and Groupstack hosted by KJ Dell’Antonia, Jess Lahey, Sarina Bowen, & Jennie Nash. Listen, read and join up for hard-won advice and inspiration to help you play big in your writing life and finish work that matters. amwriting.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    KJ
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    538
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © KJ DellAntonia
  • Show Website
    #AmWriting

You Might Also Like