Author interviews

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cmi0616

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Hey y'all,

I don't know how you guys pay the bills, but I do a job that is very much like data-entry for 40 hours a week. For the purposes of maintaining my sanity, I've taken to listening to podcasts and such while working. One thing I've gotten really into lately is author interviews--hearing people talk about literature and craft seems to make the time go quite quickly.

Unfortunately, I seem to have run through all the good ones. I've been through most of the Bookworm archives (highly recommended, by the way; Michael Silverblatt is a wonderful interviewer), listened what I could find from my favorite authors on Youtube (like this and this). Ditto Fresh Air and Writers & Company.

Thus, I turn to you, good people of AW, for more recommendations. Do you have any favorite interviews? Please do share them.
 

edutton

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Hey y'all,

I don't know how you guys pay the bills, but I do a job that is very much like data-entry for 40 hours a week. For the purposes of maintaining my sanity, I've taken to listening to podcasts and such while working. One thing I've gotten really into lately is author interviews--hearing people talk about literature and craft seems to make the time go quite quickly.

Unfortunately, I seem to have run through all the good ones. I've been through most of the Bookworm archives (highly recommended, by the way; Michael Silverblatt is a wonderful interviewer), listened what I could find from my favorite authors on Youtube (like this and this). Ditto Fresh Air and Writers & Company.

Thus, I turn to you, good people of AW, for more recommendations. Do you have any favorite interviews? Please do share them.
I don't know what genres you prefer, but if you like YA at all then Sarah Ennis' "First Draft" cast might be of interest...
 

cmi0616

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I don't know what genres you prefer, but if you like YA at all then Sarah Ennis' "First Draft" cast might be of interest...

I read mostly literary fiction, but I've found it doesn't matter so much whether or not I like the author's work--it's more of a question of whether or not I find the author compelling in conversation.
 

spottedgeckgo

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I've been doing some short interviews on my website. Most of them are around 2000 words, and I'm trying to get more authors in. I'm constantly reformatting my Q+A process to make them more natural and less "here's a list of questions to answer."

IMHO, the best way to get awesome writer interviews is to interview the author yourself. Myself, and those I have interviewed are usually happy to answer questions about the writing process, and life as an author, and sometimes are way to real in our answers, telling some things that you might not want to hear (such as how they are still struggling, and continue to struggle every morning). If you've read any indie authors that are doing well, shoot them an email. And don't be afraid to email a "big name." If they have their email address listed on their website, it's there for a reason ;)
 

cmi0616

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I've been doing some short interviews on my website. Most of them are around 2000 words, and I'm trying to get more authors in. I'm constantly reformatting my Q+A process to make them more natural and less "here's a list of questions to answer."

IMHO, the best way to get awesome writer interviews is to interview the author yourself. Myself, and those I have interviewed are usually happy to answer questions about the writing process, and life as an author, and sometimes are way to real in our answers, telling some things that you might not want to hear (such as how they are still struggling, and continue to struggle every morning). If you've read any indie authors that are doing well, shoot them an email. And don't be afraid to email a "big name." If they have their email address listed on their website, it's there for a reason ;)

Appreciate it, Spottedgecko. I'm more looking for ways to pass the time while I work, so for that reason I'm looking for audio interviews to listen to. Still, your website sounds neat, I'll be sure to check it out.
 

S. Eli

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88 cups of tea has author interviews, agent interviews and tv writer interviews. I'm the same way, I love podcasts about the craft.
Aside from the one you mentioned, there's others like The Creative Penn, Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, Writer, Writer Pants on Fire just started so there's a few episodes of that, I can't recall the name of the one with the 2 agents because I don't listen to it, but it's pretty popular so someone else might know what I'm talking about. Idk if they do author interviews, though, I'm just guessing. Washington Post has a literary podcast, too, I think. And it's also always helpful to just google "[author name] podcast interview"

I do that when I'm pretty bored of the usual
 

edutton

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I love podcasts about the craft.
Aside from the one you mentioned, there's others like The Creative Penn, Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, Writer, Writer Pants on Fire
As far as craft podcasts go, I'm partial to Writing Excuses...
 

spottedgeckgo

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If you get a chance, that's cool cmi0616, but I mainly meant you could come up with a list of some of your own questions, and put them directly to writers. You might be surprised by how many of them answer you back.

As far as podcasts worth listening to, I'm not sure if Tim Ferris is on your list, but he interviews authors quite often.
 

Anna Iguana

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Hi, cmi. My favorite author interviews explore craft. I like Writers on Writing (a California NPR interview show) and Reading and Writing (some interviews focus mostly on the plot of a new book, but interviews that run more than 25-30 minutes tend to dive into craft). The Writers Panel interviews screenwriters and showrunners. Out on a Wire interviewed radio storytellers from NPR, The Moth, and This American Life. And +1 to edutton's suggestion of Writing Excuses.
 
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NicoleScripting

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10 minute writers workshop.
First draft with Sarah Enni ( I recommend Julie Murphy and/or Veronica Roth, their interviews stand out to me still)
Shipping & Handling (this is between two agents but it's pretty good)
The Writers Guild Foundation (this is mostly screenwriting but I still find it pretty funny and good)


Later when I'm more awake and more able I'll post links to some interviews I loved. Right now I'm just suggesting these and putting a pin in this thread because I love podcast.

Have you listened to Lime Town? I know it's fictional and not author interviews but I just listened to it last week and I loved it.
 

ReignaFTW

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First draft with Sarah Enni ( I recommend Julie Murphy and/or Veronica Roth, their interviews stand out to me still).

+1 on the First Draft rec. Started listening to this recently and absolutely love it. The interviews are authentic and just fun. Plenty of great tidbits whether you're into YA or not.

I'm also a huge Writing Excuses fan. Can't recommend it enough!
 

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Scriptnotes.
It's screenwriting, but there's definitely crossover to composing a good story. The two hosts are awesome and have some great insight. It's also less annoying/chatty than a lot of podcasts that are out there. They have a good structure and stick to it.
 

Laurasaurus

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I just discovered a BBC radio show called The Verb.

This episode in particular was hilarious. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08vylyy (Crime writer Denise Mina reads out her account of a typical working week.)

Hopefully people outside the UK can also listen to it. If not maybe it's on YouTube or somewhere.
 

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I can't recall the name of the one with the 2 agents because I don't listen to it, but it's pretty popular so someone else might know what I'm talking about. Idk if they do author interviews, though, I'm just guessing.

Print Run Podcast! They mostly cover craft and general publishing topics but occasionally interview authors too. It's very engaging, and the critique shows are super helpful.
 
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