Write About Now
329 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 162 ratingsWrite About Now features in-depth interviews with successful writers of all types and stripes—journalists, screenwriters, novelists, ghostwriters, and more. Host, Jonathan Small, takes a deep dive into how writers master their craft, offering tips, inspiration, and laughs for both aspiring and professional scribes.
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Episodes
Ep. 43—Who Killed Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.?
July 02, 2018 22:25 - 1 hour - 125 MBTwenty-plus years after the murders of rap legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, investigators still haven't solved either case. But Kyle Long, my special guest on this episode of Write About Now, is pretty confident he knows who did it. Long is the creator and executive producer of Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., a compelling 10-episode limited series that is currently streaming on USA Network. A staff writer on such shows as Suits with Princess Meghan Merkle, Lon...
Ep. 42—Effective Mind Hacks For Creative People
June 29, 2018 05:33 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MBGet ready to have your mind blown—or at least updated. On this special bonus episode of Write About Now, Sir John Hargrave offers tricks and techniques for how to reprogram your thinking to be more productive, focused, and positive. Hargrave is the author of Mind Hacking: How to Change Your Mind for Good in 21 Days. Drawing from his own painful experience going sober, Hargrave has developed a system for treating your brain like a hacker would a computer: getting the bugs out, identifying an...
Ep. 41—A Drunk Driver Destroyed Her Family But Not Her Empathy
June 25, 2018 11:00 - 1 hour - 90.7 MBI first met Jennifer Tracy while on assignment for Good Housekeeping. The magazine wanted to feature a heroic mom and to say that Jennifer's story fits the bill is an understatement. Jennifer lost her young daughter and husband to a drunk driver, but rather than being consumed with anger and crippling sorrow, she turned this tragedy into a life of meaning and purpose. She wrote a book entitled Inside the Mind of Suicide. She became a motivational speaker, helping first responders and others ...
Ep. 40—What's Happening Inside North Korea? Author Travis Jeppen Explains.
June 18, 2018 22:21 - 1 hour - 92.6 MBTravis Jeppesen is a journalist, artist, and author of a fascinating new book See You Again in Pyongyang, in which he chronicles his recent experience living and in North Korea. Travis was the first American to study in North Korea in 2016. Since then, he has been to the hermit kingdom five times—each weirder and more revelatory than the last. After I read his book, I knew I had to have him on the podcast to help shed some light on the hermit kingdom. On this episode, he shares his observat...
Ep. 39 Romance Novelist Jasmine Guillory's Journey from Law to Love
June 11, 2018 11:00 - 50 minutes - 69.7 MBWhen a friend suggested I interview romance writer Jasmine Guillory on the show, I'll admit I was a little skeptical. Romance novels? Not really my thing. Then I binge-listened her book, The Wedding Date, and I was hooked. Seriously, sometimes I'd sit outside my house in my car just to find out how the chapter would end. Guillory is a great storyteller: funny, perceptive, and smart. She's also a great dreamer. A successful lawyer in the Bay Area, she taught herself how to write fiction, tra...
Ep. 38—True Crime Journalist Billy Jensen on The Golden State Killer
June 05, 2018 05:42 - 1 hour - 100 MBBilly Jensen is the acclaimed true crime investigative journalist and producer, who helped finish his friend Michele McNamara's haunting book, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark," after her death. The haunting book tells the tale of The Golden State Killer, a serial rapist and murderer who terrorized Californians for over a decade. Just months after the book was released, police announced they had a suspect in the case. On this podcast, Jensen talks to me about this horrifying story, the process of w...
Ep. 37 Novelist Blanche McCrary Boyd: The Best Writing Professor I Ever Had
May 29, 2018 05:45 - 1 hour - 107 MBNovelist Blanche McCrary Boyd is one of the main reasons I’m a writer today. As an undergrad at Connecticut College. I took classes with her that changed the way I viewed journalism and storytelling. She introduced me and my classmates to a whole new world of writers such as the late great Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, Hunter Thompson, and Norman Mailer. She showed us how long-form journalism could read just like a novel. And Boyd didn’t just talk the talk, she walked the walk. Her writing was j...
EP 36—What Star Wars Teaches Us About Real Wars
May 25, 2018 06:33 - 52 minutes - 71.9 MBMajor Matt Cavanaugh is a U.S. Army strategist who's worked everywhere from the Pentagon to Korea; Iraq to Army Space and Missile Defense Command. In combat, he served bravely in Iraq during numerous deployments, earning an abundance of bronze stars and medals. ML Cavanaugh is also a writer, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. In his new book, Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict, he brings together o...
Ep. 35—Joanna Coles on the Dark Side of Dating Online
May 20, 2018 09:30 - 36 minutes - 50 MBRelationships and sex have gone through a seismic shift in just the past few years. The old rules of dating no longer apply. With the advent of dating apps, #MeToo, and hook-up culture, women and men are looking for help understanding, navigating, and staying safe in a world where people have sex to get to know each other rather than the other way around. Enter Joanna Coles. If anyone has their pulse on what's happening with Millenials, it's her. Joanna is chief content officer at Hearst Mag...
Ep. 34—Sirius XM's Lori Majewski on Writing, Radio, and the Greatest New Wave Songs Ever
May 14, 2018 21:27 - 1 hour - 94.7 MBWhen Lori Majewski was 16-years-old, she camped out in front of Manhattan hotels just to get an autograph from her idols, Duran Duran. Now she's on frontman Simon Le Bon's speed dial. As a host on SiriusXm's Volume and First Wave channels and co-author of the book Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Music and Artists That Defined the 1980s, Lori's parlayed her childhood obsession with New Wave music into a successful career. Lori has also held top spots at US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly...
Ep. 33—Erotica Writer Joanna Angel's Unlikely Path to Porn
May 08, 2018 06:04 - 1 hour - 87.4 MBJoanna Angel (born Joanna Mostov) is an erotica writer, adult actress, and porntrepreneur. Her new novel, Night Shift, is a choose-your-own adventure-style story based on her own real-life experiences. On the episode, she talks about the thrills and challenges of her first foray into fiction, and what it's like to write about sex. She also shares the interesting and entertaining saga of how an Orthodox Jew from a highly-religious family launched a tattooed punk rock porn company out of her c...
Ep. 32—'Freelance Whisperer' David Hochman on 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know
April 30, 2018 10:00 - 1 hour - 87.9 MBDavid Hochman's success as a freelance writer, editor, and storyteller is as enviable as it is expansive. He has written about everything from flying around the world in a private jet to potty training his son, visiting the vanishing tribes of Ethiopia's Omo Valley to helicopter parenting his dog, with his byline appearing regularly in The New York Times, Forbes, GQ, and Food and Wine. He's also the founder of Upod (Under Promise Over Deliver), an invaluable online resource for freelancers w...
Ep. 31—Father/Daughter Duo Solve Century-Old Murder Mystery
April 24, 2018 10:00 - 53 minutes - 72.8 MBBill James and Rachel McCarthy James tell the fascinating and tragic story behind The Man from the Train, their true crime thriller that ties together a series of horrific murders that occurred across America from 1898 to 1912. Through extensive research and some good old-fashioned detective work, the father-daughter writing team makes the compelling case that the murders were all the handiwork of one of the most prolific serial killers ever. Journey back in a time machine to rural America—b...
Ep. 30 —Literary Agent Stacey Glick on How To Land a Book Deal
April 17, 2018 03:37 - 47 minutes - 64.5 MBAh, the coveted book deal. It's a writer's holy grail—even in the golden age of self-publishing. But you can't get a book deal without a literary agent. They're the gatekeepers between you and the shelves at Barnes & Noble. Stacey Glick is one of the best literary agents in the business. And in this episode of Write About Now, she gives honest and actionable advice on how to get noticed by an agent, what publishers are buying (and not buying), and the one untapped market you might now know a...
Ep. 29—Wellness Writer Lisa Lombardi on the Health Stories that Sell
April 10, 2018 11:00 - 45 minutes - 62.8 MBLisa Lombardi is a writer/editor and co-author of What the Yuck?! The Freaky & Fabulous Truth About Your Body. On this episode, she talks to me about her dynamic career, which has included top editorial jobs at YM, Twist, Redbook, and, Health, where she realized her true passion for health and wellness journalism. Lisa gives advice to aspiring health writers about how to break into the market, what health stories editors just can't get enough of, and the truth about blotting your pizza with ...
Ep. 28—New York Magazine's William Brennan on the Roommate from Hell
April 03, 2018 11:30 - 53 minutes - 73.2 MBInvestigative journalist, William Brennan, discusses his haunting story for New York Magazine. "Worst Roommate Ever." When the story appeared in the Feb 21st issue, it was an immediate viral sensation, tapping into the hidden fears and morbid fascination of millions. It's the tale of Jamison Bachman, a failed lawyer and troubled tutor, who duped dozens of tenants into agreeing to let him live with them. Each relationship starts off cordial but eventually disintegrates into psychological and ...
Ep. 27—Joanna Penn on How to Make Six-Figures Self-Publishing
March 26, 2018 09:30 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBJoanna Penn is an indie author, entrepreneur, podcaster, and self-publishing expert. She's written 27 books, selling over 500,000 in 84 countries and 5 languages. Joanna didn't begin her career as a writer. As a frustrated IT consultant, she was completely miserable in her job. She knew she wanted to make a living being creative, but she also knew the math: If she wanted to earn the same salary writing books, she'd need to make a scalable business out of it. That was 10 years ago. Now Joanna...
Ep. 26—Screenwriter Jonathan Bernstein on the Insane Story Behind Unsane
March 20, 2018 10:00 - 47 minutes - 65.8 MBOn this week's episode of Write About Now, Unsane co-writer Jonathan Bernstein tells the only-in-Hollywood story about how this movie came to be. Directed by Stephen Soderbergh and starring Claire Foy, the film, which opens March 23, was shot entirely on iPhones. This isn't how Bernstein imagined it, but he also didn't imagine that after year of writing film he describes as "miserable failures," he'd have his name up in lights again. As a writer, Bernstein has earned a successful career part...
Ep. 25—Cosmo Editor-in-Chief Michele Promaulayko Reveals All
March 12, 2018 11:30 - 1 hour - 93.3 MBMichele Promaulayko knows what women want. She has to. As editor-in-chief of Cosmo, and editorial director of both Seventeen and Women’s Health, she both reflects and influences many of their interests and aspirations. On a recent trip to New York, I visited Michele in her offices atop Hearst Tower to get the skinny on her impressive career, working her way up as an intern at Cosmo to where she is now, with a bunch of stops at other publications along the way. We talked about working at a tr...
Ep. 24—Marketing Maven Jaclyn Mullen on How to Sell Yourself in the Digital Age
March 06, 2018 08:30 - 52 minutes - 72.2 MBHow important is to to market yourself as a writer, even if you have no money, few credentials, and even fewer clips? Turns out it's pretty damn important. It's also a lot easier and less expensive than you might think. On this episode of Write About Now with Jonathan Small, marketing expert Jaclyn Mullen of Jaclyn Mullen Media takes us through a crash course on how to sell yourself without selling your soul—or the clothes off your back. We cover such topics as creating a website, a blog, em...
Ep. 23—Oscar Exclusive: Hollywood Reporter's Alison Brower on How to be a Hollywood Reporter
February 27, 2018 06:23 - 1 hour - 106 MBOn the eve of Hollywood's biggest night, I get my red carpet on with Hollywood Reporter Deputy Editorial Director, Alison Brower. She takes me through her impressive origin story, with a solid opening as an editorial assistant for Helen Gurley Brown's Cosmo and working her way up to run magazines for two of mighiest O's on the planet—Oprah and Dr. Oz. We talk about the seismic shift in post-Harvey Hollywood and THR's role in giving wronged women a platform to tell their powerful stories. Ali...
Ep. 22 — Writer/Director Joshua Michael Stern on The Secret to Landing Hollywood's Biggest Talent
February 20, 2018 10:00 - 55 minutes - 76 MBOn the pod this week, I talk to triple threat Joshua Michael Stern, who writes, directs, and produces films and TV series. Joshua was the creator and showrunner of the Epix series Graves. He's also directed Jobs with Ashton Kutcher, and written and directed Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner and Neverwas with Nick Nolte. Joshua has a knack for casting some of the biggest talent in the business, even when his budgets aren't the biggest in the business. Talent that has appeared in his films inc...
Ep. 21 — Author/Mortician Caitlin Doughty Is the Bourdain of Death
February 13, 2018 10:00 - 51 minutes - 70.9 MBCaitlin Doughty is obsessed with death—in a good way. She’s turned her fascination with funerals and corpses into a successful career as a mortician, activist, YouTube personality, and bestselling author. Caitlin’s books are must-reads for anyone interested in what becomes of your body after you become not living anymore. Her first book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, is a funny and morbid memoir about her life as a crematory operator and mortician. In in her new book, From Here to Eternity, Caitl...
Ep. 20 — Bret VandenBos on How to Write a Mic-Drop Speech
February 06, 2018 12:00 - 1 hour - 83.6 MBGrowing up, Bret VandenBos used to watch The West Wing faithfully every Wednesday night with his dad. “It was my first entrée into talking about policy and politics,” he says. The show would have more impact on his life than he could imagine. Only 30-years-old, Bret now serves as a speechwriter and political communications specialists, as well as a TV writer for such shows as Valor on the CW and MacGyver on CBS. In our interview, Bret talks to me about how he straddles life in the writer’s r...
Ep. 19 — The Martian Author Andy Weir Aims for the Moon in His New Novel
January 30, 2018 11:00 - 46 minutes - 26.9 MBStrap on your EVA suits! Andy Weir is on the podcast. The author of the science fiction classic, The Martian, talks to me about his unlikely journey from computer programmer to bestselling novelist. Pulling back the curtain on the process behind his prose, Andy also discusses his new book Artemis, which is a heist thriller set in a city on the moon in the not-so-distant future. We talk about his obsessively detailed and researched world-building, his Saudi-born female protagonist, and his re...
Ep. 17 — Gayle Tzemach Lemmon Writes About Heroic Women in War-Torn Countries
January 16, 2018 10:30 - 1 hour - 35.4 MBIn trying to come up with a catchy title for this podcast, I found it impossible to pithily describe what my guest Gayle Tzemach Lemmon does for a living. She’s a bestselling author of Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield (2015) and The Dressmaker of Khair Khana (2011) An on-air contributor to CNN. A journalist for such publications as The New York Times, The Financial Times, and Newsweek, Daily Beast. A Fulbright scholar and graduate of ...
Ep. 16 — David Grann on the Secret to Writing Bestsellers
January 09, 2018 12:00 - 1 hour - 39.4 MBDavid Grann has a writing career most of us just dream about. He's a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he pens powerful, narrative stories on everything from bank robbers to the hunt for the giant squid. He's also a bestselling author. His 2009 book, The Lost City of Z, traces the footsteps of explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett whose expedition to find an ancient, secret civilization in the Amazon disappeared in the 19th century. The book was adapted into a 2017 film. His latest book, Kill...
Ep. 15 — Mars Patel Head Writer David Kreizman on Writing for Soaps, the WWE, and a New Hit Podcast for Kids
January 02, 2018 11:00 - 41 minutes - 23.8 MBDavid Kreizman is an Emmy Award-winning soap opera showrunner, a former WWE head writer, and the co-creator and head writer of the hit podcast for kids (and their parents), “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel.” Mars scored a 2016 Peabody Award and was named one of the year’s top podcasts by The Guardian. Last year it was optioned as a TV series. As Executive in Charge of Original Content at Gen-Z Media, David oversees the development and production of more than a dozen original ...
Ep. 14 — Game of Thrones Recapper Jeremy Egner on Writing About the Show for The New York Times and the World
December 26, 2017 13:00 - 49 minutes - 28.4 MBThis week on Write About Now, I interview Game of Thrones recapper and New York Times assistant editor, TV, Jeremy Egner! If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you’ll really enjoy this episode. And even if you’ve never watched an episode of the show in your life, you still might find the whole process of writing TV recaps for a living sort of a fascinating gig. Jeremy started his journalism career as a features reporter for the Austin Herald Statesmen, writing a daily entertainment column for t...