Writer's Bone

Three years ago, two guys met in a Boston bar and something groundbreaking happened. Across the street, at another bar, Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy created Writer's Bone. The pair got together recently to reminisce about the podcast’s humble beginnings, champion their dedicated and passionate staff, and share what they have planned for Writer’s Bone in 2017.

Ingrid Thoft, author of Loyalty, Brutality, and the recently published Duplicity, talks to Daniel Ford about her (decaffeinated) writing process, tackling “third-rail” issues, and what inspired her new novel.

Sean Tuohy, after learning about an opera singer’s crazy regimented day-to-day life, talks to Daniel Ford about what sacrifices writers have to make for their craft. The pair also discusses how to strike a balance between writing schedules and real life, how lucky they are to have found supportive significant others, and how they plan to attack their writing goals in 2017. 

Adeline Hotel (aka songwriter Dan Knishkowy) talks to Robert Masiello and Sean Tuohy about how he got into songwriting, the genesis of the Adeline Hotel project, writing and recording “It's Alright, Just The Same,” and what he’s got planned for his next album.

In the first “Friday Morning Coffee” episode of 2017, Gary Almeter talks with David Galef, author of Brevity: A Flash Fiction Handbook, about various flash fiction formats, pithy sentence structure, and the art of “leaving stuff out to emphasize what remains.”

Sonya Chung, author of The Loved Ones and Long for This World, talks to Daniel Ford about her approach to storytelling, her love of nonfiction, how she develops her characters, and what inspired The Loved Ones.

We named Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Be Frank With Me the “Best Book of 2016” earlier this week. The author stopped by “Friday Morning Coffee” to talk more about writing her debut novel, how hard it was to move on from her character Frank, and what she’s working on now. Johnson also tells a good story about John Glenn on the set of “Frasier!”

Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy discuss their favorite books, movies, television shows, and short stories from 2016. The pair also chats about how they’ve progressed as writers during the past year and their writing goals for 2017.

Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World, talks to Daniel Ford about what inspired her debut novel, her approach to character development, how she navigated the publishing process, and why aspiring authors need to be ambitious.

Wally Lamb, best-selling author of She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, We Are Water, and the recently published I’ll Take You There, talks to Daniel Ford about how his family ignited his passion for storytelling, his pokey writing style, his partnership with Metabook, and what inspired I’ll Take You There.

Daniel Ford, Adam Vitcavage, and Gary Almeter discuss Writer’s Bone’s book recommendations from the past two months. Authors include Jade Chang, Nick Mainieri, Zadie Smith, Tim Murphy, Sonya Chung, and more!

William Wisher Jr.—whose credits include “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Judge Dredd,” and “I.T.”—talks to Sean Tuohy about his path to becoming a screenwriter, working as a script doctor, his screenwriting process, working with James Cameron on the Terminator movies, and why he’s always learning new things having to do with filmmaking.

Gene Policinski, longtime journalist, chief operating officer for the Newseum Institute, and senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, talks to Daniel Ford about 2016 Presidential Election coverage, why we need more shoe-leather reporting, and what lessons news organizations, editors, and reporters need to learn to keep the profession relevant and necessary in the future.

Laura McHugh, award-winning author of The Weight of Blood and Arrowood, talks to Daniel Ford about how she became a storyteller, her organic writing process, how she crafts her Midwestern settings, and what she has planned next.

Nicole Blades, author of The Thunder Beneath Us and Earth’s Waters, talks to Daniel Ford about her lifelong love of reading and writing, how she developed the character Best Lightburn, and why writers need to use their own voices to write the stories they would want to read.

Lee Child, author of Killing Floor and Make Me, talks to Sean Tuohy about why he still loves writing Jack Reacher adventures, his approach to storytelling, and why he made the decision to explore Reacher’s past in his new novel Night School.

Screenwriter John Romano—whose credits include “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” "Intolerable Cruelty,” and Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut “American Pastoral”—talks to Daniel Ford about his early love for books, how he caught the screenwriting bug and moved to Los Angeles, and the challenges he faced in adapting Philip Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning screenwriter Robert Schenkkan—whose credits include “All the Way,” “The Pacific,” “The Quiet American,” and the upcoming “Hacksaw Ridge”—talks to Sean Tuohy about his career and how he helped bring U.S. Army medic Desmond T. Doss’s story to the screen.

Writer’s Bone’s dear friend Peter Sherwood stops by Friday Morning Coffee to talk to Daniel Ford about The Murdery Delicious Blood Stone Secret, “the devastating finale of the Murdery Delicious trilogy.”

Screenwriter Ted Tally—who won an Oscar for his screenplay for “Silence of the Lambs,” and whose other credits include “Red Dragon,” All the Pretty Horses,” and “The Juror”—talks to Sean Tuohy about the influence acting and theater had on his early career, transitioning from playwright to screenwriter, how he became involved with “Silence of the Lambs,” and why any time writing is never wasted.