Episode Summary

In this episode, Richard discusses his transition from a career in commercial writing to starting to write his own stories. He talks about where he finds inspiration and what sent him on the path to write his book 50 States.

Highlights

•Richard has been writing for about 30 years. He had mostly helped tell other people’s stories.
•Richard taught for 20 years at UNLV.
•Richard has a home office that he likes to use for writing.
•He has many objects in his office, but he finds that his St. Christopher medal gives him inspiration. It was something from his grandmother who he was very close with.
•Richard is usually in the process of reading 4 books.
•Richard writes fiction but he finds inspiration all around him in real life.
•Stefan G Bucher’s The Daily Monster project was part of what inspired Richard to write his anthology.
•Deadlines were something that Richard responded well to after 30 years of commercial writing. He liked the idea of 50 stories in 50 weeks because it gave him some structure around deadlines.
•Jeff Livingston helped Richard understand that you have to put your projects first in order to fit them in with your career and other interests.
•Short stories allow you to do some experimentation. If you write something that you do not like then you can put it aside for use later or try it again with a different approach.
•Always try to bring humanity to the story and be honest about what emotions you are bringing to the story. 
•Brian Callanan was the narrator for the audio version of 50 States and Richard felt like Brian was a perfect match for the project.
•Covid was not good for Richard’s writing. Much of what he writes is inspired by being out and what he sees in daily life. Covid prevented him from doing that.