Hey, CNFers, citizens of CNF Nation! We’ve got Allison Fallon here for you. She offers brilliant insights into following your calling and finding your voice.
She’s the author of several books, most recently Indestructible.
Allison has taken control of her writing journey and I think you’ll find some juicy nuggets to apply to your life. Good stuff.
What I particularly loved about Paul’s book is how hyper-local it is to a specific time and place. We can all learn how to best drill down on the specifics of a story by reading Paul’s latest book.
Thanks to Bay Path University and HippoCamp2020 for the support (use that CNFPOD2020 coupon code for $40 off your registration!).
In this conversation we talk about the challenge of finding a voice, how even after 30 years, Alexander is still trying to find it.
And, you know, the Dalai Lama.
We talk about how his time as an army officer influenced his writing, how to surrender to the story, and how he came to know the Dalai Lama.
I hope you’ll subscribe to the show if you already don’t. I do my best to make the best show for you. If you dig the show, consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. I’ll read it on the air as a way of saying thank you.
You can follow the show’s various social media channels. @CNFPod on IG, Twitter, and Facebook. Always nice to connect.
That reminds me. We all need editors. We all need editing. We all need accountability. If you’ve got an essay or a book that needs coaching I’d be honored and thrilled to serve you and your work. Email me brendan @ brendanomeara.com and let’s start a conversation because the world needs your work. We need you to show up and I want to help.
One of the many things that struck me about this conversation I had with Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me, was what she said about confronting what was tough about relationship with her mother.
She said:
One of the great gifts of writing memoir or creative nonfiction, to do it well you have to kind of loosen the grip on your own narrative and you have to really do your best to understand what was driving other people in your story.
You have to take people in your life, people who likely affected you in some capacity, and approach it with empathy and understanding. By and large, these people we write about aren’t monsters. They were adults trying to get by.
We’re all just trying to get by and some of us are better at getting by than others.
Thanks to Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing for the support.
Also, if you want a $40 discount on your HippoCamp2020 registration fee, enter the promo code CNFPOD2020 at checkout. It’s the best money you’ll spend on a conference this year. In fact, I’ll be using that coupon code myself!
We all need editors. We all need editing. We all need accountability. If you’ve got an essay or a book that needs coaching I’d be honored and thrilled to serve you and your work. Email me brendan @ brendanomeara.com and let’s start a conversation because the world needs your work. We need you to show up and I want to help.
We met at HippoCamp 2019 and got to talking about a lot of the themes that you’ve come to love from this little podcast. Jeanette Hurt was also with us at the bar. Actually, I was with them since they’ve been creative partners for years and they co-talked a talk about earning money while you sleep. Passive Writer is the book they co-authored about it. Good stuff.
They were really sweet and attended my train wreck of a presentation. More on that another time.
Make sure you sign up for Damon’s newsletter, after mine 😉 and follow him on Twitter @browndamon.
In this conversation we talk about her capacity to carry her past, carry her tragedies with her and how she channelled that into something positive for her and her family.
As a heads up, this podcast is unedited. I did not have the time to grind on the edit. Nor will next week’s episode. But after that, I swear I’ll find the time to edit. I didn’t think you’d mind. 😉
Ander Monson wrote a killer essay for True Story titled “My Monument.” He also edits DIAGRAM and runs a series of essay contests and competitions. He’s what you’d call a great literary citizen.
We talk his essay and a lot of other cool junk.
I love it when I have nearly instant chemistry with someone, and that was certainly the case with Ander. I only wish we had more time!
If you have any questions or concerns (you might after listening to my intro. Don’t worry. Things are cool. #riesling email the show creativenonfictionpodcast at gmail dot com. You may also find the show on Twitter, IG and Facebook, all @CNFPod.
If this show matters to you, please share with your CNFin’ friends and consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your pods and to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Social media is @CNFPod, though, as many of you know, I’ve scaled back quite a bit on this.
I’m no dad, nor will I ever be one, but I’m a son, and I’d read about bricklaying if Tim O’Brien’s name is attached to it. This book is so expansive and tender and prescriptive without being didactic. It’s about reading, writing, fatherhood, sonhood, marriage, struggle, triumph, demons. It’s about Tim.
Remember, if you enjoy the show, consider linking up to it on social media and leaving a kind review over on Apple Podcasts.
And also be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter. I’ve scaled back social media (@CNFPod across the Big Three), but the newsletter is the real thing, the real one-to-one connection I’m after.
Hey, there’s a services tab up there, but you can go there now. I’d be honored to help you with your work. It’s time to level up you work and I want to help.
