Nada Samih-Rotondo is a multi-genre Palestinian-American writer, teacher, and mother, who recently published her first book, a memoir called All Water Has Perfect Memory.Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, Nada immigrated to the U.S. at the age of six to Rhode Island. Her work has been published in the The Master's Review, Squat! Birth Journal, and Gulfstream Literary Magazine. Nada and I are talking on a school holiday because she is a teacher and I am so grateful that she made time for us.How Nada started writing her novel during the pandemic while teaching from home and homeschooling three kidsDeveloping patience with the publishing processReading as a vital part of feeding your creativityWriting in coffee shops (especially when you have kids)For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final installment of my talk with Chelsey Goodan, author of Underestimated: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls, we talk a lot about the many, many perks of embracing your particular brand of weirdness, as well as:The power of friends to keep you inspiredWhat teens AND adults can do to find their people and make meaningful friendshipsThe payoff that comes from paying attention to what in your life needs to changeUsing a milestone birthday–even one that’s a ways off–as fuelChelsey’s current favorite book on creativityThe Netflix show you should watch with your teenFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of my interview with Chelsey Goodan, author of Underestimated: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls, we really break down the inner parts of writing, including how to be OK with the fact that people may misunderstand you.Other things we cover:The mistake most well-intentioned parents makeHow Chelsey deals with her biggest fear about her work–being misunderstoodDealing with a perfectionistic inner criticChelsey’s “intense” relationship to timeThe one cultural belief Chesley would like to vaporizeThe truth that Chelsey’s had to model for the teen girls in her lifeThe book and online personality assessment Chelsey swears by (and uses with the teens in her life, too)For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I’m talking with Chelsey Goodan, author, keynote speaker, and screenwriter whose new book Underestimated: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls is coming out any minute now!As the mom of a 16-year-old girl, I just didn’t even think twice about inviting Chelsey on to Finding the Throughline. I literally read the title of her book and was like YES.In this first part of our interview, we unpack:The seeds of self-doubt, impostor syndrome, and people pleasing that are sown during the teenage yearsChelsey’s recipe for connecting with teenage girlsThe difference between being truthful and being bluntWhat helps teens (giving them space to feel their feelings) and what doesn’t (trying to fix)How Chelsey makes meditation doable, even delightfulHow to listen for inspirationHow to keep track of those inspirations so they don’t fly awayFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final installment of interview with memoirist, speaker, and screenwriter Sarah Montana, we dive into where’s she’s headed–who her role models are, what’s perking up her ears, and how she’s taking what she learned as an advocate on the front lines in the writer’s strike and applying it to her own career.Why Sarah no longer has role models, per se, and what she looks to for inspiration insteadHaving a varied social dietHow Sarah is learning to ask for what she wantsHow growing up in a conflict averse household makes negotiating hardStaying involved in the writer’s union now that the strike has passedThe book series she’s been reading out loud with her husband, which she calls “the most fun I’ve had in a really long time”The playlist that alway turns Sarah’s energy around (in a good way)The special energy of transitional times of day, like twilight Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heads up: In this second part of my interview with screenwriter Sarah Montana, we discuss trauma and suicide, so please take care while listening.Even without those discussions, in this episode Sarah goes deep into some major truths about life and you probably don’t want to be listening while you’re doing chores or around other people so you can let it all in. (I’m still processing it all! In the very very best way.)Sarah talks about her own traumatic stories (without going into detail) and how there is incredible fulfillment that comes from helping others by sharing your story, AND there’s a shit sandwich that comes along with itFictionalizing your traumatic experiences to express the feelings while also creating boundaries (it also lets you say and do the things you wish you’d said and done in real life)How Brittany Spears’s memoir got Sarah thinking deeply about success and freedomThoughts on how having power can trigger you to express it in very-no-good ways, just because you can, or what Sarah calls “the intoxication of power”How having money does not equal safetyThe writer’s strike as an opportunity to be a citizen, not just a worker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I'm talking with Sarah Montana, a screenwriter, speaker, writer, and–fun fact!--trained opera singer. Sarah has written multiple movies for the Hallmark Channel, including Rescuing Christmas, Love to the Rescue, and A New Year's Resolution. Her TEDx talk, “The real risk of forgiveness and why it's worth it” is one of my favorite TED talks of all time.If you’ve listened to Sarah’s TED talk, you’ll know that her mother and brother were killed during a home break-in when she was 22. We don’t discuss it directly, but know that fact will help you know what Sarah means when she refers to ‘trauma.’In this episode, we mostly stay focused on the practicalities of Sarah’s work–how she came to be doing it, how she stays connected to her work specifically and creativity in general, and how she gets her work done.Why being in a non-creative period is the perfect time to expose yourself to things that are nothing like your work, like “fairies falling in love and fighting in wars.”And why, when the ideas ARE coming, it’s a great time to consume things that are in the same realm as your work to help you not be so “creative and in the sky”How she learned not to force the workThe genius of having a “good day plan” and a “bad day plan”The things that help Sarah stay in a good placeOK, this alternative to meal planning is FIREHer daily approach to sitting down and doing workHow to tell when your brain needs a break Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final installment of my talk with author and essayist Minda Honey, we cover:The insights–on double consciousness, omniscience, and overlapping timelines–she got at a recent conferenceHow Andre 3000’s new flute album is cracking open possibilities in her mindThe concept of a braided essay, and how it’s like making a charcuterie boardThe book Minda could not put down (and that made her cry)For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of my interview with essayist and author of the memoir The Heartbreak Years, Minda Honey, we really break down the inner parts of writing, including how to stay focused on the impact your work is having when all some people want to do is complain.Other things we cover:How an earlier school of personal essays bordered into too personal, or what Minda referred to as “self-exploitation”, and how to make sure you’re not doing that in your own personal writingHow even when you tell people what your book is about with a very clear title, some people are going to be upset by what you include in your bookHow people are dismissive of women writing truthfully about all parts of their lives–and how she deals with the hatersWhy doing the art that speaks to your soul is the only way to goHer genius approach to dealing with the inner critic (preview: she proves it’s a liar)Why not every day is a day for writingWhy Minda had to start doing her own taxes at age 17Learning to cryHow Minda uses tools like human design and tarot in work and lifeFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minda Honey is the author of The Heartbreak Years, a hilarious and intimate memoir of a Black woman finding who she is and who she wants to be, one bad date at a time.Minda's essays on politics and relationships have appeared in all kinds of amazing places, including Harper's Bazaar, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Teen Vogue, and Longreads. She is also the editor of Black Joy at Reckon, an online outlet where she also helms a newsletter that has nearly 60,000 subscribers.Honestly there were SO MANY quotes I wanted to pull from this interview–just go ahead and press play right nowBut here’s the synopsis:How Minda–the daughter of a postal worker and a computer programmer–did the “get good grades, get a scholarship, join corporate America” thing and realized, it wasn’t for herSquaring all the “Davids and Jonathans”--the typical authors taught in MFA programs–with the Tonis and Zoras Minda reveredThe financial move that helped Minda launch her freelance careerThe many daily parts of life that count as ‘writing’Why you NEED to find your writing communityMinda’s recipe for sitting down to write: Lofi music + a trio of beverages and four hours blocked offThe satisfying clickety clack of a specific type of keyboardWhy Minda was doing our interview from Mexico (it involves “skipping winter”, but there’s a lot more to it than that)Giving up drinking and moving away from homeFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices