Living The Writing Life Podcast with Nancy Christie

Thoughts on Writing and Life for October 2022

Just a few thoughts on how an insignificant object from our past can become a guidepost for our writing life

 

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In Conversation With… Chante Thomas, author

Chante Thomas is a twenty-eight-year veteran fifth-grade teacher in Shaker Heights, Ohio and has been writing children’s stories over the span of her career.

In 2017, she decided it was time to bring her stories to life and published her first book, Where I’m From, sharing the geographic story of five diverse children with roots in the United States, Africa, and Asia.

Her second book, Go To School Tommy is about the power of a smile, and her third book, Sean and the Book Cures, told from a kid’s perspective, takes readers through the unforgettable year Covid-19 disrupted lives. Chante is currently finishing her fourth book, Sean and the Great Sacrifice, Can You Spare a Kidney?— a story about love and organ donation.

Chante is the mother of two sons and is a caregiver to her 88-year-old mother. Her desire is to inspire youth to not only read but to also encourage them to create, build and write their own stories yielding from their own personal adventures.

For more about Chante, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

In today’s conversation, we’ll be talking about the role of books in helping children and adults better understand themselves, other people, and life events.

Thoughts on writing and life for September 2022

Just a few thoughts on the importance of developing a mission statement to guide you through your writing life.

 

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In Conversation With … Juliet Marillier, author

Juliet Marillier was born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is a graduate of the University of Otago and has had a varied career that included music teaching and performing. She now lives in a historic cottage in Western Australia, where she writes full time.

Juliet’s historical fantasy novels and short stories are published internationally and have won numerous awards. She is the author of twenty-four novels, including A Song of Flight (Warrior Bards), the Blackthorn & Grim series and the Sevenwaters series, as well as two collections of short fiction: Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness and Prickle Moon. Juliet loves mythology, folklore and strong, complex characters. She is a member of the druid order OBOD (the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.) When not writing, Juliet is kept busy by a small crew of rescue dogs.

In today’s conversation, we’ll be talking about the creative challenges and unexpected benefits of being an older writer.

For more about Juliet, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Thoughts on writing and life for August 2022

Just a few thoughts on the importance of having the right role model at the right time for our writing life

 

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In Conversation With... Corie Adjmi, author

Corie Adjmi is the author of the short story collection Life and Other Shortcomings, which won an International Book Award, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin award, and an American Fiction Award, and the forthcoming novel, The Marriage Box, named a Must-Read New Book of 2022 that is due out in 2023.

Her prize-winning essays and short stories have appeared in dozens of journals and magazines, including HuffPost, North American Review, Indiana Review, Medium, Motherwell and Kveller, and she has been featured in Travel and Leisure, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Times, Parade and BuzzFeed.

When she is not writing, Corie does volunteer work, cooks, draws, bikes and hikes. She and her husband have five children and a number of grandchildren, with more on the way. She lives and works in New York City.

In today’s conversation, we’ll explore the various challenges women face when pursuing the writing life: time constraints, family responsibilities, financial issues and their own self-doubts about their right to write.

For more about Corie, visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Thoughts on writing and life for July 2022

Just a few thoughts on how we can use our creative ability to free ourselves from negative thoughts and beliefs

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In Conversation With … Kathryn Schulz, author

Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong and her most recent book, Lost & Found—an insightful and moving exploration of grief and love, and how those two emotions have the power to change us, transform us, and expand our concept of who we are and how we can live.

Lost & Found grew out of “Losing Streak,” a New Yorker story that was anthologized in The Best American Essays. 

She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize for “The Really Big One,” her article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has also appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, and The Best American Food Writing.

A native of Ohio, she lives with her family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For more about Kathryn, visit her website and follow her on Twitter.

In today’s conversation, we’ll explore the concepts of loss and discovery, both from the personal perspective and from that as a creative.

Thoughts on writing and life for June 2022

Just a few thoughts on the need to protect the light of creativity. The power to do so rests with us: in our hands, in our minds, in our belief that we have something worth thinking, worth saying—something worth writing.

Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

In Conversation With … Adrienne Reiter, author

Adrienne Reiter is a communications specialist, writer, and author of three novels: Twist, Chosen, and her latest, Lounge Act that’s been called a “sexy thriller with attitude.”

She writes mystery, speculative, literary fiction, and, by her own admission, is a compulsive blogger.

She is also a co-host on the podcast, Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun, where she swaps terrible tales, and general ghoul talk with Leo Buckley of Books Inc. San Francisco and lead guitarist for Bay Area bands Penury and Hazzard's Cure. You can follow the podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Adrienne holds a BA in Philosophy from Mills College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She splits her time between San Francisco and Mendocino County, where her dog, Peaches, does bad things.

For more about Adrienne, visit her website at adriennereiter.com and follow her on Facebook at @areiterbooks, Twitter @adriennereiter and Instagram at adriennereiter.

In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the practical and psychological struggles we go through when making time for our writing life.