Episode 140—James Carl Nelson on What It Takes to be a Writer, Jumping into the Action, and ‘The Polar Bear Expedition’

James Carl Nelson, purveyor of the WWI narrative nonfiction book, joined me to talk all things Polar Bears (not the bears).

By Brendan O’Meara

“If you’re gonna be a writer, you gotta sweat.”—James Carl Nelson (Facebook)

Hey, there CNFers, what is goin’ on? You fired up? Comin’ in hot it’s James Carl Nelson, author of The Polar Bear Expedition: The Heroes of America’s Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919.

Okay, we here are The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. It’s here we learn how they became the artists they are, the struggles they deal with, and the routines that allow them to get the work done, so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

Continue reading “Episode 140—James Carl Nelson on What It Takes to be a Writer, Jumping into the Action, and ‘The Polar Bear Expedition’”

Episode 139—Dane Huckelbridge and the Deadliest Tiger the World Has Ever Known

Dane Huckelbridge, author of “No Beast So Fierce” joined me this week.

By Brendan O’Meara

“The freak-of-nature-tiger was actually a man-made disaster.” —Dane Huckelbridge (@huckelbridge)

Today’s guest for Episode 139 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is Dane Huckelbridge, author of No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True STory of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History, published by William Morrow.

Dane, in my opinion, is the heir apparent to the most interesting man in the world. Just go to danehuckelbridge.com and check him out. It’s the best author site I’ve ever seen. Anyway.

Continue reading “Episode 139—Dane Huckelbridge and the Deadliest Tiger the World Has Ever Known”

Episode 138—Connor Ratliff on Falling Backward into Show Biz and How Improv Made Him a Better Listener

Connor Ratliff, an improve performer at Upright Citizens Brigade and countless other projects, hopped on the show to talk about improve and his essay in Paste.

By Brendan O’Meara

“You build good habits, but the terrain going forward should be unknown to you.” —Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff on Twitter)

Check this out. This is Connor Ratliff’s bio on the Upright Citizens Brigade website:

Connor Ratliff can be seen every Friday night performing with The Stepfathers, and every Sunday night performing in UCBT’s longest-running show, ASSSSCAT 3000. He is the creator of The George Lucas Talk Show, where real guests are interviewed by him while he pretends to be George Lucas. He was the warm-up comedian for The Chris Gethard Show on TruTV, as well as a frequent contributor to MNN version, where he launched his 2012 Presidential campaign and for which he co-created a series of experimental and animated shorts with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux called The Lone Cornmeal Machine. He is also the co-star and co-creator of the web series I’m Too Fragile For This with Cathryn Mudon, and starred in the IFC web series, Bottled, and the current Comedy Central web series, Dollar Store Therapist. TV credits include Orange Is The New Black, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Search Party, The President Show, Debate Wars, The Characters, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Broad City, VEEP and hosting an episode of season 2 of The UCB Show on Starz. Feature films include Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, Netflix teen thriller Coin Heist and The Discovery, as well as the upcoming Standing Up, Falling Down (with Billy Crystal & Ben Schwartz). He has also appeared on This American Life and the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. You can hear Connor as the co-host of the podcast “12 Hour Day with JD & Connor” which is a 12-hour long podcast where every episode consists of an uncut and unedited twelve-hour conversation between himself and JD Amato. The Spirit Of Ratliff, his album of Secular XMAS songs & anti-Summer anthems written with singer/songwriter Mikey Erg is available as a limited edition 12″ Secular Red vinyl LP from State Champion Records. One time he got stuck on a train and Huffington Post and NBC News speculated that he had lost his mind. Google it, it was a real news story.

What an amazing body of work!

Continue reading “Episode 138—Connor Ratliff on Falling Backward into Show Biz and How Improv Made Him a Better Listener”

Episode 137—Bozos on the Same Bus with Bronwen and Brendan

Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, came by for the third time.

By Brendan O’Meara

“Clarity is the goal I want to be working toward. The more clear a piece of writing is, the more honest it feels.”Bronwen Dickey (@BronwenDickey)

Ever feel like a garden gnome without a garden? That’s why I started this racket in 2013. This is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Today’s guest returns for her third time. It’s Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon. She is LITerally, my best friend even though we’ve never met in person. She was so sweet. She asked about my baseball book as soon as she came on the phone and indulged me for almost seven minutes. So naturally I cut it.

Continue reading “Episode 137—Bozos on the Same Bus with Bronwen and Brendan”