Write About Now

Write About Now

By Jonathan SmallBusinessArtsBooksCareers
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Write About Now episodes

  • Ep. 44—TV Comedy Writing Couple Talk Love, Laughs, and 'Nakamuras.'
    What happens when two divorced TV comedy writers meet on a picket line? You'll have to listen to the pod to find out. But this is not just the story of Hunter Covington and Stacy Traub's courtship but also a guide ton how to break into TV comedy Stacy has written for black-ish, Glee, and Notes from the Underbelly. Hunter has written for My Name is Earl, Community, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They talk about the dos and don'ts of comedy, and why a "blow" is good and a "Nakamura" is bad.
    1 hr 14 min
  • Ep. 43—Who Killed Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.?

    Twenty-plus years after the murders of rap legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, investigators still haven't solved either case. But Kyle Long, my special guest on this episode of Write About Now, is pretty confident he knows who did it. Long is the creator and executive producer of Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., a compelling 10-episode limited series that is currently streaming on USA Network. A staff writer on such shows as Suits with Princess Meghan Merkle, Long has long been fascinated with the lives and the deaths of Tupac and Biggie. After reading LAPD detective Greg Kading's book Murder Rap, he wrote the pilot for Unsolved on spec as a passion project. Kading agreed to give him the rights, USA Network jumped on board, and the rest is TV docu-drama history. Here Long shares his juicy theories about the case, the challenges of writing a mini-series about real people and events, and his intriguing advice for writers getting into the game. 

    1 hr 31 min
  • Ep. 42—Effective Mind Hacks For Creative People
    Sir John Hargrave offers techniques for how to reprogram your thinking to be more productive and focused. Hargrave is the author of Mind Hacking: How to Change Your Mind for Good in 21 Days. Drawing from his experience going sober, Hargrave's developed a system for hacking into the mind: getting the bugs out, deleting loops, and upgrading the OS. In our interview, he talks about how to take control of your mental space, the power of repetition, and a little exercise called, "What Was My Mind Just Thinking?"
    45 min
  • Ep. 41—A Drunk Driver Destroyed Her Family But Not Her Empathy
    Jennifer Tracy lost her daughter and husband to a drunk driver, but rather than being consumed with anger and sorrow, she turned this tragedy into a life of meaning and purpose. She wrote a book, became a motivational speaker, and advocated for the drunk driver who destroyed her family. In conjunction with my feature about her in the July issue of Good Housekeeping, this episode tells Jennifer's remarkable story.
    1 hr 6 min
  • Ep. 40—What's Happening Inside North Korea? Author Travis Jeppen Explains.
    Travis Jeppesen is the author of a fascinating new book See You Again in Pyongyang, in which he chronicles his experience living and traveling in North Korea. Travis was the first American to study in North Korea in 2016. When I read his book, I knew I had to have him on the podcast to help shed some light on the hermit kingdom. On this episode, he shares his take into what life is like under Kim Jong Un, why he met with Trump, and what the future holds for the most mysterious country in the world.
    1 hr 8 min
  • Ep. 39 Romance Novelist Jasmine Guillory's Journey from Law to Love
    When a friend suggested I interview romance writer Jasmine Guillory on the show, I was a little skeptical. Romance novels? Eh. Then I binge-listened her book, The Wedding Date, and I was hooked. A lawyer and avid reader, Guillory had trouble finding books about people like her—successful, smart, urban, and black. So she wrote one herself. This is the story of how she taught herself to become a published writer.
    51 min
  • Ep. 39 Romance Novelist Jasmine Guillory' Journey from Law to Love
    When a friend suggested I interview romance writer Jasmine Guillory on the show, I was a little skeptical. Romance novels? Eh. Then I binge-listened her book, The Wedding Date, and I was hooked. A lawyer and avid reader, Guillory had trouble finding books about people like her—successful, smart, urban, and black. So she wrote one herself. This is the story of how she taught herself to become a published writer.
    51 min
  • Ep. 38—True Crime Journalist Billy Jensen on The Golden State Killer
    Billy Jensen is the acclaimed true crime investigative journalist, who helped finish Michele McNamara's haunting book, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark," after her death. The haunting story tells the tale of The Golden State Killer, a serial killer who terrorized Californians. Just months after its release, police announced they had a suspect in the case. Jensen talks to me about this extraordinary story, the process of writing the book, and his path to becoming a journalist specializing in unsolved crimes.
    1 hr 13 min
  • Ep. 37 Novelist Blanche McCrary Boyd: The Best Writing Professor I Ever Had
    Novelist Blanche McCrary Boyd is one of the main reasons I’m a writer today. Her classes at Connecticut College changed the way I viewed journalism and storytelling. Recently, she released her first book in 20 years— "Tomb of the Unknown Racist," part of a trilogy that also includes "The Revolution of Little Girls" and "Terminal Velocity.” In our interview, Boyd weaves together tragic and funny tales from her amazing life with invaluable teaching points. Think of this as your very own Master Class.
    1 hr 19 min
  • EP 36—What Star Wars Teaches Us About Real Wars
    Major Matt Cavanaugh is a U.S. Army strategist who's worked everywhere from the Pentagon to Korea, Iraq to the Army Space and Missile Defense Command. He served in Iraq during numerous deployments. His new book, Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict, he explains the strategy and the art of war by way of all the Star Wars films. On the podcast, he talks about his rise from West Point to platoon leader, why he writes, and why Yoda is a pretty terrible leader. He is. Mmmmm.
    53 min

About Write About Now

From the publisher's feed

Write About Now features in-depth interviews with successful writers of all types and stripes—journalists, screenwriters, novelists, ghostwriters, and more. Host, Jonathan Small, takes a deep dive…

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