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Episode 189: Damon Brown on ‘Bring Your Worth’ and the Secret Power of Cocktail Napkins

By Brendan O’Meara

You ready for a treat, CNFers? I’ve got Damon Brown for you this Valentine’s Day. Awwwww.

Damon has written several books, most self-published, but some not. His book Bring Your Worth is what prompted this conversation.

He’s in that vein of Jeff Goins, Austin Kleon and Chase Jarvis about how to get inspired to do your best work.

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.

That it? I think so.

Episode 188: Katherine Keith — Say Yes to Life

By Brendan O’Meara

You know the drill, CNFers, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast and this week’s show features Katherine Keith, the badass behind Epic Solitude: A Story of Survival and a Quest for Meaning in the Far North (Black Stone Publishing, 2020).

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. 😉

Episode 187: Ander Monson — It’s Electric

By Brendan O’Meara

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!

I love when previous guests pop up in a show, like Elisa Gabbert and Elena Passarello.

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.

Books by Ander

I Will Take the Answer
Gnome Stories

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.

Episode 184: Kristina Gaddy — ‘Flowers in the Gutter’ and Loving What’s Underneath It All

By Brendan O’Meara

Hey, CNFers, Kristina Gaddy (@kgadz) is here to drop some sick riffs on the craft. She’s also here to talk about her new book Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Teenagers Who Fought the Nazis. I know, right? So selfish.

This was a fun one as we dig into her reading habits, her writing routine, her obsession with that writing software, and her passion for research.

Be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter, up there, down there, pop up.

What else? You can join the show on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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.

Episode 183: Sonia Hamer — Crock-Pot Prose

By Brendan O’Meara

Sonia Hamer is here to talk about her essay “Pig: An Essay,” an installment of Creative Nonfiction’s True Story.

This is a nice tight 30, which I’m starting to like more and more.

She talks about how writing essays is a lot like putting ingredients into a Crock-Pot, or making a soup. Reminds me of Adam Valen Levinson when he came by.

I hope you enjoy this final episode of 2019.

Episode 177: Steven Moore — Essays About to Break, Keeping Track of the Positive, and ‘The Longer We Were There’

By Brendan O’Meara

Steven Moore is here to talk about his memoir The Longer We Were There: A Memoir of a Part-Time Soldier (University of Georgia Press, 2019).

It’s in my Top 3 Memoirs of the year. My faves were Meredith May’s The Honey Bus and Leslie Jamison’s The Recovering.

In any case, Steven and I randomly met in November 2018 in line at a talk during the Portland Book Festival. We were in line to hear Elizabeth Rush give a talk. He heard my voice from this thing and here we are.

You see? You never know where your next podcast guest might come from.

Thanks, of course, to Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction for the support. Check them out.

Episode 176: Kevin Robbins — Limitations vs. Ambitions, Chasing the Greats, and ‘The Last Stand of Payne Stewart’

By Brendan O’Meara

This episode was nice in that Kevin Robbins says, among lots of other things, that, “I’m still trying to figure out why the greats are great.”

It’s ephemeral. You can’t put a finger on it. And so here we are.

Kevin was on the show three years ago. Check it out. There’s tremendous skill and restraint evident in Kevin’s work. Understating things is difficult because you want to look like Simone Biles during a floor routine, which is to stay WTF??!!

Kevin’s latest book is The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever. You don’t have to like or know golf to love this book. Kevin draws out what made Stewart human, which is what we all want, right? We want to know that we have the capacity to improve and be better, not optimized in this world of hyper productivity, but better.

His previous book was about the iconic golf instructor Harvey Pennick.

In any case, I hope you enjoy this conversation. Let us know what you think @CNFPod on Twitter.

Party on, CNFers.

Episode 174: Bob Batchelor — Humble Beginnings, Breaking Free from Google, and ‘The Bourbon King

Bob Batchelor, author of *The Bourbon King*.

“These guys were screaming at me from beyond the grave.” —Bob Batchelor (@CultPopCulture)

“I worked to write the longest screenplay possible.” —Bob Batchelor

By Brendan O’Meara

Here we are again, CNFers! What’s new?

We’ve got Bob Batchelor here talking about The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius (Diversion Books)

Crazy story, a story that partly inspired The Great Gatsby, perhaps, maybe.

I hope you check it out.

We dig into lots of great things: How John Updike showed Bob the way, singing a kind of Pennsylvania song, and dealing with a real rotten teacher who made Bob’s life miserable until he got out from under her and made something of himself with mentors who saw his potential in college. It’s a great story.

Keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod. And, if you’re feeling kind, leave a review on Apple Podcasts. I hope I’ve made something worth sharing, so please share it with your own network.

Episode 167: Steven Hyden—Woodstock ’99, ‘Break Stuff,’ and Books as Roadtrips

View on Zencastr

“You tend to agree more with the people who don’t like what you do more than the people who do like what you do.” — Steven Hyden (@steven_hyden)

Hey, CNFers, glad you could make it. Got Steven Hyden for you. He’s a rock critic for Uproxx and his podcast Break Stuff about Woodstock ’99 is the stuff of legend. So I reached out to him.

We talk about that, books as roadtrips, and how you can have, perhaps, “questionable” taste, but still be a good read.

He makes mention of Chuck Klosterman being an inspiration given they come from similar backgrounds: remote upbringing yet somehow made a go of it in mainstream rock criticism.

Keep the conversation going on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I hope I’ve made something worth sharing, so share widely. And if you’re feeling kind, leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Books by Steven Hyden

Your Favorite Band is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life
Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock
Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes—A Memoir

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Books by Ander

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Books by Steven Hyden