Episode 177 with Laura Warrell, Skilled Chronicler of Art and Connection and Aging, and Author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, PEN/Faulkner Finalist

Episode 177 Notes and Links to Laura Warrell’s Work

 

    On Episode 177 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Laura Warrell, and the two discuss, among other things, her early love of writing and acting, important works and writers who steered her into her own career, how teaching literature at Berklee College of Music informed her writing and creative outlook, and issues in Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm around love, connection, traumas, promiscuity, character development, real-life inspirations, and structural and character-based decisions. 

 

   Laura Warrell is a contributor to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and the Tin House Summer Workshop, and is a graduate of the creative writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has appeared in HuffPost, The Rumpus, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm was published in September 2022, and has been rightly lauded since.

 

Buy Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm

 

Laura Warrell's Website

 

Los Angeles Times Portrait of Laura's Journey in Writing Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm

 

At about 1:40, Laura talks about the “flurry of activity” that followed her book’s publication, and Pete asks her to speak about “moving on” to her next project and how she sees her first book now and how she remembers her characters are for her

 

At about 5:00, Laura gives background on her very early writing (“I came to writing before I came to reading”) and reading 

 

At about 8:20, Laura recalls her early desire (and continuing until college) desire to become an actress/theater major

 

At about 11:00, Laura and Pete muse on the fading idea of the writer as celebrity

 

At about 12:50, Laura discusses how acting became secondary to writing in her pivotal college days, as well as writers like Toni Morrison, Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, among others, who inspired her

 

At about 16:05, Pete asks about how Laura’s time as an instructor at Berklee College of Music informed the book and its coverage of art, artists, and creativity

 

At about 22:20, The two discuss a pivotal and memorable scene where the protagonist Circus receives a wakeup call and 

 

At about 24:30, Laura gives background on the title and its genesis, and she responds Pete’s questions about why Laura used jazz as a topic for the book 

 

At about 28:15, Laura speaks to ideas of centering the multiple women in Circus’ orbit 

 

At about 32:10, Laura points to a particular book she was reading about a “playboy” that made her sure to have the women’s perspective front and center for those in relationships with Circus

 

At about 34:40, Laura lays our characteristics of Circus’ daughter, Koko, and how fleshing her out led to more narration from Circus

 

At about 36:30, Maggie is described, and the book’s opening scene is described and how it leads to a pivotal choice for Circus

 

At about 37:20, Laura talks about basing Maggie on Cindy Blackman, and Pete and Laura discuss a scene where Maggie delineates differences for her between Tip and Circus

 

At about 41:20, Pete references the opening scene for Koko, and Koko’s “father issues,” and Laura talks about Koko as a caretaker for her mother, Pia

 

At about 45:05, Pia is described, especially with regard to her maternal outlook

 

At about 46:05, A key scene involving Odessa (Pete is very complimentary of the craft) is discussed, and Laura talks about readers’ feedback involving Odessa 

 

At about 48:35, Pete and Laura discuss key scenes involving Koko, especially in her unease in growing up

 

At about 50:20, The theme of aging is discussed, especially in terms of creative output and the world’s expectations 

 

At about 51:25, Pete marks Raquel as in important character, a barometer, and Laura describes the role of Raquel

 

At about 55:10, The theme of father-daughter relationships and traumas and love is referenced and examples given, with Laura reflecting on the “broken mechanism” that steers Circus’ motivations and actions

 

At about 1:00:10, Pete and Laura cite a rough scene that calls to mind misogyny in a memorable way

 

At about 1:01:50, Pia is highlighted for ideas of trauma and ways to cope, and Laura picks up on a thread to reinforce why she wanted to write the book as she did

 

At about 1:05:40, Treading lightly-not wanting to give plot spoilers, Pete outlines some of the book’s twists

 

At about 1:06:50, Laura highlights ideas from the book on expectations for success, dreams, family life, and the immediacy of these things 

 

At about 1:09:00, Laura gives social media info, and highlights Octavia’s Bookshelf and Skylight Books as two of many great places to buy her book

 

At about 1:10:05, Laura talks about an exciting new book project

 

At about 1:11:50, Laura gives suggestions on possible actors who might play Circus if the book were ever put on the big/small screen

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  Please tune in for Episode 178 with Stephen Buoro. Stephen was born in Nigeria in 1993 and at The University of East Anglia in the UK, he was the 2018 recipient of the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship. He has a first-class degree in Mathematics and is currently studying for a PhD in Creative-Critical Writing at UEA on a fully funded studentship. His book, Andy Africa and The Five Sorrowful Mysteries, is bound to be a sensation. Pete’s interview with him regarding the book is forthcoming in Chicago Review of Books.

   The episode will air on April 18, the Pub Day for the book!