Hey, CNFers, happy CNFriday, and, boy, what a fun episode we’ve got! It’s John Julius Reel! He’s @johnjuliusreel on the Instagrams and he’s the author of the memoir My Half Orange: A Story of Love and Language in Seville (Tortoise Books).
John is a writer, radio host, and language instructor based out of Spain and My Half Orange (a Spanish idiom for soul mate) bridges his native culture with his adopted one, and it’s the latter where he found a greater place in the world personally and artistically.
In this conversation (Cut down from two hours. I’ll post some of the outtakes for the Patreon gang.) we talk about letting the subconscious in on the joke, how to make memoir relatable, and the never-ending quest to impress your father.
A little more about John: He’s a radio host for Canal Sur Radio, Andalusia’s primary public radio station. Social media is a hobby and he has a great YouTube channel called Book Rants where he reviews primarily memoirs. He sees the totality of his writing and reviewing and riffing as part of the entire pie of being a writer. I dig that. Gone are the days when you can silo yourself away and merely write your books, for better or worse.
And you know I’d rather you sign up for my Up-to-11 Newsletter. Signup form is below you and to your right. Book recs, book raffles, cool stuff curated by me for you, fun and entertaining. First of the month (maybe more?). No spam. Can’t beat it.
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