In this second part of my conversation with Donna Russo, author of “Vincent's Women: the Untold Story of the Loves of Vincent van Gogh, as well as 10 other award winning and internationally best selling historical novels, we explore the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that influence her work.We talked about:Why the time period just before your book comes out is the most nerve-wracking, “like walking out naked and the world gets to comment”The thrill of being in the same room as a group of your readersHow she takes her mind off the anxiety that comes pre-book releaseHer biggest fears as a writerWhy being 66 is an asset to her writingHer best advice for young writersHow historical fiction reminds us that there are always multiple points of view to every storyVisit Donna at donnarusso.com.For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save up to 30% off an amazing indoor air filter, and get a free 3-year warranty (and $84 value). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up this week is Donna Russo, an internationally best-selling author of 11 multiple award winning historical novels, including “Gilded Dreams” and “Gilded Summers”, a trio of books about Leonardo da Vinci, including “Portrait of a Conspiracy,” “The Competition,” and “The Flames of Florence.” Her newest book, “Vincent’s Women” is just out, and tells the story of everyone's favorite tortured artist through the lens of the women in his life.(I have to point out Vincent's women managed to get 4. 3 stars on Goodreads, which is not easy to do. Goodreads readers are very sparing with their five star ratings.)Donna is also an award winning screenwriter, a ghostwriter, and an editor. And she's an actor who appeared in Martin Scorsese's “The Departed,” as well as Showtime's “Brotherhood.” And, she's a painter” I’m so thankful she joined us, because she clearly has a lot of things that take up her time!We covered:How reading “Gone with the Wind” and “The Thorn Birds” as a kid sparked a devotion to historical fictionHow a ‘grand pity party’ after yet another bad date led to the idea for “Vincent’s Women”How meeting Diana Gabaldon (author of The Outlander series and historical fiction OG!) at a conference spurred Donna onHer first gig as a writer–that happened in sixth gradeHow she sold her first book quickly and easily–and pretty much everything since then has been a struggleThe truth about why she does so many different thingsThe brass tacks of how she writes her book, from which chapter she writes first to how she lays out her computer monitor so that her research is always right at handHow she wrote her friends into one of her booksThe food and drink the fuels her writingVisit Donna at donnarusso.com.For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save up to 30% off an amazing indoor air filter, and get a free 3-year warranty (and $84 value). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part three of my interview with Marlon Weems, author of the prize-winning essay "How Starting an Investment Business Almost Landed Me in Federal Prison" and founder of The Journeyman Substack, where he covers American culture and anti-Black racism, we get a peek at where his throughline is leading him next.I had to leave out the meandering and enlightening and fun conversation we had about the upcoming presidential election, but now we're thinking about starting a separate podcast on that! Who knows if anything will come of it, but all I can say for sure is, I loved chatting with Marlon and know you will love hearing him, too.We covered:- Marlon's unexpected detour into becoming a voice actor in his 60s- Being your own role model- Manifesting an appearance on "Good Morning America"- The AMC TV series Marlon's currently bingeing, based on books by one of his favorite authors (that he listens to as audiobooks because they are read by his favorite voice actor)- The two songs from wildly different genres that get Marlon going when he needs a pick-me-upVisit Marlon at thejourneyman.substack.com.Thanks to this week's sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save up to 30% off an amazing indoor air filter and get a free 3-year warranty ($84 value).For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this second part of my interview with Marlon Weems, founder of The Journeyman newsletter on Substack, where he covers American culture, anti-Black racism, and growing up Black in the Deep South, we talk about the mindset side of writing, including:- The best place to look for your closing paragraph- How having to make cold calls for a living is excellent training for dealing with (read: ignoring) trolls- The story of how he almost went to federal prison after getting entangled with some primo money launderers- The story of how THAT story became one of Medium's best articles of the year (and has inspired Marlon to start writing a book)- Why he has 50+ drafts of articles in his Notes app at any given time, and how he decides it's time for a particular article to see the light of day- Writing to leave a legacy, and hearing the clock ticking as a motivator to keep going- The myth that if you just work hard enough, anything is possible- The difference between anti-Black racism in the North and in the SouthVisit Marlon at thejourneyman.substack.com.Thanks to this week's sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save up to 30% off an amazing indoor air filter and get a free 3-year warranty ($84 value).For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am talking with Marlon Weems, a former Wall Street trader who started his career in finance in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he founded the first Black-owned asset management firm and the first Black-owned venture capital firm in the state.Since leaving the industry in 2012, Marlon has transitioned to writing. His essay, "How Starting an Investment Firm Almost Landed Me in Federal Prison, was named one of the best stories of 2023 on Medium.Marlon now writes about American culture, anti Black racism, and growing up Black in the Deep South in The Journeyman, his Substack newsletter, which is where I discovered him. He is currently writing a memoir about his experiences in finance and, fun fact, Marlon recently made his theatrical debut in the role of Uncle Ben in a local production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.We covered:- How he made the transition from Wall Street trader to full-time writer- The freedom in being close enough to retirement that you're not worried that something you write might prevent you from getting another job- Being friends with people whose political views differ from your own- How most of his articles he writes on his phone at 3 am--the others he writes either in his car or at a barVisit Marlon at thejourneyman.substack.com.Thanks to this week's sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save up to 30% off an amazing indoor air filter and get a free 3-year warranty ($84 value).For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final part of my interview with Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, we get a look at what's coming up for her--and how that might not involve being in the public eye at all after 11 years of being 'the tip of the spear' as a common sense gun law advocate. I also ask her what's she's reading, watching, listening to, drinking in her morning cup, and what she'd have for dinner tonight if she could have anything in the world.We talked about:- Her voracious love of podcasts (including a shortlist of her faves)- Knowing that it's time to shift into a different way of being, but not yet knowing exactly what that looks like- The reality show she watches until the wee hours whenever her husband is out of townVisit Shannon at shannonwatts.substack.com.For full show notes (including bonus photos!) visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second part of my interview with Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, author of "Fight Like a Mother, and host of the Substack newsletter "Playing with Fire" (where she addresses overlooked topics head on, such as ADHD in women and girls and the benefits of hormone therapy for relief of menopause symptoms), we get into the mindset side of writing.We covered:- Reckoning with the enormity of needing to produce 60,000+ words for a book- The "small miracle" or crystallizing a thought in a way you hadn't been able to articulate before- How getting reiki helps her write- Shifting out of perfectionism and into flow- The huge difference in the lived experience between Gen X women and their mothers- Taking aim at mom guilt- The woo woo retreat that almost made her run for the door, but turned out to be a much-needed entryway to being playfulVisit Shannon at shannonwatts.substack.com.For full show notes (including bonus photos!) visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am talking with badass advocate, author, Substacker, and "summoner of women's audacity," Shannon Watts.Shannon is the founder of Moms Demand Action, the grassroots movement for common sense gun reform that grew to include more than 10 million members who have helped pass over 500 gun safety laws across the country. She's also the author of "Fight Like a Mother", and her opinion pieces have been published in the Washington Post, Elle, Time, and more.Shannon has also been named Glamour's Woman of the Year and one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. And she's working on a new book about women in leadership that'll be out in the summer of 2025.It was an honor to talk with her and we really broke it down, covering:- Knowing when it's time to transition out of what you've been doing- ADHD and how its effects have changed as she's gotten older- Switching gears from being a very public person who had to keep her private life private (to not feed the trolls) to a private person who talks about private things (menopause, ADHD) publicly- Honoring the desire to have more information (and to share that information once you find it)- The incredible origin story of Moms Demand Action (or what I call, "the Facebook post heard 'round the world)- Her standing desk failVisit Shannon at shannonwatts.substack.com.For full show notes (including bonus photos!) visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final part of my interview with maritime history author Eric Jay Dolin, we get a tantalizing look at his next book, which he's working on now, about a shipwreck in the Pacific that involves a clash of East and West.We also covered:- Why his kids hate going to museums with him- Using a desire to travel as motivation for selling more books- The PBS show Eric considers comfort viewing- Why Friday is the perfect day- The bachelor meal he makes whenever his wife is out of townVisit Eric at ericjaydolin.com.For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second part of my conversation with Eric Jay Dolin, (author of "Left for Dead," a true story about a captain of a sealing ship who was marooned on the Falkland Islands for 18 months in the early 1800s), we talk about the squishier side of writing, including dealing with your inner critic, getting through the parts of sharing your work that you'd really rather avoid, and managing your own expectations for how many copies your book will sell while also doing what you can to sell as many as possible.We talked about:- Getting geared up for giving talks as an introvert who grew up painfully shy (and the speaking tip that helps)- The appeal of writing a book that will still be relevant in 30, 40, or more years- How being in his 60s has affected his writing schedule, and his stress levels- How being a writer can put you out of step with your friends once they start to hit retirement age, and you are still plugging along- Taking aim at the belief that if you work hard, everything will work out- The mystery and serendipity that impact how well your book sells- The difference between wanting your book to sell well and expecting it toVisit Eric at ericjaydolin.com.For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices