Welcome to Part 2 of my talk with Christopher Brown, author of the brand new book, “A Natural History of Empty Lots,” as well as the science fiction novel, “Tropic of Kansas” and the legal thrillers “Rule of Capture” and “Failed State.”

- How there were “not a lot of huggers” in his family, and how that relates to his desire to get better at engaging emotionally in his writing, versus just telling a good story

- Using a regular newsletter to write your way into a longer work

- The challenge of weaving together different genres in one body of work–in his case, memoir, nature writing, and literary nonfiction

- The challenge in outlining what your book will be about in a book proposal and actually writing a book that matches that outline

- How the voice you’ve used in short form pieces doesn’t wholly translate to long-form (i.e., the medium is the message)

- When things you read 40 years ago pop up to influence your current work (i.e., another plug for reading widely)

- A common reality in modern publishing–your editor leaves in the middle of your book getting published, and how to navigate that

- Figuring out how to turn a narrative of colonization–something we’ve all been so exposed to its part of our collective subconscious fabric–into a narrative of decolonization

- The questions Christopher asks himself when he’s worried he’s not getting something exactly right

Visit Christopher at https://christopherbrown.com/ and sign up for his Field Notes newsletter at https://fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/.

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

Thank you for listening!

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