Emily Adrian [Host: Michael Wheaton]

On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Michael Wheaton interviews Emily Adrian.

Emily Adrian is the author of Everything Here Is Under Control and The Second Season, as well as two critically acclaimed novels for young adults. Her work has appeared in Granta, Joyland, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Millions. She is also a co-editor of the new press Great Place Books.

Michael Wheaton is the publisher of Autofocus Books and producer of this podcast.

____________

PART ONE, topics include:

-- a summer in the West

-- kids going into first grade

-- the founding of Great Place Books

-- writers getting pushed into commercial directions

-- the number of great unpublished manuscripts out there

-- the first few forthcoming books for the press

-- GPB's educational arm and Emily's class on Alice Munro

____________

PART TWO, topics include:

-- writing without ambition as a kid

-- dropping out of high school

-- writing novels after college 

-- writing young characters while a young person

-- writing mothers while a mother

-- how different and idiosyncratic people's lives are

-- Emily's most recent novel The Second Season

-- the relief of not thinking about a book anymore

-- imagining a future phase of life through story

-- basing her main character on NBA analyst Doris Burke

-- researching the novel & talking to lots of people

-- becoming a genuine fan of the NBA

___________

PART THREE, topics include:

-- writing in third vs. first person

-- the beauty of clarity and context in a story

-- knowing why you reveal what you reveal and don't reveal

-- the urgency of structuring the novel around the NBA finals

-- a novel in progress

-- writing and publishing stories

-- a memoir that did not get published

-- Alice Munro  and time

____________

Podcast theme music provided by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex. Here's more of his project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.

The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton.