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

Critically acclaimed debut author Bryan VanDyke, spoke with me about the writer’s life in NYC, pushing the boundaries of literature and speculative fiction, and his latest novel about AI tech, IN OUR LIKENESS.Bryan VanDyke is a former staff writer for The Millions, and he graduated from writing programs at Columbia University and Northwestern. As a digital strategist, he advised and partnered with technologists, startup founders and venture capitalists.His “eerily timely debut novel,” IN OUR LIKENESS, draws on his experience and dramatizes many of the as-yet-unanswered questions about “the wonders and chaos” of artificial intelligence.Described as a “Frankenstein-esque tale befitting the information age,” CNN journalist and author of Age of Revolutions Fareed Zakaria called the book “A total triumph.”[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 Bryan VanDyke and I discussed:  Feeling like a double agent while he was struggling to get published His love of genre science fiction and literary lions What it was like to edit a book about AI during a sea change in the tech How he edits his work on the go Grabbing a drink with William Faulkner at Grand Central Terminal And a lot more! Show Notes:  bryanvandyke.com In Our Likeness: A Novel by Bryan VanDyke (Amazon) Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#1 New York Times bestselling author, Mark Oshiro, spoke with me about what journalism taught them about book editing, capturing a transitional age with young adult and middle-grade fiction, and their latest novel JASMINE IS HAUNTED.Mark Oshiro is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of young adult books including Anger Is a Gift, as well as middle-grade books The Insiders, You Only Live Once, David Bravo, and Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena. They are also the coauthor (with Rick Riordan) of The Sun and the Star: A Nico Di Angelo Adventure.Their upcoming middle-grade novel JASMINE IS HAUNTED (Starscape, Hardcover; October 1, 2024), is described as a "heartfelt, funny, fast-paced, and spooky” (Rick Riordan), tale about the gravity of grief and the courage it takes to overcome it.Mark Oshiro won the 2024 Georgia Author of the Year Award and the 2019 Schneider Family Book Award.[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 Mark Oshiro and I discussed:  The strange circuitous route to bestseller and the public perception of debut authors Why their journalism background prepared them for a full-time fiction career How they teamed up with the author of Percy Jackson & the Olympians On writing queer stories with characters of color The outsized influence of Octavia Butler And a lot more! Show Notes:  www.markoshiro.com Jasmine Is Haunted by Mark Oshiro (Amazon) Mark Oshiro Amazon Author Page Mark Oshiro on Instagram Mark Oshiro on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Note: A revisiting of an amazing chat I had with the humble Emily Henry.#1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry, returns to chat with me about depressing first drafts, what it's like to be a genre-bending, commercial fiction superstar, and her “glittering” new novel HAPPY PLACE.Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, and has sold over three million copies of her novels.Her latest is Happy Place, an instant ​​#1 New York Times bestseller and her first hardcover novel, described as a book “...about reluctant exes who make a pact to pretend to date during an annual friends’ trip...”Author Taylor Jenkins-Reid called it "Another knock-out from the champ.” The Washington Post wrote that the book, “Blur[s] the lines between women’s and literary-leaning commercial fiction, departing from the fantasy spaces of bodice rippers and misty moors to depict a world that looks a lot more like, well, our own…”Emily's books have been featured in Buzzfeed, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and many more. [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, Emily Henry and I discussed:  What it feels like to (still) be living inside a lightning strike Why it’s easy for her to stay humble as a writer How to write rom-com at the top of readers’ intelligence Her take on superhero movie tropes Why making a reader laugh is so much harder than making them cry And a lot more! Show Notes: How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Emily Henry Writes: Part One emilyhenrybooks.com Happy Place By Emily Henry (Amazon)  Emily Henry Amazon Author Page Emily Henry on Instagram Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOTE: This is an updated replay of my amazing chat with #1 New York Times bestselling author and screenwriter-producer Dennis Lehane. His latest novel, Small Mercies, was an instant NY Times Bestseller named an Amazon Editors' pick for Best Books 2023. Stephen King said of the book “Small Mercies is thought-provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” Enjoy!New York Times bestselling author and screenwriter-producer, Dennis Lehane, spoke to me about what he learned from Clint Eastwood, working on "Mr. Mercedes" with David E. Kelley, and his new Apple TV+ show "Black Bird."Dennis Lehane is the bestselling author of 13 novels including four adapted into films of the same name: 2003's Academy Award-winning film Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood; 2007's Gone Baby Gone; 2010's Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese, and 2016’s Live by Night directed by Ben Affleck.His latest is the limited Apple TV+ series, Black Bird, described as a "...fascinating, ripped-from-the headlines story [and] true-crime drama..." based on the 2010 memoir by James Keene and Hillel Levin, “In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption.""Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton), cuts a deal with the FBI to enter maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend a suspected serial killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser)."Black Bird premieres globally with the first two episodes on Friday, July 8, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday.Lehane was a staff writer on the acclaimed HBO series "The Wire" and also worked as a writer-producer on HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire" the Netflix series, "Bloodline," and a writer and producer on the television adaptation of Stephen King’s "Mr. Mercedes."[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 Dennis Lehane and I discussed:Why he sucked at everything except writing and playing poolHow he landed a literary agent while parking carsDealing with impostor syndrome early onWhy he prefers screenwriting to novel writing todayWhy narcissists have no place on a TV setAnd a lot more!Show Notes:Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Amazon)Dennis Lehane Amazon Author PageBlack Bird | Apple TV+Dennis Lehane on IMDbIn With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin (Amazon)Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#1 New York Times bestselling author, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, returned to chat about why bestsellers stick around for years, why fiction is perfectly geared for the human mind, and her latest YA thriller, THE GRANDEST GAME.Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 25 acclaimed young adult novels, including The Inheritance Games series (over 3 million copies sold), Little White Lies, Deadly Little Scandals, The Lovely and the Lost, and The Naturals series.Her latest is another #1 New York Times bestseller, The Grandest Game (Volume 1) “... a new series that brings readers deeper into the lush, romantic, and puzzle-filled world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series, set a year after we last saw Avery and the Hawthornes.”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:  Juggling a book launch, edits, and revisions for three new books How to reboot a hit series to capture the same energy as the original Why she approaches writing as both a scientist and an author How she uses lists of her favorite tropes to unlock her scenes More theories on why readers love fiction And a lot more! Show Notes:  How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Lynn Barnes Writes: Part One Jenniferlynnbarnes.com The psychology of fiction with Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Re:Thinking with Adam Grant - TED Audio Collective The Grandest Game (Volume 1) (The Grandest Game, 1) 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

Award-winning author and journalist, Alex Temblador, spoke with me about seeing publishing through rose-colored glasses, teaching writers to create inclusive narratives, and her essential guide WRITING AN IDENTITY NOT YOUR OWN.Alex Temblador is an award-winning travel, arts, and culture journalist, award-winning author of novels Half Outlaw, and Secrets of the Casa Rosada, as well as the Executive Director of Write Here DFW and the founder and moderator of LitTalk at Whose Books, a panel series for Dallas-Forth Worth authors.Her recently published resource, WRITING AN IDENTITY NOT YOUR OWN: A Guide for Creative Writers (8/13/24 from St. Martin’s Essentials), is described as a “...practical guide [that] delves into one of the most contentious topics in creative writing: creating characters with historically marginalized identities.”David Mura, author of A Stranger's Journey: Race, Identity & Narrative Craft in Writing said of the author, "Alex Temblador provides a concrete and detailed guide to the issues of misrepresentation, appropriation and stereotypes in creative writing….and interrogates not just issues of craft but the biases we all carry that we may be unaware of. An essential text."Alex has an MFA in Creative Writing and her journalism has been published in Conde Nast Traveler, Outside, Travel + Leisure, among 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 Alex Temblador and I discussed:Writing subtitles for filmsHer love of magical realismHow she became a freelance journalist focusing on DEIWhy she decided to undertake an ambitious creative writing guide What authors can do for their mental healthAnd a lot more!Show Notes:www.alextemblador.comWriting an Identity Not Your Own: A Guide for Creative Writers by Alex Temblador (Amazon)writinganidentitynotyourown.comAlex Temblador on InstagramAlex Temblador on TwitterKelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writers, publishing experts, and Hungry Authors podcast hosts, Ariel Curry and Liz Morrow, returned to chat about playing the long game, meeting readers where they’re at, and the origins of their much-anticipated publishing guide.Ariel Curry is a writer and Senior Editor of nonfiction at Sourcebooks with over 10 years of experience in traditional publishing. Her partner in crime at hungryauthors.com is Liz Morrow, a traditionally published ghostwriter for entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and business experts who specializes in personal and professional development and memoir.Their debut as co-authors is Hungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book (August 6, 2024), available now.[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 Ariel, Liz and I discussed:Time-blocking, non-negotiables, and writing when you have kidsHow the Hungry Authors multiverse came to beWhy finding comps to your work is so importantHow to navigate the publishing landscape without losing faithOvercoming fear, procrastination, scarcity mindset, impostor syndrome …And much more!Show Notes:How to Plan, Write & Publish Nonfiction with Hungry Authors Hosts Ariel Curry & Liz Morrow: Part Onehungryauthors.comHungry Authors: The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book by Liz Morrow and Ariel Curry (Amazon)Hungry Authors - Podcast w/ Ariel Curry & Liz MorrowKelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bestselling author and teacher, Natalie Goldberg, spoke to me about igniting a revolution with Writing Down the Bones, meeting creative block in a cemetery, and her latest, WRITING ON EMPTY: A Guide to Finding Your Voice.Natalie Goldberg is a poet, teacher, author, painter, and 24-year student of Zen Buddhism who teaches writing workshops based on the methods presented in her popular bestseller Writing Down the Bones. The book has sold over a million copies and has been translated into 14 languages.Her latest is Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice, where the author “... shares her inspiring personal journey out of a devastating period of writer’s block and back into a life of growth, creativity, and healing.”Described as a guide to “… discovering how to write through the emptiness in order to fill up the world with compassion, healing, and renewed liveliness.” Publishers Weekly praised it as "... a refreshingly honest look at the struggles of the creative mind."[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 Natalie Goldberg and I discussed: How her Zen practice informs her workHer early life as a poetWhen New York publishers made fun of her, at their perilWhy she hates the diagnosis “writer’s block”Finding catharsis in writing a personal historyAnd a lot more!Show Notes:NatalieGoldberg.comWriting on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice by Natalie Goldberg (Amazon)Natalie Goldberg Amazon Author PageNatalie Goldberg on FacebookKelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#1 New York Times bestselling author, Lev Grossman, spoke to me about his tenure at Time magazine, how The Magicians poked holes in Narnia and Potter, and reimagining a legend with THE BRIGHT SWORD: A Novel of King Arthur.Lev Grossman is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy—The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician’s Land—which has been published in 30 countries and adapted as a TV show that ran for five seasons on SYFY.His latest novel is THE BRIGHT SWORD: A Novel of King Arthur, named a Best Summer Read by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, Vulture, Esquire, Boston Globe, Elle, Town & Country, Seattle Times, New York Post, Lit Hub, and many others.George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones said of the book, “If you love King Arthur as much as I do, you’ll love Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, a fresh and engrossing take on the Matter of Britain featuring a colorful cast of Round Table knights who don’t often get as much story time as they deserve. The creator of The Magicians has woven another spell.”Lev has written two critically acclaimed novels for children, and the screenplay for the movie The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, a finalist for the Critic’s Choice awards (based on his short story).He also worked as a staff writer at Time magazine, and has written essays and articles for Vanity Fair, the Believer, the Village Voice, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Salon, Slate, Wired, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, NPR, and many 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 Lev Grossman and I discussed: How he talked his way into writing for Time magazineThe evolution of his career from journalist to novelistBreaking through with middle-grade fantasy and The MagiciansHow he “got into the weeds” with his latest Arthurian tomeWorld-building for streaming vs. collaborating on the graphic novelAnd a lot more!Show Notes:levgrossman.comThe Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman (Amazon)Lev Grossman Amazon Author PageLev Grossman on FacebookLev Grossman on InstagramLev Grossman on TwitterKelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauded debut author, Isabel Banta, spoke to me about working at Books Are Magic with Emma Straub, her love of Britney Spears, and capturing Y2K era pop superstardom in her debut novel HONEY.Isabel Banta is a writer, book publicist, and indie bookseller at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn.Her debut novel is HONEY, named a 'GMA' Buzz Pick and described as “...a coming-of-age story about a pop star in the late '90s and early 2000s who's determined to find and claim her own identity.”Honey was named a best book of the summer by PEOPLE, ELLE, PureWow and Our Culture, as well as a Goodreads Editor's Choice and IndieNext Pick.New York Times bestselling author Emma Straub said of the book, "Honey is a sexy swagger of a debut." LitHub named it one of 18 Books to Read this Summer, “A delightfully bubblegum novel of hot summer nostalgia that also lands some serious blows to the patriarchal mores of a cultural milieu we still haven’t fully shaken off.”[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 Isabel Banta and I discussed: Why she loves talking about and promoting other writersThe surreality of finally publishing her own bookHow she approached the subject of the commodification of young stars in the music industryWhy you need to pivot POVs as a novelistHer writing routineAnd a lot more!Show Notes:isabelbanta.comHoney: A Novel By Isabel Banta (Amazon)Isabel Banta on InstagramKelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices