Living The Writing Life Podcast with Nancy Christie

Just a few thoughts on how we can use our creative ability to free ourselves from negative thoughts and beliefs

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Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong and her most recent book, Lost & Found—an insightful and moving exploration of grief and love, and how those two emotions have the power to change us, transform us, and expand our concept of who we are and how we can live.

Lost & Found grew out of “Losing Streak,” a New Yorker story that was anthologized in The Best American Essays. 

She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize for “The Really Big One,” her article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has also appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, and The Best American Food Writing.

A native of Ohio, she lives with her family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For more about Kathryn, visit her website and follow her on Twitter.

In today’s conversation, we’ll explore the concepts of loss and discovery, both from the personal perspective and from that as a creative.

Just a few thoughts on the need to protect the light of creativity. The power to do so rests with us: in our hands, in our minds, in our belief that we have something worth thinking, worth saying—something worth writing.

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Adrienne Reiter is a communications specialist, writer, and author of three novels: Twist, Chosen, and her latest, Lounge Act that’s been called a “sexy thriller with attitude.”

She writes mystery, speculative, literary fiction, and, by her own admission, is a compulsive blogger.

She is also a co-host on the podcast, Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun, where she swaps terrible tales, and general ghoul talk with Leo Buckley of Books Inc. San Francisco and lead guitarist for Bay Area bands Penury and Hazzard's Cure. You can follow the podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Adrienne holds a BA in Philosophy from Mills College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She splits her time between San Francisco and Mendocino County, where her dog, Peaches, does bad things.

For more about Adrienne, visit her website at adriennereiter.com and follow her on Facebook at @areiterbooks, Twitter @adriennereiter and Instagram at adriennereiter.

In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the practical and psychological struggles we go through when making time for our writing life.

Just a few thoughts on the surprises and joys that come from sowing seeds in a literary garden.

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Gregory Erich Phillips is the author of three award-winning novels: Love of Finished Years, The Exile and his most recent novel, A Season in Lights.

Gregory comes from a prolific literary family, and he carries on that tradition by writing aspirational stories through strong, relatable characters that transcend time and space, transporting readers into the world of his fiction.

Gregory is also an accomplished tango dancer and musician. For more about Gregory and his work, visit his website and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the idea of using fiction to create change in the real world through helping readers develop a greater understanding of other cultures and empathy for other people.

Just a few thoughts about the importance of staying focused on your goals, even if you think it’s too late for you to achieve them, because, after all, you never know.

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Dana Spiotta is the author of five novels: Lightning Field (2002), Eat the Document (2006), Stone Arabia (2011), Innocents & Others (2016), and her most recent, Wayward (2021) that was called by the New York Times a “virtuosic, singular and very funny portrait of a woman seeking sanity and purpose in a world gone mad.”

Dana has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, the St. Francis College Literary Prize, and the John Updike Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

For more about Dana, visit her website.

In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the impact of gender and age on writing—in terms of the types of topics covered, the depictions of female characters, and on creativity itself.

Just a few thoughts on how reaching the top (i.e., success) requires us to take one step after the other—without giving up.

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Casie Bazay is a former middle school teacher whose debut novel, Not Our Summer, was released in the spring of 2021 by Running Press Kids.

A freelance writer, and editor, Casie lives on a hay farm in Oklahoma with her husband and two children, and in her spare time, enjoys exploring the great outdoors, spending time at the barn with her horses and goats, reading, and watching movies. Casie also loves traveling to new and exciting destinations whenever she can.

For more about Casie, visit her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss dealing with rejection as an author—something I would venture to say just about all writers have had to face!