Living The Writing Life Podcast with Nancy Christie
94 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago -A podcast for and about writers—the business side and the creative perspective—and how our life experiences intersect with our writing work.
How we do it, why we do it and what keeps us going as we navigate the creative environment. Because, published or not, wildly popular or still unknown, we are all writers.
”Living the Writing Life” is a copyrighted podcast solely owned by author Nancy Christie.
For more information, visit her website at www.nancychristie.com.
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Episodes
Thoughts on writing and life for July 2024
July 07, 2024 19:25 - 5 minutes - 4.21 MBJust a few thoughts on how I realized that I needed to "unpack" my brain from one book project before I started another. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus! Follow me on social media: Goodreads * X/Twitter * Facebook * TikTok * Instagram * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Medium Check out my YouTube channels: Books by Nancy Christie on YouTube * Midlife ...
In Conversation With … author Delia Ephron
June 12, 2024 16:45 - 45 minutes - 33.4 MBDelia Ephron is a bestselling author, screenwriter, essayist, and playwright. Her novels include the New York Times bestseller Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life that came out in 2022, Siracusa, and The Lion Is In, several essay collections, and books for children and young adults. Her movie credits include You've Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, This is My Life, Michael, and Hanging Up. Her play, "Love, Loss, and What I Wore," written with her sister Nora Ephron (based...
Thoughts on writing and life for June 2024
June 09, 2024 15:58 - 3 minutes - 2.63 MBJust a few thoughts on why we shouldn’t confuse “I’ve never done it” with “I can’t do it.” Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus! Follow me on social media: Goodreads * X/Twitter * Facebook * TikTok * Instagram * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Medium Check out my YouTube channels: Books by Nancy Christie on YouTube * Midlife Moxie Novel Series™ on YouTube...
In Conversation With … Jonathan Lewis, writer and assemblage artist
May 22, 2024 18:10 - 1 hour - 49.8 MBJonathan Lewis writes microfiction travelogues which he shares freely at his website. Each 500-word story follows an international traveler as he explores the world and tries to better understand his place in it. Now retired, Jonathan has had an eclectic career: California State Senate legislative staffer; art gallery owner; founder/CEO of a global social enterprise financing small businesses owned by low-income women; real estate developer; visiting professor at NYU and UC Berkeley. He ...
Thoughts on writing and life for May 2024
May 12, 2024 19:56 - 6 minutes - 1.49 MBJust a few thoughts on why we shouldn’t confuse creative dormancy with creative death. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus! Follow me on social media: Goodreads * X/Twitter * Facebook * TikTok * Instagram * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Medium Check out my YouTube channels: Books by Nancy Christie on YouTube * Midlife Moxie Novel Series™ on YouTube
In Conversation With … Charlene Wexler, author
April 17, 2024 12:54 - 36 minutes - 27.9 MBA native Chicagoan, Charlene Wexler has been a teacher, wife, dental office manager, mother and grandmother. In retirement, her lifelong passion for writing has led her to create several essays and novels. Her books include Murder on Skid Row, Milk and Oranges, Lori and Elephants In The Room. Charlene’s newest book, Farewell To South Shore was released in 2024, and her next one, We Won't Go Back, is scheduled for 2025. For more about Charlene, visit her website and follow her on X/Twitter...
Thoughts on writing and life for April 2024
April 07, 2024 17:10 - 5 minutes - 3.57 MBJust a few thoughts on why we can’t let our creativity be eclipsed by others or our own self-doubt. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus! Follow me on social media: Goodreads * X/Twitter * Facebook * TikTok * Instagram * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Medium Check out my YouTube channels: Books by Nancy Christie on YouTube * Midlife Moxie Novel Series™ on...
In Conversation With … Stephani Halleen Atkins (aka s.c.halleen), author
March 20, 2024 17:15 - 55 minutes - 42 MBStephani Halleen Atkins, who writes under the name of s.c.halleen, describes herself as a recovering nonprofit founder, current grant writer, and the aspiring creator of a new form of reading: the SummerSnow multimedia serial story, which reads like an ebook but interweaves audio, image and film throughout the narrative. In addition, she has written a novel, edited tv spec scripts, hosted a radio show, and presented a TEDx talk entitled “World in Uproar: How Stories, Not Facts, Will Save t...
Thoughts on writing and life for March 2024
March 10, 2024 18:51 - 3 minutes - 2.71 MBJust a few thoughts on why we have to believe that our creativity, like a garden bed, can produce results. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus! Follow me on social media: Goodreads * X/Twitter * Facebook * TikTok * Instagram * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Medium Check out my YouTube channels: Books by Nancy Christie on YouTube * Midlife Moxie Novel Ser...
Thoughts on writing and life for February 2024
February 18, 2024 11:29 - 4 minutes - 2.95 MBJust a few thoughts on why we shouldn’t let milestone birthdays stop us in our creative tracks. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus! Follow me on social media: Goodreads * X/Twitter * Facebook * TikTok * Instagram * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Medium Check out my YouTube channels: Books by Nancy Christie on YouTube * Midlife Moxie Novel Series™ on You...
In Conversation With … Eric Walker, author
January 17, 2024 11:54 - 53 minutes - 43 MBAs an amateur genealogist and family historian, Eric Walker was impelled to write his debut novel Lost Souls Recovered when he discovered the richness of family stories through research of historical documents and those stories told to him by relatives. As he read historical documents and talked to relatives, he envisioned a way to bring to life in fiction form many of his ancestors who lived a hardscrabble life and who worked to overcome hardship. Eric believes the written word can unlock ...
Thoughts on writing and life for January 2024
January 07, 2024 18:56 - 4 minutes - 2.87 MBJust a few thoughts on why we need to do “different” to have “different.” Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Michael Bourne, author
December 20, 2023 18:29 - 49 minutes - 39.1 MBMichael Bourne is the author of Blithedale Canyon (Regal House, 2022). He is a long-time contributing editor at Poets & Writers Magazine and he has written for the New York Times, the Globe & Mail, The Economist, Literary Hub, and Salon. His fiction has appeared in more than a dozen literary magazines including, most recently, december, The Southampton Review, and Tin House. Blithedale Canyon is his first novel. He grew up in Northern California and now lives in Vancouver, Canada, with his ...
Thoughts on writing and life for December 2023
December 06, 2023 16:18 - 5 minutes - 13.5 MBJust a few thoughts on the importance of being willing to make revisions: in writing and in life. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Molly Giles, author
November 22, 2023 15:44 - 55 minutes - 44.8 MBMolly Giles is the award-winning author of six story collections and two novels. Rough Translations won The Flannery O’Connor Prize the Boston Globe Award, and the Bay Area Book Reviewers’ Award. Other notable accolades have been awarded from the Small Press Best Fiction Award for Creek Walk, which also earned a Commonwealth Silver Medal Award for Fiction, and was a New York Times Notable Book. Bothered won the Split Oak Press Flash Fiction Award; and All The Wrong Places won the Spokane Pr...
Thoughts on writing and life for November 2023
November 10, 2023 16:17 - 3 minutes - 2.39 MBJust a few thoughts on why we need to take regular breaks to refresh and renew our creative spirit. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Gillian Felix, author and entrepreneur
October 18, 2023 17:31 - 56 minutes - 45 MBGillian Felix has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil, and as of this writing, she is the author of 10 books. She enjoys creating characters that could be your next-door neighbor, but would you want them as your neighbor is another story. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Miss Felix moved to the United States in 1998. She has been involved in the entertainment industry for over ten years. She is trained in the Meisner and Stanislavski technique of acting, which she cre...
Thoughts on writing and life for October 2023
October 06, 2023 12:06 - 6 minutes - 4.56 MBJust a few thoughts on why our focus as authors should be on building relationships, not just on selling books. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Egyptologist Mary Ann Marazzi, PhD
September 20, 2023 17:18 - 55 minutes - 46.1 MBMary Ann Marazzi is an Egyptologist with a doctoral degree in Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology/Egyptology, who has 27 years of experience working at archaeological sites in the US, Italy, and Egypt. She has taught art history and world cultures at colleges and universities, edits academic journals and has written numerous articles for educational publications and children’s magazines. For more about Mary Ann, visit her LinkedIn page. In today’s conversation, we’ll talk about her ...
Thoughts on writing and life for September 2023
September 08, 2023 13:19 - 5 minutes - 3.83 MBJust a few thoughts on why we need to put our money (and time) where our mouth is when it comes to our writing career. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
Thoughts on writing and life for August 2023
August 10, 2023 11:49 - 5 minutes - 3.94 MBJust a few thoughts on why it’s important to pay attention when Opportunity knocks and then decide how to handle the summons. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Joyce Maynard, author
July 12, 2023 17:36 - 41 minutes - 32.3 MBOver her fifty-year career, New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard has published hundreds of essays as well as twenty books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the memoir At Home in the World and the novels To Die For and Labor Day, both adapted for film. Maynard’s newest novel, The Bird Hotel, was published May 2023. How the Light Gets In, the sequel to her novel, Count the Ways-- named an Amazon Best Book in 2021—will be published in spring, 2024. Maynard is a fellow of Mac...
Thoughts on writing and life for July 2023
July 05, 2023 14:21 - 3 minutes - 3.31 MBJust a few thoughts on why it’s important to learn to “enjoy the ride” when writing. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Cecelia Tichi, author
June 14, 2023 12:02 - 1 hour - 48.4 MBCecelia Tichi is the author of the “Val and Roddy DeVere Gilded Series,” mystery crime novels that pulse with turn-of-the-century American life…and death. An award-winning author and Professor of English and American Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University, her nonfiction and fiction books have focused on the decades of America's industrial titans, the "Queens" of Society and the U.S. Gilded Age. She enjoys membership and posting in Facebook’s The Gilded Age Society. For more about Ceceli...
Thoughts on writing and life for June 2023
June 07, 2023 19:41 - 6 minutes - 4.76 MBJust a few thoughts on why writers need a personal manifesto to keep them on track. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Deborah Kalb, author
May 17, 2023 11:15 - 39 minutes - 32.2 MBDeborah Kalb is the author of the forthcoming adult novel Off to Join the Circus (available on Bookshop, Barnes & Noble and Amazon) as well as three novels for kids: Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat, John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead, and George Washington and the Magic Hat. Together with her father, Marvin Kalb, she co-authored Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama and she also has published other books on politics and government as well ...
Thoughts on writing and life for May 2023
May 07, 2023 19:52 - 4 minutes - 3.11 MBJust a few thoughts on why writers must be willing to explore new genres with their writing. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Carissa Turpin, author
April 12, 2023 14:12 - 39 minutes - 32.6 MBCarissa Turpin is the author of the novel, Doomsday Dani. Carissa grew up in a small Eastern Kentucky town where she fell in love with storytelling in all its forms. She began teaching high school English in 2008 near her hometown, where she remained for ten years, before relocating to Phoenix, Arizona where she made the switch to teaching middle school. In 2021, Carissa left Arizona and returned to Kentucky to continue teaching middle schoolers. She lives in Louisville with her miniature ...
Thoughts on writing and life for April 2023
April 05, 2023 17:04 - 3 minutes - 2.79 MBJust a few thoughts on why we must stop believing that our age defines our possibilities. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
Thoughts on writing and life for March 2023
March 05, 2023 20:41 - 4 minutes - 3.12 MBJust a few thoughts on why we need to take the time to acknowledge our achievements and savor our successes. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With…Peter Berk, novelist and screenwriter
February 15, 2023 20:41 - 45 minutes - 36.3 MBPeter Berk is the son of noted writer Howard Berk, whose credits included Columbo, Mission: Impossible and several novels and features. Peter has co-written several screenplays with his father, and on his own has written a recently-optioned sci-fi/time travel TV pilot, seven scripts and five novels in the TimeLock series, the first of which was published in late 2022 and is available here. He also co-authored a non-fiction book with actor Dick Van Patten that was published some 15 years ag...
Thoughts on writing and life for February 2023
February 05, 2023 21:55 - 4 minutes - 3.42 MBJust a few thoughts on why we need to show our writing self some love on a consistent basis. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Tyler James Russell
January 18, 2023 13:20 - 1 hour - 51.4 MBTyler James Russell is the author of When Fire Splits the Sky (2022), a novel, and To Drown a Man (2020), a poetry collection, both from Unsolicited Press. His writing has been nominated for the Rhysling and Best of the Net, and has appeared or is forthcoming in Asimov’s Science Fiction, F(r)iction, Janus Literary, and the NonBinary Review, among others. Tyler works as an educator and lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Cat and their children. You can find him at Tylerjamesrussell.com, on ...
Thoughts on writing and life for January 2023
January 04, 2023 10:36 - 5 minutes - 3.98 MBJust a few thoughts on why we need to match our goals and plans to our definition of writing success. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Ramona Reeves, author
December 14, 2022 12:12 - 51 minutes - 40.1 MBRamona Reeves’ interlinked story collection, It Falls Gently All Around and Other Stories (University of Pittsburgh Press), won the 2022 Drue Heinz Literature Prize and is set in Mobile, Alabama, where she grew up. She has been awarded an AROHO fellowship, a residency at Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, a scholarship from Community of Writers, and the Nancy D. Hargrove Editors’ Prize. Ramona also has served as an associate fiction editor for Kallisto Gaia Press. Her stories and e...
Thoughts on writing and life for December 2022
December 07, 2022 13:12 - 6 minutes - 4.7 MBJust a few thoughts on what three gifts we should give ourselves to foster our creative life. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
Thoughts on Writing and Life for November 2022
November 04, 2022 18:25 - 4 minutes - 3.32 MBJust a few thoughts on why our most important goal as writers should be to connect with our readers. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Erica Bauermeister, author
October 19, 2022 15:12 - 56 minutes - 44.4 MBErica Bauermeister is the best-selling author of four novels, including The School of Essential Ingredients and the 2020 Reese’s Book Club pick The Scent Keeper. She has also written a memoir entitled House Lessons: Renovating a Life and is the co-author of two readers’ guides to books: 500 Great Books by Women and Let’s Hear It For the Girls. Erica’s fifth novel, No Two Persons, will be published in May 2023. Her books are available on Bookshop and other bookstores. She lives with her...
Thoughts on Writing and Life for October 2022
October 05, 2022 16:26 - 4 minutes - 3.86 MBJust a few thoughts on how an insignificant object from our past can become a guidepost for our writing life Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With… Chante Thomas, author
September 14, 2022 17:47 - 51 minutes - 39.7 MBChante Thomas is a twenty-eight-year veteran fifth-grade teacher in Shaker Heights, Ohio and has been writing children’s stories over the span of her career. In 2017, she decided it was time to bring her stories to life and published her first book, Where I’m From, sharing the geographic story of five diverse children with roots in the United States, Africa, and Asia. Her second book, Go To School Tommy is about the power of a smile, and her third book, Sean and the Book Cures, told from a...
Thoughts on writing and life for September 2022
September 07, 2022 17:25 - 2 minutes - 1.62 MBJust a few thoughts on the importance of developing a mission statement to guide you through your writing life. Did you enjoy this excerpt from my writing newsletter? Sign up for The Writing Life with Nancy Christie, and receive a free writing-related tip sheet as a bonus!
In Conversation With … Juliet Marillier, author
August 17, 2022 10:44 - 59 minutes - 45.7 MBJuliet Marillier was born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is a graduate of the University of Otago and has had a varied career that included music teaching and performing. She now lives in a historic cottage in Western Australia, where she writes full time. Juliet’s historical fantasy novels and short stories are published internationally and have won numerous awards. She is the author of twenty-four novels, including A Song of Flight (Warrior Bards), the Blackthorn & Grim series an...
Thoughts on writing and life for August 2022
August 03, 2022 20:26 - 5 minutes - 4.66 MBJust a few thoughts on the importance of having the right role model at the right time for our writing life 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!
In Conversation With... Corie Adjmi, author
July 27, 2022 16:19 - 33 minutes - 45.8 MBCorie 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 ...
Thoughts on writing and life for July 2022
July 06, 2022 17:37 - 5 minutes - 4.8 MBJust 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!
In Conversation With … Kathryn Schulz, author
June 15, 2022 19:18 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBKathryn 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 O...
Thoughts on writing and life for June 2022
June 05, 2022 13:03 - 3 minutes - 3.01 MBJust 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!
In Conversation With … Adrienne Reiter, author
May 18, 2022 12:51 - 52 minutes - 44.6 MBAdrienne 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 an...
Thoughts on writing and life for May 2022
May 04, 2022 14:50 - 4 minutes - 4 MBJust 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!
In Conversation With … Gregory Erich Phillips, novelist
April 13, 2022 17:41 - 40 minutes - 34.9 MBGregory 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...