Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

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

In this final installment of my interview with Jodie Noel Vinson, she spills the deets on her favorite writers and books and how- Inspiring figures from history who were chronically ill, including Florence Nightengale and Charles Darwin–lightbulb moment!- I gush about the memoir Easy Beauty, by Chloe Cooper Jones–one of my top reads of 2022 (now available in paperback!)- The essayists Jodie can’t get enough of- Jodie also admits the musical megastar who rose to fame in the 80s that she didn’t really experience until 2020–and how his music is a touchstone for her todayFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro.com. Use promo code KATE to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive an extended warranty for free. Support your health *and* this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of my interview with essayist Jodie Noel Vinson, we talk about the squishier side of doing creative work, including:- How no one wants to claim the term “writer”, and what Jodie has to say about that.- How turning 30 was a bigger deal for Jodie than turning 40 (which she recently did)- Why Jodie reads Proust over and and over, and it’s not snobby- A heartfelt rant on how we talk and think about health as a society- Gleaning insights from difficult experiences, and keeping the insights long after the experience is throughFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro.com. Use promo code KATE to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive an extended warranty for free. Support your health *and* this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jodie Noel Vinson is an essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Review, Literary Hub, and Ploughshares. Her essays have received honorable mention in the annual Best American Essay anthologies, and she's won multiple awards and residencies, including the Susan Adefat Prize for Creative Nonfiction from Arts and Letters and the Maureen Egan Writers Exchange Award from Poets and Writers. Jodi lives in Providence, where she's also the program director at Lit Arts RI, a co-working space and so much more for the Rhode Island creative community. Fun fact: Jodie taught the Podcasting 101 class that I took before I launched my first podcast, How to Be a Better Person, back in 2019. And now I am so thrilled to be hosting her on Finding the Throughline as one of my very first guests.In this first episode on the practical matters concerns Jodie’s path and how she does her work, we break down:- Jodie’s experience with being one of the first folks to get long Covid, and how that shaped her work–both what she writes about and how she does that writing- The importance of not always succumbing to your drive to get things done- Protecting your most focused work time- The daily habits that Jodie uses to feel good- The writing software she’s recently adopted as a tool- How having a kitten helps with the creative process (even though it also can take time away from work)For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro.com. Use promo code KATE to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive an extended warranty for free. Support your health *and* this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of my interview with Terri Trespicio, she shares the books, shows, and people she can’t get enough of who inspire her. Plus, she answers the fast five questions despite having a moment of panic that she wouldn’t be able to think of anything to say.- How she loves poking holes in the silly things we tell ourselves (like her friend who felt like she had to finish every library book she checked out whether she liked it or not)- The two men Terri considers creative mentors- Her friend, a woman, who inspires her on how to live life on her own terms (she’s internet famous–OK, it’s Laura Belgray)- The historical fiction author she’s staying up too late reading and the show she can’t stop watching once she starts- Her love of meat snacks- Which time of year she hates, and why- Where you’re likely to find her on Friday nights- The utensil most of her favorite types of foods requireFor detailed 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 2 of interview with author of Unfollow Your Passion, TedX speaker, and standup comedian Terri Trespicio, we break down:- The difference between easy and ease- How Terri’s Catholic upbringing contributed to her recurring critical thoughts, and also what it taught her about how to get past them- A ninja trick for where to place your focus when your inner critic is chiming in- In praise of weight lighting, or as Terri says, helping yourself get better at “trembling in the face of resistance”- Why she, as a Gen X women, prefers dating Millennial men- What Terri will and absolutely will not apologize forFor detailed 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