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Episode 119—The Multi-Hyphenated Allison K. Williams

Allison K. Williams embodies the spirit of a true creative.

By Brendan O’Meara

“Fame does not equal success, and success does not equal fame.” —Allison K. Williams

“Every project I do has made me more fit and better to do my next project.” —Allison K. Williams

It’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the very best in the genre of telling true stories, how they got to where they are and the tools, tips, and tricks that make them so good at what they do. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara.

Today’s guest is none other than Allison K. Williams. She’s @GuerillaMemoir on Twitter and you can visit her website at idowords.com.

Episode 114—Matthew Polly on Bruce Lee, Shaolin Temples, and Video Games

Portrait of Matthew Polly, writer and author of “Bruce Lee: A Life” ©JUSTIN GUARIGLIA, WWW.EIGHTFISH.COM

By Brendan O’Meara

“The great thing is if you find the right story it often is more interesting than fiction because it’s weird and quirky.” —Matthew Polly (@MatthewEPolly)

This is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best in narrative journalism, doc film, radio, podcasting, essay, and memoir about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Today’s guest is Matthew Polly. He’s the author of three books of nonfiction, most recently Bruce Lee: A Life. He’s a graduate of Princeton and a Rhodes Scholar, so you can say my 1050 SAT score didn’t exactly level me up any in this conversation.

Episode 113—Jennifer Goforth Gregory: Your Ticket to Earning Six Figures

Jennifer Gregory might just change your life.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables from Jennifer Goforth Gregory (@ByJenGregory)

“The persistence is the difference.”

“If you don’t follow up, you’re leaving money on the table.”

“We’re not each other’s competition; we’re each other’s colleagues.”

Well, well, well, look what your subscription dragged in. Another episode of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best in narrative journalism, doc film, radio, essay, and memoir about the art and craft of telling true stories so you can better at your own work.

You are subscribed, right? Head over to iTunes/Apple Podcasts and lay it down. We’re also on Spotify! Yeah, that’s right. The whole catalog is over there streaming if that’s your thing. Please leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts because that’s how we prove to the newcomers that we’re doing something special over here at CNF Pod HQ.

Episode 112—Paul Willetts Slays ‘King Con’

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetable by Paul Willetts:

“Revision as you go along can be tremendously destructive of what you’re doing.”

I’ve had quite a run of late of guests from the other side of the pond as it were. Today is no different as I welcome Paul Willetts to the show.

Paul is very smart and he loves the work. He is the author of several books of nonfiction, most recently King Con: the Bizarre Adventures of the Jazz Age’s Greatest Imposter.

Episode 108—Katie Baker on Working Outside of Journalism and Cultivating Enthusiasms

Katie Baker is a staff writer for The Ringer and damn good writer.

By Brendan O’Meara

“Working outside of journalism before working in journalism can be a useful thing in terms of seeing how the world works.” —Katie Baker (@katiebakes)

Hey there, CNFers, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories, whether that’s narrative journalists, documentary filmmakers, essay and memoir writers and radio producers, I try unpack their lives and their work so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

Continue reading “Episode 108—Katie Baker on Working Outside of Journalism and Cultivating Enthusiasms”

Episode 105—From Factories to the Front Pages with Jonathan Green

Jonathan Greens “Sex Money Murder” is out now.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Jonathan Green (@JonathanJAGreen):

“It was always the story behind the headlines I found more intriguing.”

This is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories where we dig into origins, work habits and process so you can be a better a better storyteller. Continue reading “Episode 105—From Factories to the Front Pages with Jonathan Green”

Episode 104—Elizabeth Rush Talks “Rising” and What It Means to Be a Woman in the Field

Elizabeth Rush, Brendan O'Meara — Elizabeth Rush returns!

By Brendan O’Meara

Here we are again, welcome to The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories. I’m Brendan O’Meara.

I gotta say right up top that there’s been some serious issues with my hosting, Podomatic for those in the know, with the RSS Feeds. Shows are coming up unavailable in Apple Podcasts and it disappeared from Google Play and Stitcher. They say they’re on it, but it’s been three days with no improvement.

You can still stream the episodes from the embedded player on my website, brendanomeara.com, but in the meantime, downloading through the most popular and widely used platform—Apple Podcasts—is impossible until Podomatic gets it fixed. You might say I’ve been shopping around for other options.

Episode 104 brings back Elizabeth Rush to the podcast. Her new book Rising: Dispataches from the New American Shore (Milkweed Editions) is out. She could be coming to a city near you so check the show notes for the Rising Tour. I think that’s what Bruce Springsteen called his tour when his Rising came out. In this episode we talk about:

Rising sea levels
How to turn bleak material into something beautiful
How Elizabeth finds teaching energizing
And sexual harassment while doing fieldwork, something she’s never been asked about and was happy to get to talk about.

So that’s where we’re at. Please bear with me on the RSS nonsense. If you follow the social feeds, that links you up to my website so go find @CNFPod and @BrendanOMeara on Twitter and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. Follow Elizabeth @ElizabethaRush on Twitter for all things Rising.

Here she is: Episode 104.

Promotional support is provided by Hippocampus Magazine. Its 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction is open for submissions until July 15th! This annual contest has a grand prize of $1,000 and publication for all finalists. That’s awesome. Visit hippocampusmagazine.com for details. Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction.

If you made it this far I suspect you might like the show and want to help it out. Would you mind leaving an honest review on Apple Podcasts? That helps with validation and visibility. Let’s try and get to 100. We’re 57 ratings away at the moment. If a small fraction of you take out your phones, click on the star you deem appropriate, hit submit, that’s all you gotta do and you will have helped out the show in a major way. That takes like 10 seconds, if you want to leave a review, I will still edit a piece of writing up to 2,000 words for your kindness and time. Just send me a screenshot of the review with the date and we’ll get started.

I also have a great monthly reading list newsletter where I send out four book recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast. I don’t get any kickbacks or anything, so it’s just things I dig and endorse for your pleasure. First of the month. No Spam. Can’t beat that.

That’s it CNFers. See right back here next week.

Episode 103—Persistent, Constant, Careful Work with Dennis Overbye

Dennis Overbye, whose graceful writing about the cosmos, made me want to reach out to him for episode 103.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Dennis Overbye (@overbye):

“What interests me are questions that don’t have answers.”

“I have to remember I’m there for the reader, not for me.”

We’re back in the saddle again.

I took a week off from producing a show, much to the chagrin of the wife, who thought it was a bad move to miss a week, but I had two hard deadlines, and our dog is in rough shape these days, so it’s incredibly hard to focus. #excuses

On top of that, I got back some feedback on this book I’ve been writing since 2009 and it’s the kind of feedback that is incredibly valuable, smart, incisive, but it has made me realize just how shitty I am at this. I’m paying a significant amount of our GDP to become a better writer and editor myself. It’s a continuing ed thing as much as trying to get my stupid book published. #itsnotyouitsthework

Okay, so I’m probably less shitty than I was 10 years ago, but I’m still wicked shitty. 10 years from now, I’ll be less shitty than I am now and all the people I’ve disappointed will likely be dead, so there’s that.

So what is this show? It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to artists about telling true stories. Today’s guest for episode 103 is Dennis Overbye, @overbye on Twitter, a science writer for the New York Times. He’s a Pulitzer Prize-finalist and author of two books: Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe and Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance.

I’d love it you subscribed to the show wherever you get your podcasts and share episodes across your social streams with people you think might get some value from the interview. You are the social network.

Another CNFPod in the can. Got any questions or concerns, by all means ping me on Twitter @BrendanOMeara or @CNFPod. I’m @BrendanOMeara on Instagram and @CNFPodcast on Facebook. I do all kinds of wacky cross promotional things, so if you’re into that, pick a network and follow me.

Most important is if you want my monthly reading list newsletter, head over to BrendanOMeara.com and sign up for it. Once a month. No Spam. Can’t beat it.

If you’re feeling especially kind, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes as that helps with visibility and validates this entire operation so we can reach as many people as possible.

Episode 102—Jane Friedman on The Business of Being a Writer

Jane Friedman, everybody! Her latest book “The Business of Being a Writer” is the best book on the biz I’ve ever read. Wish I had it 10 years ago.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman):

“You can’t expect to remain static.”

“You have to decide how you want to live in this ecosystem that is morphing around you.”

“So much of my career, it’s been a process of realizing that the “book” isn’t everything.”

Okay, back in the saddle again, it’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

For Episode 102 of CNF Pod, I welcome Jane Friedman, the titan (though not like Thanos) of the publishing industry, whose book The Business of Being a Writer, published by the University of Chicago Press, is the best and most frank book on earning a living with words.

It debunks a lot of myths and, quite honestly, could save a bunch of people from getting into the biz on false delusions and might even save more people from pursuing an MFA (not that this is/was Jane’s intent), a degree, IMO, that leads to more debt than fulfillment, controversial as that may be. And I have one, earned on the false pretenses of career advancement, but that’s not why we’re here.

Jane talks about her upbringing in a small Indiana town, I wish it was Pawnee, but it wasn’t.

How a writing career is very much individualistic
Dealing with shame
Playing the long game
Embracing Change instead of fighting it
And getting beyond the idea that the book is the be all, end all

Thanks to Jane and to our promotional sponsor Hippocampus Magazine.

If you have a minute or two, please consider leaving a review on iTunes/Apple Podcasts. That would mean the world to me and will help this podcast reach more people looking to tell their best true story.

Episode 100—Mary Karr Talks ‘Tropic of Squalor,’ Grinding Through Early Drafts, and Cellos

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Mary Karr (@marykarrlit):

“If I can get through the horribleness of the first draft, I have a chance.”

“I literally do fifty drafts of a poem.”

“Reading was socially sanctioned disassociation.”

Whoa, boy, CNFers, it’s Episode 100 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast. 100? Here for the first time? This is my jam, the show where I speak to the best artists about telling true stories: leaders in narrative journalism, memoir, doc film, radio, and personal essay to tease out tactics, habits, origins, and routines so you can improve your own work. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your pods and share with a fellow CNF Buddy.

Man…Are you serious? 100 episodes and for this special occasion we here at CNF Pod HQ bring you Mary Karr. I’m sure 99.9% of you know who she is, but if you don’t here’s the rundown:

She’s the best-selling author of The Liar’s Club, Cherry, Lit, The Art of Memoir, and five books of poetry, including her latest, Tropic of Squalor published by Harper.

Mary is a professor at Syracuse University and is best known and most responsible for the boom in memoir when The Liar’s Club kicked all our asses and showed us what a personal story could be.

We talked a lot about:

The importance of patience
Working through dozens of drafts,
The nature of talent
And cellos, yes, cellos.

She’s @marykarrlit on Twitter and Facebook and her website is marykarr.com. Be sure to stick through the end of the show where Mary reads two amazing poems from Tropic of Squalor. You don’t want to miss out on that tasty goodness.

If you head over to brendanomeara.com you’ll find show notes as well as a chance to subscribe to my monthly reading list newsletter. And, no, if you click through and buy books I don’t get any kickbacks so you can rest assured that I’m selecting books that I enjoyed and get no compensation for. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat that.

You can also support the podcast by leaving a review on iTunes as that helps our little corner of the internet get a little bit bigger. If you leave an honest review and send me a screenshot, I’ll coach up a piece of your work of up to 2,000 words. No diggity.

That’s gonna do it, CNFers. Here’s to the next 100 CNFin’ shows up in your ears.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by the 2018 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference. Now in its 6th year, the CNF Writers’ Conference is three days celebrating the art, craft, and business of writing true stories. May 24th through 26th in downtown Pittsburgh. Details at creative nonfiction.org/conference. Listeners of this podcast receive 20% off the registration price by entering coupon code CNFPODCAST during checkout.

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