Jun 26, 2020
In this episode Mark interviews Rachael Herron about her
writing, her multiple pseudonyms, being a hybrid author, and
writing memoirs.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares some comments from recent
episodes and via Twitter, some information about an offer the Clark
Chamberlain has for his Story Stuck
Consultation, and a personal update.
He also thanks new patron Johanna Rothman as well as all
existing patrons for the podcast, and lets his patrons know that
they were automatically entered in a chance to win a story stuck
consultation from Clark.
In their conversation, Mark and Rachael discuss:
- The thought that being a writer is like having homework for the
rest of your life
- Rachael's thriller (Hush Little Baby) that she just turned into
her editor at Penguin Random House and which comes out in May
2021
- Getting over the "who cares" issues she was having working on
this novel in the middle of a global pandemic and a world-wide
drive to end systemic racism by recognizing that it's okay to delve
deep into a focused project like this
- How willpower can be a finite, exhaustible resource
- How a good writer can take people out of their normal world and
the feeling when a reader reaches out to let Rachael know that her
book has moved them or helped them
- The feeling when you're reading a book that the person who
wrote it "just gets you"
- The value of feeling seen and heard, of community, and of
responding to reader emails
- Being involved in blogging from the early days, and the
connections that can come out of that
- The fact that, despite appearing to share everything socially
and on blogs, podcasts, etc, the content is actually curated - but
that it's still authentic
- Rachael's book "Fast Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story
in 45 Hours"
- The importance of recognizing that there are plenty of people
who want to write a memoir but who don't want to writers
- How there are so many genres within memoir
- One of the principal tenants of a good memoir - in that you
treat yourself more critically than anyone else, and that you give
and show grace to anyone who might have done you wrong
- How when you write about the most uncomfortable things how
people really lean in to listen
- How Rachael's book "Letters to New Authors" is based on a
series of emails she created to encourage other writers
- Being a fully hybrid author, and the mental shift involved when
Rachael moves between traditional and indie publishing
- How not having control of little things can drive Rachael crazy
with some of her books
- How Rachael's books, both, traditionally published and indie
published, tend to sell better in eBook format
- The advice that Rachael would give to her younger self
- Ira Glass's theory of "the gap"
- And so much more . . .
After the interview Mark reflects on writing about uncomfortable
things.
Links of Interest:
Rachael Herron is the internationally bestselling author of more
than two dozen books, including thrillers (under R.H. Herron),
mainstream fiction, feminist romance, memoir, and nonfiction about
writing.
She received her MFA in writing from Mills College, Oakland, and
she teaches writing extension workshops at both UC Berkeley and
Stanford. She is a proud member of the NaNoWriMo Writer’s Board and
is the host and co-host of two awesome podcasts for writers.
The introductory, end, and bumper music
for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by
Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and
is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0