#amwriting With Jess & Kj

Summer is… here? Nigh? Here and nigh? The sun is frequently shining, the end-of-year festivities are doing their kinda-post-pandemic-kinda-not thing and soon, if you’re a family type, you’ll have kids home for the duration—and if you’re not, the great outdoors will still be calling, making it harder to work than when you’re hunkered down during a snowstorm. We talk summer writing goals and the challenges of meeting them, share summer podcast plans and get generally excited for changing it up and taking some breaks. Jess shouts out the Spotify Deep Focus Playlist, and KJ vague-reviews a book that didn’t stick the landing. (If you’re dying of curiosity, send an email and we’ll share the title, but we decided long ago that we’re a podcast for literary love, not lit crit.) #AmReading Jess: The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren Sarina: Annabeth Albert Rachel Lacey Eli Easton Garrett Leigh Autoboyography by Christina Lauren KJ: Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers  The Great Bel

Hey all, Jess here. When I agreed to read and blurb Jordan Shapiro’s new book, Father Figure: How to Be a Feminist Dad, I was struck by the attention he paid to inclusivity and the language he used to describe it. When I mentioned it to him, he told me he’d used a sensitivity reader named Jazz to ensure he got the language right.  Sensitivity readers are becoming more of a norm in publishing. Jodi Picoult has tweeted about how much she depends on hers to get her descriptions, language, and representation right in her books articles like this one in the Guardian and this one in Vulture are great primers on the topic.  We asked Jordan and Jazz to join us to talk about the experience of working together to create Father Figure. #AmReading Jazz: What's Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She by Dennis Baron Jordan: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro KJ: Conjure Women by Afia Atakora Jess: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert  As always we’re sponsore

Stacy Kim is a freelance writer who’s beginning to see some real success in her career, with bylines in Real Simple, The Washington Post, Wired and more. We talked to her about getting started as a writer, finding her topic and her expertise, and learning that it’s not enough to have a story—you have to give the editor a reason to want you to share it, and the reader a reason to want to read it.  Links from the Pod: Sue Shapiro’s classes (highly recommended) Stacy’s essays and other work: Lighthouse Method in Real Simple hoarding in WashPo I found Korean culture sexist and stifling. Then my kid fell in love with K-pop: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/05/07/korean-culture-teenager-fan/ A visit to Seoul during Covid changed my opinion of a country I once despised https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/seoul-korea-covid-pandemic-america-b1816535.html wired Got Done List #AmReading Stacy: If I had Your Face by Frances Cha Miracle Creek by Angie Kim Ethan Cross, Jeff

We love being edited. We love editors. But truth: sometimes being edited is hard. Sometimes you need to interpret things differently, ask questions or push back. In this episode, we talk about how to do that, what makes a good editor and how to find one, how to be edited in your freelance work and—my favorite—why you can’t say your editor is wrong.  #AmReading Jess: Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself by Chloe Angyal Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome  Sarina: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert KJ: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid If you reply to this email I’ll tell you what book Jess didn’t like :).  Thinking about hiring an editor—aka a book coach? I’ve worked with two from Author Accelerator now (and I PAID THEM, it’s not a perk of being sponsored :)) and they were wonderful. As we say in the episode, the best editors represent your readers, and they know what those readers are here for and how you can give it to them. Autho

Emma Gannon is a best-selling author, a podcaster, a journalist, writer of fiction and non-fiction and just general woman-about-town, as known for her writing about the new world of work as she soon will be for her fiction. Her debut novel, Olive, centers on a journalist who loves her career and the many other things that fill her world, friends, fun, family—and is in the process of owning her sense that children won’t be one of those things. Emma, like her protagonist, is happily without spawn—and that’s what we’re talking about on the pod. No, not deciding whether to have kids, you know us better than that—but turning your personal life into fiction—advantages, disadvantages, and what comes next.  #AmReading Emma: Animal by Lisa Taddeo The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck Jess: High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley KJ: Would I lie to you by Judi Ketteler Find our guest, Emma Gannon, on Twitter at @emmagannon, her websi

Our guest today is a wildly successful food writer who’s fresh off an appearance on Fresh Air—and who never “should” have written a cookbook at all. (Read on for a recipe.) Here’s her bio, in her own words: I grew up a Palestinian in Israel. I went to an American missionary school and by the grace of whatever gods were looking down on me and sheer grit, I came to UPenn for undergrad, where I struggled initially, but kept going until I graduated in the top of my class and went on straight to do my MBA at Wharton. From there, McKinsey, The London School of Economics, The World Economic Forum and, by any measure, a fast track, prestigious career. But I felt disillusioned when I realized I was following the herd and living someone else’s version of success, not mine. So I turned my back on the whole thing and decided to write a cookbook. But she did (The Palestinian Table) and now she’s written another (The Arabesque Table). We talk about the nitty gritty of cookbook publishing along with the things she di

Plotting and pantsing, loving your genre, voice, self-doubt… what didn’t we talk about with Mhairi McFarlane? And she has such a lovely Scottish accent to do it in, too. We know you’ll love this episode.  #AmReading Mhairi: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (aka El Piso Para Dos in KJ’s Spanish version) Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls Sarina: The Price You Pay for College by Ron Lieber (from episode Turning Data into #Narrative)  Re-reading Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley KJ: Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez Follow Mhairi on Twitter: @mhairimcf In this episode we talked a lot about finding ideas, chasing them around and pinning them down. Jennie Nash from our sponsor, Author Accelerator, has a list of the idea process, in this case for non-fiction books:  I had an idea, which came to me in the form of six words in a very specific order… and which stuck in my mind long enough to ping against a memory… which caused me to think about the connection between those two things (this ne

Working on an essay collection? Dreaming of becoming a literary agent? We were all over the map with Kristin Van Ogtrop, agent at InkWell Management, author of the essay collection Did I Say That Out Loud: Midlife Indignities and How to Survive Them and former editor of Real Simple Magazine (which KJ mistakenly attributed to Conde Nast but is really part of the Time Inc. empire). Midlifers, essayists, job-hoppers—this is for you! Mentioned on the pod The Empty Glass by J.I. Baker Nalini Singh, #AmWriting episode The Power of Writing as Play The Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante #AmReading Kristin: American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser Jess: Bombshells by Sarina Bowen  The Happy Ever After Playlist and Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez KJ: Brood by Jackie Polzin Find Kristin on Instagram and Twitter as @kvanogtrop  or at her website www.kristinvanogtrop.com Your dream job is calling—can you hear it? Check out these

We love answering your questions! If we missed yours, head over to the Facebook group or reply to this episode and we’ll try to get there next time.  Links from the pod: early episodes on How to Get an Agent, Planning your work, Keeping Organized, and Getting Unstuck Semikolon sticky notes Evernote Best online writing classes: Rachael Herron, Better Faster Academy, Grub Street, New School, Writers Digest University, Gotham Writers, Writers Studio, UPOD Academy, Sue Shapiro #AmReading Jess: Last Call by Elon Green KJ: Super Host by Kate Russo And—love us, love our sponsors! If you’ve been dreaming of a book coaching career, you know you want the guidance of Jennie Nash and the crew at AuthorAccelerator. You’ll find everything you need at bookcoaches.com/amwriting. 

Writing is hard. In this episode, we talk imposter syndrome, editing, the right headspace for reading your own stuff, why you might need a “nice” agent, reading your work aloud to friends, recording audiobooks in the closet, being years late on a deadline, sending your editor proof of life and the deep inner conviction that people only buy your book because they feel sorry for you. #ohyeah. #AmReading Jess: Win by Harlan Coben  Jenny: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian Note: Bookriot Podcast KJ: The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry Jenny’s Bookshop: The Nowhere Bookshop, San Antonio, TX The Fantastic Strangelings Book Club books: Professional Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones Swallowed Man by Edward Carey Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas The Did Bad Things by Lauren A. Forry Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby Find Jenny at The Bloggess! And have you checked out the Writing

Who wouldn’t want to write better and faster? I can’t even imagine. Our guest this week is Becca Syme, creator of the Better Faster Academy, author of Dear Writer You Need to Quit as well as other books in the Quit series and the author of the MatchBaker series of cozy mysteries (with such glorious titles as “Vangie Vale and the Murdered Macaron”). Her superpower is helping writers find what they do best—their strengths—and do more of that instead of worrying about trying to “fix” the things we aren’t naturally good at. Links from the pod The Clifton Strengths Test The Ted Lasso blog post Better Faster Academy The Quitcast on YouTube #AmReading Becca: Mandy M. Roth  Yasmine Galenorn  Rajani LaRocca  DEVS (TV show) Sarina: Unguarded by Jay Hogan (part of Sarina’s World of True North) KJ: The Shit No One Tells You About Writing (podcast) Have y’all heard about the Writing Class Radio podcast? Writing Class Radio is a podcast of a writing class.  If you love st

It’s part one of… who knows? As we answer questions from our email and our Facebook group (if you’re not part of that, jump in HERE). We answered questions about working with experts, talking about WIPS (nonfiction and fiction, both), sucking up to influencers, being told your platform sucks, Goodreads etiquette and the always popular can you make a living writing (yes, but not quickly or easily).  If your questions is still unanswered, no worries—we’ve got more in the queue for upcoming episodes. And feel free to ask us anything, via Facebook, by replying to this if you’ve received it as an email or by emailing TKPOD EMAIL LINK. #AmReading Jess: Yellow Bird by Sierra Crane Murdoch KJ: A Cup of Silver Linings by Karen Hawkins Jess here, to rave about all I continue to learn at The Great Courses Plus. I’ve been on a Jamestown kick, a Victoria kick, a great women in writing jag, and even traveled to Ireland recently in a travel video and again through a course on paganism in Europe. Who knows

Nalini Singh is a romance writer. Or, she was a romance writer until she decided she wanted to write a thriller. Jess and Sarina had so much fun talking about genre hopping and writing the books that speak to you. There’s no requirement that we stay in our lanes, Nalini reminded us. We also took some time to lament our dearly missed in-person writers conferences and Nalini gushed about the joy of afternoon teas with her superfans.  Sarina often points to Nalani’s email newsletter as one of the best she’s read, so we are linking to it here and you should absolutely sign up. She offers bonus content and glances behind the scenes of her life as a writer in New Zealand. Finally, Nalini reminds of the power of play in writing. She wrote her thrillers as exercises in play, something with no deadlines attached, and offers this sage advice:  “Don’t be afraid to write the book that wants to be different from all the rest.” With that, go forth and play with your words, but go visit Nalini Singh’s website fi

Jess’s new book, The Addiction Inoculation, launches April 6th, and we talk about all the things she’s done to set herself up for feeling like she’s done everything in her power to make this launch a good one. We discuss the differences between launching fiction and non-fiction, first book vs. second book, non-covid v. covid, when to hire a publicist, turning a book into a speaking career and (as always) more.  #AmReading Sarina: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade Jess: 1619 by James Horn (watching: Jamestown on Amazon Prime) KJ: You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar Spring is coming (slowly here in New England) and we’re excited about the whole idea of change and new beginnings and birds and grass and—stuff like that. What does that have to do with #AmWriting? Maybe it’s time for a new beginning for you as a book coach? Just imagine enrolling in the classes, meeting a cohort, learning all the ways coaches are editorial and emotional support for writers and t

Today's guest, Olga Mecking, is a freelance journalist who’s enjoyed exactly the version of success many freelancers dream about. She went from publishing her own work on her blog to pitching outside publications, gradually reaching bigger and bigger audiences until her article The Case for Doing Nothing in the New York Times became a breakout success and led to a book contract for her new book Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing. I know you’ll enjoy this interview—we go deep into building a freelance career and the nuts and bolts of making that happen. We’re shaking things up a little this week, and I interviewed Olga solo, which made a nice break for me from the novel revisions I’m working on, or at least staring at, this week. One thing Olga and I talk about is what it was like to go from writing articles to writing an entire book—and part of the answer was, painful! But it’s still the dream for many writers. If you’ve got a book in you and you’re struggling to bring it out, you should abso

Alisha Rai writes fun, joyful contemporary romances about smart, mature people who still struggle to find love. And by mature, we don’t mean old—I mean, these characters make good choices and try to understand themselves and other people, but it’s still not easy. We talk about those character choices, but before we dig in, we discuss Alisha’s decision to set her current book, First Comes Like, in a post-Covid world with special attention to what it’s going to be like as we emerge from a period of loneliness and loss—and still write a funny, entertaining, diverting romance.  #AmReading KJ: First Comes Like by Alisha Rai Sarina: Sweetheart by Sarah Mayberry Alisha: Big Bad Wolf by Suleikha Snyder Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne Love at First by Kate Clayborn Find Alisha: On Twitter: @AlishaRai On Instagram: @AlishaRaiWrites On TikTok: @TheRealAlishaRai Wish you had someone to discuss settings and characters and possible post-Covid worlds with as you work on

It’s a freewheeling conversation about writing fiction that tells a great story—and makes you think about the world beyond the story, with January Reese’s Book Club pick Anna North. Links from the pod:  Anna’s essay on the writing of Outlawed #AmReading Anna: In the Distance by Hernan Diaz How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang Jess: First Comes Like by Alisha Rai http://www.alisharai.com/ KJ: Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo And—if you’re in the midst of a project and you with you had someone to help you balance story and that not-too-pokey-stick point, our sponsor, Author Accelerator, can help find the right coach for you—or help you become that coach for someone else. Find out more at bookcoaches.com/amwriting.

Does this ever get easier? That’s the question we’re often asked by newer writers in the process of putting themselves out there and worried about how their work will be received. We were unanimous—yes, it does, and you don’t have to spend five years reading every single comment on your writing (and parenting, and intelligence, and everything else) from New York Times readers to get to the point where you can manage even the reviews you most dread without letting them keep you up at night. We talk types of bad reviews, strategies for coping with them and how to arm yourself for everything your pub date can bring.  #AmReading KJ: Cobble Hill by Cecily Von Ziegesar Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L. Rosen Sarina: Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer Jess: Studly Period by Sarina Bowen (on audio) Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird In this episode, we talk about how Jennie Nash from Aut

In this episode, we go seriously pro, talking to Ron Lieber, the Your Money columnist for the New York Times and the author of The Price You Pay for College and The Opposite of Spoiled. Ron shares his system for writing information and data-packed chapters—or columns—while making them relatable and digestible. Pro tip: it starts with “strip-mining” the brains of the top five experts you can find—and, as Ron says, being in the business of asking uncomfortable questions. Other great moments—waterproof shower crayons and how to highlight a tweet without interrupting the reading of your audio-book.  Find all things Ron here. #AmReading Ron: Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz Who Gets in and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions by Jeffrey Selingo The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel Jess: Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them by

Our guest today, Ethan Kross, is one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. His new book, Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters and How to Harness it, sits at that enviable intersection between academic and commercial nonfiction, and in a way that seems to be exactly where Ethan himself—who teaches in both the business school and the Psychology Department at the University of Michigan—sits, right there in the place where all kinds of things intersect, doing research into the ways our mysterious selves affect the ways we behave on the inside and on the outside.  We talked to Ethan about what we call “writer chatter”—those voices in our head that tell us we’re not good enough, smart enough, anything enough to write the things we want to write, and then we branched off into his experience transitioning from academic writing to writing for a wider audience and what his inner voices had to say about that. In the end, Ethan reminded us that we don’t want to live without our in