Laura Cathcart Robbins is the author of the "quitlit" memoir, STASH: MY LIFE IN HIDING. Stash is Laura’s story of addiction, motherhood, imposter syndrome, being a woman of color, divorce, and privilege. Our conversation digs into her book journey and we had some frank and honest dialog about book promotion and the hard work of publishing well.

We also delved into writing and relationships, what it means to be a writer, and the power of a great query letter––which in Laura's case, was a powerful portal to success.

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The Anti-Fundamentalist : tialevings.substack.com

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TikTok : @tialevingswriter

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Connect with Laura Cathcart Robbins :

Alycia Ripley is an actor novelist, screenwriter, and director with over 20 years of experience in PR and brand marketing. In the months since we recorded this, Alycia directed a film she also wrote, currently in final production. In our chat, we cover a ton of working-writer topics, from industry trends to favorite software. One of my favorite things about Alycia is that she shares the insider tips! Support her projects through her patreon and I hope you enjoy the podcast! 

I met Laura on Instagram through her work educating and nurturing survivors of religious trauma. Over the years she's become a trusted friend and an incredible resource on all things trauma-healing. I wanted her for the show because of the volume of thoughtful, conscientious content she generates along with being a full-time therapist and running a business. Laura's a working writer extraordinaire and I'm excited to share her with podcast listeners. 

Here's more about her: 

Laura Anderson is a Licensed Psychotherapist with a private practice in Nashville, TN and an Abuse and Trauma Resolution Coach for clients outside of Tennessee. Her primary clientele deal with complex trauma including intimate partner violence, sexual abuse and assault and religious trauma. Laura heads the Center for Trauma Resolution and Recovery, is the co-founder of the Religious Trauma Institute and received her PhD with her research focused on the experience of living in a healed body after sexual trauma.

Laura is the author of two educational manuals: one on the topic of domestic violence and the other for clinicians and other healers regarding religious trauma, including how to work with clients who are hoping to heal from religious abuse and trauma. When she’s not working or writing, Laura enjoys spending time with her dog, Phoebe, hiking, being outdoors and spending time with her friends.

Using a pen name seemed like a good idea...

In this bonus episode of The Working Writer Podcast, I share the backstory of why I decided to use a pen name –– and why I changed my mind. 

Author Tim Gilmore. 

Good stories, investigations, and literary projects all start from the same seed: wonder. Curiosity is essential to writing. In episode 9, I bring you the most curious writer I know: Tim Gilmore. 

We meander through a variety of topics, including creative obsessions, launching a book during lock-down, suffering artists, and more. Tim's living literary project, jaxpsychogeo.com, gets much of our focus as we deep dive into process, poetry and passion for art. 

A fun behind-the-scenes factoid: as a professor, novelist, and non-fiction writer, Tim's breadth of work was the inspiration for The Working Writer Podcast. I wondered how he did it--worked and wrote prolifically--and I wondered how other writers did it. And so the show was born, out of wonder and curiosity. 

My favorite part of this episode is where I can hear Tim's curiosity perk up. He's the author of The Devil in the Baptist Church and Murder Capital, among several others. Check out his site! 

Photo credit: Bob Self of the T-U

Iowa Short Fiction Award winner Sohrab Homi Fracis shares how contests and competitions helped shape his writing career. In addition to the Iowa, Sohrab's work has been shortlisted and decorated by a long list of festivals and associations, including the South Asia Literary Association. He is warm, gracious, and intelligent and I appreciated the insight he shared on how novels and scripts can have much longer "legs" than just publication. 

Sohrab's timely novel on the immigrant experience, Go Home, is a perfect example of such long legs: it was recently shortlisted by Stanford for the William Saroyan International Prize. 

I'm excited to share my friend and his wisdom with you, my fellow working writers! 

A review of Go Home from Sohrab's website: 

"At the heart of Sohrab Homi Fracis's poignant new novel, Go Home, is the question of one's place in the world, the answer never more ambiguous or fragile than for the immigrant or exile, when a person's condition of homelessness is in transition, neither here nor there. Given the cultural moment, I'm grateful to Fracis for his highly topical reexamination of the American Dream, a still reliable but never easy remedy for all those yearning to reinvent themselves beyond the constrictions of tribe and nation. And in Go Home, assimilation, sometimes a wretched exercise, can also be a hilarious and uplifting affair."

Photo credit: Madison Gross

Misty Wagner gets real, real quick. Direct, warm, experienced, and connective, Misty’s authentic social engagement sets her apart from the fluff. She’s an entertainment writer, memoirist, and writing group facilitator, as well as a podcaster. Here’s a quick list of some of the topics we explored:

Freelance writer and editor Bethany Miller shares her experience over the years, touching on the nitty-gritty realities of freelance life. We discuss pricing and finding gigs, dealing with difficult clients, and geek-out in general about our lives as writers.

How do you know your writing is good? How can you fix what's broken in your work? 

Writing coach Jamie Morris chats with podcast host (and client) Tia Lindstrom on how working with a coach can make you a better writer.

The Companion Guide Series includes the title for this episode is called Get Feedback On Your Writing. The ebook expands the feedback topic to include alpha and beta readers, editors, and that pesky of all writers' problems: what to do about unsolicited feedback?

Team Little Quotes is in the house to share how a virtual team made a real book! 

In this interview with the editors behind Little Quotes by Little Folks, we share how a virtual team made a real book, and explore how collaboration can increase your success as a published author.   

This topic is covered further in the Companion Guide. Write as a Team is available on Amazon, and is a short read with big content, full of insight on team writing and tips to make it work.   Check out the Little Quotes by Little Folks book at https://littlequotesbook.com