Tag

Loss

Fiction, Writers on Writing

JUL 14: Eileen Patricia Curran with Hungry Hill

July 14, 2021

How The World’s Oldest Virgin inspired Hungry Hill

Degrees in finance, marketing, and design can go a long way to helping you independently publish your work. Today Eileen Patricia Curran discusses her journey from inspiration, to writing, and publishing her debut novel Hungry Hill.

Eileen shares some of the challenges of writing her first novel — including being a slow writer. We also explore why she chose to publish independently. How she plays with humor in a story of love, loss, and healing. And why, sometimes, we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves.

About Eileen Patricia Curran

EILEEN PATRICIA CURRAN was born in Massachusetts and spent much of her childhood in Connecticut. She has degrees in Economics and Finance, Marketing, and Interior Design. Hungry Hill is her first book.

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

MAY 13: Love, Death, and Rare Books by Robert Hellenga

May 13, 2020

Award winning writer, Robert Hellenga, joins us with his eighth novel, Love, Death, and Rare Books. BOOKLIST describes the story as “... an ode to physical books, their smell and feel, but also to the idea of both living life and reading about it, not choosing one over the other.”

Robert’s been writing for 40 years about love and loss, so what does he know now that he wishes he’d known when he first began his writing journey?  How did the Italian men who worked for his father influence him as a child? And what did he learn about the rare book business during his story research? He’ll answer these questions and more today.

Robert Helenga’s many accolades range from The Pen Syndicated Fiction Award, to the Washington Post “Best Novels of 2010″, and the Society of Midland Authors 2015 fiction award. Hellenga is professor emeritus at Knox College in Galesburg, where he taught for many years.

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Inspirational, Memoir, Non Fiction, Social Issues, Women's Issues

SEP 16: Laurie Halse Anderson’s SHOUT & Meredith May’s The Honey Bus

September 13, 2019

Today, we pollinate your mind with a buzzworthy guest … literally.  Meredith May learned some of life’s most pivotal lessons about community, loyalty and survival from one of nature’s most fragile and important creatures.  Raised by her fourth generation beekeeper grandfather while her mother’s mental state slowly deteriorated, Meredith found everything she needed to know about family was buzzing right there in the hive.  Her new memoir is The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees.

Meredith spent sixteen years at the San Francisco Chronicle, where her narrative reporting won the PEN USA Literary Award for Journalism and was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize.  She is a fifth generation beekeeper.

Later, frustrated by how little has changed in the 20 years since first writing about sexual assault in her groundbreaking, award-winning novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson reveals her personal history as a survivor of sexual assault and her journey to healing in her new book SHOUT.  Today, she’ll discuss solutions to this ongoing problem, sharing key insights from among the thousands of women she has interviewed over the last two decades.

Laurie is a New York Times bestseller whose writing spans young readers, teens, and new adults.  In addition to combatting censorship, she regularly speaks about the need for diversity in publishing and is a member of RAINN’s National Leadership Council.

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Inspirational, Memoir, Non Fiction, Social Issues, Women's Issues

APR 22: Meredith May’s The Honey Bus & Laurie Halse Anderson’s SHOUT

April 15, 2019

Today’s show kicks off with a buzzworthy guest … literally.  Meredith May learned some of life’s most pivotal lessons about community, loyalty and survival from one of nature’s most fragile and important creatures.  Raised by her fourth generation beekeeper grandfather while her mother’s mental state slowly deteriorated, Merediths found everything she needed to know about family was buzzing right there in the hive.  Her new memoir is The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees.

Meredith spent sixteen years at the San Francisco Chronicle, where her narrative reporting won the PEN USA Literary Award for Journalism and was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize.  She is a fifth generation beekeeper.

Later, frustrated by how little has changed in the 20 years since first writing about sexual assault in her groundbreaking, award-winning novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson reveals her personal history as a survivor of sexual assault and her journey to healing in her new book SHOUT.  Today, she’ll discuss solutions to this ongoing problem, sharing key insights from among the thousands of women she has interviewed over the last two decades.

Laurie’s is a New York Times bestseller whose writing spans young readers, teens, and new adults.  In addition to combatting censorship, she regularly speaks about the need for diversity in publishing and is a member of RAINN’s National Leadership Council.

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Essays, Health & Wellness, Memoir, Social Issues

JAN 21: Suicide Awareness & Prevention Special with A. W. Barnes, Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore, & Sigrid Reinert

January 8, 2019

Death by suicide leaves family members and loved ones with a million unanswered questions. Today we devote the entire hour to suicide awareness and prevention.

Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, is an author and psychologist. As a trusted expert on parenting, child development, and mental health, Dr. Kennedy-Moore joins us to discuss Suicide in Children–What Every Parent Must Know.  If you have kids, this is a must!

We’ll also hear from Sigrid Reinert, suicide prevention specialist with the Washington State Department of Health Suicide Prevention Resource Center. She’ll share signs that indicate someone may be suicidal, red flags to act upon, and expert resources for those who need help.

And, since coping with the suicide of a loved one is arguably one of the hardest experiences we face, we’ll end the hour with one man’s painful journey following the death of his older brother, Mike.

Author A.W. Barnes and Mike were both gay and raised in a large, unaccepting, ultra-conservative Midwest family that shaped their identities … until Mike took his own life.

Seeking catharsis, A.W. wrote a collection of personal essays in The Dark Eclipse: Reflections on Suicide and Absence. Did he find the answers he was looking for? Did Mike’s death change his views on how they were raised? Has time and reflection helped A.W. come to terms with his loss?

A.W. Barnes has a Ph.D. in English Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing. His nonfiction  has appeared in numerous publications, and he’s the academic author of Post-Closet Masculinities in Early Modern England.

 

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