The Stories Between Us

It might only be a few weeks into 2021...but we're both feeling a little stuck. So today we talk about various ways to get unstuck, whether it be writing or business or driving a 40-foot bus into a drainage ditch (yeah, we tell that story, too).

Regarding our new upcoming class: The Nine Month Novel

Laura Tremaine joins us today to talk about her transition from mommy-blogger to podcaster to author. She also opens up about a dark stage in her life and what brought her through. Finally, Shawn and Maile ask her if there are any feelings of jealousy between her and her super-successful and creative husband, Jeff, who is a movie producer...and the conversation that ensues is encouraging.

Preorder Laura's new book: Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First.

Laura's podcast: 10 Things to Tell You

Today Maile and Shawn talk about the various ways creative people can and should be engaging with culture during these difficult days. We try to do it without hypocrisy, but you can judge for yourself on whether or not that is the case.

We also mention (again) Jonathan Rogers' wonderful podcast and newsletter, The Habit.

We have a wonderful time speaking with Sean Dietrich (Sean of the South) about his childhood, the differences between the North and the South, and what it's like to write about his childhood, which involved his father committing suicide. His family was always very private about the incident, and he tells us the story of letting his mother read his memoir for the first time.

Sean's memoir is Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

His upcoming novel is called, The Incredible Winston Browne.

Welcome to Season Four! It's going to be a good one. Today we talk about Maile's obsession with Netflix's fake fireplace (Birchwood edition), the books we're reading, and what we're going to do to better ourselves as writers in 2021. Also, Shawn shares the one thing that ALWAYS silences the voices of self-doubt.

The book Shawn threw in the lazy river: How Fiction Works by James Wood

What creative mindsets are you taking with you into the New Year? Are they ways of thinking about creativity that serve you well or do they keep you mired in negative self-talk? Today, Shawn and Maile each share one mindset they're taking with them into the New Year, and one mindset they're planning on leaving in 2020.

Alex Haley's biography

Awesome Alex Haley interview: The Roots of Alex Haley's Writing Career

Today we get to speak with painter and artist Freiman Stoltzfus about growing up as an artist within the Amish community, the role his mother played in his life work, and the relationship between creativity and grief. Maile is especially fascinated by a term he uses, creative recovery, in describing how we can rediscover our creativity, even later in life.

Shawn and Maile talk about the dynamic and life-giving force that change can be in your creative life. So, change it up! They also talk about the various ways their creative lives are changing in 2021--Maile is teaching a writing class! Shawn is writing a screen play! Join them as they talk about the good and tough of making changes to your creative life.

Melanie Dale talks about writing horror, parenting books, becoming a zombie on The Walking Dead, and her journey into special needs parenting. We reflect on the first time we met (in a careening minivan) and how the creative life is always taking us in the directions we least expect.

Check out her new book here: Calm the H*ck Down

Maile and Shawn talk about their own self-limiting beliefs and how those things have kept them from trying and creating new things. Do you have beliefs about yourself that are limiting? Are you measuring who you can become by your past?

And they talk about a new way forward, a creative path that allows for creativity, innovation, and, most importantly, hope.