Write The Book: Conversations on Craft

Mar 26 2023 100 ep. 47 mins 742

Write The Book: Conversations on Craft Podcast artwork

Write the Book radio show airs weekly on WBTV-LP in Burlington, Vermont. Shelagh offers in-depth, hour-long interviews with authors, poets, illustrators, agents, and editors about writing, publishing, finding inspiration, developing one’s craft, and finding community. Her show always ends with a new writing prompt, often one recommended by that week’s guest. The easy rapport that Shelagh establishes with her guests—who include everyone from top selling and award winning authors to authors publishing with indies or self-publishing—results in a wonderful conversational flow that is fun to listen to and always informative. The archives include over 500 interviews with authors including Ann Patchett, Kate Atkinson, Colum McCann, Richard Russo, Steve Almond and Jennifer Egan.

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Bill McKibben - 3/20/23 (Special Palindrome Date for Last Show!)

Mar 26 2023 48 mins

Vermont author, educator, environmentalist, and Co-founder of 350.org and Th!rd Act Bill McKibben, in a conversation about his 2022 memoir, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened (Henry Holt & Co). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Bill McKibben, and i

Nathaniel Ian Miller - 3/13/22

Mar 17 2023 56 mins

Vermont Author Nathaniel Ian Miller in a conversation about his novel, The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven (Little Brown). This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Nathaniel Ian Miller, who recently heard someone extoll the virtues of writing about one’s work. Nathaniel commented that he liked this idea, and that he would like to see more of it. The suppo

Brad Kessler - 2/27/23

Feb 27 2023 51 mins

Award-winning Vermont Author Brad Kessler in conversation about his 2021 novel, North (Overlook Press). One review of Brad Kessler’s work, a blurb by the author Chris Abani, mentions the way that Brad lets his characters’ dignity lead the story. I love this observation, and have been thinking a lot about it. This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider the dignity of your

Caroline Lea - 2/20/23

Feb 23 2023 44 mins

British Author Caroline Lea, whose new novel is PrizeWomen (Harper Perennial). This week's Write the Book Prompt was suggested by my guest, Caroline Lea. It's an assignment she sometimes gives to her students. Go somewhere you wouldn't normally go, and write about it. (Don’t get arrested, she says. Or if you do, don’t blame her!) Her students have visited cemeteries, they've g

Emily Forland - Archive Episode (2/13/23)

Feb 23 2023 57 mins

An interview from 2015 (with our old music!) with literary agent Emily Forland, of the Brandt Hochman Agency in New York. This week’s Write The Book Prompt is to write about a season you are not presently experiencing. Is it warm where you are? Write about the cold. Is spring coming on? Write about the fall. Work from memory, as much as you can, and then in revising, allow yours

Annie Seyler - 2/6/23

Feb 06 2023 42 mins

Vermont Author Annie Seyler, whose debut novel is The Wisdom of Winter (Atmosphere Press). This week's Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Annie Seyler. Identify a moment from your childhood that shaped you somehow and write it out as a scene, but with a different ending or outcome than the way you lived it. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tu

Olena Kharchenko and Michael Sampson - 1/30/23

Jan 30 2023 41 mins

Olena Kharchenko and Michael Sampson, co-authors The Story of Ukraine (Brown Books Kids). We have two Write the Book Prompts this week. Michael Sampson offered one that seemed rather dark, so he turned it on its head and offered another that’s more upbeat. First, describe a nightmare you’ve had, including setting and details that explain why it is so terrifying. Second, look in

Jessica Nordell - 1/23/23

Jan 24 2023 58 mins

Award-winning science writer and journalist Jessica Nordell, author of The End of Bias: A Beginning (Metropolitan). This week's Write the Book Prompt was generously suggested by my guest, Jessica Nordell, who points out that observing our own bias can be a challenge. She suggests considering, What would you write if you could be certain that you had infinite love and acceptance -

Green Mountain Book Festival Panel: Mysteries and Thrillers - 1/9/23

Jan 09 2023 54 mins

Fall 2022 Green Mountain Book Festival panel on Mysteries and Thrillers, moderated by Rachel Carter and featuring authors Miciah Bay Gault, Margot Harrison, Sarah Stewart Taylor, and Sarah Strohmeyer. This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to play two truths and a lie with a few writing friends. Think of the three scary stories to tell: two that are true and one, a lie. Let the gam

Erika Nichols-Frazer - 1/2/23

Jan 06 2023 50 mins

Vermont Author Erika Nichols-Frazer, speaking about her new memoir, Feed Me: A Story of Food, Love and Mental Illness (Casper Press). This week's Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Erika Nichols-Frazer. Feed Me is all about memories and food. Think of a food that holds some emotional significance: a pie you used to bake with your grandmother, something that y