In this final part of my interview with Sonya Huber, professor at Fairfield University and author of Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.We talked about:Her beautiful vision of the future include a possible memoir of living with anxiety and… goat writing retreats!Sonya’s four aunts who were nuns and role models for living a joyous, industrious lifeThe classic short stories Sonya reads and re-reads for inspirationThe insanely awesome sounding “coffee smoothie” she makes each morningFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Sonya Huber, inner stuff]: How your personal writing can deepen your relationships + how not to hate writingIn this episode I'm talking with Sonya Huber, author of eight books including Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto and professor in the low-residency MFA at Fairfield University about the mindset piece of writing–the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that affect your work, even if you're not fully conscious of it, including:Ways to handle the anxiety that comes when in the months before your book is publishedHow to deal with the fear that you’re personal writing will hurt someone in your life, or get it ‘wrong’How writing about your own life can deepen relationships with people close to you“Sometimes books really matter to people in ways you don't even imagine they will”How getting long Covid inspired Sonya to write three books in three yearsFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am interviewing Sonia Huber, a prolific and award winning writer in many genres, but primarily in creative nonfiction. Her book of essays on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System was named a best book of 2018 by The New Statesman. Her other books include Love and Industry (2023), Voice First: A Writer's Manifesto (2022) and Supremely Tiny Acts (2021). Her essays have been included in the Best American Essays series numerous times. And she is a professor in the department of English at Fairfield university and in the Fairfield low residency MFA program. Despite all these places where Sonya's work has appeared, I found her on Substack, where she publishes a newsletter called Nuts and Bolts with Sonya.We covered:Why and how Sonya works on multiple books at one time (“maybe because I’m super distractible”)Not being afraid to follow a tangentHaving zero expectations for your writing output, and just having fun exploring the things you’re curious about or mulling overHow much “tiny steps add up to bigger works”How farm-sitting goats pays as much or better than writingThe book about writing that was written in 1938 that played a huge role in Sonya’s approach to writingSitting down for one hour in the mornings even if you’re bored or uninspired to “unsnarl one tiny knot I’ve made for myself”Strategies for keeping your various ideas accessible, if not exactly organizedUsing writing as a tool for dealing with chronic painFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final part of my interview with Joanne McNeill, author of Wrong Way (a novel set in the near future at a company that manages driverless cars) and Lurking (a non-fiction look at the history of the internet from a user’s perspective), we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.We talked about:The novel The Lodgers by Holly Pester, about the housing crisis, and how it hurts a little bit every time she has to put it down because it’s so goodJoanne’s sci-fi inspirations, including Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, Ursula Le Guin, and Octavia Butler, and what specifically about their work fuels her writingHow avant garde sci fi novels used to sell hundreds of thousands of copies–and how this hunger for challenging work is still present, even if you’re not a fancy city eliteA tiny sneak peek at the new book she’s working on. OK, not really, but she does share how she’s trying to write this one differently and push back on the ideas she’s created about how she writes bestJoanne’s answers to the fast 5 questions–a book she was stunned by, where she gets her coffee beans, the Kate Bush song she finds so meaningful that she only listens to it a couple of times a year so it doesn’t lose its power, her favorite season, and the perfect wrap sandwich she would ask for if someone offered to make or buy absolutely anything she wanted.Joanne’s website: https://www.joannemcneil.com/For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I'm talking with Joanne McNeil, author of Wrong Way (a novel set in the near future at a company that manages driverless cars) and Lurking (a non-fiction look at the history of the internet from a user’s perspective), about the inner workings of creativity–the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that either help you do your work, or get in the way.Warning, there’s a tiny bit of cursing and a mention of sexual harassment in the workplace–not a specific story, but just the topic in general, so take care while listening.We talked about:The thrill of writing an op ed and indulging that desire to be right……. compared to writing something more personal (fiction or nonfiction) and being more reflective and offering more of yourselfReckoning with the fact that since her novel, Wrong Way, happens at work and the main character is female, she’d need to include scenes of sexual harassment in order for it be authentic–and really not wanting to go there (“I kind of wrote them in a flurry”)Resisting the urge to overcompensate for the fact that she doesn’t have the ‘right’ writer’s resumeWhy she still considers herself to be an emerging writerHow having writers who come from outside the traditional writing pipeline is so important for the future of writing……and how those writers will naturally take longer to develop (so please don’t tell yourself it’s ‘too late’ or ‘taking too long’!)A mini rant about the use of AI to create art, and being the cheesy romantic who says “humanity is important”Joanne’s website: https://www.joannemcneil.com/For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am talking with journalist, essayist, and novelist, Joanne McNeil. Joanne's first novel Wrong Way came out in 2023. It's a sci-fi novel set in the near future that takes a look at the intersection of the gig economy and big tech and is both satirical and touching–it also made a lot of lists of the best books of 2023 and The New Yorker called it “a literary sneak attack on the very idea of 'the future.'” Joanne's first book, Lurking, is a nonfiction look at the history of the internet from a user's perspective. Joanne is also an important tech critic and has been writing professionally for 20 years.We covered:How posting on message boards in the early days of the Internet led Joanne, a kid from a working-class Massachusetts town, to pursue writingGetting strategic about your career, especially when you don’t come from the traditional path of Ivy League undergraduate degree and top tier MFAThe often slow but vital work of building a diverse communityHow residencies are like gift cards–and how to create your own residency if need beJoanne’s list of must-have supplies for a writing residency: bulletin board, push pins, Post-It notes, and a detailed list of what to get at Trader Joe’sAcknowledging the fact that one hour to yourself can serve as a residency when you need it toJoanne’s website: https://www.joannemcneil.com/For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final part of my interview with Hayley Krischer, journalist and author of the soon-to-be-released “Where Are You, Echo Blue?” we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.We talked about:The incredible allure of hot tubsHow re-watching “The Actor’s Studio with James Lipton” was a key part of her research process for “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”What she learned from studying actors about getting in to the psychology of her charactersThe Instagram influencer who’s helping Hayley understand her perimenopausal body and learning how to take care of herself (Health with Holland)Thinking ahead to when her youngest child is out of the houseA preview of both her YA novel that’s coming out in 2025 (think Charles Manson meets Goop meets teenage girls) and the adult novel she’s writing nextThe 620-page novel Hayley read in four days because she couldn’t put it downThe exact morning beverage (my second guest who swears by Peet’s Coffee Major Dickinson blend) the fuels Hayley, and the (dark) song that gets her fired up when she needs a kick in the pantsHayley on Instagram and Threads: @haylerkrischerHayley on TikTok: @hayleykrischerauthorHayley’s website: hayleykrischer.netHayley’s Substack:Hayley’s upcoming book (pre-order it now so that you have it for as much of the summer as possible, it’s gonna be the best juiciest beach read of the year): Where Are You, Echo Blue?For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I'm talking with Hayley Krischer, author of the upcoming “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”, which is poised to be the beach read of the summer, about the squishier side of creativity– including:The steps Hayley takes–and the tools she uses–to immerse herself in the world of her novels and inside her characters’ psychesWhat she does when she’s feeling stuckHow good it feels when you connect with someone who loved your work in the real worldThe YA author Hayley fan-girled all over when she realized he was also an audience member at a reading she was attendingHow writing and editing can feel “horrible,” “like torture”--and the parts that make Hayley feel like jumping for joyHow her inner critic loves to tell her she should be able to write a novel while also taking five-mile hikes every dayHow the months between when you’re done working on a manuscript and the book is published is a tough time, mentally–and how to navigate itThe self-care practices helping Hayley through (the journaling practice, the supplements, the breathing exercise that helps her sleep)Busting the myth that writers make a lot of money and how hard it is to make a bestseller listFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am talking with journalist and novelist Haley Krischer. Haley's journalism has won awards and appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, and Elle, among other places. She has profiled celebrities like Tatum O'Neill and Celine Dion and Gabrielle Union, and she's reported on trends through a feminist lens. Haley's first two novels were for young adults: “Something Happened to Allie Greenleaf” and “The Falling Girls.” This summer, her first adult novel is coming out: “Where Are You, Echo Blue?” It's about a journalist's obsessive search for a missing Hollywood starlet. And I for one am so looking forward to packing that on my summer vacation.We covered:Which former child actor/celebrities Hayley obsessively researched for her upcoming book, “Where Are You, Echo Blue?”How she found herself working at the Boston Globe in college and found all the journalists “these grimy, sexy, fascinating people”The brilliant wisdom she tells her kids about power of just keeping going.The circular editorial career that led her to being an authorThe “pure insanity” that keeps her coming back to the pageThe writing program Hayley signed up for that took the story she’d been working on for 20 years and could never sell and helped her revise it into a form that sold to a major publisher in four days (her first YA novel, “Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf”The exact mechanical pencil she used to write her upcoming YA novel that’s coming out in 2025The author that inspired Hayley to write a novel in longhandWhy you should never trust yourself to remember that great idea and the myriad ways Hayley captures those ideas, wherever they may happenFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part three of my conversation with author of Building Boys, Jennifer Fink, we talk about the mind trip that is beginning to envision retirement.I have to point out that this is the third interview in a row where my guest mentions that they have a phrase written on a Post-It note hanging above their computer monitor. In addition to sharing what she’s written on her Post-It notes (plural–there are two), Jennifer shares some of her go to shows, snacks, and songs.The lure of leaving it all behind and becoming a flight attendant: “After raising teenagers, unruly passengers? Cinch”The Building Boys Book Club Jennifer is currently dreaming upWhat’s written on the Post-It note above her computer (there are two of them, actually)Finding ways to connect more directly with the people who value your skills and expertiseThinking about retirement, and having more regular access to scuba divingEnvisioning being able to work only on the things closest to your heart and having plenty of time for relationshipsThe Netflix show the world went crazy over a couple years ago that Jennifer just discoveredThe secret to making movie-theater-caliber popcornHer go-to Pandora stationWhy December 23rd is the best day of her year, hands downConnect with Jennifer:At her website: buildingboys.netAt her Substack (email newsletter): buildingboys.substack.comFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices