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My guest is Matt Witten, who now writes thrillers for a living after spending 20 years writing for television, including shows such as Law & Order and CSI. 

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My guest is Jane Friedman, who is an internationally known publishing expert based in New York. Jane has over 25 years experience in the publishing business, having worked as President and CEO of HarperCollins as well as holding senior executive positions at other major publishers. She’s the author of the book The Business of Being a Writer, produces the biweekly email newsletter called The Hot Sheet, which covers the publishing industry for authors, and offers classes online.

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This is the premiere episode of a weekly series I am going to be doing on Saturdays about words in the English language. This week’s word is "Etymology."

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Before I introduce today’s guest, I wanted to talk briefly about a new feeature—and a new episode—that I’m adding weekly to the show. I’m calling it “One More Word,” and it will be just me talking about an English word. It could be a word in the news, it could be some new jargon, it could be a word you’ve used for years but which has an interesting history. The episode will be short (5 minutes or so) and I hope you’ll find it interesting. The premiere episode is this Saturday, February 18. Please listen.

So for today’s show … This is episode 141 — How to Stay Busy: Writing, Coaching, Getting Others Unstuck, and World Peace.

My guest is Murielle Marie, who has over 20 years experience in business, most recently as a thriving international career in coaching and helping creatives and entrepreneurs get unstuck. She’s got a large social media following, and in the midst of everything she is also writing a thriller.

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My guest is actor Mollie Leivars, who is also the owner of Spirit Productions, a film production company she founded in 2019 when she was only 15 years old. Beyond making films centred on issues about youth, she gives online classes for young people wanting to learn various aspects of filmmaking and acting. 

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I talk about some of the words and rituals around the seemingly intractable problem of mass shootings in the US.

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My guest is Jan McInnis, whose activity schedule for the past 25 years has been incredibly varied. “Worklady,” BTW is the apt name of her website. She started in standup comedy and eventually was working in the niche of comic keynote speaking. She also has a podcast called Comedian Stories, and has sold comedy material to Leno’s Tonight Show and to radio stations across the US. She’s been featured for her clean material in several magazines. And somehow in the middle of all that, she’s also published two books: Finding the Funny Fast, and Convention Comedian. We talk about her amazing career and as well as the genre she finds hardest to write in.

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My guest is Gigi Microys, who is now a retired family physician. She graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1963, and has held academic positions as teacher in the departments of family medicine. She has written and lectured about physician health, the medical marriage, and women in medicine. She published her memoir, A Journey Through Medicine: Memoirs of a Female Immigrant, in 2019. Gigi lives in Ottawa with her husband, a retired structural engineer. 

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My guest is Alex Freeman, who is a theatre director who also does voicework. He has directed plays across the US and has voiced over 50 audiobooks. He’s done acting and teaching as well, and has an MFA in directing from Western Illinois University. We talk about how a director works with the playwright’s script and with the actors, how audiobooks are made, and the differences between directing theatre and directing film. 

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My guest is Louise Harris, who is an editor and writer based in St. Petersburg, Florida. We focus on her editing work, including  blog posts and press releases, but also have an extended discussion about the importance of flow to the reader.