This Creative Life With Sara Zarr

In the first interview episode of TCL 3.0, we bring back an old friend with a new book. Andrew DeYoung's new domestic thriller, Stay Away From Him, is out this week. We talk about Andrew's path from YA to speculative to thrillers, the pleasures of writing genre fiction, and how he gets it done. Also, why is everything in publishing so slow? Get Stay Away from Him Help for writers and Writers Circle waitlist Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music! Learn more about me, my books, and my other projects at: www.sarazarr.com    

In this episode, I go over five common reasons we're not writing even though we want to, and offer some ways to change our thinking. Share it with a friend who needs to hear it! Podcast home page Help for writers and Writers Circle waitlist On Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande (and other writing books I like) Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music! Learn more about me, my books, and my other projects at: www.sarazarr.com

Subscribe to this podcast wherever you like to listen, including Apple, Overcast, Spotify, Podbean, and more. Help for Writers and Community Waitlist  Podcast Home Page Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music! www.sarazarr.com  

I know you’ve been waiting a long time on a wish and a promise for this final episode in the Pivots, Comebacks, and Reinventions series. I appreciate your patience while I went and figured out myself and my own potential pivots and reinventions! The wait is over and I present to you my conversation with Ashley C. Ford, bestselling author of Somebody’s Daughterand lots more. I’m so grateful to Ashley for her time and generosity in this conversation. I know you’re going to love it as much as I did. Ashley’s web site Somebody’s Daughter The Reformatory by Tananarive Due Pre-order Kyra, Just for Today Get the This Creative Life book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music. www.sarazarr.com

This is the audio version of the most recent newsletter PLUS some thoughts about what's next for the pod. Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book Get The Inbox Variations www.sarazarr.com  

In late 2016, Melissa Walker was working on her 10th novel when she went to a holiday party and heard then Senator Daniel Squadron talk about the importance of state-level politics—even for the national landscape. She was inspired to take action. That action eventually grew into a pivot from full-time writing to full-time work with The States Project. This conversation is everything I wanted from the Pivots, Comebacks and Reinventions series. It’s a great example of how passion and purpose can realign for a season or a reason, while the writing is still always there. It got surprisingly emotional for both of us; I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. (This conversation is explicitly political in places, which may or may not be your jam!) Selected Links: The States Project - get involved Melissa's books Get the show notes / newsletter Get the book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music. www.sarazarr.com

The audio version of this week's newsletter on living with the uncertainty of writing. Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book! www.sarazarr.com

From the supply chain issues that started the year, to the conversation about AI that's ending it, I talk through the year in publishing with Michael Bourret of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Also, we answer listener questions! This will be the last episode for the year, and the last one before a break during which I'll go off to Boston to teach and maybe even revise my novel. I'll be back (most likely in February) to pick up the Pivots, Comebacks, and Reinventions series.  Get the show notes / newsletter Get the book (holiday pricing good through 12/21) Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music Happy Holidays! www.sarazarr.com

What do you do when you've established a writing career and then it's not giving you what you came for? What does it look like to be a person who writes but whose entire identity isn't wrapped up in Being a Writer? Is there life on the other side, if you can just let go? Bennett Madison joins me for the first time since 2013 to talk about the work of deprofessionalizing his writing life to pivot to joy in creative work--and a steady paycheck doing something else. Get the show notes / newsletter Get the book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music! www.sarazarr.com

New full episode next week! Until then, here's the audio version of this week's newsletter, with a question for YOU about your dream writing podcast. Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book www.sarazarr.com

The audio version of this week's newsletter on resting before making the next creative decision. Find the text version here!  

In the third episode in the Comebacks, Pivots, and Reinventions series, my longtime friend and one-time (?) collaborator Tara Altebrando talks to me about her multiple pivots over a couple of decades as a working writer, and the driving forces behind those choices. Currently, she's working in scripted audio as the creator and writer of the Dream Breachers podcast at Pinna Audio and the President of Listen Like Thieves Productions. Get the show notes / newsletter Dream Breachers Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music! www.sarazarr.com

In the second episode in the Comebacks, Pivots, and Reinventions series, Malinda Lo and I talk about her huge year with Last Night at the Telegraph Club and what it has meant for her writing and life. But is it really a “comeback” if she never went away in the first place? Also we talk about her brand new book, A Scatter of Light. Get the show notes / newsletter Get A Scatter of Light Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music! www.sarazarr.com

When author Faith Gardner grew frustrated with the slowly grinding gears of traditional publishing and wanted to spread her wings a bit, she took matters into her own hands. This is the first episode of this fall's Comebacks, Pivots, and Reinventions series! Get the show notes / newsletter Get the This Creative Life book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music!

What's coming this fall from This Creative Life! Show links: the newsletter the audiobook www.sarazarr.com

When it feels like the world is burning down, is writing something you want to save from the fire? Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music www.sarazarr.com

Get the newsletter version of this post Get the book Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music. www.sarazarr.com

Get the newsletter version of this post. Get the book. Thanks to Dave Connis for the theme music.

I’m so happy to be back with one my favorite contemporary novelists, Michelle Huneven. I love the compassion, humor, and reality in how she renders life and relationships. She’s got a brand new book out, Search, which we talk about along with her other books, her background, and process—including the 20-year circuitous journey to the publication of her first novel, Round Rock. I hope you enjoy the episode and, if you’re not already a fan, go explore her catalog. Get the show notes / newsletter Theme music by Dave Connis Support the pod via PayPal or ko-fi Get the This Creative Life book

It's launch day for the This Creative Life ebook, with the paperback close behind! I was recently on Jenn Laughran's Literaticast digging into the content and ideas in the book, and she graciously let me crosspost the ep into the TCL feed.  The Literaticast on Apple Podcasts Get the show notes / newsletter Get 30% off the book with this link and this code: QWBODLO8MX Or find it just about everywhere that sells ebooks! B&N, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, Apple. All the links at www.sarazarr.com