Tag: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Episode 258: The Saturation of Not Doing It with Brian Broome

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By Brendan O’Meara

Every now and again you read a book that blows your brains out. Brian Broome‘s (@bbromb) Punch Me Up to the Gods is one of those books.

It deals with identity, Black masculinity, shame, family, oppression, racism, and community. What a book, man, what a book.

We also dig into Brian’s writing process and how he goes about the work.

“I’m the queen of the run-on sentence,” he says.

And the grind of it all.

“I’m the queen of quitting,” he says.

Consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/cnfpod for transcripts and for exclusive access to the audio magazine. Your dollars go into making the production possible and put money in the pockets of writers. Patrons also get a chance to submit questions that I ask of guests and coaching.

Sponsorship for this episode is brought to you by West Virginia Wesleyan College’s MFA in Creative Writing.

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Episode 232: Change is the Only Constant with Glenn Stout

Glenn Stout is the author of several books and the series editor for Best American Sports Writing.
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By Brendan O’Meara

For the 30th and final edition of what we have come to know as The Best American Sports Writing series (Best American Paper, or Houghton Mifflin. Harcourt, (Amazon says Best American Paper, HMH’s website says it’s theirs. I don’t know anymore.), 2020), CNFPod bestie Glenn Stout returns to the show to talk about BASW and the evolution of journalism, or the evolution of the medium.

He also has a new book coming out in March: Tiger Girl and the Candy Kid: America’s Original Gangster Couple. It is available for pre-order.

If you want your fix of Stout, he’s been on the show here, here, and here. All worth listening to. There’s nobody better at distilling what this mess is all about.

Continue reading “Episode 232: Change is the Only Constant with Glenn Stout”

Episode 206: Neal Bascomb on Deep Research, Failed Novels, and Locking into Nonfiction

Neal Bascomb

By Brendan O’Meara

Hey there, CNFers! How are you? You hanging in there? That’s good. Keep wearing a mask.

For Episode 206, I welcome Neal Bascomb, author of Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020). It’s a great read. I really loved the characters.

In this episode we also talk about his soiree in novel writing and how writing four failed novels put him on the path he’s on now. We talk about his approach to research and how he organizes is. Lots of great stuff here.

I hope ya dig.

As always, be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and if you’re feeling kind, leave a nice review on Apple Podcasts.

Keep the conversation going on social media by pinging the show @CNFPod on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. And if this show means anything to you and your circle of CNFers, please share it. This only spreads hand to hand.

Books by Neal Bascomb

The Racecars
The Escape Artists
The Winter Fortress
The Perfect Mile
Hunting Eichman
Red Mutiny
The New Cool
Higher

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Episode 185: Tim O’Brien on Memory, Failure and his ‘Maybe Book’

By Brendan O’Meara

Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried and Going After Cacciato, has written a book sixteen years in the making: Dad’s Maybe Book (HMH, 2019).

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.

Enjoy this conversation with Tim O’Brien.

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Episode 86—Noah Strycker on his Big Year in Birding, Community, and What to Leave Out

Noah Strycker, author of “Birding Without Borders,” hopped on the podcast this week.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Noah Strycker (@noahstrycker on Twitter and Instagram):

“I had to be pretty brutal about picking out the things I thought were the highlights. 3 1/2 weeks in Columbia was distilled to one or two sentences.”

“The momentum generated its own momentum.”

“I’m not a very fast writer. If I write 500 words in a day I’m pretty happy.”

“My best advice to people who want to write in any capacity. Just do it. Get started. It doesn’t matter where you’re published.”

My guest today for Episode 86 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast is Noah Strycker, author of Birding without Borders: An Obsession, A Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World. [Free shipping anywhere in America! via Tsunami Books!] Continue reading “Episode 86—Noah Strycker on his Big Year in Birding, Community, and What to Leave Out”