Corie Adjmi is the author of the short story collection Life and Other Shortcomings, which won an International Book Award, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin award, and an American Fiction Award, and the forthcoming novel, The Marriage Box, named a Must-Read New Book of 2022 that is due out in 2023. Her prize-winning essays and short stories have appeared in dozens of journals and magazines, including HuffPost, North American Review, Indiana Review, Medium, Motherwell and Kveller, and she has been featured in Travel and Leisure, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Times, Parade and BuzzFeed. When she is not writing, Corie does volunteer work, cooks, draws, bikes and hikes. She and her husband have five children and a number of grandchildren, with more on the way. She lives and works in New York City. In today’s conversation, we’ll explore the various challenges women face when pursuing the writing life: time constraints, family responsibilities, financial issues and their own self-doubts about their right to write. For more about Corie, visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Just a few thoughts on how we can use our creative ability to free ourselves from negative thoughts and beliefs Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong and her most recent book, Lost & Found—an insightful and moving exploration of grief and love, and how those two emotions have the power to change us, transform us, and expand our concept of who we are and how we can live. Lost & Found grew out of “Losing Streak,” a New Yorker story that was anthologized in The Best American Essays.  She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize for “The Really Big One,” her article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has also appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, and The Best American Food Writing. A native of Ohio, she lives with her family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For more about Kathryn, visit her website and follow her on Twitter. In today’s conversation, we’ll explore the concepts of loss and discovery, both from the personal perspective and from that as a creative.

Just a few thoughts on the need to protect the light of creativity. The power to do so rests with us: in our hands, in our minds, in our belief that we have something worth thinking, worth saying—something worth writing. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Adrienne Reiter is a communications specialist, writer, and author of three novels: Twist, Chosen, and her latest, Lounge Act that’s been called a “sexy thriller with attitude.” She writes mystery, speculative, literary fiction, and, by her own admission, is a compulsive blogger. She is also a co-host on the podcast, Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun, where she swaps terrible tales, and general ghoul talk with Leo Buckley of Books Inc. San Francisco and lead guitarist for Bay Area bands Penury and Hazzard's Cure. You can follow the podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Adrienne holds a BA in Philosophy from Mills College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She splits her time between San Francisco and Mendocino County, where her dog, Peaches, does bad things. For more about Adrienne, visit her website at adriennereiter.com and follow her on Facebook at @areiterbooks, Twitter @adriennereiter and Instagram at adriennereiter. In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the practical and psychological struggles we go through when making time for our writing life.

Just a few thoughts on the surprises and joys that come from sowing seeds in a literary garden. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!  

Gregory Erich Phillips is the author of three award-winning novels: Love of Finished Years, The Exile and his most recent novel, A Season in Lights. Gregory comes from a prolific literary family, and he carries on that tradition by writing aspirational stories through strong, relatable characters that transcend time and space, transporting readers into the world of his fiction. Gregory is also an accomplished tango dancer and musician. For more about Gregory and his work, visit his website and follow him on Facebook and Instagram. In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the idea of using fiction to create change in the real world through helping readers develop a greater understanding of other cultures and empathy for other people.

Just a few thoughts about the importance of staying focused on your goals, even if you think it’s too late for you to achieve them, because, after all, you never know. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Dana Spiotta is the author of five novels: Lightning Field (2002), Eat the Document (2006), Stone Arabia (2011), Innocents & Others (2016), and her most recent, Wayward (2021) that was called by the New York Times a “virtuosic, singular and very funny portrait of a woman seeking sanity and purpose in a world gone mad.” Dana has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, the St. Francis College Literary Prize, and the John Updike Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. For more about Dana, visit her website. In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the impact of gender and age on writing—in terms of the types of topics covered, the depictions of female characters, and on creativity itself.

Just a few thoughts on how reaching the top (i.e., success) requires us to take one step after the other—without giving up. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Casie Bazay is a former middle school teacher whose debut novel, Not Our Summer, was released in the spring of 2021 by Running Press Kids. A freelance writer, and editor, Casie lives on a hay farm in Oklahoma with her husband and two children, and in her spare time, enjoys exploring the great outdoors, spending time at the barn with her horses and goats, reading, and watching movies. Casie also loves traveling to new and exciting destinations whenever she can. For more about Casie, visit her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss dealing with rejection as an author—something I would venture to say just about all writers have had to face!

Just a few thoughts on how love for the craft of writing can survive, despite setbacks, disappointments and frustrations.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Deborah Tobola is a memoirist, poet, playwright, and co-author of a children’s book. Her work has earned four Pushcart Prize nominations, three Academy of American Poets awards and a Children’s Choice Book Award. Her memoir, Hummingbird in Underworld, won a Next Generation Indie Book Award in Social Justice, a Nautilus Silver Book Award in Heroic Journeys, a Readers’ Favorite bronze medal in Non-Fiction – Social Issues, and first place in Chanticleer International’s HEARTEN Awards. It was also a finalist in the Willa Literary Awards’ Women Writing the West in Creative Nonfiction. Last year it was released in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Deborah has worked as a journalist, legislative aide and adjunct English faculty member in Alaska and California. She began teaching creative writing in California prisons in 1992, taking the job of Institution Artist Facilitator at the California Men’s Colony in 2000, before retiring at the end of 2008. In 2014, Deborah returned to prison as a contract artist, where she currently teaches creative writing and theatre at the California Men’s Colony. In 2009, she founded the Poetic Justice Project, a program of the William James Association, the country’s first theatre company created for formerly incarcerated actors, where she serves as artistic director. Poetic Justice Project’s pandemic miracle, the play Terms of Confinement is now on YouTube, written by her, is based on writings from her students who had been incarcerated. For more about Deborah, visit her website, or follow her on Facebook. In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss the role the arts can play in the lives of those who are incarcerated, what led her to become involved with prisoners, and her goal in writing her memoir.

Just a few thoughts on how sometimes the wisest course of action is to take a step back and do something completely unrelated to what you are supposed to do—in short, to give yourself a breather, to recoup and regroup.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Karen Schubert is the author of the poetry collection The Compost Reader (Accents Publishing) and five chapbooks including Dear Youngstown (NightBallet Press), I Left My Wings on a Chair (Kent State Press) and Black Sand Beach (Kattywompus Press). Her poetry appears most recently in Reunion: The Dallas Review, Olney Magazine, Poor Yorick, New World Writing and Read+Write: 30 Days of Poetry. Karen has received the Wick Poetry Center Chapbook Prize and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and was awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Headlands Center for the Arts. She is also the Founding Director of Lit Youngstown. For more about Karen, visit her website, or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.  In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss Karen’s work both as a poet and as the founder of Lit Youngstown, and the role writers can play in supporting the arts in their communities. Photo Credit: Melanie Buonavolonta

Just a few thoughts on the importance of remembering that, despite any failures or setbacks the past year may have held, any day spent writing is still a good day. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Just a few thoughts on the need to balance your writing time with much-needed downtime. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Brad Kessler is the author of the memoir, Goat Song, as well as two critically acclaimed novels, Lick Creek and Birds in Fall, which won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction. His latest novel is North.  He has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Whiting, and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and his work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Nation, the Kenyon Review, and Bomb. For more about Brad, visit his Facebook page and his Instagram profile. In today’s conversation, Brad and I discuss how he uses his writing to explore the topics of loss, recovery, and the need for some kind of human connection.

Just a few thoughts on the need to fuel your passion for writing every day, in every way that you can. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Piper Burgi is an award-winning author of six historical novels to date, with a seventh currently in the editing stage, as well as several other books. Her debut novel, In the Shadow of Her Majesty, was a Golden Book Award Semi-Finalist, and her women's fiction novel The Country Girl Empress—book one of the series—won the Firebird Book Award in the historical fiction category and was named “...a must-read for historical fiction fans who can appreciate imperial intrigues...” by Readers' Favorite Book Reviews. An Air Force veteran, and military spouse, Piper is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Independent Author Network. For more about Piper, visit her website and follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn and Goodreads. In this conversation, we discuss how to successfully bring the past to life through fiction.

Just a few thoughts on the importance of learning something new—or even, perhaps, re-learning something critical that we have forgotten.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Wade Rouse is an award-winning author who also writes under the pen name of Viola Shipman, his grandmother’s name, that he chose to honor the woman whose heirlooms and family stories inspire his writing. He has written several books under that pseudonym, including The Summer Cottage, The Heirloom Garden, and his most recent, The Clover Girls, which was released May 2021. His next book, The Secret of Snow, will be published in October. The noted humorist of four critically acclaimed memoirs, Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today show, featured in USA Today, The Washington Post and Chelsea Lately and chosen three times as Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers. His books have been translated into 20 languages and are international bestsellers. He has also written for numerous publications, including People, Coastal Living, Good Housekeeping, and Taste of Home and is a contributor to All Things Considered. For more about Wade, visit his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, YouTube and BookBub. For information about Viola Shipman, click this link and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Instagram. In this conversation, we discuss the challenges and creative choice of writing women’s fiction as a male author.

Just a few thoughts on why we should remain open to opportunity, even if we don’t know where following it will take us. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Gwen Goodkin is the author of the short story collection, A Place Remote, winner of the Silver IPPY in Great Lakes - Best Regional Fiction. Her novel, The Plant, was named a finalist in the Faulkner-Wisdom Novel-in-Progress competition, and her TV pilot script, "The Plant," based on that novel was named a quarterfinalist for Cinestory's TV/Digital retreat. Gwen has won the Folio Editor's Prize for Fiction, the John Steinbeck Award for Fiction, the Silver Prize (Short Script) for her screenplay "Winnie" in the Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest and the Eyewear Publishing's Beverly Prize for her essay collection "Mass for the Shut Ins." She has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Gwen’s educational background includes a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and she has also studied at the Universität Heidelberg. But it’s her many physical addresses that are tied to today’s talk. Gwen was born and raised in Ohio, then moved to Troy, Michigan, then L.A. and now lives in Encinitas, California with her husband and daughters. For more about Gwen, visit her website and follow her on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium and Facebook. In today’s conversation, we’ll discuss how the memories of home (both good and bad) work their way into our writing.

Just a few thoughts on the challenges in deciding how to define yourself as a writer—and whether you even should limit yourself to a specific category.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!    

Clare Pooley is the author of The Sober Diaries and The Authenticity Project—a New York Times and international bestseller, and winner of the RNA debut novel award. She joins us from Fulham, London, England where she lives with her husband, three children, two border terriers, and an African pygmy hedgehog! After twenty years in the heady world of advertising where, according to her bio, she worked hard, played hard and drank even harder, Clare realized that she had to say farewell to alcohol, and started a blog—Mummy was a Secret Drinker—by way of therapy, which ultimately became a memoir: The Sober Diaries. Clare then used her experience of telling the truth about her own shady life to inspire her first novel: The Authenticity Project. For more about Clare, visit her website and follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. In this conversation, we talk about how writing (both fiction and nonfiction) can serve as a tool for those dealing with addictions, and what role writing plays in her life now.

Just a few thoughts on the importance of celebrating our small successes, even if no one else knows what we have accomplished.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Rea Frey is the author of four suspense novels—Until I Find You, Because You're Mine, Not Her Daughter and Secrets of Our House that will be released February 2022—as well as several nonfiction books. She is also the CEO and founder of Writeway™, where she teaches aspiring writers how they can become published authors, too, and host of her weekly Writeway podcast that helps demystify the publishing industry. Rea says that her passion in life is “telling stories, connecting with readers, and helping other aspiring authors tell their stories too.” For more about Rea, visit her website, her company website and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. In this conversation, we’ll talk about how to have a business-focused approach to writing and publishing without sacrificing your commitment to the art of writing.

Just a few thoughts on the surprising resilience of creativity.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Jeffrey S. Stephens is the author of six novels: the Jordan Sandor espionage thrillers series, Crimes and Passion, the first in a planned series featuring Lieutenant Robbie Whyte, and his latest book, Fool’s Errand. Fool’s Errand explores the relationship between a father and son, and the events that will ultimately lead that young man on an international treasure hunt that causes him to confront a collection of interesting characters as well as himself. It’s been described as poignant and entertaining, humorous and exciting, romantic and mysterious. He has also recently completed a fifth espionage thriller—the book that follows Crimes and Passion, called Murder, Money & Marriage; and another stand-alone, titled The Next Ten Years, that deals with a famous media mogul who disappears.  Jeffrey and his wife Nancy live in Greenwich, Connecticut. For more about him, visit his website and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. In this conversation, we’ll talk about how personal life experiences can serve as an inspiration for writing and take the writer down a different path from previous projects.

Just a few thoughts on what baking yeast bread and writing have in common.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

A former elementary teacher, Arielle Haughee (Hoy) is a five-time RPLA-winning author and the owner of Orange Blossom Publishing. She is the author of The Complete Revision Workbook for Writers, the children’s books Grumbler, Joyride, and Pling’s Party, the editor of the How I Met My Other anthology series, and the creator of the Focus Journal line of journals. Arielle is an editor, speaker, and consultant as well as the Executive Vice President for the Florida Writers Association, who honored her with the President’s Award in 2020. In addition to her membership in the FWA, she belongs to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the Independent Book Publishers Association. For more information about Arielle, visit her website and her Amazon Author page, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In today’s conversation, Arielle and I talk about channeling your inner child: how to switch from writing adult fiction and nonfiction to books geared toward a much younger crowd.

Just a few thoughts on how one small sign of a new season can make all the difference in how we feel and what we do.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Susan Wingate is a #1 Amazon bestselling, award-winning author of over fifteen novels. Her latest book, How the Deer Moon Hungers, has won five book awards, including Best Fiction Author in the 2020 SABA Book Awards Judge’s Selection, Best Fiction in the 2020 Pacific Book Award, a Silver Award in the 2020 Moonbeam Children's Book Award, and July 2020 Book Cover of the Month Awards. Susan writes across genres often setting her stories in the Pacific Northwest where she and her husband, Bob live. Susan’s writing has been featured in the Virginia Quarterly, Suspense Magazine and many others. For more about Susan, visit her website and her Amazon Author page, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. In this conversation, Susan and I discuss the psychological balancing act of writing books about serious subjects during a time of personal tragedy and grief.  

Just a few thoughts on how fear in all its forms can hold us back from what we most want to achieve, and why we can’t let it defeat us. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Scientist, educator, conservationist, author, and poet, Annette Libeskind Berkovits, was born in Kyrgyzstan and grew up in postwar Poland and the fledgling state of Israel before coming to America at age sixteen. After her retirement as Senior Vice President at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Berkovits has channeled her passions into writing. Her first memoir, In the Unlikeliest of Places, a story of her remarkable father’s survival, was published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press in 2014. Her second memoir, Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator (based on her amazing wildlife career), was published in 2017. Erythra Thalassa: Brain Disrupted is her first poetry chapbook. For more about Annette, visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.  In today's conversation, Annette and I discuss how her son’s stroke and the aftermath inspired her poetry collection, Erythra Thalassa: Brain Disrupted, and how writing can serve as a lifeline when tragedy strikes.

Just a few thoughts on how recognizing our own vulnerability can push us to find our courage and continue to move forward with our writing and with our life. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Just a few thoughts on how challenging life events and experiences can become sources of inspiration for our writing.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Dr. Dawn Reno Langley wrote her first published work at the age of nine, an essay on the Cuban missile crisis, and since then, she has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, published more than 30 books (children’s, adult novels, and nonfiction), and award-winning short stories, essays, and poetry, as well as theater reviews and blogs. A Fulbright scholar and TedX speaker with an MFA in Fiction and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, Langley lives on the North Carolina coast. Her latest book, You Are the Divine Feminine will be released in Spring, 2021. For more about Dawn, visit her website and her Rewired Creatives company website, follow her on Facebook and Twitter, and check out The Mourning Parade, her novel about motherhood and elephants. In today’s conversation, Dawn and I discuss how place and space—where the writer is physically—can influence the type of writing and even the creative process itself.

Just a few thoughts on how a place to write can be a physical location, a state of mind or both. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Camilla Downs is a bestselling author, indie publisher, mentor, and mother of two who lives in northern Nevada. Nature and life experiences serve as a constant source of inspiration for her writing, and in her heartfelt free-verse poetry memoir, Words of Alchemy, Camilla invites you to walk with her to share her love of Nature and Life. During her daily strolls, she is mindfully present as she delves into life in the raw and experiences her heart’s observations. Camilla embraces what happens when she opens her heart and invites the written words to flow. The Alchemy of Love and Healing is what happens. For more about Camilla, visit her website and follow her on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. In today’s conversation, Camilla and I are exploring the role of mindfulness in artistic creation and the connection between art and nature.

Just a few thoughts on how practicing mindfulness on a regular basis can help me be a better writer.   Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Alan Sharavsky is the author of Boarding School Bastard, a memoir about his life at Girard College, a famous Philadelphia orphanage, from 1962 to 1970. Leavening the tragedy with humor, Boarding School Bastard reveals a world we’d prefer to avoid but is too riveting to ignore. To understand how a child survives the loss of his father, the abuse of his guardians, and the crushing loneliness of being this stunning debut memoir is essential reading. For more about Alan, follow him on Facebook and Twitter.  In this conversation, we discuss the challenges and unexpected rewards of writing about painful events from one's past.  

Just a few thoughts on the need to incorporate some “Nantucket time” into my daily schedule to help cope with the stress and uncertainty of life. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Patricia Averbach, a native Clevelander, is the former director of The Chautauqua Writers Center in Chautauqua, New York. Her second novel, Resurrecting Rain (Antelope Press, 2020) is a finalist for Chanticleer's Somerset Award for Contemporary Fiction and a semi-finalist for Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award. Other publications include her debut novel, Painting Bridges (Bottom Dog Press, 2013) and an award-winning poetry chapbook, Missing Persons (Ward Wood Publishing, 2013) which was cited by Times of London Literary Supplement (November 2014) as one of the best small collections of the year. For more about Patricia, visit her website and follow her on Twitter (@pataverbach), Facebook and Goodreads.  In this conversation, we talk about the intersection of poetry and prose.

Just a few thoughts on how sometimes the smallest of accomplishments can give you the spark of hope to keep going, even if the way forward is still unclear and the result far from certain. Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!

Dorothy Rosby is a syndicated humor columnist whose work appears regularly in publications in the West and Midwest. Her column was the first place winner in this year’s National Federation of Press Women contest, Humor Column category. She’s the author of three books of humorous essays: Alexa’s a Spy and Other Things to Worry About, Humorous Essays on the Hazards of Our Time; I Used to Think I Was Not That Bad and Then I Got to Know Me Better and I Didn’t Know You Could Make Birthday Cake from Scratch, Parenting Blunders from Cradle to Empty Nest. She’s currently working on her fourth book and hoping to give it a shorter title—something like It’s Finally Done or Best Seller. For more about Dorothy, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter (@dorothyrosby) or Facebook.     In this conversation, we talk about the challenges and benefits of writing humor in the time of COVID.  

Just a few thoughts on how the overwhelming and omnipresent fears of everyday life can make it challenging to write, especially when what you are writing about isn't relevant to what is happening in the world today.  Did you enjoy this excerpt? Sign up for my newsletter, The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!