In today’s episode I talk with author and creativity coach Courtney Maum of Before and After the Book Deal about... more

In today’s episode I talk with author and cultural journalist Melissa Petro about her new book, Shame On: How to... more

Book coach Joelle Hann—aka “The Brooklyn Book Doctor”—joins me to discuss the journey from book idea to finished product. Joelle... more

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Joan Leegant to discuss her new short story collection, Displaced Persons. Joan shares... more

In this episode, I talk with author and novelist about his recent hybrid memoir and cultural exploration, Always Crashing in... more

Today’s guest is the writer and poet Evan Dalton Smith. His first book, part personal story and part cultural study,... more

Today’s episode features my interview with Jennifer Lang. Her memoir, Places We Left Behind, is a marvel of brevity and... more

Last year, I came across an essay called “Book Publishing is Broken” by today’s podcast guest, Kathleen Schmidt .Using her... more

In this converation with memoirist Abigail Thomas, we discuss the backstory of writing Safekeeping, and that now-classic memoir was initially... more

In this episode, I talk with author, musician and audio producer Chérie Newman about her humorous experiences pet-sitting unruly critters... more

In this episode, I talk with author, professor, journalist, and rabbi Jay Michaelson. After publishing nine other books of nonfiction... more

Last fall, administrators at Gettysburg College announced the shuttering of the prestigious Gettysburg Review. This just seemed like the latest... more

Why would anyone want to jumpstart their memoir? For one thing, you’re tasked with plumbing your memory for sometimes difficult... more

In this week’s episode of The Book I Had to Write, I talk with Margo Steines, the author of Brutalities:... more

In the Season 3 launch, Jeannine Ouellette, author of the memoir The Part That Burns and creator of the Writing... more

For this final post of 2023, here’s one from the archives — perhaps the most popular episode of The Book... more

I’ve just wrapped up season 2 of The Book I Had to Write, and I hope you’ve enjoyed... more

About this Episode Back in the 1990s, Leah Eichler, then a young reporter, interviewed her grandmother extensively about her experiences as an... more

"There's a big gap between the dream and the published book--what's happening there?" asks book coach Joelle Hann (aka the... more

Paul interviews writer, scholar, and archival expert Julija Šukys, author of Siberian Exile: Blood, War, and a Granddaughter’s Reckoning. Part... more