Tag: writing community

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 249: Ximena Vengoechea on Life Audits, Listener Drain, and Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection

Ximena Vengoechea
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By Brendan O’Meara

Ximena Vengoechea is here to talk about her new book Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection (Portfolio).

I’ll be honest … this book made me realize what a horrible listener I am. For real.

But I put on my big-boy pants and started applying many of the tools in this wonderful book.

So far as self-helpy-type books go, Ximena’s is right up there with Seth Godin’s The Practice and Annie Duke’s How to Decide.

Continue reading “Episode 249: Ximena Vengoechea on Life Audits, Listener Drain, and Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection”

Episode 248: Humble and Important Gifts with Bronwen Dickey

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By Brendan O’Meara

“My mind is a very bad neighborhood and I should not go there alone,” says Bronwen Dickey in her fourth trip to the podcast

She was here for Ep. 21, 45, 137 and now 248.

It’s always a good time when I get to catch up with her.

Continue reading “Episode 248: Humble and Important Gifts with Bronwen Dickey”

Episode 246: Jenni Gritters on the Freelance Life, Not Waiting for Perfect, and Sh*t Sandwiches

Jenni Gritters/Berman Photos
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By Brendan O’Meara

Jenni Gritters is here.

She’s a freelancer and she is not a struggling freelancer in the ways that many of us identify as a struggling freelancer, which is to say: we po’.

Jenni, @jenni_gritters, along with her co-pilot on The Writers’ Co-op Podcast Wudan Yan, are thriving. Through strategy and rigor, Jenni is a six-figure earner, this during the pandemic, this when many writers are struggling to make a go of it.

She turned her skill into money, which allows her to double down on her skill and do more projects that are more personal-driven.

I like to think of some content/branded writing gigs like when Jake Gyllenhaall does a blockbuster movie so that he can then do the art-house stuff he probably wants to do. Book your Marvel movie, then go write your memoir. Haha.

Continue reading “Episode 246: Jenni Gritters on the Freelance Life, Not Waiting for Perfect, and Sh*t Sandwiches”

Episode 237: A Fiction/Non/Fiction Festival with V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell

V.V. Ganeshananthan
Whitney Terrell
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By Brendan O’Meara (@CNFPod)

V.V. Ganeshananthan is the author of Love Marriage, an essayist, and a journalist. She also teaches at the MFA program at the University of Minnesota. She’s on Instagram and Twitter.

Whitney Terrell is the author of The Good Lieutenant. He also is a journalist who covered the Iraq War. He teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He’s on Instagram and Twitter.

They co-host the Fiction/Non/Fiction Podcast as part of the Lithub network of podcasts. It’s on Instagram and Twitter.

Continue reading “Episode 237: A Fiction/Non/Fiction Festival with V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell”

Episode 235: Athletic Brewing’s Mason Gravely says ‘Make It Easy to Say Yes’

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By Brendan O’Meara

During my conversation with Mason Gravely (@alive_adventures on IG), I asked him what a good interviewer is like. I admire him as an interview so much, I had to know.

He said, “You know, it’s someone who listens. Someone who really is present. You can really tell when an interviewer is distracted, or they’re just kind of going off. They’re calling it in.”

Mason does incredible work for Athletic Brewing, the nations best and only (?) brewery only brewing non-alcoholic beer. Amazing stuff.

Continue reading “Episode 235: Athletic Brewing’s Mason Gravely says ‘Make It Easy to Say Yes’”

Episode 231: Pete Croatto on Listening, Showing His Work, ‘From Hang Time to Prime Time,’ and Adding that Ding

Pete Croatto reading the paper.
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By Brendan O’Meara

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Pete Croatto (@petecroatto on Twitter) is here to talk about freelancing, writing, and his new book From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA (Atria Books, 2020).

Where’s the juice? Where’s the juice in the enterprise?

The juice is in coming up with an idea and convincing an editor that the idea is worth pursuing, convincing a person, selling a person on that idea. When I get an idea for a story, it’s almost a giddy feeling. It’s a feeling that that you have a secret that no one else knows about, so you want to just tell as many people as you can about that. It’s like gossip, it’s a big piece of juicy gossip, and you want to share it and get it in the right hand.

Pete Croatto from Episode 231 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast
Continue reading “Episode 231: Pete Croatto on Listening, Showing His Work, ‘From Hang Time to Prime Time,’ and Adding that Ding”

Episode 226: Edward Parnell’s In Search of a Haunted Country in ‘Ghostland’

Edward Parnell

By Brendan O’Meara

Edward Parnell, the author of Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country (William Collins), comes by the show to talk about the new book, a book that is part travel log, culture log, and memoir.

It is a haunting read, a mournful read, so naturally I dug it.

You can find Edward @edward_parnell on Twitter.

We talk about our shared love of Kurt Vonnegut, keeping the fun in writing, his approach to take this book away from the traditional grief memoir path, and lots more.

Keep the conversation going on social media @CNFPod and be sure to sign up for the monthly newsletter where I give out reading recommendation, podcast news, and writing tips. This month I plan to try something new: An exclusive Zoom link to have a little happy hour. First of the month. No spam. Can’t beat it.

Other Books by Edward Parnell

The Listeners

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Episode 223: ‘Why Are You Making it, and Who is it for?’ with Kristen Meinzer

Kristen Meinzer

By Brendan O’Meara

“I spend a lot of time thinking about promotion. This isn’t Field of Dreams,” says Kristen Meinzer, @kristenmeinzer on Twitter.

You might remember Kristen from her first soiree on the podcast a few months ago when she and Jolenta Greenberg came by to talk about the book they co-wrote, How to be Fine.

She’s back for a solo show to talk about her book So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community that Will Listen (William Morrow, 2019).

I’m self-taught, been doing this thing for eight years, and I found so many incredible nuggets in this book. The thing is, it’s ostensibly about podcasting, but you can apply the principles to anything.

We talk about structure in writing and in podcasting, why are you starting a podcast and who is it for, pet peeves in podcasting, mistakes new producers make, promoting a show, and what exactly a producer does.

Good stuff.

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, tell a friend, and consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. Keep the conversation going on social media. It’s @CNFPod across Twitter, IG, and FB.

Kristen’s Bookshelf for the Apocalypse or Library for the End of the World (in pictures!)

Leave the show a voicemail and I’ll answer your question on the show!

Gotta get that monthly newsletter! Here’s a link to the archive. It only goes back to March 2019, but you’ll get the drift.

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Episode 221: Power Couple Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham Bring You ‘The Gay Agenda’

Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham

By Brendan O’Meara

Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham are the creative, queer and trans power couple behind the incredible and beautiful book The Gay Agenda: A Modern Queer History and Handbook (Morrow Gift, 2020).

You can follow them and their stationery story at ashandchess.com and follow them on Instagram @ashandchess.

We dig into where they grew up, how they met, the “so 2018” way their book came to be, and much, much more.

Keep the conversation going on social @CNFPod and consider sharing the show across your networks. If you tag the show, I’ll be sure to give you some love, most likely in the form of a James Hetfield GIF. Also consider leaving a kind review on Apple Podcasts. It would give me and the show a great boost.

Ash and Chess’s Bookshelf for the Apocalypse*

Amateur: A Reckoning with Gender, Identity, and Masculinity by Thomas Page McBee
The Twits by Roald Dahl
The Hike by Drew Magary
Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
The Fireside Book of Children’s Songs
*: These are not affiliate links. Brendan does not get a commission based on book sales, though he acknowledges this is probably really stupid not to.

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