As Told To

"The same skills that allowed me to uncover a bid-rigging scandal in local government also are applicable to Jennifer Aniston's latest haircut," says veteran reporter and collaborator Danelle Morton. "A journalism skill is a journalism skill."

Indeed it is—especially when it is practiced at the crosshairs of journalism and celebrity, where Danelle worked for many years at The New York Times, The San Jose Mercury News, and People magazine, developing her nose for news and learning how to meet a deadline.

Those instincts coalesced in Danelle's work as the co-writer of more than a dozen books, including three New York Times best-sellers. She's worked with such headline-making personalities as actress and activist Jane Fonda (What Can I Do: My Path From Climate Despair to Action); one-time DNC chair and noted political operative Donna Brazile (Hacks); Jenny Sanford, wife of former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (Staying True); and former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete (Not My Boy). Among her career highlights, she says, was the friendship she developed with the actress Doris Roberts, after the two worked together on Roberts's best-selling memoir (Are You Hungry, Dear?), a collaboration that led to a ghostwriting gig with "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator Phil Rosenthal (You're Lucky You're Funny).

All the while, Danelle continued to write in her own voice for newspapers in magazine and has received many awards and honors for her investigative work; she was nominated for the prestigious ASME National Magazine Award in the public service category, and was named a finalist for the PEN/USA Literary Non-Fiction Award.

Danelle is the creator and host of the podcast "City of the Rails," which debuts on the iHeartRadio Podcast Network on Oct. 26, 2022, and examines the terrible beauty of a life in and around the rails—"the kind of beauty that a lot of us will never see, because it's only available to you out the open door of a freight car." She was drawn to the subject when her daughter dropped out of school to hop trains, and in a desperate effort to understand her daughter and keep tabs on her when she went missing for over a year and a half, Danelle got out her reporter's notebook and started chasing a deeply personal story that would come to stamp her career as a journalist.

Read more about Danelle on her website and follow her on Twitter.

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"When you can't make sense of what you're seeing, don't stare harder. When you're confused by what you're hearing, don't listen harder. Stand back, give yourself some space, and let things come into focus."

That's a line from rapper/songwriter/force-of-nature Rick Ross's empowerment manifesto The Perfect Day to Boss Up, as filtered through the pen of his collaborator Neil Martinez-Belkin, who joins us on the podcast for our first episode of Season Two.

Neil, the former music editor at XXL Magazine who has written extensively about contemporary hip-hop and rap music, burst onto the ghostwriting scene with the extraordinarily candid and unapologetically gritty Gucci Mane memoir The Autobiography of Gucci Mane. That book was followed by Neil's first collaboration with Rick Ross, the straight-up memoir Hurricanes. All three books were New York Times best-sellers, helping to establish our guest as a fresh new "voice" on the ghostwriting scene—and, perhaps, launching him on a career he never imagined for himself.

"I really had no experience writing a book, or writing in the voice of somebody else," Neil reflects on chasing his first collaborative project, with Gucci Mane. "But what I did have was years and years and years of being a real fan and listening to Gucci Mane interviews, and listening to the music, so I did have a sense of how he talked. Eventually I figured out."

Join us as Neil reflects on what it was like to work with Gucci Mane while the rapper was in prison, what it took to win Rick Ross's trust, and what lies ahead.

Follow Neil on Instagram and Twitter.

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This episode was first aired on Dec. 14, 2021.

Veteran journalist and author Robert Sabbag joins the podcast to share the story behind the story of one of the greatest books ever written about drug smuggling—Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade, a classic example of collaborative memoir that helped to establish him as one of the most esteemed chroniclers of his generation. No less an authority on these matters than Hunter S. Thompson hailed Sabbag on the book's publication as "a whip-song writer," leading our guest to a long career as a "whip-song" contributor to Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, Playboy, New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and other publications.

Along the way, he also found time to work as a true ghostwriter on a couple of notable business memoirs, and to write the books Smokescreen: A True Adventure, Too Tough to Die, and Down Around Midnight: A Memoir of Crash and Survival. Sabbag is the co-writer of the film "Witness Protection," based on his New York Times Magazine cover story "The Invisible Family," which was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture.

Join host Daniel Paisner as he visits with his longtime friend to discuss his classic debut effort—"one of the most dazzling and spectacular pieces of reporting I have ever read," according to the late screenwriter and novelist Nora Ephron. How Robert Sabbag got that story is must-listening for all writers…and readers.

Visit Robert Sabbag's website

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This episode originally aired Nov. 30, 2021.

"William Novak had the career I hadn't even known I wanted," host Daniel Paisner says of this episode's guest, who for a time seemed to have his have his hand in every major celebrity autobiography on bookstore shelves.

Starting with the publication of the genre-defining best-seller Iacocca, by Lee Iacocca—the best-selling book of 1984 and 1985—Novak embarked on a string of collaborations on some of the biggest books of the next decade, including Earvin "Magic" Johnson's My Life, Nancy Reagan's My Turn, Lt. Colonel Oliver North's Under Fire, and Tip O'Neill's Man of the House. In fact, Novak was so busy during this period that he actually turned down the opportunity to work with both Ronald Reagan and Nelson Mandela—an astonishing turn for a writer who candidly admits he was a little out of his element when he got the Iacocca assignment, as he struggled to realize that his job was not to write about Iacocca, as a journalist might, but to help the former Chrysler chairman "write the book about himself, based on how he sees himself."

Join us on this episode of As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast as we visit with the writer who helped to bring the work of the ghostwriter out of the shadows and into the light.

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This episode originally aired October 19, 2021.

Laura Zigman is one of our leading voices in contemporary fiction. She's the author of five novels, including her genre-defining debut, Animal Husbandry, which enjoyed a second life on the screen as the Hugh Jackman/Ashley Judd starrer "Someone Like You," as well as her most recent novel, Separation Anxiety, which is currently being developed as a limited television series featuring the actress Julianne Nicholson.

Laura's novels are known for their wit and insight, as she shines compelling light on women and families on the edge, but many of her most faithful readers are probably unaware of her work as a collaborator—most notably with the comedian Eddie Izzard, Texas state senator Wendy Davis, and matchmaker Patti Novak.

Over the years, she's leaned on her ghostwriting assignments as a way to fill the spaces between novels—and, to sharpen her instincts as a writer as she seeks ideas and inspiration for her fiction. In this episode of As Told To, she tells host Daniel Paisner that she sees herself as storyteller, whether she's helping to craft someone else's story or working in service of her own.

"It's a very delicate dance," she says of the tug-and-pull that often surfaces between collaborator and subject. "You have to learn how to handle people. You have to give it back to them sometimes. You have to find that balance between being in service to them and their story and pushing back a little."

Here's where you can find Laura online:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Website

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"It's a weird job, isn't it?"

So says veteran ghostwriter Stephanie Krikorian, who started in on her ghostwriting career after a long run as a television news producer. In fact, she sees a through-line from the work she used to do as a producer to the work she's doing now as a writer, especially in her many collaborations with some of our leading health and wellness experts. For her very first book—Urban Skinny: Live the Fabulous Life and Still Zip Up Your Favorite Jeans, written with nutritionist Danielle Schupp—Stephanie reports that she leaned on what she knew about building a series of compelling news segments in order to help tell a much larger story.

That book led to others, many of them in the self-improvement and empowerment space, including You Are Why You Eat, with Dr. Ramani Durvasula; and The Comeback: How Today's Moms Reenter the Workplace, with career expert Cheryl Casone. Eventually, Stephanie found herself doing so many deep dives, into this new diet or that new meditation practice, that she was moved to write a book about her own experiences as a self-help-ghostwriter-turned-self-help-user—Zen Bender: A Decade-Long Enthusiastic Quest to Fix Everything.

Alongside her work as a collaborator, Stephanie has contributed to a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vanity Fair Hive, and the New York Post, writing about wine, pop culture and wellness. Among her many books are The New York Times best-seller The Promise: A Tragic Accident, a Paralyzed Bride, and the Power of Love, Loyalty, and Friendship, with Rachelle Friedman; Straight Walk, with supermodel Patricia Velasquez; and, Play Big: Lessons in Being Limitless from the First Woman to Coach in the NFL, with Dr. Jen Welter.

Learn more about Stephanie Krikorian:

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

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Peter Golenbock has written more books about baseball than just about anybody. He's also written about basketball, football, stock car racing and popular culture. His account of the New York Yankees' 1978 World Championship season, The Bronx Zoo, written with Sparky Lyle, was a runaway best-seller. Coming on the heels of his own history of the Yankees, Dynasty, that book helped to establish Peter as one of the leading chroniclers of our national pastime.

He would go on to collaborate on books with Yankee legends Graig Nettles (Balls), Billy Martin (Number 1) and Ron Guidry (Guidry), and to write comprehensive team histories of the Chicago Cubs (Wrigleyville), the New York Mets (Amazin'), the Brooklyn Dodgers (Bums) and the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns (The Spirit of St. Louis). His latest book, Whispers of the Gods: Tales from Baseball's Golden Age, Told by the Men Who Played It, collects the musings and reminiscences of some of the game's near-greats, and forgotten greats, in the tradition of Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times.

Peter is also the co-author of a new memoir from former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine (Valentine's Way), as well as books written with Hollywood legend Tony Curtis (American Prince) and noted criminal defense attorney Jose Baez (Presumed Guilty), who successfully defended Casey Anthony in a sensation murder trial that captured worldwide attention. Join us as we talk with Peter about his unlikely path to collaborative writing, his lifelong fascination with the game of baseball, and his determination to get to the heart of every story he sets out to cover.

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If there's anyone who knows what it's like to be invited into "the kingdom of knowing," to borrow a phrase from journalist Richard Ben Cramer, it's podcast guest Barbara Feinman Todd, who graduated from The Washington Post Style desk to work as a researcher, book doctor, editor and spirit guide on books with Bob Woodward (Veil) and Carl Bernstein (Loyalties), and Ben Bradlee (A Good Life), leaving her uniquely positioned to reflect on the mind and mindsets of the three journalists who were perhaps most responsible for uncovering the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Indeed, as Barbara writes in her compelling memoir Pretend I'm Not Here, there are a hundred different ways to know and to be known, as she would go on to discover for herself in her work as a ghostwriter for such leading Washington personalities as Bob Kerry, then a U.S. senator from Nebraska (When I Was a Young Man); Marjorie Margolies-Mazvinsky, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (A Woman's Place); and, ultimately, Hillary Clinton. In what she had thought might be her most attention-getting assignment, Barbara signed on to collaborate with the First Lady on It Takes a Village, coming up with the title and structure of the book, and helping to shape the narrative into a coherent hole. Trouble was, Barbara was "disappeared" from the book's "Acknowledgements" page, and her contributions whitewashed by the Clinton White House, and so the attention-getting was not at all as she had imagined.

Barbara would go on to teach journalism at Georgetown University for 25 years, and as she leaned away from ghostwriting she reflected on her work as a ghostwriter, and on her years-long relationships with her clients and subjects, with a shifting perspective. Her conclusion? "Writing other people's lives is a bit silly," she writes in her memoir, "like playing dress-up, clomping around in your mother's pumps that don't quite fit, but it also lets you have a momentary sense of what it's like to be someone else." That momentary sense is at the heart of our conversation.

Follow Barbara Feinman Todd:

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Two-time Emmy Award-winner Bruce Vilanch has written jokes for Bob Hope, Lily Tomlin, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and virtually every Hollywood star to grace the Academy Awards stage from 1989 – 2014.

As one of the entertainment industry's most sought-after joke writers, the actor, comedian and songwriter was perhaps best-known to audiences for his work behind-the-scenes at the Oscars, supplying one-liners to hosts and presenters. (Oscar-watchers are still talking about the year Jack Palance did push-ups on the stage, and the time Rob Lowe went rolling down the river with Snow White – two moments that left Bruce and his fellow writers scrambling backstage to help viewers make sense of it all.)

Over the years, Bruce became a familiar face to television audiences, when he stepped from behind the curtain for a long-running stint as a celebrity panelist on "Hollywood Squares," where he also served as head writer. As such, he is uniquely positioned to offer note and comment on what it takes to craft topical material for some of our leading personalities – honing his own voice as a comedian and performer while honoring the voices of his famous clients. Bruce was the subject of the 1999 documentary "Get Bruce!", and he has played himself in the movies and on television, including a memorable turn in an episode of "The Simpsons."

Join us for an outrageous discussion on Bruce's adventures (and, misadventures) in Hollywood, including the inside story behind one of the most notorious flops in the history of prime-time network television (1978's "'Star Wars' Holiday Special"), the infamous Friars Club roast that featured Ted Danson in blackface, and a cameo turn from Ira Gershwin who was brought in to rewrite the lyrics to a song called "Treat Me Rough" for Marie Osmond, in hopes of slipping the number past the Morman elders who handled censorship duties on the "Donny & Marie" variety show.

Learn more about Bruce Vilanch:

• Website
• Twitter

Please support the sponsors who support our show.

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• Tennants Cove Writers