The 7am Novelist

Today you get a sneak peak of what our summer interviews will like. Listeners will also get a chance to be a part of the summer podcast episodes, so listen for announcements about that opportunity in our SubStack notes and on our Facebook page. We’re going to start the summer off early (please, yes!) by hearing from Samantha Harvey, who latest novel, ORBITAL, was released in November. Samantha and I will be talking about the dynamic relationship between structure and point of view and how she rediscovered her own late in her drafting process. Samantha will also be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge tomorrow, April 3, at 7pm with author Jamie Quatro, so if you’re local to Boston, I encourage you to check it out. I’ll be there as well. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. To find Harvey’s book and many books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Samantha Harvey is the author of five novels, The Wilderness, All Is Song, Dear Thief ,The Western Wind and Orbital. She is also the author of a memoir, The Shapeless Unease. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Guardian First Book Award, the Walter Scott Prize and the James Tait Black Prize, and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Baileys Prize, the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize and the HWA Gold Crown Award. The Western Wind won the 2019 Staunch Book Prize, and The Wilderness was the winner of the AMI Literature Award and the Betty Trask Prize. Orbital, was published in November 2023 by Jonathan Cape (UK) and Grove Atlantic (US). She lives in Bath, UK, and is a Reader in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We talk to Christine Byl after launching her debut novel, Lookout. A professional trail-builder in Alaska for 28-years, Byl knows the importance of quiet, patience, and spending the time that your book needs instead of allowing the outside world to muddle your instincts. How does she do it? Listen in. To watch a recording of our interview, click here. These recordings are only available for a few days. Missed it? Check out the podcast version of the 7am Novelist on your fave podcast platform. To find Byl’s novel and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Christine Byl is the author of the novel Lookout, shortlisted for the Center for Fiction's 2023 First Novel Prize and a Great Group Reads selection; and Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods, which was shortlisted for the 2014 Willa Award in nonfiction. Christine is an associate editor at Alaska Quarterly Review; teaches writing workshops in public schools; and has worked as a professional trail-builder for 28 years. She lives in Interior Alaska on the homelands of Dene' people. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

The last listener’s question in our January series is about joy. We’ve got authors Suzanne Berne, Shalene Gupta, and Christine Murphy to talk about the good that can be found in the writing process. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Check out my interview with AE Osworth about “Joy First Drafting” here. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Suzanne Berne is the author of five novels: her most recent, The Blue Window, released last January, as well as The Dogs of Littlefield, The Ghost at the Table, A Perfect Arrangement, and A Crime in the Neighborhood, which won Great Britain’s Orange Prize, now The Women’s Prize. Shalene Gupta is a Boston-area writer and the author of The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD, which will be released in February. Christine Murphy is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program. Her debut novel, Notes on Surviving the Fire, is under contract and forthcoming in 2025. Photo by Adrian Moise on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We’ve got two very different questions today as we begin to wrap up our January series. The first asks about submitting shorter works to literary magazines and other venues. The second wonders how she can improve her use of subtext. Authors Mark Cecil, Erica Ferencik, and Whitney Scharer help us find the answers. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Mark Cecil is the author of the novel Bunyan and Henry; Or, The Beautiful Destiny, the host of The Thoughtful Bro podcast, and he has taught writing at Grub Street in Boston. Erica Ferencik is the author of the critically acclaimed, best-selling novels The River at Night, Into the Jungle, and Girl in Ice. Whitney Scharer is the author of the international bestselling and award-winning novel The Age of Light as well as short fiction and essays in numerous publications. and she’s the co-founder of the Arlington Author Salon in Arlington, MA. Photo by Cristian Tepaz on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Today, we talk about the trials and tribulations of writing from real life: Can I write a memoir if I don’t have concrete memories? Am I trying to stay too close to my original experience in turning that experience into a novel? And when does writing fiction based on real life become exploitive of others? Some tough questions, but we’ve got writers Anjali Mitter Duva, Alex Ferraro, and Ethan Gilsdorf to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Anjali Mitter Duva is the author of the historical novel Faint Promise of Rain and the co-founder of Galiot Press, a new publishing company ushering in a sea change for the written word. Alex Ferraro is a graduate of the Novel Incubator and is working on his novel, a twisty Texas noir called Like Thunder in the Next County. Ethan Gilsdorf is an essayist, critic, journalist, the author of the memoir Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks and teaches GrubStreet’s Essay Incubator program. Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We get to talk to Mary Carroll Moore who lays bare her own past writing challenges, how she dealt with them, and the kinds of issues she finds early writers struggle with most. To watch a recording of our interview, click here. These recordings are only available for a few days. Missed it? Check out the podcast version of the 7am Novelist on your fave podcast platform. To find Moore’s most recent book, a list of my favorite craft books, and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Mary Carroll Moore is a bestselling and award-winning author of 14 books in 3 genres, including thePEN/Faulkner-and Lambda Literary Awards nominated young adult novel, Qualities of Light, the prequel to A Woman’s Guide to Search and Rescue. She received her MFA from GoddardCollege and has taught throughout the US and abroad at various writing schools and universities since 1998. Her writing-craft book, Your Book Starts Here, won the New Hampshire Literary Awards “Reader’s Choice” award. Before moving into fiction, she worked as a chef, a cooking-school owner, a cookbook author, and a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Her first cookbook won a JuliaChild/IACP award. Over two hundred of her essays, stories, and articles have appeared in magazines and literary journals. She lives in New Hampshire with her family. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from a writer today who recently got some feedback that her “narrative structure” needed some work. She’s dealing with multiple POVs and timelines, so where should she go from here? The question opens up a slew of issues about choices in POV and handling time as well as structure. We’ve got authors Mark Cecil and Jane Roper to help her figure it all out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Mark Cecil is the author of the novel Bunyan and Henry; Or, The Beautiful Destiny, the host of The Thoughtful Bro podcast, and he has taught writing at Grub Street in Boston. Jane Roper is the author of two novels, The Society of Shame and Eden Lake, a memoir, Double Time: How I Survived–and Mostly Thrived–Through the First Three Years of Mothering Twins, numerous personal essays and humor pieces, and a very eclectic Substack, Jane’s Calamity. Photo by Matúš Kovačovský on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Two important questions today from listeners. The first is worried about issues involving writing a series. The second wonders about close third-person point of view. We’ve got award-winning authors Allison Amend and Hank Phillippi Ryan to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Allison Amend is the author of four award-winning books, including her short story collection, Things That Pass for Love, and three novels: Stations West, a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, as well as A Nearly Perfect Copy and Enchanted Islands, both published by Doubleday. Allison lives in New York City, where she teaches creative writing at Lehman College in the Bronx and at the Red Earth MFA. Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 15 psychological thrillers. She’s won five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Her newest is the page-turning standalone thriller, One Wrong Word, which will be released next month. Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

The idea of “interiority” is all the talk these days, but what actually is it? How is it different from exposition and simply telling a reader about a character’s thoughts and feelings? How do you access that deeper level of character development and voice from which great interiority comes? We’ve got two master writers and teachers today to help us out: Dawn Tripp and Christopher Boucher Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. I also recommend the following Substack articles about Interiority, the first from Brandon Taylor and the second from Courtney Maum. Christopher Boucher is the author of the novels How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, Golden Delicious and Big Giant Floating Head (a 2019 Massachusetts Book Award Finalist). He’s also an Associate Professor of the Practice of English at Boston College and the managing editor of Post Road Magazine. Dawn Tripp is the author of the novel Georgia, which was a national bestseller and a finalist for the New England Book Award, and three previous novels: Game of Secrets, Moon Tide, and The Season of Open Water, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction. Her new novel, Jackie, about Jacqueline Kennedy, will be released in June. Photo by Daniel Jericó on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Revision, it’s a monster. It’s also an absolute must. And it makes the difference between writers who are able to forge ahead and those who get stuck. But how do you go about it? And how do you avoid feeling like you’re doing it all wrong? We’ve got authors Hesse Phillips (Lightbourne) and Sara Johnson Allen (Down Here We Come Up) on board to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Looking for a writing community? Join our new Facebook group. Hesse Phillips is a Novel Incubator graduate whose debut novel Lightborne, about the mysterious death of queer Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe, comes out in the UK on May 2nd 2024. Sara Johnson Allen is a professor and author whose debut novel, Down Here We Come Up, was the winner of the 2022 Big Moose Prize from Black Lawrence Press. She is currently finishing a second novel and starting a work of creative nonfiction, an exploration of cultural and political history through personal narrative, centering on her 17th century home in coastal Massachusetts. Photo by Jas Min on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Because you do have to end your book at some point, right? Today we’ve got two questions from listeners, one about figuring out the climax of her book, how to know if she’s ending the book “the right way,” and keeping the momentum alive. The second listener wants to write an ending that is both powerful and memorable. We’ve got authors Colwill Brown (We Pretty Piece of Flesh) and Crystal King (Feast of Sorrow) on board to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Join the 7am Novelist community on our Facebook page: Colwill Brown's debut novel, WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH, will be published next spring by Henry Holt (North America), Chatto & Windus (UK & Commonwealth), and Sellerio (Italian trans.). Crystal King is the bestselling author of THE CHEF'S SECRET and FEAST OF SORROW, and the forthcoming novel, IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS, out September 24. Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

A few years ago, writer Cathy Elcik hit a peculiar obstacle with her first novel: agents loved the writing but thought the subject was too “niche.” They asked: “What else do you have?” But she’d been working so hard on the “niche” novel, that she couldn’t give them the answer they wanted. Cathy went deep, trying to understand why publishing a book was so important to her, and she had a few vital epiphanies. Now at work finishing a second book, Cathy still has hopes that her “niche” novel will find its year in the sun, but she’s not letting that stop her from working. Process over product. That’s the lesson that Cathy learned from her experience, and it’s serving her well as she remembers what writing for her is all about. To watch a recording of our interview, click here. These recordings are only available for a week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version of the 7am Novelist on your fave podcast platform. Catherine Elcik is a novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, Carve Magazine, Narrative, and The Boston Globe among others. She lives outside Boston with her husband and an ever-growing jungle of houseplants, most of them named. Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from two listeners’ questions today: The first worries about knowing if her book is ready enough to begin querying. What does “done” really feel and look like when writing a book? The second talks about an issue that hits home with a lot of writers, though many don’t speak about it: The time a single writing project takes to finish can feel overwhelming, but what about trying to launch a whole writing career? And what if loved ones are waiting eagerly for it to happen for you? What if their age means they can only wait so long? We’ve got authors Kasey LeBlanc (Flyboy), Shalene Gupta (The Cycle), and Sara Shukla (Pink Whales) to help us find some answers. Facebook group link. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Kasey LeBlanc (he / him) is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Incubator program, a contributor at WriterUnboxed, and the author of FLYBOY, his debut YA novel, which will be published by Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins in May 2024. Shalene Gupta is a Boston-area writer and the author of THE CYCLE: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD. Sara Shukla is an editor for Cognoscenti, WBUR’s ideas and opinions page, a graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator, and her novel PINK WHALES is publishing in June 2024 from Little A. Photo by Who’s Denilo ? on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We’ve got two very different listeners’ questions today but they’re both common issues for writers to deal with. The first is trying to re-enter a 15-year old memoir manuscript the she needs to cut down enormously (either by 750K words or by 500 pages, depending on our understanding of her question. Either way: A lot!). The second wonders how he’s supposed to know what’s wrong with his query letter or sample pages when agents these days don’t offer a word of feedback. We’ve got Nancy Crochiere (Graceland), Henriette Lazaridis (Terra Nova), and Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks) to help them out. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Nancy Crochiere is a former humor columnist whose comic debut novel, GRACELAND, published in May 2023, was named a best book of summer by Parade, Woman’s World, and Deep South Magazines. Henriette Lazaridis is the award-winning author of three novels: her debut The Clover House, the antarctic adventure Terra Nova, and her newest book coming this April, Last Days in Plaka. She is the co-founder of Galiot Press and also runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece. Ethan Gilsdorf is an essayist, critic, journalist, the author of the memoir Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks and teaches GrubStreet’s Essay Incubator program. Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from a writer today yearning to find a writing community, but not knowing how to do without spending money she doesn’t really have. Plus: A lot of questions we’re getting center on motivation in one way or another, so we’re going to discuss different kinds of motivations for different kinds of personalities. We’ve got writers Jessica Bird and Henriette Lazaridis to help us out. JOIN THE 7AM NOVELIST COMMUNITY ON FACEBOOK HERE. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Jessica Bird is a scholarship graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator program, a past scholarship resident at Salty Quill Writers’ Retreat for Women, and was a finalist for the 2023 Edith Wharton Writers in Residence Program; she’s currently at work remapping her manuscript The Only Brother, the story of a man searching to discover why his older brother, presumed dead, survived his abduction when they were children but never returned to their family. Henriette Lazaridis is the award-winning author of three novels: her debut The Clover House, the antarctic adventure Terra Nova, and her newest book coming this April, Last Days in Plaka. She is the co-founder of Galiot Press and also runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece. Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We’re talking about two listeners’ questions today. The first worries that her book has lost its “freshness” after so many revisions and worries how to “get it back.” Is this a common worry among writers? Oh, yes it is. The second worries whether it’s time to break up with her book, how a writer knows, and how best to make decision. We have authors Emily Ross and Virginia Pye on board to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Emily Ross is the author of Half in Love with Death, an International Thriller Writers Thriller Awards finalist for best young adult novel, and she’s currently shopping her second novel, The Black Sea, an adult mystery / thriller set in her hometown of Quincy MA. Virginia Pye is the author of four award-winning books of fiction, including two post-colonial historical novels set in China, River of Dust and Dreams of the Red Phoenix, the short story collection, Shelf Life of Happiness, and her fourth book that debuted this last fall, The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann. Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

Jealousy and Exhaustion are two of the most common, and most difficult, obstacles to deal with in your writing career, yet we all suffer from them at one time or another. How do you tamp down your jealousy of other writers when the feeling makes you feel like an awful person in the first place? How do you deal with the long process of writing and publishing when you’re already exhausted by the idea of it? We’ve got writers Marjan Kamali, Liesl Swogger, and Alex Ferraro to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Liesl Swogger is a graduate of Novel Incubator, with a new pretend deadline of March for her current revision of her novel, A Single Season. Her novel is based in part on her own experience in the world of ballet. Marjan Kamali is the award-winning author of The Stationery Shop, a national and international bestseller, and Together Tea, a Massachusetts Book Award finalist. She is a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. Her new novel, The Lion Women of Tehran comes out in July 2024. Originally from Texas, Alex Ferraro is at work finishing his dark and gritty Novel Incubator thriller about a sheriff gone bad and the Texas Ranger trying to bring him to justice. Photo by negar nikkhah on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

When Michael Giddings wanted to publish his in-between-sized debut, Kelly Marie Wants to Talk to You, he turned to the the award-winning publisher, Cupboard Pamphlet, and their chapbook contest. But for Giddings, Kelly Marie exists in a much larger world of interconnected stories and images. What do you do when a character’s fictional world becomes a much-larger world of its own? Giddings talks about his inspirations, his intuitive writing process, and his love and fear of “scaffolding.” To watch a recording of our interview, click here. These recordings are only available for a few days. Missed it? Check out the podcast version of the 7am Novelist on your fave podcast platform. To find Giddings’ chapbook and the Cupboard Pamphlet contests, click here. Michael Giddings is a writer, cartoonist, and musician from Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. Recent work can be found in Defunct Magazine and Suburbia Journal. His chapbook, Kelly Marie Wants to Talk to You, is available from the Cupboard Pamphlet. Michael teaches preschool and is an associate fiction editor at Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine. He is at work on a novel, The Homeschooler, in which Kelly Marie will return. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from two listeners today: The first worries about narrative dissonance and his ability to spot it, the second is aching for a room of her own. Authors Sara Johnson Allen, Cara Wood, and Joanna Rakoff join us. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Sara Johnson Allen is a professor and author whose debut novel, Down Here We Come Up, was the winner of the 2022 Big Moose Prize from Black Lawrence Press. She is currently finishing a second novel and starting a book of nonfiction about her 17th century home in coastal Massachusetts. Cara Wood is a professional writer and marketer with a master's degree from Clark University. A graduate of GrubStreet Novel Incubator, her fiction is set in a future only slightly more terrifying than the present. Joanna Rakoff is the author of the bestselling memoir My Salinger Year and the novel A Fortunate Age. Photo by Şahin Sezer Dinçer on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

We hear from two listeners today who share two very common writing issues. The first talks about the emptiness she feels about both her ideas and confidence in getting them on the page when she finally pushes life aside and sits down to write. The second worries about the strength of her stories, a worry that is causing her desire to write to fade away. We’ve got authors Hesse Phillips (Lightborne) and Ron MacLean (We Might As Well Light Something On Fire) to help us out. Watch a recording of our live webinar here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform. Hesse Phillips is a Novel Incubator graduate whose debut novel Lightborne, about the mysterious death of queer Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe, comes out in the UK on May 2nd 2024. Ron MacLean is author of the story collections We Might as Well Light Something On Fire and Why the Long Face? and the novels Blue Winnetka Skies and Headlong. Photo by Eileen Pan on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com