Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley Kate Hanley

In this final installment of my interview with Octavia Randolph, author of the hugely popular Circle of Ceridwen saga, a meticulously researched series of 11 books set in 9th century England and scandinavia, we get a sneak peek in her 12th book in the saga,and what she knows at this moment about where her personal throughline is leading her next.

She shared:
- The absolutely incredible sounding retreat she hosted for readers last year in Gotland, where she now lives and where many of her novels are set

- The ninth century style feast–wherever everyone was in period costume–that was the cherry on top of that retreat

- Why she looks to Taylor Swift as a creative role model

- The big shift she can sense is coming, although she can’t say more, but she did mentioned “a possibility of a television series” – and what she’s doing to stay grounded as it continues to unfold

- The Henry James novel she re-reads each summer

- How three cups of coffee is the perfect number of cups of coffee

- The lunch she has had nearly every day for nearly 40 years

Visit Octavia at octavia.net, or on the Circle of Ceridwen Saga private Facebook group.

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save 30% off an amazing indoor air filter *and* receive a free three-year warranty (an $84 value).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the second part of my interview with Octavia Randolph, author of the hugely popular Circle of Ceridwen saga, a meticulously researched series of 11 books set in 9th century England and scandinavia. Octavia joined me from her home on Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden that played a prominent role in Viking history and in several of her books.

Today we covered the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that affect your work, even if you’re not fully conscious of it.

- How identifying with your characters is great, until you need to write scenes where they face hardship

- Octavia gives a gosh-darn masterclass on building a community of readers NOT TO BE MISSED

- The testy letter she received from a reader and how she responded

- The critical importance of defining success for yourself, and not by looking at what other people have achieved

- How writing her books has made her a better person

- How she uses runes to stay connected to her characters and consider possibilities in her own life

Visit Octavia at octavia.net, or on the Circle of Ceridwen Saga private Facebook group.

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save 30% off an amazing indoor air filter *and* receive a free three-year warranty (an $84 value).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I’m talking with Octavia Randoplh, a prolific and wildly successful author of historical novels and essays. She’s best known for her Circle of Ceridwen saga, a meticulously researched series of 11–soon to be 12–books set in 9th century England and scandinavia.

Octavia now makes her home on Gotland, a small island off the coast of Sweden in the Baltic Sea where some of her novels are set and which was an important way station for the Vikings as the traveled East and West from Scandinavia.

She is also a devoted needleworker and mosaic artist, and an unabashed cat person.

We covered:

- Why ‘Viking’ isn’t really the right word to describe the people from Scandinavia who explored far and wide a millennia and a half ago

- How a fascination with physical artifacts from England’s early history put her on the path to be a historical fiction author

- How she found her way to massive publishing success despite having great agents and getting only rejections from traditional publishing houses

- The difference between self-publishing and independent publishing–and a peek inside the cast of folks who make it possible for Octavia to edit and publish her books

- How a daily morning walk forms the basis of how she gets her writing done–that, and talking to herself as she writes

Visit Octavia at octavia.net, or on the Circle of Ceridwen Saga private Facebook group.

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save 30% off an amazing indoor air filter *and* receive a free three-year warranty (an $84 value).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final part of my interview with Hayley Krischer, journalist and author of the just-released “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”--the juiciest beach read of the year about a missing Hollywood starlet on the cusp of Y2K and the obsessed journalist determined to find here--we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.

** This week's episodes are a replay. **

We talked about:
- The incredible allure of hot tubs
- How re-watching “The Actor’s Studio with James Lipton” was a key part of her research process for “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”
- What she learned from studying actors about getting in to the psychology of her characters
- The Instagram influencer who’s helping Hayley understand her perimenopausal body and learning how to take care of herself
- Thinking ahead to when her youngest child is out of the house
- A preview of both her YA novel that’s coming out in 2025 (think Charles Manson meets Goop meets teenage girls) and the adult novel she’s writing next
- The 620-page novel Hayley read in four days because she couldn’t put it down
- The exact morning beverage that fuels Hayley, and the (dark) song that gets her fired up when she needs a kick in the pants

Follow Hayley on Instagram and Threads @haylerkrischer
Follow Hayley on TikTok @hayleykrischerauthor
Hayley’s website: hayleykrischer.net


For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I'm talking with Hayley Krischer--author of the upcoming “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”, which dropped yesterday, July 16th, and is poised to be the beach read of the summer--about the squishier side of creativity, including:

** This week's episodes are a replay. **

- The steps Hayley takes–and the tools she uses–to immerse herself in the world of her novels and inside her characters’ psyches
- What she does when she’s feeling stuck
- How good it feels when you connect with someone who loved your work in the real world
- The YA author Hayley fan-girled all over when she realized he was also an audience member at a reading she was attending
- How writing and editing can feel “horrible,” “like torture”--and the parts that make Hayley feel like jumping for joy
- How her inner critic loves to tell her she should be able to write a novel while also taking five-mile hikes every day
- How the months between when you’re done working on a manuscript and the book is published is a tough time, mentally–and how to navigate it
- The self-care practices helping Hayley through (the journaling practice, the supplements, the breathing exercise that helps her sleep)
- Busting the myth that writers make a lot of money and how hard it is to make a bestseller list

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am talking with journalist and novelist Hayley Krischer whose brand new novel drops this week, "Where Are You, Echo Blue?," which is about a journalist's obsessive search for Hollywood's hottest starlet who goes missing on the eve of Y2K.

Hayley has profiled celebrities like Tatum O'Neill, Celine Dion, and Gabrielle Union for places like The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, and Elle.

Hayley's first two novels were for young adults: “Something Happened to Allie Greenleaf” and “The Falling Girls” and they were awesome, about friendship among not necessarily likeable characters.

I for one am very pumped about "Where Are You, Echo Blue?", I think it will be the perfect beach read, like Us Magazine meets Daisy Jones and the Six meets mystery novel.

** This week's episodes are a replay. **

We covered:
- Which former child actor/celebrities Hayley obsessively researched for her upcoming book, “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”
- How she found herself working at the Boston Globe in college and found all the journalists “these grimy, sexy, fascinating people”
- The brilliant wisdom she tells her kids about power of just keeping going.
- The circular editorial career that led her to being an author
- The “pure insanity” that keeps her coming back to the page
- The writing program Hayley signed up for that took the story she’d been working on for 20 years and could never sell and helped her revise it into a form that sold to a major publisher in four days (her first YA novel, “Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf”
- The exact mechanical pencil she used to write her upcoming YA novel that’s coming out in 2025
- The author who inspired Hayley to write a novel in longhand
- Why you should never trust yourself to remember that great idea and the myriad ways Hayley captures those ideas, wherever they may happen

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices