Mon, 30 December 2019
First Draft Episode #221: Tahereh Mafi and Sarah Enni open the mailbag! Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award nominated author of the Shatter Me series, as well as A Very Large Expanse of Sea. The final book in her Shatter Me series, IMAGINE ME, hits shelves March 31, 2020. Watch this episode as a video on the First Draft podcast IGTV channel on Instagram! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
I mention the previous mailbag episode (check out the podcast version here), which featured Zan Romanoff, author of A Song to Take the World Apart, Grace and the Fever, and the forthcoming Look (listen to her episode of First Draft here). -
I cite Morgan Matson as my hero for writing lengthy contemporary young adult novels, like the New York Times bestselling The Unexpected Everything and Save the Date (listen to Morgan’s First Draft interviews here and here)! -
I positively could not keep myself from mentioning The Four Tendencies again, Gretchen Rubin’s metric for analyzing how you (or others in your life) respond to expectations. Seriously, take the quiz already! -
Maurene Goo used Rilo Kiley lyrics before The Way You Make Me Feel in the epigraph because she got permission from the band -
A brief primer on how the Walt Disney Company has impacted IP law — though in 2024 that may be up, and Mickey Mouse could be in the public domain for the first time. -
Tahereh’s husband, Ransom Riggs—New York Times bestselling author of the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series (listen to his First Draft episode here - and heads up that the newest book in the series, The Conference of the Birds, is coming out January 14!)—has a very different writing style than she does. A marathon runner, rather than a sprinter. -
I reference one of the most famous phrases in the entire history of Supreme Court opinions: "I know it when I see it." The phrase appears in Justice Potter Stewart's concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio, a pornography case decided by the Court in 1964. -
Room by Emma Donoghue features a child narrator, but is decidedly not a children’s book. -
When Tahereh wrote Furthermore, she was shocked to learn from her editor that she had actually written a middle grade novel, rather than a young adult novel -
Suzanne Collins is returning to fiction in the spring with a new Hunger Games novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. -
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green brought on a surge of contemporary YA fiction -
Microsoft Word, Scrivener, and Highland 2 are all great options for writing software I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Mailbag-Mafi_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 5:41pm PDT
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Tue, 24 December 2019
First Draft Episode Re-release: Libba Bray (Eps (#18 and 19) Libba Bray, author of New York Times best-selling series A Great and Terrible Beauty, Printz award-winner Going Bovine, and genuinely terrifying historical paranormal The Diviners, among others, joins me to talk about having her rock collection stolen as a kid, that one time Wes Anderson helped stage a play she wrote, and how growing up in Texas set her head at a certain tilt. The episode originally released on Nov 3, 2014, and Nov 6, 2014. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Seven Samurai, directed by Akira Kurosawa -
Citizen Kane -
Christopher ‘Kit’ Marlowe -
Aaron Sorkin worked at the concessions at the theater for years and only heard dialogue for years and that influenced him -
Harold Pinter is a writer who knows when to take a pause in dialogue -
The Thin Man, Bringing Up Baby, The Marx brothers influenced her sense of comedy -
Neil Simon plays (Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy in Three Acts, and The Odd Couple: A Comedy in Three Acts) -
Singin’ In The Rain -
Peter Marks, theater critic of the New York Times and the Washington Post -
New York International Film Festival -
Mawkish -
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (and Tiger Beat has a song called “Holden Caufield is Not an Asshole”), A Separate Peace by John Knowles, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath were the only examples of “YA” that Libba had growing up -
Laurie Halse Anderson, David Levithan, Rachel Cohn, Francesca Lia Block (listen to her First Draft interview here), and Angela Johnson were some of the writers that Libba discovered when she dove into YA fiction -
Aaron Zimmerman, who runs the non-profit New York Writers Coalition -
Ann Brashares (author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), Melissa Sinnet, and Cecily von Ziegesar (author of Gossip Girl) were Libba’s editors at Alloy Book Publishing -
Sweet Sixteen -
Holly Black, Newberry Honoree and New York Times bestselling author the Spiderwick Chronicles, The Curse Workers, Magesterium, and her most recent series, Folk of Air (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
“Miles and Miles of No Man’s Land,” Libba Bray’s post about depression -
Stephanie Perkins‘ blog post about depression (hear Stephanie and me on a panel together in this First Draft episode) -
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry -
Carrie by Stephen King I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Libba_Bray_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 4:37am PDT
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Mon, 16 December 2019
First Draft Episode #224: Tim Baltz Tim Baltz, comedian and actor, co-created, co-wrote, and starred in Shrink, and can now be seen on HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones. He has also appeared in Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, and Drunk History. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Tim’s dad was a professional actor and he toured in one production starring Bill Daly, an actor who was in Newhart and I Dream of Jeanie -
Other early comedy influences for Tim were W.C. Fields, Fawlty Towers, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus -
The poet Robert Service -
The hubs of Chicago improv that Tim is familiar with: Improv Olympic, now known as iO, started by Del Close and Cherna Halpern; Second City, which featured some groundbreaking American comedians like the cast of Pinata Full of Bees, which was made up of Adam McKay (co-writer and director of Anchorman and Talladega Nights, writer and director of The Big Short and Vice, creator of Succession, and much more) Rachel Dratch (comedian and actress from Saturday Night Live, Sisters, and Wanda Jo from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), John Glaser (comedian and actor from Parks and Recreation and Inside Amy Schumer), Scott Adsit (comedian known for 30 Rock, Veep, and The Goldbergs), Jenna Jolovitz (comedian known for MadTV and Greetings from Tucson) as well as Tina Fey, Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris; and The Annoyance theater, founded by Mick Napier -
“Breakups” was a web series created by Ted Tremper, who went on to co-create Shrink with Tim -
Sue Gillan, (actress from Shrink) and Claudia Wallace (actress from Shrink, Fred Claus, and The Oath) -
The Sopranos (TV Show) -
Seinfeld (TV Show) -
Michael Scott (portrayed by Steve Carrell) from the television show The Office I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Tim_Baltz_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:33pm PDT
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Tue, 10 December 2019
First Draft Episode #223: Amanda Montell Amanda Montell, debut author of Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language, joins Sarah to talk about socio-linguistics, and her upcoming book Mindfuck: The Secret Language of Cults (Spoiler: You’re Already Using It). Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Amanda loved reading memoirs growing up, including David Sedaris (author of Calypso, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim), Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, Dry: A Memoir and Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs, and Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants: Based on a True Story by Jill Soloway, writer on Six Feet Under and creator of Transparent. When she was very young, she read the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, including Chicken Soup for the Teenaged Soul -
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Gulp: Adventures Down the Elementary Canal, both by Mary Roach, whom Amanda admires greatly -
Joan Didion (author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Slouching Toward Bethlehem: Essays) and Nora Ephron (author of Heartburn and I Feel Bad About My Neck, and writer and director of Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail) -
She took a few classes at Writing Pad in Los Angeles to keep up her nonfiction writing chops -
Amanda desperately wanted to be published in The Rumpus, like one of her role models, Julie Buntin, who wrote Marlena: A Novel. Julie also wrote “How Queen Became the Ultimate Compliment” for Cosmopolitan. And she was! Read her article, “Baltimore, Offline.” -
With Rebecca Odes, creator of Wifey.tv with co-founder Jill Soloway, Amanda developed the web series The Dirty Word -
Amanda was edited by Karen Rinaldi, publisher of HarperWave, an imprint of HarperCollins -
Rose Wong illustrated pieces of art for the book -
The New York Times wrote a glowing review of Wordslut, though it did take issue with the number of times Amanda used the word “dude” -
There are lots of stories of men super geniuses -- like House, Psych, The Mentalist, Mr. Robot. But Amanda is writing a female language genius for FX, with whom she struck a deal for the TV rights to Wordslut. -
Pamela Adlon, creator of Better Things, is working with Amanda on her proposed TV show -
If you’re interested in Scientology, definitely check out Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright, or Wright’s New Yorker piece, Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. The Church of Scientology which the book was based on, or the HBO documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. -
Amanda has a personal connection to cults through her father’s experience of being forced to live in the Synanon cult in the Bay Area. Learn more about Synanon in, “The Story of This Drug Rehab-Turned Violent Cult is Wild, Wild Country-level Bizarre,” by Hillel Aron for Los Angeles Magazine -
The Daily podcast episode that featured WeWork made me insane -
Lindy West’s The Witches are Coming discusses how utterly unconvincing these cult leader men can be -
Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is another fascination of mine - I recommend listening to The Dropout podcast series about her, and Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in Silicon Valley by John Carreyrou is amazing -
30 For 30’s podcast series about Bikram Yoga -
I refer to “The President’s Speech,” one of the many case studies included in Oliver Sack’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Amanda_Montell_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 3:00am PDT
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Tue, 3 December 2019
First Draft Episode #222: Ryan La Sala Ryan La Sala, debut author of fantasy YA novel Reverie. If you enjoy this conversation with Ryan, hear more from him over at the What Book Hooked You? podcast! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Some of the animation that inspired young Ryan came from seminal video game Final Fantasy, and epic superhero series Sailor Moon -
Glee (TV show) -
Ryan found Alex London’s book Proxy (listen to Alex’s First Draft interviews here and here) and books written by David Levithan, New York Times bestselling author of Every Day, Boy Meets Boy, and Two Boys Kissing, and that inspired Ryan to write his own gay YA story. Ryan also found A. R. Kahler and Adam Silvera’s episodes of First Draft! -
Jeffree Starr, famous makeup artist, with whom Ryan got into a MySpace fight -
The epigraph of Reverie is a quote from Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit -
Ryan’s short pitch for Reverie was: Inception meets RuPaul’s Drag Race -
Ryan had a situation in high school that was not unlike what was portrayed in the Love, Simon movie, based on Simon Versus the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
The Netflix TV show Sex Education -
Marsha P. Johnson, trans activist -
Ryan talked about his #DVPit experience on the Write or Die podcast -
In the cartoon of Beauty and the Beast, the wardrobe commits manslaughter - Ryan’s Halloween costume as the Wardrobe is everything -
Kirsten Hubbard, author of Like Mandarin, Wanderlove, and Watch the Sky and Race the Night, and more (listen to her First Draft episode here) talks on voice memos on her phone to break story I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Ryan_La_Sala_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 3:08am PDT
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Tue, 26 November 2019
First Draft Episode #221: Zan Romanoff and Sarah Enni open the mailbag! Got five minutes? Help First Draft by taking this 2019 Listener Survey! Zan Romanoff, author of A Song to Take the World Apart, Grace and the Fever, and the forthcoming Look (out March 31, 2020) joins Sarah Enni to answer listener questions. Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Make sure to listen to Zan’s first appearance on First Draft, here! -
My cat Hammer! -
The Bluebeard story -
A question from Morgan Matson, New York Times bestselling author of Save the Date, The Unexpected Everything, and more (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here)! -
A question from Elissa Sussman, author of Burn and Stray (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
Kate O'Shaughnessy is the author of The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane, a middle grade novel coming out March 3, 2020 -
I reference the wisdom that Cindy Pon (author of Want and its sequel Ruse, the Silver Phoenix series and more) and Justin A. Reynolds (debut author of The Opposite of Always; and Sarah Enni, author of Tell Me Everything) both agreed on this First Draft LIVE from YA-Hoo Fest episode that they don’t know if a book is going to be a book until they’re written 40,000 words -
I turned off my brain and enjoyed RuPaul’s Drag Race -
Zan is obsessed with Apple TV’s new series, Dickinson -
I want to watch it because I approve of the way John Mulaney rips on Henry David Thoreau -
The way Zan feels about Dickinson is the way I felt about Booksmart, which is the same spot that was tickled by The O.C. -
Ava Dellaira, author of Love Letters to the Dead and In Search of Us. Listen to her episode of First Draft here -
Zan just read Brandy Colbert’s The Voting Booth, coming out July 7, 2020 (listen to her episodes of First Draft here and here), and Robyn Schneider’s You Don’t Live Here (coming out June 2, 2020) -
Sarah is about to read Topics of Conversation: A Novel by Miranda Popkey (coming out January 7, 2020), and Medallion Status: True Stories by Secret Rooms by John Hodgman (I loved Vacationland: True Stories From Painful Beaches as well), and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Mailbag_FINAL_2.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 1:48am PDT
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Tue, 19 November 2019
First Draft Episode #220: Rick Yancy, Cindy Pon, Justin Reynolds, and Sarah Enni LIVE at YA-Hoo Fest Got five minutes? Help First Draft by taking this 2019 Listener Survey! YA-Hoo Fest kicked off with this LIVE recording of the First Draft with Sarah Enni on Sept. 21, 2019. Hear writers talk about plotting the end of humanity, domed Chinese playgrounds, reef-keeping, the universal experience of grief. Featuring: Rick Yancey, New York Times bestselling author of the Fifth Wave series, the Monstrumologist series, and more; Cindy Pon, Want and its sequel Ruse, the Silver Phoenix series and more; Justin A. Reynolds, debut author of The Opposite of Always; and Sarah Enni, author of Tell Me Everything. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Yahoo_Fest_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 3:21am PDT
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Tue, 12 November 2019
First Draft Episode #219: Janet Varney Janet Varney, Emmy-Nominated actor, comedian, writer, producer, and podcaster. She has appeared in dozens of TV shows, including You’re the Worst, Take My Wife, Burning Love, Stan Against Evil, and Fortune Rookie, and the voice of Korra in The Legend of Korra. She is also the co-founder, creative director, and producer of SF Sketchfest: the San Francisco Comedy Festival (now in its 19th year!), and hosts The JV Club podcast. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Take the First Draft listener survey! -
David Owen and Cole Stratton were in a sketch group, Totally False People, with Janet Varney. Together the three of them founded SF Sketchfest, and continue to run the annual month-long comedy festival to this day -
Totally False People got asked to perform at the Aspen Comedy Festival, and Janet was scoped out by Mad TV -
Bruce McCullough, one of the members of influential sketch comedy group Kids in the Hall, is one of Janet’s closest friends. They met in Janet’s capacity as producer of Sketchfest -
One of Janet’s earlier roles was on Love, Inc., a Busy Phillips project about a matchmaker -
Janet was able to craft her character on Burning Love with the blessing of Ken Marino and Erica Oyama, creators of the movies -
Janet plays “Janet Varney” on her IFC show, Fortune Rookie -
Janet (and I) went through the Upright Citizens Brigade improv school, which is focused on “game” as opposed to iO West and The Groundlings, where comedians create broad characters. Matt Besser is one of the four founders of UCB. -
Janet was the voice of Korra in The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender (not for nothing, but I interviewed Michael DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar, and you can listen to that conversation here). -
Much like with Korra, I have read that the cast of Adventure Time recorded the show all in a room together. -
Janet’s podcast The JV Club is amazing! Check it out — you can start with my episode, if you like! -
Doug Benson’s podcast, Doug Loves Movies, and Jimmy Pardo’s podcast, Never Not Funny, were two comedy podcasts that were around when Janet started her own -
Pete Holmes’s You Made it Weird and Marc Maron’s WTF with Marc Maron are two long-form interview podcasts that inspired me to start First Draft -
Memento was a wildly original movie, but Janet argues that level of uniqueness should not be the standard all creators hold themselves to. Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder is a great shorthand guide for a formula to write a screenplay. I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Janet_Varney_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 2:40am PDT
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Tue, 5 November 2019
First Draft Episode #218: Kyle Flynn Kyle Flynn is the keyboardist with indie rock group Father John Misty, as well as writer of television and movies. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
The documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization: Part II, is absolutely incredible -
Kyle taught himself to play guitar using tablature in Guitar World magazine -
Kyle and I both went to the University of Washington and graduated from the English department -
Acceptance (check out their debut album Phantom, and they have reunited and released a new record, Collision By Design) was the pop-punk band who first brought Kyle on tour as a merch guy, and he ended up filling in and touring with them for months -
Other bands in Kyle’s post-college musical world included my then-favs (okay, still some of my favs), Further Seems Forever, Thursday, Finch, and Yellowcard -
Kyle and his brother Kevin were friends with comedian and actor Nick Thune (check out his specials, Folk Hero and Good Guy), and when Nick went to Los Angeles to pursue comedy, he sold Kyle and Kevin’s script in the room with Warner Brothers -
In 2007, right when Kyle and his brother Kevin got to LA to work on the script they’d sold to Warner Brothers, the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America West) went on strike. But Kyle and Kevin made a lot of great connections while picketing with other writers, like Steve Zaillian, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Schindler’s List -
Kyle’s friend from Acceptance, Christian McAlhaney went on to join a new band, Anberlin -
Kyle played in The Narcs, the house band for Nick’s BIG Talk Show, the late night talk show spoof Nick Thune put on monthly at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Los Angeles. Other members of The Narcs include: Liv Marsico (of Liphemra and previously drummer with Cold War Kids and Gothic Tropic) and Miles Gray (comedian and current co-host of The Daily Zeitgeist podcast). While doing that gig, Kyle met Josh Tillman (a.k.a. Father John Misty) and left an interesting impression. -
Josh Tillman (a.k.a. Father John Misty) was previously the drummer in the Seattle indie band Fleet Foxes I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!g
Direct download: Kyle_Flynn_FINAL_2.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 2:38am PDT
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Tue, 29 October 2019
First Draft Episode #217: Ruta Sepetys Ruta Sepetys, #1 New York Times bestselling and Carnegie-winning author of Between Shades of Gray, Out of the Easy, and Salt to the Sea, talks about her newest novel, Fountains of Silence. This episode was brought to you by Freedom — upgrade to Premium and use code FIRSTDRAFT for 40% off a yearly or Forever plan! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Ruta_Sepetys_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 3:14am PDT
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Tue, 22 October 2019
First Draft Episode #216: Mallory Kass (a.k.a. Kass Morgan) Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100 and Light Years (a.k.a. Mallory Kass, senior editor at Scholastic). Supernova, the sequel to Light Years, is out now! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Kass’s father wrote for Seinfeld -
Paula Abdul (her iconic Forever Your Girl is a great starting point) and Janet Jackson (oh my god, where to begin? Rhythm Nation is a must, and The Velvet Rope is everything— also apparently she wrote a book! True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself) were two pop stars Mallory was totally unaware of when she moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles at age 11 -
Once she figured out that she was not destined to be an academic, Kass moved to New York and started an internship at Scholastic with Arthur Levine, who edited a little book series called Harry Potter (when she started at the publisher, Levine was working on Deathly Hallows in secret) -
Kass’s bosses at Scholastic, Rachel Griffiths and David Levithan (New York Times bestselling author of Every Day and Boy Meets Boy), were instrumental in making her feel comfortable pursuing writing as well as editing -
Cheryl B. Klein, associate editor at Scholastic and Kass’s co-worker, encouraged Kass to talk to Alloy Entertainment, a book packaging firm known for projects such as Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar and Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith. Alloy contacted Kass to work on a new project, The 100! -
I loved Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, which features a space school, and so did Kass! -
Looking for Alaska by John Green (which is about to be a Hulu show) is the type of boarding school narrative that we’re more accustomed to reading — Kass threw the boarding school into space! -
My humblebrag about moderating a panel on worldbuilding which featured N.K. Jemisin (and also Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, and Joe Hill!) at BookCon. I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Mallory_Kass_FINAL_2.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 12:00am PDT
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Tue, 15 October 2019
First Draft Episode #215: Leigh Barudgo Leigh Barudgo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shadow and Bone series, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology, discusses her first adult novel, Ninth House. This episode was brought to you by Freedom — upgrade to Premium and use code FIRSTDRAFT for 40% off a yearly or Forever plan! LINKS AND TOPICS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE -
Please check out Leigh’s two previous First Draft interviews, here and here! -
The Grishaverse has been developed by Netflix as a TV show -
Brandon Sanderson is the author of the Mistborn series, the Stormlight Archive series, and the Elantris series, and Leigh notes that he writes one million books and sees way, way far ahead as a writer -
NPR’s laudatory review for King of Scars had to include a lot of backstory, since technically it’s the sixth book in the Grishaverse -
Leigh could not wait for a friend to catch up on the past seasons of Stranger Things before watching the third season (unlike with Game of Thrones where she gave him time to catch up) -
Leigh loves how The Legend of Korra expanded on the universe established in Avatar: The Last Airbender (speaking of Avatar, have you listened to the First Draft interview with Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of the Avatar universe??) -
I risk a spoiler by mentioning the end of Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer series… Curious readers should definitely pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone and read Laini’s fantasy books all through - and listen to her First Draft interview here! -
When I was fortunate enough to moderate a panel on worldbuilding at BookCon, NK Jemisin—New York Times bestselling author of the Broken Earth trilogy and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms series—brought up the Arthur C. Clarke’s third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” -
Leigh hopes to avoid the George R. R. Martin scenario — referencing the fact that the Game of Thrones TV show caught up, and then surpassed, Martin’s pace of writing A Song of Ice and Fire, the series the show is based on -
Leigh’s editor for Ninth House is Noah Eaker, editorial director at Random House. -
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (also a prolific screenwriter of movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men) was entirely about digressions, and that is what made it so perfect. -
Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper were both in Manuscript senior society -
Leigh points writers to Robin LaFevers’ Instagram account (and listen to her First Draft interview) and Susan Dennard’s newsletter, Misfits and Dreamers (and listen to her First Draft interview) for amazing craft advice -
Authors like Kelly Link, Lev Grossman, Joe Hill, and Stephen King (!!!), and Charlaine Harris have given Ninth House props. Not a bad list!!! I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni @ gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! RATE, REVIEW, AND RECOMMEND How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Leigh_Bardugo_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 2:51am PDT
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Tue, 8 October 2019
First Draft Episode #214: Jason Reynolds Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author of critically acclaimed books, including National Book Award finalist Ghost, Newberry and Printz-honored Long Way Down, Coretta Scott King Honoree As Brave as You, and his latest, middle grade Look Both Ways, which was just named to the National Book Award Longlist for Young People’s Literature. This episode was brought to you by Freedom — upgrade to Premium and use code FIRSTDRAFT for 40% off a yearly or Forever plan! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Jason didn’t grow up writing prose, but he and all his friends had rhyme books where they would write lyrics. They wanted to be the next Nas, Slick Rick, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, or Rakim. -
Jason’s aunt would give him classic books as gifts, including Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott -
Bob Marley’s “Kaya,” Nina Simone’s “Four Women,” Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” were hugely influential on Jason because of the beauty of the lyrics -
Jason teamed up with the artist and writer Jason Douglas Griffin for an early book, My Name is Jason. Mine Too: Our Story. Our Way. -
Jason credits Joanna Cotler, author and artist, and then publisher of her own imprint at HarperCollins, with teaching him how to write narrative and gave him the mantra: “Your intuition will take you farther than your education ever will.” -
Jacqueline Woodson (author of Brown Girl Dreaming, winner of the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and Newberry Honor winner), Rita Williams-Garcia (author of Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, a National Book Award finalist), and Walter Dean Myers (author of more than 100 books for young people, including Monster, winner of the Printz Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and National Book Award, and more) are people Jason considers predecessors to his career. -
Christopher Myers, writer, artist, and the son of Walter Dean Myers, pressed Jason to return to writing, to carry on his father’s legacy. At Christopher’s urging, Jason read The Young Landlords by Walter Dean Myers (which the TV show 227 was based on) -
Caitlyn Dlouhy, Vice President & Editorial Director of Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, nurtured Jason’s career by focusing on the integrity of his work -
Laurie Halse Anderson (author of Speak and The Impossible Knife of Memory), Eliot Schrefer (author of Threatened, a National Book Award finalist), and Gene Luen Yang (author and illustrator of American Born Chinese), and Jason also shouts out Sharon Draper’s New York Times bestselling Stella by Starlight -
Jason references part of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself: “Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” -
Jason admires writers who use verse for all or many of their books, specifically Kwame Alexander (poet and educator, and New York Times bestselling author of The Crossover: A Novel, winner of the Newbery Medal and a Coretta Scott King Honor) and Ellen Hopkins (New York Times bestselling author of Crank) -
Alfred Hitchcock’s works (including Psycho and Rear Window), and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining are examples of subtle ways that framing and design can make a viewer feel uncomfortable. -
Quincy Jones said about producing music, “I always say you have to leave space for God to walk into the room.” That’s how Jason feels about the appearance of poetry in text. -
The first scene of Boyz ‘n the Hood shows one kid asking another, “Do you want to see a dead body?” -
Fresh Ink: An Anthology, edited by Lamar Giles (author of Fake ID and Spin), and Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi (author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist, and Pride) are among the anthologies that Jason thinks are wonderful. He wonders why we’ve moved away from the short story format for younger readers. -
The TV show High Maintenance is another example of vignette storytelling that Jason was going for with Look Both Ways -
Jason shouts out Jennifer Buehler, Ph.D., Associate Professor at St. Louis University, Educational Studies who specializes in young adult literature -
Jason’s friend and co-author of All American Boys, Brendan Keily (author of Tradition, listen to his First Draft episode here), refers to the story under the story as “vertical narrative” I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Jason_Reynolds_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 2:33am PDT
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Tue, 1 October 2019
First Draft Episode #213: Renee Ahdieh Renee Ahdieh, New York Times bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn, The Rose and the Dagger, the Flame in the Mist duology, talks about her latest series, which kicks off with The Beautiful, out October 8. This episode was brought to you by Freedom — upgrade to Premium and use code FIRSTDRAFT for 40% off a yearly or Forever plan! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Renee says The Flame in the Mist contains nods to Disney’s Mulan and the classic marital arts film 47 Ronin -
When it comes to pitching books by Sabaa Tahir (listen to her First Draft interview here), Traci Chee, or Sarah Nicole Lemon (listen to her First Draft interview here), Renee has you covered. Not so much, she says, when it comes to pitching her own books. -
Though Renee loves physically strong female heroes like Katniss, from Susanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, she says the hero of the Flame in the Mist series has “strength of the heart.” -
The Beautiful series is an homage to Anne Rice’s seminal Interview with the Vampire series (omigod don’t miss the movie version, optimistically titled Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt). She read The Queen of the Damned first. Renee loves Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, too. -
Each book in The Beautiful’s four-part series will have a different main character, but they will all take place in the same world. Renee borrowed this narrative structure from the world of regency romance novels; in particular, Renee cites Sabrina Jeffries’ Hellions of Halstead Hall series as an inspiration. I came across this in getting recommendations from Bea and Leah Koch, who run The Ripped Bodice bookstore in Culver City, Calif. (listen to their First Draft interview here)! -
Renee loves mysteries, like the TV series Columbo and Agatha Christie’s Poirot -
In addition to Anne Rice’s many vampires novels and Twilight, Renee was also inspired by Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books (which were adapted into the True Blood HBO show) (and I recommended fellow YA author Morgan Matson watch the series - hear me and Morgan chat in her First Draft interviews here and here!). -
Renee says almost every book series she loves is a version of Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare or The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Duma, and she’s also obsessed with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. -
Renee and I gush over Mirage by Somaiya Daud, but I have a bone to pick with her vis a vis robots -
Google is funding efforts to delay or end death! Science is trying to restore activity to a deceased brain! Dogs and cats are being cloned (Barbara Streisand did it)! Life is wild! -
Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of the Strange the Dreamer series and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, gave incredible worldbuilding advice on her episode of First Draft! I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Renne_Ahdieh_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 2:58am PDT
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Tue, 24 September 2019
First Draft Episode #212: Jen Wang Jen Wang, Eisner Award-winning author and illustrator of The Prince and the Dressmaker, In Real Life, and Koko Be Good stops by to talk about her new middle grade graphic novel, Stargazing. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
The seminal Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson was one of the only Western comics that Jen read as a young artist -
In high school Jen started a webcomic called Strings of Fate and took is super seriously! -
Jen’s first publishing experience was contributing to Flight, an anthology put together by her webcomic peers and edited by Kazu Kibuishi, who has gone on to author and illustrate the Amulet series, Copper, and he illustrated the re-release of the Harry Potter series. -
Jen’s agent is Judy Hansen of the Hansen Literary Agency, who represents many of the top graphic artists and illustrators out there today -
Jen’s first editor at First Second, Calista Brill (author in her own right of Tugboat Bill and the River Rescue, Cat Wishes, and Little Wing Learns to Fly) is still her editor today! -
She was also fortunate to work with book designer Colleen AF Venable (also the author of Melvin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in the World and while she was with First Second -
After Jen’s first book, she adapted “IRL,” a short story for Cory Doctorow, one of the founders of BoingBoing and author of Little Brother and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. -
One of her freelance cartoon jobs was illustrating Tom Angleberger’s books, including Tom Angleberger’s Fake Mustache. -
Veronica Roth’s new collection of short stories, The End and Other Beginnings: Stories From the Future, has one of the best titles ever, IMO (hear her First Draft interviews here and here) -
In 2019, Jen was awarded multiple Eisner Awards, for best writer/artist, and for best publication for teens. -
Jen enlisted the help of her friend, Lark Pien -- colorist for books like Printz-winning American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints, written and illustrated by MacArthur Fellow Gene Luen Yang -- to work on Stargazing and help her get the book in on time. I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Jen_Wang_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:59am PDT
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Thu, 19 September 2019
First Draft Episode #211: Gabby Rivera Gabby Rivera, author of Juliet Takes a Breath, which is out in hardcover on September 17, and writer of the America Chavez series for Marvel Comics. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
I couldn’t find Gabby’s first article for Bustle, but she recently wrote about love for the online outlet again, with, “The Truth About ‘Big Love’ is You’ve Got to Manifest It For Yourself.” -
The Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City is where Gabby discovered her creative self and explored her sexuality -
Artist Mahogany L. Browne, author of Black Girl Magic and Woke Baby, was the host at the Nuyorican when Gabby was finding herself there -
Through The New York City Latina Writers Group Gabby got the chance to work with Alicia Anabel Santos and her mentor, Vanessa Mártir, co-author of Do Something! A Handbook for Young Activists -
The Made in NY PA Training Program -
Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio -
Ariel Gore, writer of We Were Witches and Hexing the Patriarchy: 26 Spells, Potions, and Magical Elixirs to Embolden the Resistance) reached out to Gabby when she was putting together Portland Queer, which won the LAMBDA Literary Award for best anthology -
The Dreamyard Project -
Gabby’s experience of moving back in with her parents to finish Juliet Takes a Breath is similar to the story Stephanie Garber shared about Caraval on this very podcast! Listen to Stephanie’s episode here -
Lori Perkins, founder of the L. Perkins Agency and Riverdale Avenue Books -
When Patricia Arquette accepted the Oscar for Boyhood, she stirred controversy with her speech -
High Art with Allie Sheedy and Gia with Angelina Jolie were some of Gabby’s first LGBT movies (and her mom’s exposure to lesbianism was The Singing Nun’s “Dominique”) -
Autostraddle is one of the largest lesbian source of news -
Roxane Gay tweeted about Juliet Takes a Breath -
Gabby worked at GLSEN, the LGBT education nonprofit -
Wil Moss and Sarah Brunstad were Gabby’s editors at Marvel -
Jo Volpe at New Leaf Literary -
Blankets by Craig Thompson was one of the first graphic novels Gabby read -
The quote I reference from Amy Poehler is from an episode of her “Ask Amy” series for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls: “Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it. … Doing what you're afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that- that's what life is.” -
Some artists of color who inspire Gabby are Trinidad Escobar, author and illustrator of graphic memoir Crushed, and Lawrence Lindell, writer and illustrator of From Black Boy, With Love -
Gabby was reading My Beloved World, the autobiography of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, while writing Juliet Takes a Breath -
Don’t miss Gabby’s TED Talk! -
Gabby is writing a new comic series with Boom Studios, who made Lumberjanes -
The Sadie Nash Leadership Project I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Gabby_Rivera_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:24am PDT
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Tue, 17 September 2019
First Draft Episode #210: Josh Gondelman Josh Gondelman, comedian, TV writer for shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Desus and Mero, and debut author of memoir Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results, talks about coming up in comedy, fumbling his breakout moment with the viral Modern Seinfeld Twitter account, and learning that being a “nice” person isn’t the same as being a good person. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
In addition to Nice Try, you should also check out Josh’s standup specials: Dancing on a Weeknight (2019); Physical Whisper (from 2016); and Everything’s the Best! (2011). -
Nancy Kerrigan was the subject of one of the most bizarre crimes in all of sports (really worth watching The Price of Gold, an excellent 30 for 30 documentary about the Kerrigan-Harding incident), which was documented in the film I, Tonya, which Josh’s parents did not see out of loyalty to Kerrigan -
Early on Josh performed in the chorus of The Music Man -
We decide that literary humor is to comedy as Garrison Keillor is to Chris Rock -
Josh wrote a spec script for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia -
Josh was contributing to places like McSweeny’s and New York magazine when he first moved to the city -
Josh co-founded the @SeinfeldToday Twitter account with his friend Jack P. Moore (playwright and sitcom writer for shows like Dear White People), which went viral and got him lots of professional opportunities -
Josh made an impression on Jim Gaffigan with a joke about the wisdom of the justice system in D2: The Mighty Ducks when he was getting his feet wet as a standup in New York City -
Josh talks about establishing authority as a standup onstage, which reminded me of Pete Holmes addressing how he looks (more like a youth pastor than a comedian) on his 2013 special, Nice Try, The Devil. You can see a great example of Josh doing something similar in his 2019 sets on Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Cordon. Josh also got advice and encouragement about this from fellow comedian Pete Lee. -
Josh got a big win when he was able to write for Billy on the Street, featuring Billy Eichner -
One of the notable segments from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was an early one about net neutrality, with a bit at the end (which Josh credits to Geoffrey Haggerty, a comedy writer for shows like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) calling for viewers to write in to the FCC. So many viewers wrote to the FCC that its system crashed, and the government investigated whether the onslaught of feedback was from actual citizens or a coordinated DDoS attack. -
Tim Carvell, head writer for The Daily Show who left with John Oliver to create Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -
Josh is now the producer and writer for Desus and Mero on Showtime. Before he wrote for them, he was a fan of Desus and Mero’s podcast, Boedga Boys, and their TV show, Desus & Mero, on VICELAND. -
Josh does pep talks on Twitter from time to time, and initially was approached to write a book based on that premise. But he resisted that idea because internet darling Jonny Sun (playwright, academic, and author and illustrator of Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too -- listen to Jonny Sun’s episode of First Draft here) had already illustrated the famous Twitter pep talks written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (actor, composer, and playwright of Hamilton and In the Heights) for the book, G’Morning, G’night!: Little Pep Talks For Me & You. -
I was reading Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, at the same time as Josh’s memoir, which actually was a beneficial co-reading experience (FTR I also recommend Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are on audiobook! It’s read by Lauren Fortgang and she does a great job!) -
Josh was on a panel with journalist and author Liz Plank--whose most recent book, “For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity”, is on sale now!--about shifting concepts of masculinity -
Nikki Glaser, a comedian and radio host who Josh admires, gave him pivotal advice early in his career I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Josh_Gondelman_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:16am PDT
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Tue, 10 September 2019
First Draft Episode #208: David Yoon David Yoon, debut author of Frankly in Love, talks about how writing a rom-com turned into writing about his greatest fears; portraying aspirational male friendships; and working to be able to write from a place of unconditional love. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode - The term “latchkey kid” refers to a child who returns from school to an empty home, or a child who is often left at home with little parental supervision, because their parent or parents are away at work.
- David was reading Stephen King at an early age, as well as The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence were some of the books David read at an early age, at his dad’s behest
- David is married to fellow YA author, Nicola Yoon, writer of New York Times bestselling books Everything Everything and The Sun is Also a Star (listen to her episode of First Draft here)
- BTS is the only Kpop David knows
- The TV show VEEP can be mean-spirited, but it’s so good at it that people still love it
- David did the JET Program, the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, for three years after college
- David and Nicola both attended Emerson college to get their MFA
- David was channeling Haruki Murakami (author of Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore) in that program, and Nicola was channeling Ann Beattie (author of Chilly Scenes of Winter and Walks With Men)
- David was in the Emerson MFA program with Gregg Rosenblum author of the Revolution 19 series
- I share my fav quote from Leigh Bardugo, New York Times bestselling author of the books in the Grishaverse, including the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology, as well as author of forthcoming adult novel, Ninth House (listen to her episodes of First Draft here and here)
- The addictions of writers like Truman Capote and Gertrude Stein are often romanticized. In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert tackles the masculine language of pain and suffering surrounding art, dispelling the myth that writers need those things to be creative
- When David watched Frozen, he wanted to know what happened with the parents
- David’s favorite advice is from Margaret Atwood: “Read, read, read. Write, write, write.” He adds: Go to therapy.
I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: David_Yoon_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 11:14am PDT
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Tue, 3 September 2019
First Draft Episode #208: Mary H. K. Choi Mary H. K. Choi, New York Times bestselling author of Emergency Contact, and host of podcasts Hey, Cool Job and Hey, Cool Life!. Her newest YA contemporary book, Permanent Record, is out now! We talk about addiction and fiction, loving and writing boys who fight against toxic masculinity, and fighting against “I’ll be perfect when…” thoughts. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Stephen King, John Grisham, and airport novels were some of the first things Mary picked up when she moved to Texas and became a reader -
Mary compares moving, learning to read, and realizing she could *remember* what she read as Bradley Cooper discovering the mind-expanding possibilities in Limitless (movie) -
Mass Appeal was the graffiti magazine Mary went to work for, and they now do documentaries, including the recent Wu-Tang doc, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (tv series) -
“Like. Flirt. Ghost: A Journey Into the Social Media Lives of Teens,” an article Mary wrote for WIRED, is fantastic and everyone should read it -
Hold the door open for other writers. Be like Hodor -
“Mary H. K. Choi Wanted to Write a Book Where ‘High-Key Nothing Happens,” by Joanna Mikas and Tracy Ma for The New York Times -
Bo Burnam, comedian and writer and director of Eighth Grade (movie) -
Shanna the She-Devil (comic book) and Lady Deadpool (comic book) -
Mary wrote D. J. Khaled’s The Keys (book) -
Edward Orloff with McCormick is Mary’s current agent -
Zareen Jaffery is Mary’s editor at Simon & Schuster. Zareen has also worked with Jenny Han on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Summer I Turned Pretty series (listen to her episode of First Draft here), and with Siobhan Vivian on The Last Boy and Girl in the World and Stay Sweet (hear Siobhan on a live panel episode of First Draft here). However, Morgan Matson’s editor is actually Justin Chanda, also at Simon & Schuster (listen to Morgan’s First Draft episodes here and here)! -
“I love my mom a not-normal amount and it makes me crazy,” an article Mary wrote for Aeon about her mom which went viral -
The Joaquin Phoenix movie, Her, is akin to how Mary felt exploring the idea of falling in love over text -
Mary references Justin Bieber’s first appearance on The Ellen Show. Watch it and be transported to a time when he was a mere bb -
There are some similarities between Permanent Record and the Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts film Notting Hill, which is a classic -
Mary and I are now both obsessed with Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly and The Gifts of Imperfection -
The New York slang that Mary uses in the book is a love letter to Desus & Mero (who went from YouTube channel to their podcast, Bodega Boys, to a VICE and now a Showtime TV show) and Mary’s friends who run the podcast Chillin Island -
Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs is awesome but it does not include mental health -
Mary is a part of Overeaters Anonymous -
Holly Black talked to me in her episode (listen here) about the depressive state she fell into after publishing her first book I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. SUBSCRIBE TO FIRST DRAFT WITH SARAH ENNI Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! RATE, REVIEW, AND RECOMMEND How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Mary_H_K_Choi_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:58am PDT
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Tue, 27 August 2019
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First Draft Episode #207: Sara Farizan, Katie Cotugno, and Sarah Enni at Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Boston I was thrilled to do an event with Sara Farizan--author of Here to Stay, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, and If You Could Be Mine--and Katie Cotugno--New York Times bestselling author of How to Love, 99 Days, Top Ten, and Fireworks. We met at Trident Booksellers and Cafe, Sara and Katie’s local bookstore in Boston, to discuss sexy first responders for all your needs, writing humor in contemporary stories, and letting characters make mistakes. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Sara_F__Katie_C_live_event_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:38am PDT
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Tue, 20 August 2019
First Draft Episode #206: Stephanie Perkins and Sarah Enni I was thrilled to do an event with Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss, editor of My True Love Gave to Me, and many more. We met at Malaprop’s, Stephanie’s local bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina, to discuss villains in contemporary stories, our favorite podcasts, and the upcoming Netflix movie based on Stephanie’s most recent novel, There’s Someone Inside Your House! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
In Tell Me Everything By Sarah Enni, the main character Ivy uses a Post Secret type app called Veil and is faced with the moral ambiguity of social media apps. Ivy deals with the negativity of social media and twisting herself into knots trying to defend something that is special to her. -
The first time that Sarah was in Asheville she was interviewed Beth Revis (Author of Across The Universe, listen to her episode of First Draft here), Meagan Spooner (Author of The Starbound Trilogy , listen to her episode of First Draft here), and Megan Sheperd (Author of Grim Lovelies, listen to her episode of First Draft here) for First Draft and she was able to reach out to them through Twitter. She believes that social media is morally gray because sites like Twitter have helped her make friends and connect with people but have also dismantled other peoples lives. -
The creator of the app Veil is a villain called Rake Burmkezerg which is an acronym for Mark Zuckerberg. Rake creates an app that fosters a lot of negativity but wants to take no accountability for it which is what makes him the villain. -
During her writing process, Sarah got the chance to explore her feelings about the people who have created the systems that are in charge and so much apart of our lives now e.g. Larry Ellison (Founder of Oracle Corporation) , Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) and Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter). They manage a huge part of their lives and are met with almost no accountability. -
Stephanie was previously seen as an exclusively Romance genre was always interested in True Crime, Horror and Thrillers. There’s Someone Inside Your House is her first thriller. -
Scream (movie), was very influential to Stephanie as a child and turned her from a very frightened child into someone who saw how fun they could be and how they could be a safe place to explore your fears. -
Most of Stephanie’s horror background comes from Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton as well as Stephen King novels. -
There’s Someone Inside Your House is a very traditional thriller but Stephanie wanted to keep the killer's point of view out of it. Since our society celebrates villains like Hannibal Lecter and Freddy vs. Jason (movie) she wanted to take that element out of the story and focus on the victims. -
Netflix has purchased There’s Someone Inside Your House a year ago and Stephanie has received the script! Henry Gayden is the screenwriter for the project and also the screenwriter for Shazam! (movie) as well as the Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse sequel (movie). -
Judy Blume’s books talk about Belted undergarments and are dated but still end up being universal and timeless. So Sarah doesn’t worry about her books becoming dated and writes about what is relevant to her book now. -
Sarah Enni’s First Draft Podcast episode in which she talks about her positive high school experience which also inspired the high school in Tell Me Everything. -
In the eighth grade, Sarah realized her favorite movie Rushmore was her favorite movie and Radiohead was her favorite band. And she still goes back to that person to check in to make sure she’s still in touch with it and that’s were her pull to the YA genre came from. -
Sarah loves NPR and started this podcast because she always wanted to be Nina Totenberg. -
Sarah and Stephanie podcast recommendations: How Did This Get Made, Welcome to Nightvale, Truth and Justice with Bob Ruff, and My Favorite Murder. -
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis was very influential to Stephanie to the point where she named her cat Mr. Tumnus. -
When writing Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After, Stephanie wanted to take elements of fairy-tales and even paranormal romance and pull that off with a realistic ending. She wanted the idea of two teenagers who are meant to be and will be together forever. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. SUBSCRIBE TO FIRST DRAFT WITH SARAH ENNI Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! RATE, REVIEW, AND RECOMMEND How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
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Tue, 13 August 2019
First Draft Episode #205: Kendare Blake, Somaiya Daud, and Sarah Enni at the University Bookstore in Seattle Pantsing and world building with Kendare Blake, author of the Three Dark Queens trilogy and Anna Dressed in Blood; Somaiya Daud, author of Mirage; and Sarah Enni, author of Tell Me Everything and host of this podcast! This episode is audio from the March 2019 event at The University Bookstore in Seattle, Washington. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Kendare wore a Jeff Goldblum T-shirt in honor of Tell Me Everything! -
Sarah wanted Sudden Cove, the town in Tell Me Everything to feel like a Stars Hollow (from the Gilmore Girls) of the west coast, or like Pawnee from Parks and Recreation. -
The Bigfoot Discovery Museum is real, Sarah did go there with fellow YA and MG author Kirsten Hubbard (author of Wanderlove, Watch the Sky, Race the Night and more -- listen to her First Draft interview here!) -
The purveyor of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum was a man who looked just like George R. R. Martin, author of the Game of Thrones series -
The Bees by Laline Paull, is a book from the point of view of bees -
Somaiya is inspired by Star Wars (especially the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace) and the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but she also really loves The Silmarillion. -
MoPOP, a modern art museum in Seattle that hosted the Star Wars costume exhibit when it was in town -
Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera also explores the world of a matriarchy -
Somaiya uses Scrivener to organize her extensive historical documents that she writes before she drafts her books -
Aeon Timeline is timeline software Somaiya paid for to create a 1,000-year history of the world of her book -
I get to discuss Yucca Mountain, where we should be sending all of America’s radioactive waste! I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Seattle_Event_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:57am PDT
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Tue, 6 August 2019
First Draft Episode #204: Siobhan Vivian, Kami Garcia, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jessica Brody on the “Pitter Patter: Writing Fresh Love Stories” from YALLFest 2018 Young Adult romcoms were the subject of the “Pitter Patter: Writing Fresh Love Stories” panel at YALLFest on Nov. 8, 2018. Hear contemporary romance writers compare makeout daydreams, talk about writing love in a time of #MeToo, and the lack of appreciation for stories with happy endings. Featuirng: Kami Garcia, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Creatures and The Lovely Reckless and Broken, Beautiful Hearts, and more; Stephanie Kate Srtohm, author of Prince in Disguise, It’s Not Me It’s You and Love a la Mode and more; Siobhan Vivian, author of Stay Sweet and The List, The Last Boy and Girl in the World, and more; and Jessica Brody, Sky Without Stars, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing That You’ll Ever Need and more. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: YallWest_Panel_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:01am PDT
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Tue, 30 July 2019
First Draft Episode #202: D.C. Pierson D.C. Pierson, comedian, writer, filmmaker and author of The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To and Crap Kingdom, and co-writer and star of indie comedy movie Mystery Team, talks about getting more vulnerable with age, using his fiction to explore the gap between what we expect of the world and what turns out to be true, and being sick of not finishing things. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Dan Eckman and Meggie McFadden are two comedians D.C. has worked with for years, in part on an adaptation of D.C.’s first book, The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To -
D.C. loved the cover of his dad’s copy of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton -
Rubber Soul was the one Beatles album D.C.’s family had on cassette or CD -
In conjunction with the documentary The Beatles Anthology, detailed compilations of Beatles ephemera were released in three double-CD sets: Anthology 1, Anthology 2, and Anthology 3. D.C. listened to these more than the regular Beatles albums, which means he listened to a lot of alternate versions of songs and random studio chatter. He credits that with jumpstarting much of his curiosity as a storyteller. -
While D.C. attended the Rita and Burton Goldberg School of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch Institute of Performing Arts, one of his teachers was Charlie Rubin, who wrote for Seinfeld and In Living Color, and was a showrunner for Law & Order: Criminal Intent -
Derick was D.C.’s improv group which formed at NYU, made up of D.C. Pierson, Dominic Dierkes, Donald Glover, Dan Eckman, and Maggie McFadden -
Mystery Team was a fully independently-made movie that the Derick Comedy group made, which had a screening at Sundance, and led the group to move to Los Angeles -
Upright Citizens Brigade improv theater is where D.C. honed his comedy and performing chops during and after college -
The concept for Mystery Team is basically: what if characters from Encyclopedia Brown never really grew out of their idealized, 1950s childhood, and kept trying to solve crimes? -
Donald shared what he learned writing for 30 Rock (with Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Matt Hubbard, Kay Cannon) with his Derick Comedy friends to help them write a tight script for Mystery Team -
Nathan Rabin, who wrote for The A.V. Club at the time, wrote a glowing review there for Mystery Team that D.C. credits with helping the movie gain momentum -
A passing encouraging comment from comedian, actor, writer, and musician Eliza Skinner gave D.C. the boost he needed to start writing a book -
Dianne McGunigle, manager and a producer of Atlanta, was D.C. agent at the time that he wrote a first draft of The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep… and she read it quickly, a favor for which D.C. is forever grateful -
Gerry Howard, who edited David Foster Wallace’s The Broom of the System and Girl with Curious Hair, as well as Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, was the editor D.C. worked with for The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep… D.C. was starstruck to be going to the offices where Sloane Crosley—essayist and writer known for I Was Told There’d Be Cake, How Did You Get This Number and her newest, Look Alive Out There—also worked. -
The Los Angeles Times gave The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep… a lovely review -
D.C. was inspired by psychologist Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success -
One of D.C.’s favorite English teachers sent him Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham provided a quote that summed up what he likes to explore in all his writing -
To me, Crap Kingdom is asking, “What if Lord of the Rings was deeply uncool?” -
Stephen King’s On Writing is one of the writing books that has inspired D.C. in his fiction process -
One of D.C.’s earliest imrpov teachers, Owen Burke, referred to the following passage from Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, on the endurance of human thought and creation: “We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it. The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language. Ancient cures for diseases will reveal themselves once more. Mathematical discoveries glimpsed and lost to view will have their time again. You do not suppose, my lady, that if all of Archimedes had been hiding in the great library of Alexandria, we would be at a loss for a corkscrew?” -
D.C. sometimes teaches at Writing Pad, a writing program offered online and in L.A./S.F. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Participate To leave a voicemail for a future episode, call 818-533-1998. Or you can email the show at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: D.C._Pierson_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:23am PDT
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Tue, 30 July 2019
First Draft Episode #203: Simon Curtis Simon Curtis, pop star, actor, and author of Boy Robot and its forthcoming sequel. Listen to his brand-new singles, “Graduate” and “Rainbow” now! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Simon’s first big gig was as a part of the children’s choir for a national touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat -
Simon’s “It Gets Better” video for The Trevor Project is beautiful and heartbreaking and very worth a watch. -
Early on when he got to LA, Simon was able to audition for Johnny Wright, manager for acts like New Kids on the Block, the Backstreet Boys, N*SYNC, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and more. -
Simon starred in Spectacular! a Nickelodeon TV movie -
Simon made his first album, 8 Bit Heart, after challenges in his acting career threw him into a depression -
LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow and Michael Scott, author of The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, were two of the earliest voices encouraging Simon to write a novel -
Michael Strother, who became Simon’s editor at Simon Pulse, first reached out to Simon as a supportive fan of his music online as @CupcakeAndy -
I reference Sabaa Tahir’s author journey, where she spent six years writing her first novel, Ember in the Ashes, and then had to turn around and write the sequel in waaaaaay less time. Sabaa talks about this (and so much more!) in her episode of First Draft. -
Simon recorded and released R∆ while he was writing Boy Robot (the book) -
Ariana Grande’s “Thank U Next” is on the level with Simon’s purposeful cultivation of gratitude -
Simon’s song “Love” was a song that hit him like a lightning bolt -
Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope album is a full ALBUM, not a collection of singles -
Simon was obsessed with Swedish pop groups A Teens and Play -
Five years ago Simon discovered Fleetwood Mac, iconic band featuring Stevie Nicks, check our Rumours and be forever changed -
Kacey Musgraves’ album Golden Hour was so freaking rad and reshaped Simon’s taste in music -
Victoria Aveyard (author of the Red Queen series; listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) had a conversation about not asking people to read their books — Simon takes an opposite approach: “Bitch, read my book!” -
I will never stop crying watching the part of Netflix documentary, Knock Down the House, when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) gives herself the most badass pep-talk I want to hear from you! To leave a voicemail for a future episode, call 818-533-1998. Or you can email the show at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Simon_Curtis_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 7:56am PDT
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Thu, 18 July 2019
First Draft Episode #201: Gaby Dunn Gaby Dunn, co-author of the New York Times bestselling young adult novel I Hate Everyone But You with her writing partner Alison Raskin. The sequel, Please Send Help, is out now! Gaby and Alison also host the Just Between Us podcast and YouTube channel. Gaby is also the host of the podcast Bad With Money and author of the book Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together. LINKS AND TOPICS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE -
Listen to Gaby’s first episode of First Draft with her co-author and comedy partner Allison Raskin here -
Gaby has a money book that came out in January called Bad With Money based on her podcast of the same name. -
Started the Bad With Money podcast because she is not a money expert at all and wanted to ask basic finance questions like “What is a stock?” or “What is a 401k?”. -
CNBC is a business and finance-based TV network (which was the launching pad for Suze Orman, financial adviser and TV host, author of Women and Money and The Road to Wealth, who has appeared on Gaby’s show) -
Gerrymandering Case in which hard drives of a deceased Republican strategist were discovered, and he was understood to be encouraging a top census official to add a citizenship question to the survey for political gain. -
Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin’s YouTube Channel “Just Between Us”, which is an LA based odd-couple comedy channel. It has now shifted over to a podcast format. -
Gaby went to school for journalism and when she had to interview people and ask a tough question she would give a story of her own first so people would feel like they were talking to a real person. Gaby relates it to the 30 Rock bit were Tracy Morgan feels like he’s lost touch with his audience. -
In her recent novel, Gaby talks about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (TV show) and feeling like the character Charlie during the “There is no Carol in HR!” scene. -
Gaby and Allison Raskin sold their first novel, I Hate Everyone But You, in a bidding war between Macmillan and Simon and Schuster. Simon and Schuster won the bid but Gaby signed a deal for a solo book with Macmillan. -
Broke Millennial and Broke Millennial Takes on Investing by Erin Lowry -
Gaby talked with Suze Orman off the record and agreed to disagree on the importance of systemic issues. -
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TV show) -
Please Send Help takes place four years after I Hate Everyone But You to match the growth of the readers and becomes a cross over between the Young Adult and Adult Genre. -
Bury The Lede is a Crime Thriller and Gaby’s first graphic novel. She wanted to move away from comedy and towards crime procedurals. Gaby pitches Bury The Lede as Killing Eve (TV show) or Lesbian Hannibal (TV show). -
Gaby draws on her experience as an intern at The Boston Globe where she would show up to work, get a police radio, and drive around looking for stories. -
Gaby worked at the Boston Globe while the case of Clark Rockefeller was unfolding. Clark Rockefeller was the pseudonym of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, convicted murderer and imposter who posed as an American socialite, and was eventually arrested for kidnapping his daughter following a contentious divorce. “The Man in the Rockefeller Suit,” written by Mark Seal for Vanity Fair, is a great piece on the case, and the movie Gaby mentions is Who is Clark Rockefeller? starring Eric McCormack of Will & Grace. -
Boom Studios is publishing her graphic novel. They have also published Lumberjanes, Heavy Vinyl, and The Avant-guards. Gaby’s editor is Dafna Pleban. -
Claire Roe and Miquel Muerto are the artists for Bury The Lede. -
Emily Heller (Stand-up Comedian), Jon Gabrus (Actor and Comedian), and Dave Holmes (Author, TV host, and critic) are a few of the guests that have been on the Just Between Us podcast. -
S1E2 of Bad With Money features Gaby’s session with Brad Klontz, financial therapist and author of Mind over Money: Overcoming the Money Disorders That Threaten Our Financial Health SUBSCRIBE TO FIRST DRAFT WITH SARAH ENNI Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! RATE, REVIEW, AND RECOMMEND How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Gaby_Dunn_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:38am PDT
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Tue, 16 July 2019
First Draft Episode #200: Special Anniversary Episode For the 200th episode of the First Draft with Sarah Enni podcast, previous guests sent in answers to questions like, where do you turn for inspiration? What are you hopes and dreams at this moment in your career? What do you do besides writing that makes you a more skillful storyteller? And, of course, any advice! Listen in to hear tips, tricks, and reassurances and encouragement from dozens of bestselling and award-winning writers! People Featured, and Links and Topics Mentioned, In This Episode -
Podcasts I listened to obsessively, which inspired me to start this podcast, include Fresh Air with Teri Gross, WTF with Marc Maron, and You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes - Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series, Carve the Mark duology and the forthcoming short story collection, The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future (listen to her First Draft podcasts here, here, and here)
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Kayla Cagan, author of Piper Perish and Art Boss (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
Will Hines, author of How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth (hear his First Draft episode here) -
Sara Farizan, author of Here to Stay, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, If You Could Be Mine (hear her First Draft interview here) -
Kass Morgan, author of The 100 series and Light Years (stay tuned for her episode of First Draft!) -
Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Beasts Made of Night, Crown of Thunder, and War Girls series -
Tochi recommends playing narrative video games, like God of War, Assassin's Creed, or Red Dead Redemption -
Leigh Bardugo, author of the Shadow and Bone series and Six of Crows duology, and the forthcoming adult novel, Ninth House , and more (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) -
Josh Gondelman, author of the forthcoming memoir Nice Try, writer and producer of “Desus and Mero” and Emmy-winning writer for “Last Week Tonight on John Oliver” (hear his First Draft interview soon!) -
Maris Kreizman, author of Slaughterhouse 90210 and host of LitHub’s The Maris Review podcast -
Ryan Graudin, author of the Wolf by Wolf, Invictus, The Walled City, and more (hear her First Draft interview here) -
Sabriel by Garth Nix -
Jason Reynolds, author of Look Both Ways, the Track series, Long Way Down, As Brave As You, All American Boys, and many more (stay tuned for his episode of First Draft) -
The New Yorker -
The Newberry Award; The National Book Award; The Pulitzer Prize -
Stephanie Garber, author of the Caraval series (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
Elana K. Arnold, author of A Boy Called Bat, Damsel, What Girls Are Made Of, Infandous, and more (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here) -
Lance Rubin, author of Denton's Little's Deathdate, Denton's Little's Still Not Dead, and Crying Laughing (listen to his First Draft episode here) -
Freedom (computer app) -
Deep Work Work by Cal Newport -
Courtney Summers, including Sadie, Cracked Up to Be, This Is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, All the Rage, Some Girls Are (hear her First Draft episodes here and here) -
“Real Romance,” The New Yorker profile about Nora Roberts -
Mary H. K. Choi, author of Emergency Contact and Permanent Record (stay tuned for her episode of First Draft) -
The Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) and Dia:Beacon -
Bridget Tyler, author of The Pioneer and The Survivor (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
Scientific American, which Veronica just subscribed to -
Samantha Mabry, author of A Fierce and Subtle Poison and All the Wind in the World (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
Elissa Sussman, author of Stray and Burn (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
Abdi Nazemian, author of Like a Love Story, The Authentics, and The Walk-In Closet (listen to his First Draft interview here) -
Madonna, the queen of Abdi’s book -
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron -
Morgan Matson, author of he Date, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, The Unexpected Everything, and more! (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) -
Julie Buxbaum, author of Tell Me Three Things, What to Say Next, and Hope and Other Punchlines (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
Danielle Paige, author of Dorothy Must Die, Stealing Snow and Mera: Tidebreaker (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
David Yoon, author of Frankly in Love (stay tuned for his episode of First Draft!) -
Zan Romanoff, author of Look (due Spring 2020) and A Song to Take The World Apart and Grace and the Fever (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
Writing Workshops LA -
Francesca Lia Block, author of Weetzie Bat, The Thorn Necklace, and so many more (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
Aminah Mae Safi, author of Not the Girls You're Looking For and Tell Me How You Really Feel (listen to her First Draft interview here) -
Alex London, author of Black Wings Beating, Proxy, The Wild Ones series and more (listen to his First Draft episodes here and here) -
Nina LaCour, author of We Are Okay, The Disenchantments, Everything Leads to You, Hold Still and more (hear her First Draft episodes here and here), and listen to Nina’s podcast, Keeping a Notebook -
Hamline University’s MFA program -
The Slow Novel Lab, Nina LaCour’s online course on writing -
Lilliam Rivera, author of Dealing In Dreams and The Education Of Margot Sanchez, (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) -
Pseudonymous Bosch, aka Raphael Simon (author of the The Name of This Book is a Secret and the Bad Magic series, and more) and Shane Pangburn, who together created The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers (stay tuned for their First Draft episode!) -
Amy Lukavics, author of Daughters into Devils and The Ravenous (listen to her First Draft episode here) -
Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know, I Believe in a Thing Called Love and The Way You Make Me Feel and Since You Asked (Listen to Maurene’s first, second, and third episodes of First Draft) -
That time Maurene interviewed Sarah Enni for this podcast! (The Sarah Enni episode of First Draft ) Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: 200th_ep_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 7:20am PDT
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Tue, 9 July 2019
First Draft Episode #199: Robin Wasserman Robin Wasserman, New York Times bestselling author of adult novel Girls on Fire, as well as young adult novels The Waking Dark, The Book of Blood and Shadow, Hacking Harvard, The Cold Awakening series, the Seven Deadly Sins series. Her next novel, to come out with Scribner, is Mother Daughter Widow Wife. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Robin loved Diane Wynne Jones and Stephen King as a kid, particularly Salem’s Lot, The Stand, and It. (Robin wrote for The Atlantic about, “How Stephen King Saved My Life”) -
Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer, about whom Robin would gladly talk about forever. (And I would listen!) -
Robin wrote her senior thesis about Dr. Timothy Leary, who co-conducted studies known as the Psilocybin Project, which sought to test whether psychedelics could cure the emotional pain of Western man. Leary was fired from Harvard when the ethics of his studies came into question, and went on to continue promoting the use of psychedelics as a thought leader in the 60s counter-cultural movement. Leary has written extensively about his philosophy, including in books like The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, his book with his partner in the experiments, Richard Alpert* (now known as Ram Dass); his autobiography, Flashbacks; and Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out. Many have written about him, including The Timothy Leary Project: Inside the Great Counterculture Experiment, compiled by the archivist Jennifer Ulrich; and Timothy Leary: Outside Looking In by Robert Forte. -
David Levithan, who has and does host a regular drinks night for New York authors of young adult fiction. Robin went to one of these gatherings and met John Green before Looking for Alaska won the Printz. -
Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of Nirvana, the band that broke open grunge. Cobain died by suicide in 1994. If you’re interested in Cobain, or Nirvana, or the grunge scene generally, I personally recommend Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm, and the documentary Montage of Heck by Brett Morgen (about which Robin wrote, “The Art of Resurrection: Montage of Heck,” in the Los Angeles Times Review of Books). -
The Satanic Panic was a phenomenon in the 1980s, wherein millions of Americans feared that an underground cult of Satan worshipers were practicing rituals and committing crimes. Robin particularly recommends Richard Beck’s We Believe the Children, which covers the phenomenon of, specifically, day care workers being charged with horrible accusations of child abuse. I’m obsessed with this phenomenon, and there are a ton of other podcasts that do a great job explaining it: -
For a broad overview, the Stuff You Should Know podcast released an episode about The Satanic Panic -
The Satanic Panic is a multi-part, deep dive into the phenomenon and many of the cases that came to define it (and their resources page isn’t to be missed) -
The McMartin Child Abuse trial was one of the most massive and egregious examples of the Satanic Panic as a community-seizing exercise of hysteria. Both WNYC’s The Takeaway and Generation Why have devoted episodes to exploring the case. Documentary filmmaker Penny Lane (whose most recent film, Hail Satan?, is awesome) went on KCRW’s The Document to discuss the case, and the phenomenon. -
Robin was inspired, in part, by an event of mass hysteria that afflicted dozens (of mostly high school cheerleaders) in LeRoy, New York, a phenomenon covered in the New York Times and Slate. Robin wrote about the phenomenon for the Los Angeles Times Review of Books (“Girl Trouble”), which is a non-fiction piece on the history of hysteria and a review of The Fever by Megan Abbott. Another book written about that phenomenon is The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas (listen to Kara’s episodes of First Draft here and here). -
The West Memphis Three was another case of hysteria leading to false convictions, in which three men in West Memphis, Arkansas were held responsible for the deaths of three young boys. The trial was controversial, and the three convicted men were released after serving more than 18 years in prison. The case is covered in a modern classic of documentary filmmaking, a trio of docs that begins with Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. -
The concept of “kindred spirits” put forth by Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery led Robin to some dysfunctional concepts of female friendship as a young woman -
Holly Black, who Robin calls “the queen of life modeling exercises” (listen to Holly Black’s First Draft episode here), asked her to write out what author she’d like to be. Robert Cormier and Neil Gaiman were among the many different answers to that question. Robin threw out that she’d like to be a cross between Michael Chabon and Joss Whedon. -
What/If, the TV show that Robin wrote for, is now available to watch on Netflix! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Robin_Wasserman_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:54am PDT
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Tue, 2 July 2019
First Draft Episode #198: Jonny Sun Jonny Sun, Canadian author and illustrator of Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too and Gmorning, Gnight!, TV writer on BoJack Horseman, screenwriter, one of TIME Magazine's 25 Most Influential People on the Internet in 2017, and a doctoral candidate at MIT and a creative researcher at the Harvard metaLAB. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Jonny remembers watching The Muppet Show as a kid (even though in some ways that really isn’t a kids show), and later he realized that was why he loved sketch comedy -
Jonny loved reading Calvin and Hobbes as a kid, and he read a good amount of Charlie Brown, Zits, and The Far Side, all of which were comedy -
The Wayside School books by Louis Sachar was Jonny’s intro into absurdist humor -
He watched American Pie (movie) with his family, lol -
Playwright David Ives, who Jonny calls the theater version of sketch comedy -
Jonny played Nathan Detroit in a production of Guys and Dolls, and his best friend played Sky Masterson — Jonny’s best friend went on to perform with Second City and is now appearing in Come From Away in Toronto -
Bruce Springsteen’s show, Springsteen on Broadway, is an interesting example of an artist engaging with works from every phase of their life -
Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern and As Seen on Tumblr was part of a wave of books made from things that were funny on the internet -
Winnie the Pooh is used as a reference for how Jonny structured Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn too like a social media site -
Jonny recently gave a TED Talk!!!! -
The Perry Bible Fellowship is a webcomic by Nicholas Gurewitch -
He didn’t hesitate to illustrate Lin-Manuel Miranda’s book, Gmorning, Gnight! and he’d been a fan of Miranda’s plays, especially “In the Heights,” for years -
Jonny made TinyCareBot after the 2016 election as a way to gently nudge himself to be kind to and take care of himself Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Jonny_Sun_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 6:43am PDT
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Tue, 25 June 2019
First Draft Episode #194: Linda Holmes Linda Holmes, pop-culture critic at NPR and co-host of the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, is out with her debut author of Evvie Drake Starts Over. I loved what Linda had to say about how practicing appellate law helped hone her critical writing; getting used to listening to her own voice; how she manages anxiety and depression, and the difficulty in even acknowledging that she wanted to write a novel. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
I got the good NPR shirt, and the soup-sized mug, when I visited Linda to interview her at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. -
Linda’s interview on The Hilarious World of Depression podcast -
Television Without Pity, which became Previously.tv, which recently became PrimerTimer.com! -
The Amazing Race was on the top of my mind when thinking about Television Without Pity -
Again With This, a podcast hosted by Sarah D. Bunting and Tara Ariano, two of the founders of Television Without Pity, who do episode-by-episode recaps of Beverly Hills 90210 -
Stephen Thompson, one of Linda’s dear friends and co-workers, worked at The Onion before joining NPR -
Linda’s writing was formerly hosted on the Monkey See blog at NPR, but that blog was sunsetted in favor of expanding the Pop Culture Happy Hour brand -
Dancing with the Stars is now discussed on NPR, and that is largely due to Linda’s influence -
All Songs Considered, the music-oriented NPR show and podcast that served as the inspiration for Pop Culture Happy Hour -
Talk of the Nation, a live call-in show which had Linda on as a guest. She loved the spontaneity of participating in a live radio show -
Linda had every intention of writing a book for National Novel Writing Month, alas her apartment flooded -
Chuck Knoblauch throwing a baseball into the stands, hitting Keith Olbermann’s mother -
If the yips interests you as much as it interests Linda, check out Field of Fear, a 30 for 30 mini-documentary -
Before Sunrise is a movie that’s mostly talking, and is amazing, but Linda wanted Evvie Drake to have more action than that -
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a TV show that brings Linda joy and is fun, but also is warm-spirited and compassionate -
Audie Cornish gets a break from being a very serious NPR news reporter when she guests on Pop Culture Happy Hour -
Linda uses Matt Damon growing potatoes in the film The Martian as a parable for the importance of art and culture in our lives -
Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company reps Linda (hear Sarah Burnes’ episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni here) Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Linda_Holmes_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:55am PDT
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Tue, 18 June 2019
First Draft Episode #196: Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, Amy Andelson, and Emily Meyer Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, Amy Andelson, and Emily Meyer are the team behind Trinkets, the Netflix TV series based on Kiwi’s young adult novel of the same name. Kiwi Smith is one half of the screenwriting team behind films like 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted, and more, and the author of young adult novels The Geography of Girlhood, and Trinkets. Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer are the writing team behind films like Step Up 3D, Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, and the young adult novel Layover, and they adapted Trinkets and are credited as co-creators of the TV show. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Every listener should check out the first episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni with Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer, when we talked about her first novel, Layover -
10 Things I Hate About You was shot at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Wash. -
Shooting Trinkets on location in Portland, Ore. was a way to differentiate the show visually from glossier teen shows like Riverdale, and evoke classic teen shows like My So-Called Life -
Awesomeness TV produced the show and helped shape the project into a TV show -
Writer and artist Alex Israel was singing Amy and Emily’s praises to Kiwi for years before the three actually met -
John McAlary, the casting director for Trinkets, said he saw 6,000 actors during the casting process for the show’s key roles -
Seeing Trinkets star Brianna Hildebrand sing on her Instagram inspired Kiwi, Amy, and Emily to include singing as part of her character -
Actor Katrina Cunningham, who plays Sabine in Trinkets, and is a performer as well and her music is featured in the show -
Kiwi is currently writing “Party Girls” with long-time co-writer Karen McCullah -
End of the Fucking World and Russian Doll are TV series that Kiwi thinks are ideal bingeable lengths for TV series Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Kiwi_Amy_Emilay_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:30am PDT
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Tue, 11 June 2019
First Draft Episode #195: Jennifer Donnelly Jennifer Donnelly, New York Times bestselling author of A Northern Light, Revolution, These Shallow Graves, and The Tea Rose series (incl. The Tea Rose; The Winter Rose; The Wild Rose) and Waterfire Saga series (incl. Deep Blue; Rogue Wave; Dark Tide; Sea Spell), Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book, among others, who is back with the New York Times bestselling Stepsister. Jennifer talks about being raised on bedtime stories about life under the Hitler regime; how to deep-dive into writing a historical novel; and the joy of being obsessed. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Learn more about The First Draft Listener Club -
The New York Teen Author Carnival -
When Jennifer visited Portobello Road in East London, she felt like she was stepping back into the London of Charles Dickens (author of Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities), artist William Hogarth, Jack the Ripper (learn more with The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Phillip Sugden), The Labour Movement, the London Dock Worker Strike -
Simon Lipskar of Writer’s House was interested in Jennifer’s first crack at writing a novel, which was 1,100 words(!) -
Sally Kim, VP and Editor in Chief at Putnam, was then at St. Martin’s, when she purchased Jennifer’s first book -
Steven Malk at Writer’s House became Jennifer’s agent to sell A Northern Light and subsequent books -
Jennifer’s mom bought her a copy of An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, and that sparked the obsession that led to A Northern Light. (Non-fiction accounts of the murder of Grace Brown include Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906, written by Joseph W. Brownell and Patricia Enos; and Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited, by Craig Brandon.) -
The murder case of Laci Peterson, documented in true crime novel A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson Investigation by Catherine Crier -
Jennifer was stopped short by a New York Times article about the heart of Louis Charles, Dauphin of France, the imprisoned son of the king of France who was toppled by the French Revolution. The story was likely either “Genetics Offers Denouement To Mystery of Prince's Death,” by Suzanne Daley, or “MEANWHILE : Learning from a heart stilled by revolution,” by Catherine Field. -
Jennifer was inspired by “Savage Beauty,” the Met’s retrospective of fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s work -
Jennifer’s short story in Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All led her to explore the themes of beauty and how we reinforce those standards on young women in Stepsister -
I blow up Maurene Goo’s spot (author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, The Way You Make Me Feel, and her newest, Somewhere Only We Know) getting obsessed with the Supernatural TV show (listen to Maurene’s First Draft episodes here, here, and here) -
I’m obsessed with The Dyatlov Pass Incident, which was covered in Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Jennifer_Donnelly_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:37am PDT
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Tue, 4 June 2019
First Draft Episode #194: Abdi Nazemian Abdi Nazemian, TV writer, producer of films like Call Me By Your Name, and author of Like a Love Story, The Authentics, and The Walk-In Closet, talks about discovering gay icons in the time before the internet, putting all your obsessions in your work, crying in coffee shops, and writing about history from an emotional standpoint, so we can repeat the best of it. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Abdi’s daughter has a PJ Harvey poster in her bedroom, which makes her the coolest seven-year-old on the block -
Archie comics were what turned Abdi into a voracious reader -
Andy Hardy, Christmas, and movies from the 30s and 40s were some of the Americana that made Abdi drawn to the U.S. culturally -
Tahereh Mafi, author of the Shatter Me series, A Very Large Expanse of Sea, Furthermore, and Whichwood (listen to Tahereh’s episode of First Draft here) -
Old TV shows like I Love Lucy were deliberately sexless -
Judy Garland and Joan Crawford were two women who had public personas, but were hiding their interior lives. Abdi was drawn to that as a young, closeted gay man -
The book How to Be Gay by David M. Halperin dives into how certain films and people become gay icons -
Tori Amos’s Boys for Pele (33 ⅓) by Amy Gentry, a book that dives into the making of Tori Amos’s iconic album -
One of Abdi’s first jobs was as an assistant in the company founded by director Alan J. Pakula, director of Sophie’s Choice and All the President’s Men, among other films -
Abdi spent so much time reading scripts in his first jobs, he achieved Malcolm Gladwell’s theory of becoming an expert after spending 10,000 hours doing a thing (which Gladwell outlines in his book, Outliers) -
Abdi is obsessed with Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series, and feels that Maupin’s books have had the most influence over him as a writer -
Reading James Baldwin makes Abdi “want to do something else,” because Baldwin is so intimidatingly good -
Sarah suggests writing a couple pages of your finest Flannery O’Connor rip-off and see how it feels to mimic someone else’s voice -
Tehrangeles is the word for the huge community of Iranians in Los Angeles -
Alessandra Balzer was Abdi’s editor for The Authentics, and he knew he wanted to keep working with her -
Abdi shares a quote from Hedwig and the Angry Inch writer and star John Cameron Mitchell about putting your obsessions into your work -
The Act Up movement was pivotal to drawing attention to the AIDS crisis -
Right from “Lucky Star,” Madonna’s first song and video, Abdi was obsessed with her -
Two O.J. Simpson-focused films: O.J. Simpson: Made in America (documentary), and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story is a good example of Abdi’s dedication to revisiting history -
Truth or Dare, the documentary about Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour -
Some queer works that Madonna led Abdi to explore include the historic documentary Paris is Burning, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, known for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Talk to Her -
Abdi is obsessed with RuPaul’s Drag Race -
Mommy Dearest is one of the films that RuPaul supposedly gives contestants before they come on RuPaul’s Drag Race -
Abdi is a huge fan of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, a 12-week program of creative exercises meant to unblock -
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, the Netflix series based on the massively popular book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Abdi_Nazemian_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 7:19am PDT
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Tue, 28 May 2019
First Draft Episode #193: Kate Spencer Kate Spencer, comedian, author of Dead Mom’s Club: A Memoir, and co-host of fabulous podcast Forever35 talks about the never-ending quest for confidence, exorcising grief and pain through writing, and how a podcast about serums became a podcast about feelings. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Amy Poehler, comedian, actress, writer, and director, who is not from the same town Kate is from, but they both grew up “outside Boston” -
Early on in childhood Kate fell for The BabySitter’s Club books by Ann M. Martin, and the Sweet Valley Twins series by Francine Pascal, and then she fell for Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. -
Revisiting The Boxcar Children, written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, with her daughter was a special bonding experience -
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and other “kids surviving intense circumstances” books are so fascinating, right?!? -
Kate’s eight-year-old daughter is plowing through Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novels, including Smile, Sisters, and Guts -
The Fear Street books by R.L. Stine, It by Stephen King, and V.C. Andrews’ books like Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind -
The film Grease is not actually appropriate for young kids, it turns out -
When she moved to New York City, Kate signed up for classes at the UCB Theater and rose through the ranks in the improv community -
I basically demand that Kate read Vacationland: True Stories From Painful Beaches by John Hodgman because she went to college in Maine -
The two writers I mention who went to Vermont College for Children’s Writing well into their careers are Ally Condie, author of Matched, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe, and more (listen to her First Draft interview here) and Brendan Reichs, author of Nemesis, Virals, and co-author with Ally Condie of The Darkdeep -
On Grief by C.S. Lewis was one of the only books out there for people experiencing loss for a long time -
The poet Taije Silverman has written about the grief of caring for her dying mother, and Kate found her work while grieving for her own loss -
Kate and her Forever35 podcast co-host Doree Shafrir’s conversation on the By the Book podcast, in which Kate discusses finding Twilight by Stephenie Meyer while grieving and how it inspired her to write -
“How I Finally Let Go of Grief for my Dead Mom,” Kate’s piece in Buzzfeed about the pain of letting go of grief -
Holly Root, founder of Root Literary, is Kate’s literary agent -
Kate’s husband is Anthony King, who has written for TV shows Silicon Valley, Broad City, Search Party, Playing House and more, and he co-wrote Beetlejuice: The Musical which has been nominated for eight Tony Awards, including best musical -
Kate is writing in Scrivener, a writing program -
Elana K. Arnold, author of Damsel, What Girls Are Made Of, Infandous, A Boy Called Bat, and more (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) said in her interview with me that she feels like she might be ready to move on from writing about anger and feminism -
A Cup of Jo is the website and newsletter run by Joanna Goddard that is packed -
Kate wants to be up front about the fact that Vinter’s Daughter sent her their Active Botanicals Serum, she did not buy it herself -
The Call Your Girlfriend episode that walked through an OB-GYN appointment -
Cat Winters, whose recent book, The Raven’s Tale, called for her to research Poe a ton. In that process she discovered that Edgar Allen Poe’s #1 hater outlived him, then wrote his obituary and his first biography, which has shaped how we think about Poe to this day. (Listen to Cat’s First Draft episode here) Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Kate_Spencer_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:22am PDT
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Tue, 21 May 2019
First Draft Episode #192: Lindsay Smith Lindsay Smith, author of the forthcoming Alchemy of War, as well as Sekret, Skandal, Dreamstrider, A Darkly Beating Heart, The Witch Who Came in From the Cold, and the Saints of Russalka series, talks about growing as a writer through D&D, refiguring her writing process after being diagnosed with ADHD, and learning to value more than just productivity. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Hear Lindsay Smith’s first episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni here -
Lindsay has an AlphaSmart keyboard that she takes on the D.C. train system so she can write while she commutes -
One “What if?” that got Lindsay writing Alchemy of War was, “What if I took Inglourious Basterds (movie) but it was like Stranger Things (TV show)?” -
Lindsay was inspired to write A Darkly Beating Heart, after visiting Japan and staying in a historically preserved town meant to preserve the Edo Period -
Lindsay researched Rasputin for the hot villain in the Saints of Russalka series, including reading books about him and also jamming out to “Ra Ra Rasputin,” a disco song by German Euro group Boney M. -
Lindsay has written short stories for A Tyranny of Petticoats and Toil and Trouble, anthologies put together by fellow D.C. YA writer Jessica Spotswood (hear her First Draft episode here) and Tess Sharpe -
Lindsay wrote a short story in the universe of the Blue Rose role playing game -
Stucky: the fandom name for Captain America (Steve Rogers) + The Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnum) -
Britta Lundin, author of Ship It (hear her episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni here) wrote for Riverdale (TV show) and is open about loving fandom in a similar way to Lindsay (who loves The Winter Soldier) -
Lindsay collaborated with Max Gladstone for The Witch Who Came in from the Cold, a serial story released by Serial Box (founder Julian Yap approached Lindsay about developing and writing it). The first season of The Witch Who Came in From the Cold was released as a book by Simon & Schuster -
Lindsay and her husband are in multiple Dungeons and Dragons groups, which she says calls on a whole different skill set from her writing brain -
Lindsay turned to KBoards, a forum for self-published authors, to discover the ins and outs of the self-pub industry when she released Web of Frost -
The app “Self Control” has been useful to keep Lindsay focused as she tries to figure out how to balance productivity with self-care -
Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie and generally super smart person, told me, “Time is the least free thing.” (Listen to her First Draft with Sarah Enni here) -
Lindsay was paired with an artist for the Strange Romance comic anthology, -
Lindsay wrote an angry girl comic for A Soul Divided Slash Caged in Flesh, a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inspired anthology Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Lindsay_Smith_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:29am PDT
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Tue, 14 May 2019
First Draft Episode #191: Ryan Graudin Ryan Graudin, New York Times bestselling author of the Wolf by Wolf series, as well as Invictus and The Walled City, talks about staging Redwall battles in the backyard, how bad teachers inspired her love of history, and how restrictions at key times in her life led her imagination to flourish. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques -
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander were among the fantasy stories Ryan devoured after she discovered Redwall -
AIM: AOL instant messenger -
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine was a novel Ryan devoured, and was so upset by the fact that it didn’t have a sequel that she made her first foray into fan fiction -
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -
Bret Lott author of Oprah Book Club pick Jewel, who taught Ryan at the College of Charleston, where she majored in creative writing -
Cathedrals by Raymond Carver was the kind of high literary fiction that was all Ryan was allowed to write about in college (she turned to fantasy after graduation) -
Kowloon, the Walled City in Hong Kong that inspired Ryan to write The Walled City -
Jackie Pullinger, a woman who worked inside Kowloon for 25 years, and author of Chasing the Dragon: One Woman’s Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong’s Drug Den and A Crack in the Wall: The Life and Death of Kowloon Walled City. Hearing her story inspired Ryan to explore Kowloon and to write The Walled City -
SNIS: Shiny New Idea Syndrome -
Anata No Warehouse, an arcade in Tokyo that replicates Kowloon Walled City in painstaking detail -
Bloodsport, the Jean Claude Van Damme movie in which certain scenes were filmed in Kowloon Walled City -
Ryan’s short pitch for Wolf by Wolf is: Code Name Verity (by Elizabeth Wein) meets Inglorious Basterds (movie) meets X-Men (comic book and movie series) -
The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, which is a fantasy world that takes place in an alternate World War I, which inspired Ryan’s approach to World War II in Wolf by Wolf -
Alvina Ling, VP, Editor-in-Chief of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, was Ryan’s editor for The Walled City, Wolf by Wolf, and Blood for Blood -
YALLFEST, an annual young adult book festival that takes place in Ryan’s hometown of Charleston, S.C. -
Ryan asked Alexandra Bracken, author of Passenger, for advice on writing time travel. Alex told her, “Run--don’t do it,” but Ryan went ahead and did it anyway -
Pam Gruber is a Senior Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and she was Ryan’s editor for Invictus -
Ryan’s next book, a stand-alone YA, is pitched as Lost meets Westworld meets Black Mirror (her nickname for it is TwistyAFBook) -
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark was one of the books Ryan may not have read unless she was in South Korea with limited access to English-word books Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Ryan_Graudin_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:48am PDT
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Tue, 7 May 2019
First Draft Episode #190: Stephanie Garber Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series, talks about turning to writing to escape burnout and depression from her first job, persevering when even her Mom told her the writing thing wasn’t meant to happen, and the things that make her nervous about releasing Finale, the final book in her breakout series. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
The North Texas Teen Book Festival, which Stephanie and I were both in attendance this year. On the sidelines, we made time to sit down and chat for the podcast! -
SASE: an abbreviation for 'self-addressed stamped envelope.' An SASE is an envelope on which you have stuck a stamp and written your own name and address. -
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer; The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld; and Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr were among the first YA books that Stephanie discovered when she was rediscovering writing, while battling burnout and depression at her first job out of college -
Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshops, where Stephanie said they “eviscerated” her work—but she loved it -
Much like Anne Montgomery in the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery, Stephanie is a sensitive person who may or may not have ever exclaimed to be “in the depths of despair!” -
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, which inspired Stephanie to write Caraval (though the books are very different!) -
The Game (movie) directed by David Fincher and starring Michael Douglas, which has a passing similarity to some elements of Caraval -
Stephanie has said she wanted Caraval to feel like a Baz Luhrmann movie or a Florence and the Machine song -
The Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann, from which we got our glorious .gif of Leonardo DiCaprio holding out a glass of champagne -
Stephanie was inspired to write Caraval after hearing the song “Centuries,” by Fallout Boy, which features the lyrics: “Some legends are told / Some turn to dust or to gold / But you will remember me / Remember me, for centuries” -
Legend by Marie Lu, which Stephanie erroneously believed was about a character named Legend (it is not). Instead of waiting for someone else to write about that kind of character, Stephanie went and did it herself! -
Jennifer E. Smith, who was an editor and still does freelance editing, in addition to being the author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and Field Notes on Love, and more! (Listen to her First Draft podcast episode here) -
SCBWI, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, was one place Stephanie turned to for help editing an early version of Caraval (and the editor there told her it would never sell…) -
Prim from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the kind of sister character Stephanie wanted to avoid, especially when she was writing Legendary -
Stacey Lee, author of Under a Painted Sky and Outrun the Moon, is an author-friend who Stephanie counts on to always tell her the truth Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Stephanie_Garber_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:41am PDT
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Tue, 30 April 2019
First Draft Episode #189: David Iserson David Iserson, screenwriter of The Spy Who Dumped Me, writer on Saturday Night Live, United States of Tara, and New Girl, and author of YA novel Firecracker, talks about micro and macro humor, how unreliable narrators is one of the beautiful advantages of writing a book, co-writing as being in conversation with someone, and the merit of spite writing. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode -
Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol was one of the only books marketed to boys that David read as a young boy -
Judy Blume, author of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal were some of the books David read as a kid, because he wasn’t drawn to the “Boy who only throws strike-outs!” books -
B. Dalton Bookstore, where David would go shopping for books at the mall -- David says, “As a New Jersey pre-teen and teen, most of my memories are mall-related.” RIP B. Dalton! -
David was very, very into comic strips as a kid, like Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson and Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed -
There’s a Bat in Bunk Five by Paula Danziger, a book set in an art summer camp that made David realize he could go to something other than sports camp during the summer Buck’s Rock camp in Connecticut -
Quentin Tarantino, an independent screenwriter and director of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction whose work made David realize that people wrote movies -
Zach Braff, actor in shows like Scrubs and writer and director of Garden State, was David’s TA and freshman year RA at Northwestern -
Miramax, Harvey Weinstein’s film production company, was where David got his first assistant job after moving to Los Angeles. David worked for a producer who played a part in creating The Cider House Rules, Pulp Fiction, and Bourne Identity -
Parks and Recreation, a TV show that I believe shows all its characters being excellent at something, which makes us like them more -
Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon were the anchors on Weekend Update when David was submitting jokes to Saturday Night Live and first got a joke on the air -
“Seinfeld, a show about a stand up comic written by some of the funniest people in the world, but there are very few ‘joke jokes,’” David says. “They are placed in a situation and you see what this situation means to them. To me, that’s the highest form of writing comedy.” -
David wrote on New Girl, where he says he wrote a lot of joke-jokes -
The United States of Tara, starring Toni Collette, was the first scripted TV show David worked on -
UCLA Extension, which offers a lot of continuing education classes for writers -
Susanna Fogel, David’s co-writer on The Spy Who Dumped Me, which David says was written out of a “fist-shaking, ‘We’ll show you!’ energy.” -
David and Susanna’s episode of Scriptnotes, a screenwriting process hosted by John August, writer of Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish, Go, as well as the Arlo Finch middle grade series (listen to his First Draft episode here), and Craig Mazin, writer of upcoming series Chernobyl, as well as The Hangover Part II and Identity Thief. -
“I write jokes for a living, I sit at my hotel at night, I think of something that's funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen is too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny.” ~ Mitch Hedberg’s joke about writing jokes Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Got a book to recommend? Record yourself raving about it, and send the audio file to sarah@firstdraftpod.com! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: David_Iserson_FINAL_2.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:52am PDT
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Tue, 23 April 2019
First Draft Episode #188: Ally Condie Ally Condie, New York Times bestselling author of the Matched series, as well as Summerlost and The Darkdeep, co-written with Brendan Reichs. In this conversation, Ally talks about what inspired her to get an MFA after establishing herself as a bestselling author, always working on two things at once, and how the 2016 election gave Ally enough rage to write her newest young adult novel, murderous revenge story The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode - The Planet of the Apes movies, which were filmed near where Ally grew up in rural Utah
- Ally was inspired by a blog post by Shannon Hale, New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Academy and Austenland, where she wrote about writing 1,000 words a day. Ally was inspired by Shannon to commit to daily word goals. She started with 500.
- Lisa Mangum, editor at Shadow Mountain press, which released Ally’s first few books
- Brandon Mull, New York TImes bestselling author of the Fablehaven and Beyonders series, who got his start at
- Shadow Mountain PressChris Shoebinger, publishing director at Shadow Mountain Press, who released Ally from her publishing contract so she could pursue a bigger contract for Matched
- Jodi Reamer, literary agent at Writer’s House, who also represents Tahereh Mafi, New York TImes bestselling author of the Shatter Me series (listen to her First Draft episode here), Ransom Riggs, New York Times bestselling author of the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series (listen to his First Draft episode here), John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, and Stephenie Meyer, author of the global phenomenon Twilight series
- Julie Strauss-Gabel, publisher at Dutton Books, who has edited John Green, Adam Gidwitz, New York Times bestselling author of A Tale Dark & Grimm and The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, and Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay and I Have Lost My Way
- The Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in writing for children, the program Ally attended
- Emily Wing Smith, author of The Way He Lived and All Better Now, and Carol Lynch Williams, author of The Chosen One and Glimpse, two Utah authors Ally was friends with who also attended the Vermont College of Fine Arts for the MFA program
- Kekla Magoon, author of National Book Award Longlisted X: A Novel (written with Ilyasah Shabazz), Coretta Scott King-honored The Season of Styx Malone and How it Went Down, and was Ally’s mentor at the Vermont program and helped her with an early draft of Poe Blythe
- An Na, author of Printz winner and National Book Award long-listed A Step From Heaven, as well as Wait For Me and The Place Between Breaths, was also an advisor at the Vermont College of Fine Arts
- Martine Leavitt, author of Keturah and Lord Death, and Calvin, who Ally calls “a stone cold genius.” Martine helped Ally work on a project during her Vermont residency.
- Quentin Tarantino’s advice to screenwriters was to delete the last two lines of dialogue from every scene, which Alfred Gough and Miles Millar--creators of Smallville and Into the Badlands shared with me on their recent First Draft episode. That’s similar to Ally’s feeling that sometimes she writes past the natural ending of a chapter.
- Brendan Reichs, New York Times bestselling author of Genesis, and co-writer of Virals with his mother, New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs, and The Darkdeep with Ally. Brendan and Ally fortuitously decided to pursue an MFA at Vermont at the same time.
- YALLWEST and YALLFest, two national young adult and middle grade book festivals held in Charleston, S.C. and Los Angeles. Ally is on the board of the festivals, alongside Brendan Reichs and Margaret Stohl, New York Times bestselling author of the Beautiful Creatures series, Red Widow and Royce Rolls (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here)
- Stranger Things meets The Goonies, the pitch for Ally and Brendan’s co-written middle grade series, The Darkdeep
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Ally_Condie_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:23am PDT
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Tue, 16 April 2019
First Draft Episode #187: Will Hines Will Hines, improviser and actor, host of the podcast, “Screw It: We’re Just Going to Talk About the Beatles,” and author of How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth joins me to talk about using his Tumblr to test audience engagement; the delicate nature of writing about a community you are a part of; his thorough approach to making the self-publication process as professional as possible; and his next (fictional) book about improv, co-written with fellow improviser Billy Merritt, Pirate Robot Ninja. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode - Josh Simpson, an improviser and teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade training school in Los Angeles, and co-host of The Meat, an improv podcast
- Jimmy Breslin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and journalist, who wrote The Good Rat, The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, and The World According to Breslin, and more
- The Upright Citizen’s Brigade, the improv group and school founded by Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, and Ian Roberts.
- Will’s Tumblr, Improv Nonsense, which gained traction and has been featured on Vulture and elsewhere
- Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders
- “A Lack of Order in the Floating Object Room,” by George Saunders, a silly and slightly sci-fi short story that typifies his early writing and is the kind of humor writing that inspires Will
- John Hodgman, author of Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches
- In writing, Will is concerned about what he calls “The Kevin Smith Problem,” where every character sounds the same (a la Clerks, Mallrats, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back)
- Jason Mantzoukas, an actor, writer, and seasoned improviser who Will saw constantly improving his craft
- Offset printing, a style of printing on the page that is “the way to make your book look beautiful,” according to Will, but it is more expensive, and requires a minimum print run
- Artist Maëlle Doliveux, who drew the cover of Will’s book
- Chip Kidd, a well-known book designer of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton; Dry by Augusten Borroughs; and Naked by David Sedaris (he also has a hugely popular Ted Talk!).
- Daniel Clowes, a cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. His work is collected in the solo Eightball project.
- The Pirates, Robots, Ninjas theory, coined by Billy Merritt, a fellow UCB alum and teacher
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Will_Hines_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:14am PDT
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Tue, 9 April 2019
First Draft Episode #184: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the TV and screenwriting duo behind Smallville and Into the Badlands, join Sarah to talk about their debut thriller, Double Exposure. The guys talk about how, even after writing and/or producing more than 300 hours of television and movies, they are still engaged in learning and improving their craft; getting on the superhero train WAY before the MCU; and delivering a satisfying ending in books. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode - Bugs, a BBC One TV show created by UK-based Carnival Films (Agatha Christie’s Poirot; Downton Abbey; many others) for which Al and Miles wrote two episodes
- The Hardy Boys series of children’s mysteries created by Edward Stratemeyer (who also created Nancy Drew) and written by ghostwriters under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon
- The Peter Stark Producer program at USC, where Alfred and Miles met and learned all aspects of the film industry
- Laura Ziskin, producer of No Way Out, and Pretty Woman, who was an influential teacher at the USC film production program to Al and Miles
- William Goldman, an author (Adventures in the Screen Trade, The Princess Bride, many, many others) and screenwriter (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; All the President’s Men, among many others) renowned for writing scripts that entertained the reader -- a trend followed by screenwriters Shane Black (Lethal Weapon; The Last Boy Scout) and Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance; Basic Instinct)
- John August, Al and Miles’ classmate at USC and screenwriter of Big Fish, Frankenweenie, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as author of the Arlo Finch middle grade series (listen to his First Draft interview here)
- Mango, the spec script that Al and Miles sold right out of film school
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the movie that made Al and Miles’ spec script a hot commodity out of film school
- Scriptnotes, the podcast co-hosted by John August and fellow screenwriter Craig Mazin, which is a worthy companion podcast to any writers who enjoy First Draft!
- X-Men, the 2000 movie that helped bring about the superhero resurgence on film and TV
- Christopher Nolan, the writer and director who rebranded Batman in the well-regarded Dark Knight trilogy of films
- Spider-Man II, Al and Miles’ take on Spider-Man, which was a little more serious than the Spider-Man we know today
- Jenette Kahn, executive, publisher, editor-in-chief of DC Comics when Al and Miles created their spin on the Superman universe with Smallville
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Al__Miles_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:58am PDT
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Tue, 2 April 2019
First Draft Episode #184: Rhett Miller Rhett Miller (find him on Twitter and Instagram), musician and writer, is a solo artist as well as lead singer of The Old 97s. His first book for children, No More Poems: A Book in Verse That Just Gets Worse, illustrated by Dan Santat (listen to his First Draft episode here). Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode - How Rhett’s given name is Stewart Ransom, sorta like Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (listen to his First Draft podcast episode here)
- His childhood biking to the original location of Half-Price Books, now a national chain.
- Rhett tore through the Ian Fleming James Bond series as a kid
- And he got to meet one of his literary heroes, Kurt Vonnegut, in real life, but the interaction didn’t go quite as planned
- As a kid, Rhett’s mother would read aloud to them Helter Skelter, the account of the Charles Manson and Manson Family murders written by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
- I discuss how Jon Klassen was on First Draft and discussed becoming a more empathetic, feeling person and artist as he grew older
- Stephen King books that had an impact on Rhett include On Writing, 11/22/63, and his book with his son, Owen King, Sleeping Beauties
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green being one of the books Rhett has read with his kids as a way to talk about difficult subjects, head-on
- How being inspired by writers like Raymond Carver led to a disagreement with his creative writing teacher at Sarah Lawrence
- “The Messenger,” Rhett’s most recent solo album
- “My Generation,” the song where The Who famously said they’d rather die than get old
- Willie Nelson, patron saint of Americana music
- Rhett’s buddy Mickey Raphael, harmonica player for Willie Nelson
- Other artists giving Americana a moment: Jason Isbell; Chris Stapleton; and Brandi Carlile
- “We Could Have Been the Cowboys,” Rhett’s article for Sports Illustrated
- Rhett wrote a paper about Gustav Klimpt for his then-girlfriend, who was getting a graduate degree in art history
- John Dickson Carr, an early whodunit writer, the inventor of the “locked room” drama
- Ben Acker (listen to his First Draft podcast here), who introduced Rhett to First Draft and, thereby, the illustrator of No More Poems, Dan Santat (listen to his First Draft podcast here)
- Megan Tingley, editor at Little, Brown
- e e cummings, the poet who inspired Rhett’s dedication to non-punctuation
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent, Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender, or John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Rhett_Miller_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:03am PDT
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Tue, 26 March 2019
First Draft Episode #184: Bridget Tyler Bridget Tyler (find her on Twitter and Instagram, too!), debut author of The Pioneer, comes to First Draft with Sarah Enni to talk about adventure and sci-fi, getting outside of her own bubble for storytelling perspective, avoiding the Leia-Han love story trope... and in a First Draft exclusive, Bridget reveals the name of the sequel to The Pioneer! Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode - The title of the sequel to The Pioneer!
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent, Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender, or John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Bridget_Tyler_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 6:16am PDT
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Tue, 19 March 2019
First Draft Episode #183: Author and Illustrator Jon Klassen Jon Klassen, Caldecott Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the “I Want My Hat Back” series, as well as the illustrator of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett; The Dark by Lemony Snicket; House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser; Cats' Night Out by Caroline Stutson; and many more. Find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr! Circle, the third and final book in Barnett and Klassen’s “Triangle, Circle, and Square” series, is available now where books are sold! In the course of our conversation, Jon and I discuss how his early experience as a set designer changed how he thought about picture book audiences, why he felt that painting objects or animals had as much emotional impact as human characters, and how the personal arc of his best-known series, I Want My Hat Back, went from ironic detachment to artistic earnestness. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode - The Little Mermaid was one of the Disney movies that made Jon aware of animating as a job
- Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know, The Way You Make Me Feel, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and Since You Asked (Listen to Maurene’s first, second, and third episodes of First Draft)
- Chris Appelhans, co-director of Wish Dragon, an animated feature scheduled for release on July 26, 2019
- Arts Center
- One of Jon’s earliest jobs was working on Coraline, the animated film based on the book from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
- An early illustrating gig for Red Cap Cards led Jon to discover his love for drawing animals, including bears wearing hats
- Carrie Gifford (co-owner of Red Cap Cards)
- Filmmaker and author Ed Wood
- The third book in the I Want My Hat Back trilogy was partly inspired by a scene in the Chevy Chase comedy European Vacation
- Author Mac Barnett is one of Jon’s most frequent collaborators
- Jon is inspired by the classic children’s book series Frog and Toad, and it was one of the first things he and Mac Barnett bonded over
- What Can a Citizen Do? By Dave Eggers; illustrated by Shawn Harris
- Dave Eggers’ online satire periodical McSweeny’s
- 826 National, the literacy non-profit founded by Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari
- The “things” in Where the Wild Things Are by Marcus Sedgewick came about after Sedgewick almost quit on the project
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent, Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender, or John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Direct download: Jon_Klassen_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:01am PDT
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Tue, 12 March 2019
Lilliam Rivera, author of THE EDUCATION OF MARGOT SANCHEZ, is back with DEALING IN DREAMS, out now! She talks about writing a Latinx future, entering a room with hope, and getting to meet Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Lilliam Rivera 2.0 Show Notes Lilliam’s first interview on First Draft here Ingrid Rojas Contreras, author of FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE Amerie Zareen Jaffrey, executive editor at Simon & Schuster Anderson Cooper A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange (movie) The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Warriors (movie) Mad Max Fury Road (movie) Ray Bradbury Justice Sonia Sotomayor Pablo Cartaya, author of MARCUS VEGA DOESN’T SPEAK SPANISH Veronica Roth (listen to her First Draft podcasts here and here) Meg Medina Matt de la Pena
Direct download: Lilliam_Rivera_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:27am PDT
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Tue, 5 March 2019
Direct download: Soman_Chainani_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:53am PDT
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Fri, 1 March 2019
Sarah Enni, debut author of TELL ME EVERYTHING and usually the host of the First Draft podcast, answers questions from past First Draft interviewees about craft and ego, staying on schedule, Bob Costas’ pink-eye story, the evolution of her interview style, Hammer the cat’s origin story. Sarah Enni bonus episode show notes Maurene Goo (listen to her First Draft episode here) Nic Stone, author of DEAR MARTIN and ODD ONE OUT (listen to her First Draft podcast here) Kristen Kittscher, author of WIG IN THE WINDOW and TIARA ON THE TERRACE (listen to her First Draft podcast here) Bullet journal Allie Brosh’s comics about procrastination Shane Pangburn (listen to his First Draft podcast here) Kate Hart, author of AFTER THE FALL (listen to Kate Hart’s First Draft interview here) Bob Costas Tochi Onyebuchi, BEASTS MADE OF NIGHT and CROWN OF THUNDER (listen to his First Draft podcast here) The Deftones, lead singer Chino Moreno The Darkness, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” Victoria Aveyard, author of the RED QUEEN series (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here) Margaret Stohl, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and CATS VS. ROBOTS (listen to her First Draft episode here) Jasmine Warga, author of HERE WE ARE NOW and (listen to her First Draft episode here) Libba Bray, author of THE DIVINERS (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here) Pod Save America (podcast) Danielle Paige, DOROTHY MUST DIE and STEALING SNOW (listen to her First Draft episode here) Arrested Development Stephanie Kuehn, author of CHARM & STRANGE (listen to her First Draft podcast here) “Welcome to New York,” by Taylor Swift Peter Stone, author of THE PERFECT CANDIDATE (listen to his First Draft episode here) Kumail Nanjiani (actor, Silicon Valley) Sabaa Tahir, author of the EMBER IN THE ASHES series (listen to her First Draft episode here) Sam Maggs, author of GIRL SQUADS and more (listen to her First Draft episode here) Alison Cherry, author of RED and PROS OF CONS and more (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here) Pod Save America (podcast) NPR Politics podcast (podcast) The Daily (podcast) Keep It (podcast) Serial (podcast) S-Town (podcast) Subscribe to Sarah’s newsletter Beth Revis, author of the ACROSS THE UNIVERSE series and the GIVE THE DARK MY LOVE series (listen to her First Draft podcast here) The Bigfoot Discovery Museum Kitchen’s Temple Jeff Goldblum Leigh Bardugo, author of the SHADOW AND BONE and SIX OF CROWS series, and her upcoming book, NINTH HOUSE (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) Kaitlin Ward, author of WHERE SHE FELL (listen to her First Draft podcast interview here) Brandy Colbert, author of LITTLE AND LION and THE REVOLUTION OF BIRDIE RANDOLPH (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) Aminah Mae Safi, author of the upcoming TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL (listen to her First Draft interview here) Kayla Cagan, author of PIPER PERISH and ART BOSS (listen to her First Draft interview here) Susan Dennard, author of the WITCHLANDS series (listen to her First Draft interview here) Ameriie, editor of the BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO HATE ME anthology and she recently released two albums, 4 AM MULHOLLAND and AFTER 4 AM Sara Farizan, author of HERE TO STAY (listen to her First Draft interview here)
Direct download: QA_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:47am PDT
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Mon, 25 February 2019
Direct download: Sarah_Enni_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 6:47pm PDT
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Tue, 19 February 2019
Direct download: Amanda_Maciel_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 7:01am PDT
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Tue, 12 February 2019
Direct download: Sarah_Burnes_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 7:24am PDT
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Tue, 5 February 2019
Direct download: Susan_Dennard_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 10:27am PDT
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Tue, 29 January 2019
Robin LaFevers, author of the New York Times bestselling HIS FAIR ASSASSINS series, talks about the memories that live on in our bodies, the downside to critique groups, and how writing her breakout series retriggered old trauma--sidelining her ability to write for more than a year. She worked her way, physically and emotionally, back to write the latest in the series, COURTING DARKNESS, out February 5, 2019. Robin LaFevers Show Notes The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Writer Unboxed SCBWI RWA (Romance Writers of America) Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart Jesus Camp (documentary) Donald Maass (agent and author of Writing the Breakout Novel) Leigh Bardugo (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here)
Direct download: Robin_LaFever_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 8:56am PDT
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Tue, 22 January 2019
Renée Watson, New York Times bestselling author of PIECING ME TOGETHER a Newberry Honor book and winner of the Coretta Scott King award, THIS SIDE OF HOME, and many others, and co-author of WATCH US RISE, out February 12. Renée is also founder and executive director of the I, Too Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization housed in the home of legendary poet Langston Hughes, committed to nurturing voices from underrepresented communities in the creative arts. Renée Watson Show Notes Renée Watson’s first First Draft interview I, Too Arts Collective Dreamyard Community Word Project A Place Where Hurricanes Happen by Renee Watson Langston Hughes Kate Messner (author) Kendolyn Walker, program director at I, Too Jennifer Baker, social media director at I, Too and co-host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast Ellice Lee, graphic designer for I, Too and Associate Art Director of Philomel, Penguin Random House Tracey Baptiste SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors Ellen Hagan, poet and co-author of WATCH US RISE Black Enough, an anthology edited by Ibi Zoboi
Direct download: Renee_Watson_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:12am PDT
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Tue, 15 January 2019
Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN, CROWN OF WISHES, and the ARU SHAH series talks about the first book in her latest young adult series, THE GILDED WOLVES, out January 15. She talks about connecting to her history through fairy tales, how being voted most likely to succeed caused a lot of angst, and the pressure of picking an AIM away message. Roshani Chokshi Show Notes Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley Jhumpa Lahiri AFI (band) Thursday (band) Deftones (band) Harry Potter Sailor Moon (cartoon) Christiane Amanpour (TV broadcast journalism) His Girl Friday Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (book) The Young Elites by Marie Lu (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here) Rick Riordan His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman Stormrunner by J. C. Cervantes Stephanie Lurie, Editorial Director, Rick Riordan Presents (Disney-Hyperion) Claire Legrand (listen to her First Draft interview here) National Treasure (movie) Lara Croft (video game character) “Venus in Furs” a song by The Velvet Underground Holly Black (listen to her First Draft interview here) Radiance by Catherynne Valente Deathless by Catherynne Valente Tomb Raider (movie) The Librarian (movie) The Mummy (movie) Dan Brown
Direct download: Roshani_Chokshi_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:03am PDT
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Tue, 8 January 2019
Tracey Neithercott, author of Gray Wolf Island, talks about being inspired by unsolved mysteries and real life treasure hunters, how writing shapes our identities, and how she wrote her debut book while dealing with a life-altering chronic pain diagnosis. Tracey Neithercott Show Notes The Bodyguard (movie) Whitney Houston Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Dawson’s Creek (TV show) Kiersten White (listen to her First Draft interview here) Absolute Write The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Sarah LaPolla, literary agent Stand By Me (movie) Oak Island Astonishing Legends podcast about Oak Island Forrest Fenn (antiquities dealer who buried a treasure) When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (listen to her First Draft interview here) Scrivener Tahereh Mafi (listen to her First Draft interview here)
Direct download: Tracey_Neithercott_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 7:57am PDT
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Wed, 2 January 2019
Direct download: Melissa_Albert_FINAL.mp3
Category: Literature
-- posted at: 9:53am PDT
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