Welcome back to part two of my interview with Elizabeth Gonzalez-James, screenwriter and bestselling author of the novels, “The Bullet Swallower” and “Mona at Sea,” as well as the chapbook, “Five Conversations About Peter Sellers.” Elizabeth was featured on the MSNBC documentary, “My Generation,” representing the millennials. And she has taught fiction writing at Grub Street, Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop, Story Studio and elsewhere.
In today's interview, we're diving into the mindset side of writing, dealing with resistance and doubts, the passage of time–all things that might make this episode sound like a bummer, but things we all face. So let's talk about how to work with them so that we can feel better about them.
We talked about:
- The many ways she avoids doing the actual writing
- The type of feedback that motivates her to get writing (sneak preview: it’s not the positive kind of feedback)
- Making the transition from debut author to “established writer”
- Acknowledging and working through her resistance to the act of writing
- Being a geriatric millennial
- How giving fewer Fs has eased her judgement of other people
- Unlearning the things she was taught as a kid from her immigrant dad about how you can never trust other people or ask for help
Connect with Elizabeth on Instagram @unefemmejames.
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Thank you for listening!

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