An interview from the archives with local author and Queen City Ghostwalk Guide Thea Lewis about her book Haunted Inns and Ghostly Getaways of Vermont, published by The History Press.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to imagine a creepy scenario that has always frightened you. Maybe it has to do with going down into a basement, or up into an attic. Maybe it centers on a certain person who leaves you feeling unsettled. Are you afraid of water, of heights, of open spaces? Focus on one of your most haunting fears and consider how you might turn it around. If the idea of being up high frightens you, maybe write about a person who delights in great heights: a gymnast, or Phillipe Petit, who famously walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers in 1974. If you’re afraid of water, imagine being a long-distance swimmer. Write about this person’s attitude, and then midway into the piece, let your own phobia slip in and change what they are feeling or experiencing. What happens?

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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An interview from the archives with local author and Queen City Ghostwalk Guide Thea Lewis about her book Haunted Inns and Ghostly Getaways of Vermont, published by The History Press.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to imagine a creepy scenario that has always frightened you. Maybe it has to do with going down into a basement, or up into an attic. Maybe it centers on a certain person who leaves you feeling unsettled. Are you afraid of water, of heights, of open spaces? Focus on one of your most haunting fears and consider how you might turn it around. If the idea of being up high frightens you, maybe write about a person who delights in great heights: a gymnast, or Phillipe Petit, who famously walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers in 1974. If you’re afraid of water, imagine being a long-distance swimmer. Write about this person’s attitude, and then midway into the piece, let your own phobia slip in and change what they are feeling or experiencing. What happens?

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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An interview with Rachel Foster, co-founder and executive council co-chair of World Without Exploitation, who recently wrote an opinion piece in Vermont Digger: "Burlington controversy part of effort to decriminalize sex trade," and Mary Speta, Chief Impact Officer for Amirah, an organization offering help to survivors of sexual exploitation. This week's interview is not about a specific book, but the subject of Rachel's recent piece and what is happening around the commercial sex trade in Burlington and elsewhere.

This week's Write the Book Prompt concerns setting. Rachel Foster's other labor of love (which she also founded) is the Brooklyn Cat Cafe. One of the earliest cat cafes in the U.S., the Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s mission is to save Brooklyn’s cats by offering a hip and inviting destination where cat lovers of all ages can interact with adoptable animals – and one another. I love this idea, and I think it could be a great setting for a story, scene or poem. So… this week’s Write the Book Prompt is to write about a mix of humans and cats, and what happens to them on a random day in a cat cafe.

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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An interview with Rachel Foster, co-founder and executive council co-chair of World Without Exploitation, who recently wrote an opinion piece in Vermont Digger: "Burlington controversy part of effort to decriminalize sex trade," and Mary Speta, Chief Impact Officer for Amirah, an organization offering help to survivors of sexual exploitation. This week's interview is not about a specific book, but the subject of Rachel's recent piece and what is happening around the commercial sex trade in Burlington and elsewhere.

This week's Write the Book Prompt concerns setting. Rachel Foster's other labor of love (which she also founded) is the Brooklyn Cat Cafe. One of the earliest cat cafes in the U.S., the Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s mission is to save Brooklyn’s cats by offering a hip and inviting destination where cat lovers of all ages can interact with adoptable animals – and one another. I love this idea, and I think it could be a great setting for a story, scene or poem. So… this week’s Write the Book Prompt is to write about a mix of humans and cats, and what happens to them on a random day in a cat cafe.

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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An interview with the author Karen Joy Fowler, whose new historical novel is Booth, which concerns the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth. The book came out last week from Putnam.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Karen Joy Fowler, who suggests picking one of the great emotions:  fury, joy, envy, terror.  Write a scene from your childhood in which you experienced that emotion, maybe, but not necessarily, for the first time.  If you are in the midst of a fictional project, write the scene for one of your characters instead.

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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An interview with the author Karen Joy Fowler, whose new historical novel is Booth, which concerns the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth. The book came out last week from Putnam.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Karen Joy Fowler, who suggests picking one of the great emotions:  fury, joy, envy, terror.  Write a scene from your childhood in which you experienced that emotion, maybe, but not necessarily, for the first time.  If you are in the midst of a fictional project, write the scene for one of your characters instead.

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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An archive interview (from my Radiator broadcast days!) from the archives with New Hampshire author Toby Ball, author of three crime novels published by Overlook Press: The Vaults, about which we spoke in 2010,  Scorch City, which he wrote in 2011, and Invisible Streets the third in the series and the subject of this conversation.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider the following list of sentences and phrases, pick two, and put them in a story, scene, poem, or simple paragraph. Here they are:

* If she was going to argue all night…

* Keeping in mind the Pomeranian on the kitchen floor…

* Why not (a) Manhattan? 

* His itching feet called to be released.

* Staring at the melting ice statue, he spoke very slowly. 

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

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An archive interview (from my Radiator broadcast days!) from the archives with New Hampshire author Toby Ball, author of three crime novels published by Overlook Press: The Vaults, about which we spoke in 2010,  Scorch City, which he wrote in 2011, and Invisible Streets the third in the series and the subject of this conversation.

This week’s Write the Book Prompt is to consider the following list of sentences and phrases, pick two, and put them in a story, scene, poem, or simple paragraph. Here they are:

* If she was going to argue all night…

* Keeping in mind the Pomeranian on the kitchen floor…

* Why not (a) Manhattan? 

* His itching feet called to be released.

* Staring at the melting ice statue, he spoke very slowly. 

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

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A new interview with Vermont Author Kathryn Davis, who has a memoir out: Aurelia, Aurélia (Graywolf Press). 

This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Kathryn Davis, who teaches a novel writing class, among others. They have undertaken the exercise in that class of writing a “faux” novel. Without overthinking it, come up with a title and ten chapter headings for an as yet unplanned non-existent novel. Then write one of the chapters - no more than three pages. You can keep it going if you want. Kathryn says it’s a great exercise, and in doing it alongside her students, she herself has come up with a lot of great material to use.

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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A new interview with Vermont Author Kathryn Davis, who has a memoir out: Aurelia, Aurélia (Graywolf Press). 

This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously offered by my guest, Kathryn Davis, who teaches a novel writing class, among others. They have undertaken the exercise in that class of writing a “faux” novel. Without overthinking it, come up with a title and ten chapter headings for an as yet unplanned non-existent novel. Then write one of the chapters - no more than three pages. You can keep it going if you want. Kathryn says it’s a great exercise, and in doing it alongside her students, she herself has come up with a lot of great material to use.

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro

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