Story Geometry

Attending a literary workshop can be fraught with highs and lows of creative feedback, a gorgeous natural setting, and amazing peers. Who happen to be alone 90% of the year, creating magic on a screen. Hear two first hand accounts of navigating the wilds of a writing conference in Northern California. Writers include Brittany Erickson Tuttle and Tony Pandola along with insights from award-winning novelist and memoirist Andre Dubus III.

Meet 90 year old debut author Lillian McCloy, who was stationed in six countries while raising three kids as the wife of a CIA undercover agent. Host Ben Hess gets to explore the real experiences of this spy family, well beyond the detective fiction of his youth. He also compares the editing of that memoir with the experiences professional editor Jay Schaefer had working on Under the Tuscan Sun and creating a short fiction magazine in the 1980s.

Host Ben Hess takes his passion for film to the literary world and explores the ins and outs, ups and downs, of the often circuitous adaptation process. Guests include National Book Award finalist Andre Dubus III (House of Sand and Fog, Townie, Dirty Love), Willa Award winning novelist BK Loren (Theft), award winning screenwriter Jonathon E. Stewart, and fiction author, teacher, and screenwriter Alan Heathcock (VOLT: stories).

Between 35 and 40 million Americans - that’s 11% to 14% of the population - move every year according to the US Census Bureau and real estate metrics site HomeData. Episode 14 features two chapters and spotlights authors at very different stages of their writing journey, Pulitzer Finalist in Nonfiction Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, Into the Beautiful North, The Hummingbird’s Daughter) and blogger Gretchen Howell. They shared several stories of impactful moves, and the effects felt on their writing.

This episode, Sexuality in Lit, features three writers who have incorporated sex and sexuality into their work in very different ways. Chapter 1, Tina’s Transformative Performance, features Fenton Johnson’s (The Man Who Loved Birds) account of a live concert in the late 60’s. Amber Keyser, is our Chapter Two, Mom’s Sex Book, subject and she discusses the challenge of writing about sex in The V Word while raising kids, and in Chapter Three, Shifting Identity, National Book Award Winner Mark Doty (Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems) examines our changing cultural landscape around the LGBTQ community.

Host Ben Hess is fascinated by beginnings - get it right, and you've hooked your reader. Get it wrong, and all your hard work is set aside for another story or book. He explores how strong works begin with interviews and readings from science and environmental writer Craig Childs (Apocalyptic Planet: A Field Guide to the Everending Earth, House of Rain), writer and teacher BK Loren (Theft and Animal, Mineral, Radical: A Flock of Essays on Wildlife, Animals, & Food), and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, The Hummingbird’s Daughter).

How do we elegantly write about ‘unexplainable’ concepts like spirit, sex, beauty, or death? In a lightly edited panel discussion, national and regional award winners Mark Doty, Greg Glazner, and Lidia Yuknavitch provide thoughtful consideration to this challenging task while referencing literary giants Hart Crane, Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, and Walt Whitman. You’ll also hear the third installment of our Election Year Literature segment, featuring Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Alberto Urrea’s recommendation.

How do authors approach writing a book-length piece, whether fiction, creative nonfiction, or memoir? As he continues tackling his work-in-progress novel, host Ben Hess explores varying approaches to structure, character development, and plot with debut novelist Elizabeth Marro (Casualties) and GrubStreet National Book Prize Winner Josh Weil (The Great Glass Sea). He also includes another perspective on structure from award-winning writer and teacher Pam Houston that was first broadcast in Episode 001.

Season Two of Story Geometry kicks off with Episode 009, an exploration of Initiative vs Destiny. Host Ben Hess is in conversation with award-winning writer Fenton Johnson where Fenton also reads from his latest novel, The Man Who Loved Birds, and literary nonprofit Writing by Writers Co-Founder Karen Nelson. There's also an update from writer and teacher Pam Houston on her upcoming memoir, not to mention 'appearances' by George Eliot, Alfred Hitchcock, and John Steinbeck. Links: Fenton Johnson - http://fentonjohnson.com Karen Nelson & Pam Houston - http://writingxwriters.org Episode Sponsor: Talking Book - http://talkingbook.pub Produced & Hosted By: Ben Hess - http://ben-hess.com Season Partner: Writing by Writers - http://writingxwriters.org

We break down four foundational tools for the writer’s toolbox pulled from award winning writers Mark Doty, Greg Glazner, Pam Houston, and Lidia Yuknavitch. The tools are: number one - Find Inspiration, number two - Form / Structure, number three - Rhythm of Language, and number four - Reading Aloud.

Host Ben Hess breaks down the business of writing into three categories - number one - patronage and support, number two - publishing, whether traditional or self, large press or small, and number three - distribution & promotion. Authors and teachers Steve Almond, Greg Glazner, and Tanya Chernov provide perspective and insights. Greg Glazner closes the episode with a hilarious, touching reading of a personal essay.

In an exploration of how place, setting, and location inform our writing, we travel around the United States, from the Deep South with National Book Award finalist Dorothy Allison and award winning novelist Josh Weil and then up to New York City with New York Times Bestselling writer Tom Barbash before heading west to California with all three. There’s also a surprise reading from Pam Houston’s forthcoming memoir, working title The Ranch: A Love Story.

This episode is an excerpt of a live, free-flowing panel discussion at the recent Writing by Writers Conference in Tomales Bay, California between poet, novelist, and National Book Award finalist Dorothy Allison, memoirist, journalist, fiction writer, and teacher Steve Almond, and award winning writer, teacher, and Writing by Writers co-founder Pam Houston. Links: Dorothy Allison - http://www.dorothyallison.net/ Steve Almond - http://stevealmondjoy.com Pam Houston - http://pamhouston.net Faculty Intros by UC Davis, Masters in Creative Writing students - http://english.ucdavis.edu/graduate/masters-creative-writing Season One Partner, Writing By Writers - http://writingxwriters.org Produced & Hosted By: Ben Hess - http://ben-hess.com

So you’ve slaved over your stories, essays, book proposal, or fiction manuscript … and now what? Ben Hess explores the business of writing with nonfiction agent Gordon Warnock, independent editor and writer Jay Schafer, in addition to writers and teachers Gary Ferguson and Pam Houston.

Aspiring novelist Ben Hess explores writing from the deep end of loss, grief, and uncertainty with teachers and authors Tom Barbash, Gary Ferguson, Alan Heathcock, Pam Houston, and Josh Weil. Links: Writing By Writers - http://writingxwriters.org Tom Barbash - https://www.facebook.com/Tom-Barbash-1403861426501638/timeline/ Pam Houston - http://pamhouston.net Alan Heathcock - http://alanheathcock.com Gary Ferguson - http://wildwords.net Josh Weil - http://www.joshweil.com NPR Fresh Air - Terry Gross interview with memoirist Mary Karr - http://www.npr.org/2015/09/15/440397728/mary-karr-on-writing-memoirs-no-doubt-ive-gotten-a-million-things-wrong Produced & Hosted By: Ben Hess - http://ben-hess.com

Insights on the craft & community of writing from award-winning published authors and teachers.

Aspiring novelist and screenwriter Ben Hess spent time at the April 2015 Writing By Writers Boulder Generative Workshop and gained insights on the origin of stories, on getting going using Pam Houston’s glimmer technique. The words of wisdom came from award winning writers and teachers Pam, Gary Ferguson, and Alan Heathcock. Links: Writing By Writers - http://writingxwriters.org Pam Houston - http://pamhouston.net Alan Heathcock - http://alanheathcock.com Gary Ferguson - http://wildwords.net Produced & Hosted By: Ben Hess - http://ben-hess.com