Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle

Thinking about attending the AWP Conference and wondering how to prepare for it?

With thousands of writers, panels, book fairs, and networking opportunities, AWP can feel both exciting, inspiring and a little overwhelming. That's why it helps to have a strategy.

In this solo episode of Freelance Writing Direct, host Estelle Erasmus shares how she prepared for AWP, what it was like moderating her standing-room-only panel, and the simple strategies that helped her navigate the conference with aplomb.

Estelle talks through everything from packing light and bringing snacks to creating meaningful connections with other writers. She also shares highlights from her panel discussion on publishing in both literary journals and mainstream outlets, along with a few insights from other sessions she attended.

Whether you're attending AWP for the first time or looking for ways to approach it more thoughtfully, this episode offers practical tips to help you prepare, connect, and get more out of the experience.

In this episode:

• How to prepare for the AWP Conference [1:10]

• Networking strategies for writers who prefer smaller conversations [6:42]

• What to bring to make long conference days easier [8:13]

• Lessons from other panels on writing and the publishing journey [22:00]

• Behind the scenes of Estelle's panel on literary vs. mainstream publishing [25:27]

• Why following up after conferences matters [26:46]

AWP 2026 Writing and Publishing Resources: https://estelleserasmus.com/teaching-speaking/awp-2026-writing-and-publishing-resources/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oziyWtYTZfI

Get More From Estelle Erasmus

• Free NYU "Editor on Call" Event Join Estelle Erasmus and the editor-in-chief of PROVOKED on April 22 from 12:30–1:30 PM EDT to learn how to pitch and publish your work. Register here: https://events.nyu.edu/event/384509-editor-on-call-ready-to-pitch-publish-and-g

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class (Almost Full) Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Two spots left. Email [email protected] for details.

• Read & Subscribe Substack: NEW POST — Why Your Memoir Draft Still Feels Flat (And How to Fix It) https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/why-your-memoir-draft-still-feels

• Newsletter Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates and a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch Estelle's TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2026 and 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus https://instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus https://www.tiktok.com/@estelleserasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus https://x.com/EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/estelleserasmus.bsky.social

What happens when a story that could be told as trauma is instead shaped as triumph?

Blair Glaser joins Estelle Erasmus to discuss her journey from a Catskills ashram in the 1990s to published author, and how she turned her time in a spiritual organization into her memoir, This Incredible Longing: Finding Myself in a Near Cult Experience. Rather than writing a simple escape narrative, she explores spiritual longing, group dynamics, depression, leadership, and the unexpected skills she developed inside a restrictive system.

Instead of focusing solely on abuse and escape, Blair takes a nuanced approach, examining how that experience helped her find her voice, build professional skills, and ultimately claim her self worth.

This episode is essential listening for memoir writers wrestling with how to structure layered stories, navigate family fallout, and uncover the thematic thread that elevates personal experience into crafted memoir.

In this episode:

• Why her memoir rejects the typical "cult survivor" narrative and how she found unexpected gifts within a harmful experience [02:55]

• The rookie mistake many memoirists make and how she corrected it in revision [12:05]

• How the ashram taught her to rise through the ranks, create transformational programs, and become a writer, even while struggling with depression [16:00]

• Why she defines spiritual awakening as "a kind of madness" that rarely makes sense to the people around you [25:25]

• How to write about depression and suicidal ideation without deadening the reader [27:00]

• Why writing from therapeutic distance made revisiting trauma feel reflective, even sweet, rather than painful [27:20]

• Her best advice for writers who do not have journals to draw from [28:15]

• The family fallout that followed publication and why she chose authentic storytelling over protection [30:00]

• How indie publisher Heliotrope Books cha

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AofD5lloQ_E

About Blair:

Blair Glaser is a writer and leadership consultant whose essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, Longreads, Oldster, Quartz, HuffPost, Inside Higher Ed, and others, as well as in literary magazines such as Brevity, Dorothy Parker's Ashes, In Short, and The Mantlepiece. She's read stories live at events such as Writer's Read, Generation Women, and The Woodstock Bookfest. Her debut memoir, This Incredible Longing, was published by Heliotrope in February 2026. She lives with her husband and dog-ter, Vanna White, in Venice Beach, CA. More can be found at www.blairglaser.com.

Connect with Blair:

Website: https://www.blairglaser.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blair_glaser/

Book: This Incredible Longing: Finding Myself in a Near Cult Experience: https://www.blairglaser.com/books

Get More From Estelle

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: Why Your Memoir Draft Still Feels Flat: And How To Fix Ithttps://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/why-your-memoir-draft-still-feels

• Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus https://instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus https://www.tiktok.com/@estelleserasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus https://x.com/EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/estelleserasmus.bsky.social

What does it take to unlearn the messages you were raised with and reshape them into a publishable memoir?

In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle Erasmus chats with Anna Rollins about the internal and structural shifts that reshaped her debut memoir, Famished.

Anna reveals how expanding the scope of her manuscript, incorporating reporting, and strengthening her platform repositioned the project and led to multiple offers.

They also explore how diet culture and evangelical purity culture shaped the 1990s media landscape, and what it means to critically reexamine the messages women absorbed about appetite, obedience, and ambition. Estelle reflects on her own experience crafting magazine cover lines that reinforced those narratives, and what it means to revisit that era from a different vantage point.

• How purity culture shaped her early beliefs about body, faith, and obedience [2:34]

• How questioning those inherited ideas reshaped both her identity and the structure of her memoir [4:19]

• How writing during the pandemic helped her quiet marketplace anxiety [23:00]

• The unconventional way she landed her agent [27:16]

• The interview question she learned from Estelle that consistently yielded stronger quotes [26:39]

• How that reinvention ultimately led to multiple offers [28:48]

• Why some of the strongest sections emerged when she stopped writing for the audience and started writing to discover and play [29:53]

About Anna:

Anna Rollins is the author of Famished: On Food, Sex, and Growing Up as a Good Girl. Her groundbreaking debut memoir examines the rhyming scripts of diet culture and evangelical purity culture, both of which direct women to fear their own bodies and appetites. Her writing has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, Slate, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, Joyland, and more. She's an award-winning instructor who taught English in higher education for nearly 15 years and a 2025 West Virginia Creative Network Literary Arts Fellow. A lifelong Appalachian, she lives with her husband in West Virginia where they're raising their three small children. Follow her on Substack and Instagram @annajrollins.

Connect with Anna:

Website: https://www.annajrollins.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annajrollins/?hl=en

Famished: On Food, Sex, and Growing Up as a Good Girl: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224466981-famished

Estelle's Substack feature on Anna https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/writers-that-get-noticed-anna-rollins?utm_source=publication-search

Get More From Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus https://instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus https://www.tiktok.com/@estelleserasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus https://twitter.com/EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/estelleserasmus.bsky.social

What do you do when your son's first birthday party becomes the same day you lose your mother?

In this episode, Estelle Erasmus sits down with Jocelyn Jane Cox, author of Motion Dazzle, the award-winning memoir that follows a single day when celebration and grief collided. It's a day that would forever contain both darkness and light, joy and devastating loss.

Here's what makes this conversation essential for writers: Jocelyn shares the conscious craft choices behind weaving seemingly unrelated threads—competitive figure skating, caregiving, dating disasters, and new motherhood—into a cohesive narrative anchored by a powerful central metaphor. She waited seven years to write it. She revised it 14 times. She made the bold choice not to name her mother until the final pages. And when traditional publishing didn't align, she pivoted to small presses and received two offers.

If you're wrestling with how to structure a memoir, wondering when you're ready to write about grief, or trying to figure out how to braid multiple timelines into one story, this episode offers a clear, honest look at how it can be done with intention.

This conversation also echoes themes from my recent piece in Electric Literature, "9 Memoirs about Dating, Desire, and Reclamation,"where I highlight nine memoirists exploring dating, desire, reclamation, love, loss, and identity in bold, personal ways.

https://electricliterature.com/9-memoirs-about-dating-desire-and-reclamation/

In this episode:

• Why writing to her son (not to publishers) freed her to finish the first draft [3:23]

• How cutting 13,000 words strengthened her manuscript [8:12]

• The craft decision to use a single-day structure (like in Mrs. Dalloway) [9:25]

• How she turned the metaphor of "motion dazzle"—a zebra's survival mechanism—into the beating heart of her memoir [14:33]

• What she learned working with Estelle on a pivotal essay [24:48]

• The truth about writing essays to tighten your book (and build your platform) [29:12]

• Why she queried exactly 25 agents before recognizing her book was meant for a small press [30:35]\

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ljvor7U4icc

About Jocelyn: Jocelyn Jane Cox is the author of Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice (Vine Leaves Press, 2025), winner of the American Writing Awards in Best New Nonfiction. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing (fiction) from Sarah Lawrence College and has published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, Slate, Writers Digest, and numerous literary magazines. Her fiction and nonfiction have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She lives with her husband and son near Nyack, NY and works as a book coach, memoir teacher, and college essay coach.

Connect with Jocelyn:

Website: https://www.jocelynjanecox.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jocelynjanecoxwriter/?hl=en

Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238249565-motion-dazzle

Get More From Estelle

• NEW: My next free Editor on Call event in collaboration with NYU is open for registration.I'm delighted to be in conversation with Susan Dabbar, Publisher and Editor in Chief of PROVOKEDmagazine, about what makes a pitch stand out and how to position your work for publication there. Sign up here:

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus https://instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus https://www.tiktok.com/@estelleserasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus https://twitter.com/EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/estelleserasmus.bsky.social

What does it take to turn a viral essay about longing into a deeply researched memoir and a book deal?

For Amanda McCracken, it took 11 years, multiple agent rejections, a pandemic, creative platform-building, and an unwavering commitment to her story.

In this episode, Estelle Erasmus sits down with Amanda McCracken, author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover: Breaking from Infatuation, Rejection, and Perfectionism to Find Authentic Love, a deeply researched memoir that blends personal narrative with journalism, psychology, and neuroscience.

Amanda shares the behind-the-scenes reality of the publishing journey, from her 2013 viral New York Times essay to landing a book deal in 2024. She opens up about the structural challenges of writing memoir with research, the emotional work of cutting stories that "served their purpose," and how she built a compelling platform through her podcast The Longing Lab, her 2023 TED Talk, and strategic essay placements in Vogue, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.

• How to turn a personal essay into a full book proposal and why timing matters [2:48]

• The real timeline of traditional publishing, from query to contract [4:35]

• Why perseverance, patience, and an athlete's mindset matter in the publishing journey [8:11]

• Why agents and editors wanted a "happy ending" and how Amanda navigated that [18:59]

• How to position your book in a competitive market without saying "there's nothing like it" [20:10]

• Smart platform-building strategies, including podcasts, TED Talks, and targeted essay placements [22:52]

• The power of giving yourself grace and focusing on what's fun during the book promotion process [25:02]

• How to structure a memoir that weaves personal story with deep research [25:19]

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4DTnoOVPzcM

About Amanda:

Amanda McCracken is a journalist passionate about experiences that highlight the intersection of wellness, travel, and relationships. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Vogue, National Geographic, Elle, NPR, Outside, ESPN, SELF,Runner's World, and many others. She published her first article about longing in 2013, which led to additional articles featuring personal anecdotes and deep research and interviews with the BBC and Katie Couric. She is now considered a "limerence expert" and intimacy advocate. Her 2023 TED Talk, "How Longing Keeps Us From Healthy Relationships," highlights how longing can become self-sabotaging and shares how to change our patterns of longing. McCracken is the author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover: Breaking Free from Infatuation, Rejection, and Perfectionism to Find Authentic Love. She is also a part-time university instructor, massage therapist, triathlon coach, and competitive athlete. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, McCracken put down roots with her husband and daughter in Boulder, Colorado, after a trip around the world aboard the Peace Boat.

Connect with Amanda www.amandajmccracken.com

My book: When Longing Becomes Your Lover

My podcast: The Longing Lab

Watch my TEDx talk

Read my NYT story on limerence

Instagram: @amandajmccracken

TikTok: @thelonginglab

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.mccracken.39

Get More From Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

Great writing doesn't come from inventing drama. It comes from putting characters in situations where something meaningful is at stake.

In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle talks with fiction writer and essayist Peter Mountford about his short story collection Detonator and the craft choices that make stories propulsive. Mountford discusses how place shapes his fiction, drawing from lived experience in Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Mexico, Scotland, and the U.S. He explains why many of the stories began as previously published pieces and how revising them later, with a teacher's eye, changed their emotional impact.

This episode is for fiction and nonfiction writers who want their work to feel leaner, sharper, and more emotionally charged

In this episode:

• How Detonator grew out of lived experience and real places [2:18]

• Guilt, death, sex, and humor as recurring narrative forces [15:24]

• The craft purpose of a nonfiction prologue in a fiction collection [15:55]

• How strong hooks give writers freedom to slow down later [19:19]

• Using secrets, requests, and moral pressure to create tension [21:06]

• Why "mini-scenes" often work better than full narratives [25:09]

• Revising previously published work with a teacher's eye [27:08]

• What makes Modern Love–style essays pitchable and effective [30:15]

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FvZLi7ehvdA

About Peter:

Peter Mountford is the author of the novels A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism (Washington State Book Award), The Dismal Science (NYT editor's choice), and his latest, a collection of short stories, Detonator (now out from Four Way Books). His work has appeared in the New York Times (Modern Love), Paris Review, Southern Review, The Atlantic, The Sun, Ploughshares, and Guernica. He teaches at University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe's MFA, and through Mountford Writing.

Connect with Peter:

Website: https://www.petermountford.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountfordwriting/?hl=en

Detonator: https://www.petermountford.com/detonator

Coaching & Classes: https://www.mountfordwriting.com/

Modern Love Self Guided Class: https://www.mountfordwriting.com/how-to-write-a-new-york-times-modern-love-essay

Get More from Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

Family loyalty can push ordinary people toward unimaginable choices.

Estelle Erasmus chats with novelist and memoirist Tova Mirvis about her latest book, We Would Never, a gripping murder mystery inspired by a true crime case. While real events sparked the novel, the plot ultimately emerged from the emotional choices her characters make, with each decision setting off the next.

Tova reveals that the real work happened on the inside, as she burrowed into the emotional lives of her characters: the anger, loyalty, fear, and love that drive people to extremes.

In this episode:

• How a true crime case inspired We Would Never while leaving room for invention [3:02]

• Lessons from memoir writing applied to fiction [4:02]

• Crafting morally complex characters readers can still empathize with [6:38]

• Writing fiction as a mystery the reader wants to solve [7:05]

• The back-and-forth between character development and plot creation [8:59]

• Writing dialogue that escalates tension and reveals moral fault lines [16:24]

• Using empathy to explore difficult or morally ambiguous actions [19:45]

• The painstaking revision process and knowing when a novel is truly finished [20:49]

• Techniques for building suspense and pacing in emotionally charged narratives [29:22]

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/U0RPCcdmIVI

About Tova:

Tova Mirvis is the author, most recently, of the novel We Would Never which was published by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Her memoir The Book of Separation was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and excerpted in the New York Times Modern Love Column. She is also the author of three prior novels, Visible City, The Outside World and The Ladies Auxiliary which was a national bestseller. Her essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe Magazine, Real Simple and Psychology Today, and her fiction has been broadcast on NPR.

Connect with Tova:

We Would Never: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214151513-we-would-never

Website: https://www.tovamirvis.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tovamirvis/

Get More from Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

Did you know that cats have, in their feline way, shaped some of the greatest writing careers in literary history?

Bob Eckstein and Nava Atlas join Estelle Erasmus to talk about their collaboration on Inspired by Cats: Writers and Their Mews(es), a visually rich book exploring the creative bond between writers and their feline companions. The conversation traces how the idea evolved from a shareable literary roundup into a full-scale book published by Norton. Bob and Nava unpack their creative process, from cleanly dividing roles between writing and illustration to navigating permissions, estates, and revisions. This episode is especially valuable for writers curious about collaboration, research-driven books, illustration partnerships, and finding inspiration beyond the page.

In this episode:

• How Inspired by Cats: Writers and Their Mews(es) grew from a literary roundup into a full book [1:10]

• Why cats consistently emerge as ideal creative companions for writers [3:01]

• What Bob and Nava learned about collaboration, trust, and dividing creative roles [9:40]

• What working with estates, living authors, and editors really involves [12:30]

• Surprising discoveries about famous writers and their feline companions [20:15]

• The importance of curation and surprise when shaping a narrative-driven book [24:19]

• How tight word limits can sharpen writing instead of limiting it [30:46]

• What the project revealed about inspiration, discipline, and the writing life [32:20]

Bob Eckstein previously appeared on Freelance Writing Direct to talk about his work and career, and listeners may enjoy revisiting that episode alongside this conversation. #86 The Way of an Author and Illustrator: Finding Inspiration in Art. https://estelleserasmus.com/86-the-way-of-an-author-and-illustrator-finding-inspiration-in-art-featuring-bob-eckstein/

Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/PDRCFOiCLn4

Inspired by Cats Writers and Their Mews(es): https://wwnorton.com/books/9781682689493

Bob Eckstein is a NY Times bestseller, award-winning illustrator, New Yorker cartoonist, and world's leading snowman expert. His newest books are Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums and Inspired by Cat: Writers & Their Mews(es).

Connect with Bob

Website

Bob's Latest Book on Estelle's Bookshop

Instagram

Twitter

TikTok

Facebook

Substack

Podcast: The Cartoon Pad

Nava Atlas has some twenty books to her credit. She's known for her many vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, most recently the 5th edition of Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons. Nava is also the author of visual nonfiction, notably Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life, which spun off to the web archive LiteraryLadiesGuide.com, dedicated to women's classic literature, with millions of views logged. Her latest book is Inspired by Cats: Writers and Their Mews(es), illustrated by Bob Eckstein. She's working on Women Writing Dangerously, a visual history of banning, censorship, and silencing of women's literature. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York state. You can find her at LiteraryLadiesGuide.com and TheVeganAtlas.com.

Connect with Nava

https://literaryladiesguide.substack.com

https://theveganatlas.substack.com

Get More from Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• 🎓 Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• 📰 Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• • Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• 🎤 Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• 📘 Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• 🎧 Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

Forgiveness doesn't erase the past. It changes who gets to control your present.

In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle Erasmus talks with filmmaker, writer, and coach Gayle Kirschenbaum and her 102-year-old mother, Mildred Kirschenbaum, about their volatile, funny, and hard-won evolution from conflict to connection. Gayle shares the story behind her debut memoir, Bullied to Besties: A Daughter's Journey to Forgiveness, including the relentless criticism she grew up with, the physical toll it took, and the moment she realized the only way forward was to stop living as a victim.

The conversation also explores generational silence around feelings, antisemitism and identity, and the surprising way Mildred became Gayle's most rigorous story consultant, even when she appears as the "villain" in the narrative. It's a candid look at what forgiveness can mean when the other person doesn't change, but you do.

In this episode:

• How childhood dynamics quietly shape identity, health, and self-trust [5:17]

• Why Gayle decided forgiveness was the only way forward [7:55]

• Generational silence, emotional truth, and the limits of understanding [10:05]

• Structuring a memoir through therapy, flashbacks, and confrontation [15:54]

• Mildred's perspective on her parenting and how intention & impact don't always align [17:54]

• Using journals, letters, and family archives as memoir source material [24:47]

• Seeing a parent as a wounded child and how that reframed everything [29:29]

• What it looks like to reclaim agency while staying in relationship [30:00]

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xQcs4nOjODM

Connect with Gayle and Mildred:

Website: https://www.gaylekirschenbaum.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glkirschenbaum/?hl=en

Bullied to Besties: A Daughter's Journey To Forgiveness: https://www.gaylekirschenbaum.com/bullied-to-besties

Look At Us Now, Mother!: https://www.gaylekirschenbaum.com/look-at-us-now-mother

Get More from Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here. https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/amplifying-the-echo-effect-in-memoir-and-essays

• 🎓 Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• 📰 Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: On Craft, Revision, and the Paragraph You Almost Cut https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

• • Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• 🎤 Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

• 📘 Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." https://www.amazon.com/Writing-That-Gets-Noticed-Storyteller/dp/1608688364

• 🎧 Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast/

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. An adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

After years of writing literary fiction, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, author of Pool Fishing, saw her work shift when she turned to noir.

Estelle Erasmus chats with Barbara about the genre shift that reignited her fiction and led to publication. Barbara shares how stepping into noir forced her to embrace plot, tension, and consequence, without sacrificing voice or depth.

They touch on the big craft questions behind the book, including how place shapes story, how themes emerge across a collection, and how to build characters readers empathize with, even when those characters make bad choices. Barbara also reflects on the early days of Writers on Writing and how it grew from a radio show into a long-running podcast for writers.

In this episode:

• The moment Barbara realized literary fiction wasn't enough [3:02]

• Why noir demands action, risk, and irreversible consequences [4:17]

• Why genre shifts can unlock new creative momentum [5:06]

• How place and atmosphere shape what happens on the page [8:20]

• Ways themes naturally emerge across a story collection [9:11]

• The accidental water motif that ties Pool Fishing together [10:54]

• Making flawed characters compelling [16:35]

• A practical approach to staying accountable while drafting a book [22:52]

• How Writers on Writing began as radio and became a podcast pioneer [26:18]

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iOL5c3VDMCI

About Barbara:

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett's recent debut collection of short stories, Pool Fishing, was published by Kelp Books. Her short story, "Rowboat," included in the book, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has also published Palm Springs Noir (Akashic Books) and Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within, a Los Angeles Times bestseller and winner of the American Society of Journalists and Authors best book award.

"Crazy for You," published in Orange County Noir (Akashic), was included in USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series. Her short fiction has been published in Coolest American Stories, CrimeReads, Oyez Review, Literary Hatchet, Rock and a Hard Place, Broad River Review, and Dark City Crime & Mystery Magazine. Essays and articles have seen print in Inlandia, The Antarctica Review, The Ocotillo Review, The Writer, Los Angeles Review of Books, Poets & Writers,, San Jose Mercury News, and the Los Angeles Times. She teaches at various places, including Saddleback College and Gotham Writers Workshop, and has taught at UC-Irvine where she received a Distinguished Instructor Award. She is creator, executive producer, and host of the award-winning podcast, Writers on Writing. www.penonfire.com.

Connect with Barbara:

Website: https://penonfire.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbarademarcobarrett/?hl=en

Pool Fishing: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205217838-pool-fishing

Writers on Writing: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xsgsETgPlrGnmI9BmjC1I?si=62ce96ccabd14a35

Get More from Estelle

• Upcoming Webinar with Writer's Digest: Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays, February 26th, 1:00-2:30 pm ET If you want to understand how patterns, callbacks, and emotional echoes can deepen your work, join me for this brand new interactive craft webinar. Learn more and register here.

• 🎓 Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Discover how to beat writer's block, shape a powerful narrative, pitch editors, and walk away with a ready-to-publish essay or memoir pages. Find out more information and register here.

• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — January and March are sold out. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email me at [email protected] for details and to get on the waiting list.

• 📰 Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: How to Pitch Slate: Advice, Ideas and Examples on How to Write Articles and Essays from NYU My Editor-on-Call Event

• • Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

• 🎤 Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond

• 📘 Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." Audiobook here

• 🎧 Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards)

About Estelle Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. A contributing editor for Writer's Digest and adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

Follow Estelle:

• Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus

• TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus

• Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus

• BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social