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    Arts

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

    If you’re searching for a show that pulls back the curtain on the mystique of the writing life, look no further than The Writer Files. Hosts Kelton Reid and Milena Gonzalez study the habits, habitats, and brains of the biggest and brightest authors of our time.

    Tune in each week to learn from bestselling and acclaimed writers on how to keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block. Please follow The Writer Files wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a rating or review to help other writers find us.

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    Copyright: © New Media Dojo LLC, All Rights Reserved

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    Latest Episodes:
    How Award-Winning Climate Journalist Amy Westervelt Writes Oct 18, 2023
    Show notes

    Bonus Episode – Climate Edition: Award-winning investigative journalist and Executive Podcast Producer, Amy Westervelt, spoke to me about her accidental career in climate accountability, the greatest threat to free speech, and her deep dive into the origins of climate denial.

    Amy Westervelt is an independent investigative climate journalist who has been on the climate beat for more than 20 years, reporting for a wide range of outlets over the years, including Inside Climate News, The Guardian, The Nation, The Intercept, NPR, and many others.

    She is the Executive Producer of the independent podcast production company Critical Frequency, and in 2021, she helped produce This Land S2—an investigative podcast revealing the forces behind efforts to unravel tribal sovereignty in the U.S.— nominated for a Peabody Award in April 2022. In 2020 she produced Unfinished: Short Creek with Stitcher which was named a best podcast of the year by The New Yorker and The Atlantic

    She also hosted her award-winning climate podcast Drilled, a Critical Frequency original, and was most recently awarded Covering Climate Now's Journalist of the Year Award 2023, a global journalism collaboration co-founded by Columbia Journalism Review, The Nation, and others.

    [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 Amy Westervelt and I discussed:

    • Why journalists and protesters are being jailed for speaking out
    • How the early days of climate denialism set the tone for our current dilemma
    • How to record a hit podcast in your car while your kids sleep
    • Why we need climate fiction storytellers now more than ever
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • Drilled.media
    • Amy Westervelt on Twitter
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How Acclaimed Debut Novelist Isa Arsén Writes Oct 13, 2023
    Show notes

    Critically acclaimed debut novelist, Isa Arsén, spoke with me about humanizing machines and the creative process, how to write soft sci-fi, and her genre-bending, “timey-wimey” literary debut SHOOT THE MOON.

    Isa Arsén is an author and audio engineer based in South Texas and has published several short stories and pieces of experimental interactive media.

    Shoot the Moon is Arsén’s debut novel, inspired by her own childhood in New Mexico. Named a BookBub Best Book of Fall and Shondaland Best Book for October 2023 among others, it has been described as “...a puzzle box time travel story,” about an “... [intelligent] but lonely NASA secretary and her relentless drive to live a big life in a world that would keep her small.”

    Publishers Weekly called it an, "Innovative . . . [novel that] navigates the back-and-forth of the story’s time-travel events, threading them into the highlights of women’s scientific achievements."

    [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 Isa Arsén and I discussed:

    • Studying music composition and blending the organic and machine
    • Why “music is how we decorate time”
    • Her unique blend of interests, including Dr. Who
    • What it means to write in the age of genre-benders
    • Why storytelling is a quirk of evolution
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • inarsen.com
    • Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsén [Amazon]
    • Isa Arsén on Instagram
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Laurell K. Hamilton Writes: Part Two Oct 06, 2023
    Show notes

    #1 New York Times bestselling author, Laurell K. Hamilton, returns to talk about how her writing process has evolved over the last 30 years, how to find words, wisdom, and mental wellness, and celebrating the 30th in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series with SLAY.

    Laurell K. Hamilton is the trailblazing, genre-bending author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, and the Merry Gentry, Fey Detective series, and is considered an influential pioneer in the urban-fantasy genre.

    In the 30th novel of the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Hunter series, Slay, wedding bells are ringing. “But before Anita can make it to the altar, she must face an obstacle more daunting than any supernatural threat.”

    Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the most successful and popular paranormal fiction authors publishing today, has published over 40 novels, and has sold more than 20 million copies of her books.

    [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 Laurell K. Hamilton and I discussed:

    • Why she doesn’t outline or do research before her first drafts
    • How she became a lean, mean writing machine over the years
    • Why you can’t beat yourself up if the pages aren’t coming
    • How to refill your creative tank
    • Tapping science, history, and mythology for realism in your fiction
    • The rarefied air of a 30-book series
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Laurell K. Hamilton Writes: Part One
    • LaurellKHamilton.com
    • Slay (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter) by Laurell K. Hamilton [Amazon]
    • Laurell K. Hamilton Amazon author page
    • Laurell K. Hamilton on FaceBook
    • Laurell K. Hamilton on Instagram
    • Laurell K. Hamilton on Twitter
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How Booker Prize-Winning Author Anne Enright Writes Sep 29, 2023
    Show notes

    Bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author, Anne Enright, spoke to me about eagles and moles, the interior engineering of a novel, her love of Irish poetry, and her latest THE WREN, THE WREN.

    Anne Enright won the Man Booker Prize and the Irish Fiction Award for her novel The Gathering. She has also been awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Book Awards, and was the first Laureate for Irish Fiction (2015-2018).

    Her latest novel The Wren, the Wren, was named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by TIME, The Millions, Literary Hub, and others, and is described as the story of “... three generations of … women who must contend with inheritances―of poetic wonder and of abandonment by a man who is lauded in public and carelessly selfish at home.”

    The New York Times called it, "... a powerful, thoughtful book by one of the great living writers on the subject of family," and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan said of the book, “The Wren, the Wren is an electrifying romp through language itself―its dizzying possibilities and satisfactions―led by one the most gifted writers working in English today."

    Anne Enright has also published two books of short stories, her essays on literary themes have appeared in the London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books, and she writes for the books pages of The Irish Times and The Guardian.

    [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 Enright and I discussed:

    • The moment of burnout that changed her career
    • How she used to be a night owl scribe
    • Why you shouldn’t over-panic, or over-plan
    • The fallacies of impostor syndrome and inspiration
    • How to create a fictional poet out of thin air
    • Taking a long look at James Joyce across the table
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • Anne Enright - Wikipedia
    • The Wren, the Wren: A Novel by Anne Enright (Amazon)
    • Anne Enright Amazon Author Page
    • Book Review: ‘The Wren, the Wren,’ by Anne Enright - The New York Times
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How Bestselling Author & TV Producer Dwain Worrell Writes Sep 22, 2023
    Show notes

    Bestselling author and award-winning screenwriter, Dwain Worrell, spoke to me about making the move from the writers' room to the cafe, the art and science of suspense, and his debut novel ANDRONE.

    Dwain Worrell is an award-winning Marvel and Disney+ TV producer, filmmaker, and novelist whose writing credits include Marvel’s Iron Fist, CBS’s Fire Country, Amazon Studios’ The Wall, and the Disney+ series National Treasure, among others. Dwain also worked as a translator of Mandarin Chinese in Beijing for nearly a decade.

    His bestselling debut novel, Androne, is described as a “... near future … highly cinematic and propulsive story [centered] around a terrifying event called the Ninety-Nine, where all major military installations on Earth [are] eviscerated, heralding humanity's start of a war with an unknown enemy.”

    Niels Arden Oplev, Director of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo called the book “A crazy-cool ride into the unknown …. [Androne] reads like a high-end videogame on steroids with a destiny of Shakespearean magnitude.”

    Publishers Weekly wrote, “... taut intrigue … reels readers into a thrilling yet thoughtful narrative about the futility of war and the cost of doing the right thing…”

    [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 Dwain Worrell and I discussed:

    • Making the move from screenwriter to novelist during a WGA strike
    • How he discovered theater after having his basketball dreams dashed
    • Why writing for TV is harder (and easier) than prose
    • The inspiration that went into his latest sci-fi thriller
    • Our mutual love of Hans Zimmer soundtracks
    • Hanging out with Shakespeare at Chili’s
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • Dwainworrell.com
    • Dwain Worrell - IMDb
    • Behind the Science of Writing Good Suspense - Writer's Digest
    • Androne By Dwain Worrell (Amazon)
    • Dwain Worrell on Instagram
    • Dwain Worrell on Twitter
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter


    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Lynn Barnes Writes: Part One Sep 15, 2023
    Show notes

    #1 New York Times bestselling author, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, spoke to me about how to write seven novels in 18 months, the psychology of fiction and fandom, and her latest YA mystery, THE BROTHERS HAWTHORNE.

    Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 acclaimed young adult novels, including The Inheritance Games trilogy, Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals, The Lovely and the Lost, and The Naturals series.

    Her latest is The Brothers Hawthorne, described as “Knives Out-esque” by Publishers Weekly, it is a story of [two brothers] “Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, [who] —with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather’s fortune—must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.”

    Jen is a Fulbright Scholar with advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science including a Ph.D. from Yale University, and “...is one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of fandom and the cognitive science of fiction and the imagination.”

    [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 Jennifer Lynn Barnes and I discussed:

    • Her study of autism and why neurodivergents rely so heavily on story
    • How her bestselling trilogy went viral on TikTok
    • Why she writes for reluctant readers
    • How to write mysteries with intricate puzzles, twists, turns, and reveals
    • Her theories on why readers love fiction
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • Jenniferlynnbarnes.com
    • The psychology of fiction with Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Re:Thinking with Adam Grant - TED Audio Collective
    • The Brothers Hawthorne By Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Amazon)
    • Jennifer Lynn Barnes Amazon Author Page
    • Jennifer Lynn Barnes on Twitter
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author James Rollins Writes Sep 08, 2023
    Show notes

    #1 New York Times bestselling author, James Rollins, spoke to me about his alter ego, veterinarian Dr. Jim, how to write two staccato-paced novels a year, and his latest Sigma Force installment, TIDES OF FIRE.

    James Rollins is the #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of the Sigma Force series, six standalone adventure thrillers, a novelization of the Indiana Jones franchise, and many others totaling over 44 novels (even he can’t remember the exact number).

    His latest in his most popular series is Tides of Fire: A Sigma Force Novel, [set on] “...an international research station in the Coral Sea [that] comes under siege during a geological disaster that triggers massive quakes, deadly tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To stop the world from burning, it’s up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet…”

    Publishers Weekly said of the book, "The X-Files meets Seal Team Six in Rollins’s imaginative, pulse-pounding 17th Sigma Force thriller . . . . Rollins’s gleeful everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach works well here, nimbly balancing popcorn action with mind-blowing scientific speculation. The author has rarely been better at making the implausible feel plausible."

    James Rollins’s novels have sold over 20 million copies and are published in more than 40 languages worldwide.

    [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 James Rollins and I discussed:

    • How 49 rejections early in his career didn’t sway his passion for writing
    • Keeping all of the plots and characters organized in his many series
    • The panic that comes with every undertaking
    • Why he adds illustrations and appendices to his books
    • The unique research process that goes into his prescient novels
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • JamesRollins.com
    • Tides of Fire: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins (Amazon)
    • James Rollins Amazon Author Page
    • James Rollins on Instagram
    • James Rollins on Twitter
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How Internationally Bestselling Author Lucy Clarke Writes Sep 01, 2023
    Show notes

    Internationally bestselling author, Lucy Clarke, spoke to me about how her love of travel morphed into a destination thriller, building your readership organically, and the chewy female dynamics in her latest novel THE HIKE.

    Lucy Clarke is a Sunday Times bestseller and the author of eight destination thrillers including Waterstones Thriller of the Month, The Castaways, Richard and Judy Book Club pick, One of the Girls, and most recently, The Hike.

    Told in alternating perspectives her latest thriller “explores the wild side of female friendship and the transportive power of the wilderness.”

    New York Times bestselling author Sarah Pearse said of the book, “THE HIKE transports you to the Norwegian wilderness where a group of female friends are pushed to their absolute limits and beyond.”

    Lucy’s novels have sold over a million copies and are published in over 25 territories worldwide. An adaptation of her book The Castaways was filmed on location in Fiji and Greece, and the five-part series is airing on Paramount+.

    [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 Lucy Clarke and I discussed:

    • Her past life in advertising and making the transition to fiction
    • The explosion of the thriller genre and her place in it
    • Why she likes to write characters at their crossroads
    • Her remote Zen writing hideout
    • Why maintaining author friendships is so important to longevity
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • Lucy-clarke.com
    • The Hike by Lucy Clarke (Amazon)
    • Lucy Clarke Amazon Author Page
    • Lucy Clarke on Facebook
    • Lucy Clarke on Instagram
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How to Write with ADHD and Coach Skye Waterson Aug 30, 2023
    Show notes

    Bonus Episode: ADHD Coach, researcher, and Doctoral Candidate, Skye Waterson, spoke to me about writing a dissertation with neurodiversity, conquering burnout, and her unconventional approach to writing routines for writers with time blindness and more.

    Skye Waterson is the Founder of Unconventional Organization, a worldwide, research-based ADHD support service that has helped academics, playwrights, and authors with ADHD “...build strength-focused writing routines so they can meet their goals while managing struggles with executive functioning”

    An academic with over seven years of experience working in adult education, she has studied in various fields, including Psychology, Sociology, and Public Health, and is now a Doctoral Candidate in Population Health.

    [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 Skye Waterson and I discussed:

    • How she got her ADHD diagnosis at age 30
    • Why procrastination and neurodiversity go hand-in-hand
    • How neurotypical writers differ from those with real struggles
    • When you need to seek out unconventional wisdom for help
    • The strengths of writers with ADHD
    • Leaning on self-care to promote productivity
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • unconventionalorganisation.com
    • 'The Writer's Brain' on Procrastination: Part One - The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience (podcast)
    • Unconventional Organization on Instagram
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


    How Acclaimed TV Writer/Producer Adam Lorenzo Writes Aug 25, 2023
    Show notes

    Acclaimed TV and movie writer, Adam Lorenzo, spoke to me about owning a college bar … while still in college, his work ethic and what keeps him hustling pages, and his latest college survival guide ALL I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM MY COLLEGE BAR.

    Adam Lorenzo is a writer/producer who works in both live-action and animation who started as a joke writer, selling material to Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update''; Jimmy Kimmel; and David Letterman, which resulted in his first staff-writing job, on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (co-created and executive produced by Letterman).

    Other notable TV credits include the Emmy-winning Everybody Loves Raymond, Are We There Yet? (starring Terry Crews and Ice Cube), and Everybody Hates Chris, based on the life of Chris Rock.

    Before successfully pursuing his dream of being a writer, he owned a college bar... while still a student at Syracuse University.

    The author’s debut in publishing, naturally, is All I Need To Know I Learned From My College Bar, a whimsical look at what Adam calls the "valuable life lessons learned working and laughing with people from all over the world in that cathedral of knowledge known as a college bar."x

    The self-described “college survival guide” is based on his life and has illustrations by Antonio Giovanni Pinna of The New Yorker.

    [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 Adam Lorenzo and I discussed:

    • How he faked and faxed his way into Dave Letterman’s heart
    • Why his writing career effectively ended his marriage
    • How a kid from Buffalo, NY made it in Hollywood
    • Why he spent so much time at a little-known library at The Writers Guild of America
    • The Sicilian barber that got him a big break into sitcoms
    • My own #TheCollegeBarChallenge
    • And a lot more!

    Show Notes:

    • collegebarbook.com
    • Adam Lorenzo on IMDb
    • All I Need To Know I Learned From My College Bar by Adam Lorenzo (Amazon)
    • Adam Lorenzo on YouTube
    • Adam Lorenzo on Instagram
    • Adam Lorenzo on Twitter
    • Kelton Reid on Twitter

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


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