Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share How Literary Journalist and Novelist Michael Scott Moore Writes
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
How Literary Journalist and Novelist Michael Scott Moore Writes
The author of the captivity memoir, The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast, Michael Scott Moore joined me this week to talk about his fascinating journey as a writer, how he wrote his harrowing and detailed memoir (much of it without notes), and why it’s changed him as a writer and a person.
Michael is an investigative journalist, novelist, and author of a critically acclaimed folk history of surfing, Sweetness and Blood, named a book of the year by The Economist in 2010.
The author travelled to the Horn of Africa, while researching piracy along the coast of Somalia in 2012, where he was abducted and held captive for over two and half years, for a ransom of $20 million.
In his riveting personal account of the experience, chronicled in The Desert and the Sea, Mike deftly examines the history of piracy, religious extremism, geopolitical factors, and his own dark humor and humanity to capture what reviewers have called, “A harrowing and affecting account of … captivity at the hands of Somali pirates.” (Kirkus)
His story, described as a “Catch-22 meets Black Hawk Down,” has been featured on NPR s All Things Considered, Fresh Air, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, CBS This Morning, The Joe Rogan Experience, and many others.
The author has covered the European migration crisis for Businessweek, and politics, travel, and literature for The Atlantic, Der Spiegel, The New Republic, The New York Times, and The L.A. Review of Books.
If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.
In this file Michael Scott Moore and I discuss:- How the author was able to write about his lengthy and traumatic time as a hostage
- Why the discipline of taking handwritten notes is so important for retention
- How memory shapes stories so deeply
- Why Mike recorded everything he could remember as quickly as he could once he was freed
- How the author found an existential detachment in order to stay sane
- Why revision is the scaffolding that allows inspiration
- radio free mike – Michael Scott Moore’s author website
- The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast – Michael Scott Moore
- What It’s Like To Be Held Hostage By Somali Pirates For 2 1/2 Years – NPR
- Michael Scott Moore on Instagram
- Michael Scott Moore on Twitter
- Kelton Reid on Twitter
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By Kelton Reid
4.5
211211 ratings
The author of the captivity memoir, The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast, Michael Scott Moore joined me this week to talk about his fascinating journey as a writer, how he wrote his harrowing and detailed memoir (much of it without notes), and why it’s changed him as a writer and a person.
Michael is an investigative journalist, novelist, and author of a critically acclaimed folk history of surfing, Sweetness and Blood, named a book of the year by The Economist in 2010.
The author travelled to the Horn of Africa, while researching piracy along the coast of Somalia in 2012, where he was abducted and held captive for over two and half years, for a ransom of $20 million.
In his riveting personal account of the experience, chronicled in The Desert and the Sea, Mike deftly examines the history of piracy, religious extremism, geopolitical factors, and his own dark humor and humanity to capture what reviewers have called, “A harrowing and affecting account of … captivity at the hands of Somali pirates.” (Kirkus)
His story, described as a “Catch-22 meets Black Hawk Down,” has been featured on NPR s All Things Considered, Fresh Air, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, CBS This Morning, The Joe Rogan Experience, and many others.
The author has covered the European migration crisis for Businessweek, and politics, travel, and literature for The Atlantic, Der Spiegel, The New Republic, The New York Times, and The L.A. Review of Books.
If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.
In this file Michael Scott Moore and I discuss:- How the author was able to write about his lengthy and traumatic time as a hostage
- Why the discipline of taking handwritten notes is so important for retention
- How memory shapes stories so deeply
- Why Mike recorded everything he could remember as quickly as he could once he was freed
- How the author found an existential detachment in order to stay sane
- Why revision is the scaffolding that allows inspiration
- radio free mike – Michael Scott Moore’s author website
- The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast – Michael Scott Moore
- What It’s Like To Be Held Hostage By Somali Pirates For 2 1/2 Years – NPR
- Michael Scott Moore on Instagram
- Michael Scott Moore on Twitter
- Kelton Reid on Twitter
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More shows like The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
View all
The Book Review
3,861 Listeners
On Being with Krista Tippett
10,368 Listeners
The New Yorker: Fiction
3,315 Listeners
The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers
615 Listeners
Helping Writers Become Authors
961 Listeners
Otherppl with Brad Listi
502 Listeners
Writing Excuses
1,295 Listeners
The History of Literature
1,089 Listeners
The History of Standup
335 Listeners
Micheaux Mission
211 Listeners
Freelance to Founder
69 Listeners
Writer's Routine
299 Listeners
Book Dreams
57 Listeners
Fiction Writing Made Easy
1,427 Listeners
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
750 Listeners
Trail Weight
62 Listeners
Poured Over
294 Listeners
31 for 31
14 Listeners
NPR's Book of the Day
603 Listeners
Essential Guide to Writing a Novel
356 Listeners
Writers on Writing
72 Listeners
No Write Way with V. E. Schwab
67 Listeners