Russell Shorto, author of Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob (Norton), and I talk about the art, craft, and business of writing memoir, especially when you had no intention of doing so. Shorto is the author of the bestselling The Island at the Center of the World, Amsterdam, and Revolution Song.

Los Angeles-based literary agent Betsy Amster and I talk about the business of writing.

Katherine Seligman is a journalist and author in San Francisco. As a reporter, she’s
focused on social issues, from homelessness, mental health and end of
life issues to the city’s boom and bust cycles. But she’s also written
about everything else, from self-appointed graffiti curators, urban
coyotes and embryonic sex selection to what her kids learned growing up
in Haight Ashbury.

Katherine joins me to talk about her novel, At the Edge of the Haight, as well as writing, craft, and process.

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(Broadcast date: February 17, 2021)

Lynell George, author of A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler, published by Angel City Press, and I talk about her new biography of Octavia E. Butler.

Vicki Hendricks, called the “Queen of Noir,” is my guest for the entire hour. Hendricks’s novels include Miami Purity, Iguana Love, and Cruel Poetry. She also has a story in Miami Noir (Akashic) and other noir anthologies.

Ken Layne, author of Desert Oracle, Volume 1: Strange True Tales from the American Southwest, talks with me about the art, craft, and business of writing, along with fairies and unexplainable goings on in the desert.

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(Broadcast date: December 23, 2020)

Musical intro, outro and interludes by Travis Barrett. Find his music on Spotify and also find him on Patreon.