The Chills at Will Podcast

EPISODE 200 with Adam Vitcavage, Raconteur, Skilled Writer of Literary and Music Criticism, and Charismatic Advocate for Debut Authors Through his Podcast Debutiful: Discover Debut Authors

Notes and Links to Adam Vitcavage’s Work

 

   For Episode 200, Pete welcomes Adam Vitcavage, and the two discuss, among other topics, Adam’s early reading and writing and the spark provided by writers like Jesmyn Ward, his early writing in the world of music criticism and literary criticism, the background on his penchant for working with debut authors, a lot of sports analogies, dream guests he’s worked with and still hopes to work with, The Babysitters Club, and shared experiences in the world of literary podcasting.

 

 

   Adam Vitcavage is the founder of Debutiful, a website and podcast where readers can discover debut authors. The podcast was named one of the Best Book Podcasts by Book Riot, Town and Country, and Los Angeles Review of Books in 2022. His criticism and interviews have also been featured in Electric Literature, Paste Magazine, Literary Hub, Phoenix New Times, among others. He currently lives in Denver. 

Listen to Debutiful

 

Debutiful Website

 

“A Mix of Paean and Elegy: The Millions Interviews Jamel Brinkley” by Adam

 

For Electric Literature: "Is Iceland the Most Literary Country in the World?"

At about 4:30, Adam responds to Pete’s questions about his early relationship with the written word

 

At about 6:15, Adam gives background on his studies of literature, and how he began to compile bylines 

 

At about 7:45, Adam talks about covering bands in his early writing career

 

At about 8:30, Adam talks about formational and transformational reading, like Salinger, Roth, and Salvage the Bones and how changed he was after reading it, and Jesmyn Ward as his “favorite living writer”

 

At about 11:30, Pete and Adam fanboy about Brandon Taylor

 

At about 12:20, Pete and Adam talk podcast shop, editing and what they leave in and take out

 

At about 14:55, Adam talks about how his writing/criticism is informed by his podcast, and vice versa

 

At about 16:40, Pete asks Adam to describe his podcast and about its seeds

 

At about 21:55, Adam provides interesting feedback received from learners

 

At about 23:55, Pete wonders why Adam chose to home in on debuts, and Adam responds

 

At about 24:30, Pete makes the analogy involving one’s first book/sports championship and asks Adam about “hunger”

 

At about 26:10, Adam discusses what it’s like to read for pleasure/business/the podcast and then poses the same question to Pete

 

At about 29:45, Pete asks Adam which genre is his favorite and how he would handle one last episode; he shouts out Jesmyn Ward 

 

At about 31:00, The two discuss dream guests

 

At about 31:50, The two discuss interview guests of Adam’s, including George Saunders and his telltale book blurbs, and a vast array of non-literary guests 

 

At about 35:20, Adam shouts out his two favorite NBA players of all-time

 

At about 37:00, Some love for Alanis Morrisette!

 

At about 38:25, Pete asks Adam about any plans for his own writing and any future projects/formatting

 

At about 41:40, Adam gives out social media and contact info

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 201 with Erica Berry, a writer and teacher based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Her essays appear in The Guardian, Wired, Outside, The Atlantic, Guernica, and others. Winner of the Steinberg Essay Prize and Kurt Brown Prize in Nonfiction, her book Wolfish came out in Feb 2023 to great acclaim. 

   The episode will air on August 29.

Episode 199 with Jared Beloff, Reflective Thinker, Painter of Beautiful Imagery and Debut Standout Author of the Climate Change-Themed Poetry Collection, Who Will Cradle Your Head

Notes and Links to Jared Beloff’s Work

 

   For Episode 198, Pete welcomes Jared Beloff, and the two discuss, among other topics, an early reading challenge that supercharged his voraciousness, contemporary and not-so contemporary writers who left an imprint on him with their visceral work and distinctive worldbuilding, his quick rise to published and acclaimed poet, and pertinent themes in his collection, including nostalgia, indifference, a fading and changing ecosystem, and the myriad effects of climate change.

 

 

    Jared Beloff is the author of the Who Will Cradle Your Head (ELJ Editions, 2023).

   He earned degrees at Rutgers University (BA in English) Johns Hopkins University (MA in English Literature, specializing in the novel and Romantic/18th Century Literature).

   Jared has been an adjunct professor at Queensborough Community College, an English teacher and a teacher mentor in NYC public schools for 16 years.

   Jared is currently a peer reviewer for The Whale Road Review. His poetry can be found in Contrary Magazine, Barren Magazine, KGB Bar Lit, The Shore, Rise Up Review, Bending Genres and elsewhere. His work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Queens, NY.

Buy Who Will Cradle Your Head

 

Jared's Website

 

From Identity Theory: “Cracking Open Clams: A Conversation Between Jared Beloff and Candice Kelsey”

At about 2:35, Jared talks about a reading challenge that put his reading intake into high-gear

 

At about 4:25, Jared updates on his reading this summer/including The Sealey Challenge

 

At about 5:25, Jared reflects on the psychological/philosophical roots of his reading, especially his early reading

 

At about 7:35, Jared lists some formational and transformational works and writers, like Angels in América and English Patient, as well as Pablo Neruda, Bishop, and Forche’s work

 

At about 10:00, Jared reflects on how his own work reflects that which he has read and enjoyed throughout his life

 

At about 11:30, Jared responds to Pete’s questions about how he has been inspired and moved

by fiction and poetry written about climate change; he cites Allegra Hyde’s impressive work, as well as work by Hila Ratzabi, Craig Santos-Perez, and Claire Wahmanholm; 

 

At about 14:40, Jared shouts out Diane Seuss, who blurbed his collection, and how her work informs his, as well as how Obit and its metaphors “blew [him] away”

 

At about 15:20, Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky is highlighted as a stimulus for Jared’s writing

 

At about 16:25, Pete highlights Mai Der Vang’s Yellow Rain, and Nguyen and Anthony Cody are shouted out by Jared as influential in his work

 

At about 17:35, Jared talks about seeds for his collection, especially the “Swamp Thing” poems by Jack Bedell and the ways Todd Dillard uses “wonder”

 

At about 23:05, Pete highlights the collection’s first poem, one “After” Aimee Nezhukumatathil; Jared discusses the methodology of these “After” poems, the ideas of a “muse,” and how he often writes after what/who he teaches

 

At about 27:50, Jared discusses the background and content of “Animal Crackers”

 

At about 30:45, Pete compliments Jared on his work regarding his children, and Jared talks about thinking through poems and “allowing wonder to stay” despite “grief-laden” poems

 

At about 34:30, Jared explains how he used climate change as a proxy a(or vice versa?) for other types of grief both personal and societal 

 

At about 35:40, Pete highlights profound lines and asks about Sasquatch’s importance throughout the collection

 

At about 39:50, Pete and Jared talk structure in Jared’s collection, including the diamond/pyramid structure and its uniqueness and power 

 

At about 41:30, Jared shouts out Diana Khoi Nguyen’s work and using some structural stimuli

 

At about 45:05, Pete cites meaningful lines revolving around nostalgia and ideas of energy; he asks Jared about a cool and clever and depressing poem involving the Golden Girls

 

At about 48:15, Pete asks Jared his views on nostalgia in his work; Jared connects nostalgia with climate change circumstances 

 

At about 51:15, Indifference in the face of climate emergencies is discussed, and Jared discusses “complic[ity]” and political choices

 

At about 53:00, Jared responds to Pete’s questions about climate change advocacy in the system  “tied/tired” as used in a poem

 

At about 54:00, Jared gives history on Freshkills and its history and eccentric future

 

At about 55:30, Jared reads the portion of the above poem that features the collection’s title and explains the title’s genesis 

 

At about 59:00, Jared discusses exciting new projects 

 

At about 1:01:30, Jared shouts out places to buy his book

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 200 with Adam Vitcavage, who is the founder of Debutiful, a website and podcast where readers can discover debut authors. The podcast was named one of the Best Book Podcasts by Book Riot, Town and Country, and Los Angeles Review of Books in 2022. His criticism and interviews have also been featured in Electric Literature, Paste Magazine, Literary Hub, Phoenix New Times, among others. 

   The episode will air on August 22.

 

Episode 198 with Sarah Thankam Mathews, Master of the Visceral and Rational, Beautiful Sentence and Sentiment Creator, and Author of 2022’s National Book Award Shortlisted All This Could Be Different

Notes and Links to Sarah Thankam Mathews’ Work

   

   For Episode 198, Pete welcomes Sarah Thankam Mathews, and the two discuss, among other topics, her early reading and writing and experience with multilingualism, contemporary and not-so contemporary writers who left an imprint on her with their visceral work and distinctive worldbuilding, “seeds and fertilizer” for her standout novel, including the vagaries of post-college life and the tragedies and communal love that came with the COVID pandemic, and pertinent themes in her book, like alienation, sexual trauma, “found family” and community building, and problematic capitalism.

 

 

   Sarah Thankam Mathews grew up between Oman and India, immigrating to the US at seventeen. She is author of the novel All This Could Be Different, shortlisted for the 2022 National Book Award and the 2022 Discover Prize, nominated for the Aspen Literary Prize.

Formerly a Rona Jaffe Fellow in fiction at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and a Margins Fellow at The Asian American Writers Workshop, she has work in Best American Short Stories 2020 and other places. A proud product of public schools, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Buy All This Could Be Different

 

Sarah's Website

 

Sarah's Substack

 

Review of All This Could Be Different from Los Angeles Review of Books

At about 1:35, Sarah discusses her current paperback tour and what she’s heard about the book from readers and observations she has after a year of publication for All This Could Be Different

 

At about 4:50, Sarah gives background on her early relationship with languages, particularly Hindi, English, and Mayalalam

 

At about 7:30, Sarah discusses early reading that was influenced by living in what she calls a “tertiary” book market; she mentions transformational and formational books like The Bluest Eye and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things as books that left her “profoundly rearranged”

 

At about 10:20, Sarah shouts out Jamaica Kincaid’s Luck as a helpful companion as she wrote All This Could Be Different

 

At about 12:20, Sarah responds to Pete’s question about how Sarah saw her early reading in terms of representation; she points to ideas of visceral pleasure with that reading  

 

At about 14:20, Sarah expands on ideas of pathos as a driving force at times as she wrote her book

 

At about 15:30, Sarah cites C Pam Zhang, Isle McElroy, Lydia Kiesling,  as some of the many contemporary writers who she admires and is thrilled by

 

At about 17:45, Sarah coins the cool term “proprietary physics” and how Lydia Kiesling exemplifies the phrase

 

At about 19:15, Sarah highlights Cohen’s The Netanyahus and Homeland Elegies from Ayad Akhtar

 

At about 20:15, Sarah drops a haunting and amazing fact about publishing from 9/11

 

At about 20:40, Sarah provides seeds for the book, both in the immediate past and the thought process from the more distant past

 

At about 23:20, Sarah talks about Bed Stuy Strong, a mutual aid organization she started in 2020, and how the “seeds and fertilizer” for the book came from this time 

 

At about 29:10, Pete lays out the book’s exposition and Sarah responds to why she chose to set the book in 2012 or so

 

At about 32:30, The two discuss the book’s pivot point, which happened before the book’s main chronology; Sarah expands on the ways in which Sarah’s relationships and ethic and view on her previous life in India come from this pivotal and traumatic event

 

At about 37:30, Sarah speaks to the importance of Milwaukee and its history and her knowledge of it, and why she made the setting what it was 

 

At about 42:10, Sarah responds to Pete’s asking about Sneha’s complicated relationship with her parents

 

At about 46:30, Sarah talks about the “absolutely bonkers act” that leads to a misunderstanding between Marina and the smitten Sneha

 

At about 49:40, Sarah gives background on Sneha’s boss and how his character evolved in her various drafts

 

At about 51:15, The two discuss the idea of “The Pink House” and its significance

 

At about 54:00, Sarah discusses her book as a coming of age story and her desire to portray deep friendships and love

 

At about 58:40, Pete notes the success of the well-drawn flashbacks and flashforwards and fanboys over the fabulous and eminently memorable last scene and last line of the book, and Sarah describes what the “page [was] revealing to her” as the book’s ending morphed

 

At about 1:02:05, Sarah discuss the book as (perhaps subtly) hopeful

 

At about 1:03:10, Pete asks Sarah about future projects

 

At about 1:04:00, Sarah drops some important insights that are useful advice for young (and old) writers

 

At about 1:04:50, Sarah shares contact info, social media, and bookstores where to buy her book, including The Word is Change in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 199 with Jared Beloff. He is the author of Who Will Cradle Your Head and the microchap This is how we say “I love you.” He is also a peer reviewer for The Whale Road Review, and his work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize.

   The episode will air on August 15.

Episode 197 with Chloe Cooper Jones, Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Nominee, Master of Melding Seemingly-Disparate Ideas and Themes, and Author of the Masterful and Profound Easy Beauty

Notes and Links to Chloé Cooper Jones’ Work

   

   Chloé Cooper Jones is a professor, journalist, and the author of the memoir Easy Beauty, which was named a best book of 2022 by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, and was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Memoir. She was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing in 2020. She is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant recipient and a Howard Foundation Fellow. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 

   For Episode 197 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Chloé Cooper Jones, and the two discuss, among other things, her early relationship with reading, writing, seeking beauty, her parents’ influences on her world views, formative and transformative writers (and “fun trash” she read), and salient topics from her powerful memoir, such as muses and aesthetes, pop culture and philosophy, bigoted views on women as those with disabilities, and the pertinent trips that Chloé took in seeking beauty, catharsis, and hope. 

 

 

Buy Easy Beauty: A Memoir

 

Chloe's Website

 

Chloe’s Pulitzer-Prize Nominated Article for The Verge- “Fearing for His Life”

 

People Magazine 2022 Article about Easy Beauty-“Author Chloé Cooper Jones, Who Has a Visible Disability, On Deciding to Claim Space For Herself and Her Son”

At about 1:35, Chloe lets the listener in on her mindset in hearing about her second Pulitzer Prize nomination, including the beauty of combining family pursuits and career 

 

At about 6:55, Chloe gives out information regarding where to buy her book, and her contact information, including Greenlight and Books are Magic, and Lawrence, KS’ The Raven Bookstore

 

At about 8:45, Chloe talks about her childhood and its focus on beauty as impressed upon her by her parents in their different ways; she calls “having a rich interior life a survival mechanism” 

 

At about 13:15, Pete shouts out a short story idea from Chloe’s father that was emblematic of his mind

 

At about 14:00, Chloe details some of the reading that excited and challenged her as she grew up, and “the fun trash” too

 

At about 16:40, Chloe lists Diane Williams and Cormac McCarthy, among many others, as formative writers

 

At about 17:30, Pete asks Chloe about David Foster Wallace and some other nonfiction she may have read; she notes how “exciting” his sportswriting was, and Janet Malcolm and John McPhee as other great influences

 

At about 20:20, Chloe shouts out the recently-released and incredibly versatile work of Andrew Leland-The Country of the Blind, Rachel Aviv’s work, and Jessamine Chan’s School for Good Mothers

 

At about 22:10, Chloe responds to Pete’s question about if she felt represented in what she read growing up, and she answers the question using Coming Home as one anomaly

 

At about 26:30, Chloe reflects on the use of the word “disabled” and its myriad meanings 

 

At about 28:05, Chloe answers Pete’s questions about the balance between disabled people educating others and well-meaning people and possible dehumanizing actions; she cites a telling excerpt from Andrew Leland’s book

 

At about 33:30, Pete cites Elaine Scarry and how Chloe connects ideas of processing beauty and ignorance

 

At about 34:15, Pete lays out the structure for the book as based on trips Chloe took, and he and Chloe discuss the importance and circumstances of the first trip chronicled, the trip to see Beyonce at San Siro; Chloe builds on the idea and definitions of “easy beauty”

 

At about 41:55, Pete compliments Chloe’s genuine writing about her son and motherhood

 

At about 42:55, Chloe explains the power of Beyonce and her “radical presence”

 

At about 45:50, The two discuss the freeing nature of Chloe’s reporting trip to see Roger Federer, which leads to further discussion of how Chloe’s melds philosophy and more aesthetic ideals with a more pop(ular) sensibility

 

At about 51:10, Chloe discusses an opening scene from the book that engendered strong feelings for her, as well as pervasive beliefs 

 

At about 54:45, Chloe reflects on what was different about her reaction to the above conversation and the phenomenon of “The Neutral Room”

 

At about 56:35, The two discuss the book’s “Indifferent Man”

 

At about 59:20, Chloe gives background on her trip to Rome and seeking beauty and connections to her father’s philosophies 

 

At about 1:04:15, The two discuss Chloe’s trip to Cambodia, and she discusses the evolving nature of her research and searching questions, as catharsis and society’s desire for witnessing violence become topics

 

At about 1:13:10, Pete notes the emphasis on capitalism in “dark tourism” and the seeming normality of dark tourism sites

 

At about 1:14:35, The two discuss a final scene dealing with perspective and Chloe’s mother and a trip to Miami

 

At about 1:19:25, Chloe responds to Pete’s question about how she deals with writing on profound and deeply painful and tragic topics

 

At about 1:23:45, Chloe talks about upcoming events and projects, including working with Matty Davis in Bentonville, AR

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 198 with Sarah Thankam Mathews, who is the author of the novel All This Could Be Different, which was shortlisted for the 2022 National Book Award and the 2022 Discover Prize, and nominated for the Aspen Literary Prize. She is formerly a Rona Jaffe Fellow in fiction at the Iowa Writers Workshop, and a Margins Fellow at The Asian American Writers Workshop. 

Episode 196 with Rachel Howzell Hall, Painter of Worlds Both Familiar and Unknown, Creator of Psychological Thrillers, Master Crime Writer, and Author of What Never Happened

Episode 196 Notes and Links to Rachel Howzell Hall’s Work

 

    On Episode 196 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Rachel Howzell Hall and the two discuss, among other things, her devotion to reading throughout her life, her love of crime writing and thrillers, the draw of her favorite writers, and ideas raised and dealt with in her writing, including themes of loneliness, identity, racism, traumas both historical and individual, gentrification, and fear.

 

   Rachel Howzell Hall’’s debut novel, A Quiet Storm, was published in 2002 by Scribner to great notice, and was chosen as a “Rory’s Book Club” selection, the must-read book list for fictional television character Rory Gilmore of The Gilmore Girls.

   She is the critically acclaimed author and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for And Now She’s Gone, which was also nominated for the Lefty-, Barry- and Anthony Awards. A New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, Rachel is an Anthony-, International Thriller Writers- and Lefty Award nominee and the author of They All Fall Down, Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes and City of Saviors in the Detective Elouise Norton series as well as the author of the bestselling Audible Original, How It Ends.

   Rachel is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and has been a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor in Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs.

   She lives in L.A. with her husband and daughter.

 

 

 

Buy What Never Happened

 

Rachel's Website

 

Review of What Never Happened from Kirkus Reviews 

At about 1:20, Rachel talks about her mindset in the days leading up to the publication of What Never Happened on August 1, 2023; she also 

 

At about 4:20, Rachel talks about the realism she seeks in her writing, particularly the book’s ending

 

At about 5:30, The two discuss the book’s bold opening

 

At about 6:15, Rachel gives background on her early reading and writing and love for LA, as well as her lifelong fascination with crime

 

At about 8:55, Rachel talks about the power of Stephen King’s work, particularly It

 

At about 10:20, Rachel talks about her experience at UC Santa Cruz

 

At about 11:00, Rachel discusses representation in the work she read growing up, and her desire to reflect different realities in her work in her specific way

 

At about 13:30, Rachel cites Laura Lippman, Megan Abbott and Gillian Flynn as writers whose treatment of “complex female characters” inspires her and her own work; she also cites Dennis Lehane and his “twists”; Eric Larson (telegraphs) and Jon Krakeur, too, are nonfiction writers who have influenced her 

 

At about 16:30, Rachel responds to Pete’s question about how she sees genre and she highlights “sense of place” by Jordan Harper and Tod Goldberg

 

At about 19:20, Rachel talks in general and specifically about What Never Happened regarding writing the balance between plot/theme/allegory, etc.

 

At about 22:05, Rachel discusses the book’s setting and seeds for the book, including the draw of Catalina Island for someone who grew up in Los Angeles 

 

At about 24:15, Rachel talks about the pandemic and obituaries and their effects on the books

 

At about 25:15, 

 

At about 26:40, Pete and Rachel discuss Southland and their shared love for the show, as Pete connects the show’s in medias res to the book’s beginning

 

At about 29:00, The two discuss complications in the book and important characters in Coco’s life, including her spurned and threatening ex-husband

 

At about 31:55, Rachel talks about how the tragedies that Coco experienced affects her as a “people pleaser”

 

At about 33:45, Rachel and Pete give a little historical background on Catalina Island, its landscape and unique social climate; Rachel shares some interesting historical anecdotes and trivia based on her research and some of her rationale in building upon themes in the book with regard to the island

 

At about 39:50, Rachel vouches for the historical veracity of the racist wording used in the Avalon newspapers in the archives Coco searches in the book

 

At about 42:00, The two shout out Gwen, who Rachel calls “everyone’s sassy aunty” 

 

At about 43:00, Pete quotes a great line from Gwen

 

At about 44:00, Rachel characterizes Noah, and how he views Coco

 

At about 46:30, Pete lays out a series of crimes that terrorize the island in the book, in tandem with the beginning of the Covid epidemic; Rachel expands upon ideas of the despicable things done in quarantine

 

At about 49:00, Pete highlights the cascading problems and scares that complicate Coco’s life as the book goes on

 

At about 50:15, Pete recounts an early scene with a cab driver that is prophetic

 

At about 51:30, Pete outlines some key themes of the book-racism, gentrification, etc.: and Rachel expands on ideas of classicism and ideas of loneliness, as well as Garden of Eden

 

At about 54:10, Pete and Rachel

 

At about 55:40, Pete asks Rachel about writing in different voices-obituary, narration, etc.,-as well as the genesis of the book’s title

 

At about 58:50, Rachel imagines who would play Coco if a movie of What Never Happened took place

 

At about 59:35, Rachel talks about exciting future projects

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Check out the next episode, which airs on August 1 Chloe Cooper Jones is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine; She is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing for “Fearing for His Life,” a profile of Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the killing of Eric Garner, and the recipient of the 2020 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and the 2021 Howard Foundation Grant from Brown University, with both grants in support of her 2023 book, Easy Beauty.

   The episode will air on August 1.

Episode 195 with Jessica Cuello, Keen Observer of the Connections Between Classical and the Modern, and Painter of Resonant Imagery in the Poetry Collection Yours, Creature

Notes and Links to Jessica Cuello’s Work

 

   In Episode 195, Pete welcomes Jessica Cuello, and the two discuss, among other topics, her deep love for poetry and the French language, the power of libraries, transformational work by Jamaica Kincaid, the history of Mary Shelley, her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and the chaotic and amazon lives led by the family members, ideas of guilt, trauma, misogyny, feminist power, death, doomed love, and identity. 

   Jessica Cuello’s most recent book is Yours, Creature (JackLeg Press, 2023). Her book Liar, selected by Dorianne Laux for The 2020 Barrow Street Book Prize, was honored with The Eugene Nassar Prize, The CNY Book Award, a finalist nod for The Housatonic Book Award, and a longlist mention for The Julie Suk Award. Cuello is also the author of Hunt (The Word Works, 2017) and Pricking (Tiger Bark Press, 2016). Cuello has been awarded The 2022 Nina Riggs Poetry Prize, two CNY Book Awards, The 2016 Washington Prize, The New Letters Poetry Prize, a Saltonstall Fellowship, and The New Ohio Review Poetry Prize. In addition, Cuello has published three chapbooks: My Father’s Bargain (2015), By Fire (2013), and Curie (2011). In 2014 she was awarded The Decker Award from Hollins University for outstanding secondary teaching. She is poetry editor at Tahoma Literary Review and teaches French in CNY. 

   

Buy Yours, Creature

 

Jess' Website

 

Review of Yours, Creature

At about 2:30, Jessica responds to Pete asking about where to buy Yours, Creature, and her social media/contact information

 

At about 3:40, Jessica talks about her relationship with language and literature, as well as books like Jamaica Kincaid’s that changed her trajectory, and her relationships with libraries, small towns, and urban areas

 

At about 11:10, The two discuss teaching foreign language and evolving pedagogy

 

At about 12:05, Jessica answers Pete’s questions about any links between French-which she teaches-and her own writing 

 

At about 14:30, Pete talks about Mary Wollstonecraft and his knowledge or lack thereof in asking Mary about the links between her and her daughter, Mary Shelley; Jessica talks about seeds for her interest in the Marys

 

At about 20:10, The two discuss the frenetic life, particularly her teens and 20s, of Mary Shelley

 

At about 21:20, Pete asks about the rationale for the poetry collection’s title; Jessica speaks to its significance 

 

At about 22:55, Pete speaks about the epistolary form of the letters and wonders about the formality of much of the work

 

At about 24:10, Jessica gives background on her structure for the book and its iterations 

 

At about 25:50, Pete lays out the book’s first poem and birth and death; he reads from Page 4 and asks Jessica about ideas of revenge; she speaks of an evocative image

 

At about 28:30, Jessica cites evidence of Shelley’s father, Godwin, and the stories he wrote about her life and the violence he perpetrated 

 

At about 30:25, Pete reads from some early poems, laying out the divide between mother and stepdaughter

 

At about 31:00, The theme of loss is discussed

 

At about 31:50, Jessica reflects on her usage of initials for the males in the collection, particularly Godwin

 

At about 34:50, The two concentrate on a poem that deals with “threes” and the family dynamic after Mary Wollstonecraft’s death and ideas of guilt

 

At about 37:10, Jessica explains a blank in a poem and its meanings and her rationale

 

At about 38:40, Jessica explains a legend about Mary Shelley and Percy’s trysts 

 

At about 40:25, Pete reads telling and moving lines about grief from the collection

 

At about 41:20, Men in Shelley’s life are discussed in their flightiness, and Pete asks Jess about what shone through for Mary in loving Percy

 

At about 44:15, Pete highlights strong imagery, and Jess talks about Fanny, a half-sister of Mary, and ideas of women not wanting to “inconvenience” others

 

At about 47:25, Traumas of many types are discussed 

 

At about 49:00, Jessica responds to Pete’s wondering about “the creature” and its origins and meanings; Jessica and Pete reflect on the creature as “feminine” 

 

At about 52:30, The two discuss the ways women’s bodies are viewed, as Pete cites important lines from the collection

 

At about 54:00, Pete asks about any future project that Jessica is working on 

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Check out the next episode, which airs on August 1. Chloe Cooper Jones is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine; She is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing for “Fearing for His Life,” a profile of Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the killing of Eric Garner, and the recipient of the 2020 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and the 2021 Howard Foundation Grant from Brown University, with both grants in support of her 2023 book, Easy Beauty.

   The episode will air on August 1.

Episode 194 with Ruth Madievsky, Brilliant Tactician of Plot, Humor, and Nuanced Profundity, and the Writer

Episode 194 Notes and Links to Ruth Madievsky’s Work

 

    On Episode 194 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Ruth Madievsky and the two discuss, among other things, her early relationship with Moldova and the former Soviet Union, her bilingual journey, formative and transformative writers and works, her sensibility as a poet and novelist, and prominent themes and issues about and surrounding her book, such as generational trauma and its effect on families and individuals, sexual violence, homophobia, codependent relationships, and dark humor that comes with pain and trauma. 

 

 

   Ruth Madievsky is the author of a novel, All-Night Pharmacy (Catapult, July 2023), an instant national bestseller. An Indie Next Pick, All-Night Pharmacy has been named a Best/Most Anticipated 2023 Book by over 40 venues, including NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Vulture, and Buzzfeed.

 

Her fiction, nonfiction, and poetry appear in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Harper's Bazaar, GQ, Tin House, Guernica, them, Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Her debut poetry collection, Emergency Brake (Tavern Books, 2016), was the winner of the Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series and spent five months on Small Press Distribution's Poetry Bestsellers list. She was the winner of The American Poetry Review's Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize, The Iowa Review's Tim McGinnis Award for fiction, and a Tin House scholarship in poetry. She is a founding member of the Cheburashka Collective, a community of women and nonbinary writers whose identity has been shaped by immigration from the Soviet Union to the United States.

 

She has recently completed a second poetry collection. Originally from Moldova, she lives in Los Angeles, where she works as an HIV and primary care clinical pharmacist.

She tweets her existential longings at @ruthmadievsky.

 

 

 

Buy All-Night Pharmacy

 

Ruth's Website

 

Review of All-Night Pharmacy from Kirkus Reviews

 

Article about All-Night Pharmacy in The Los Angeles Times

 

Conversation and Article with Adrian Florido on NPR’s “All Things Considered”

At about 2:50, Ruth discusses her mindset in this time immediately after two milestones-the birth of her daughter and great success for All-Night Pharmacy

 

At about 4:25, Ruth shouts out Skylight Books as a great place, among many, to buy her book-also, Book Soup

 

At about 5:00, Ruth talks about her family’s history with the Russian language and their Jewish identity in the former Soviet Union and reasons for emigration 

 

At about 8:10, Ruth talks about communities of those who spoke Russian and those who shared her love for reading and writing and storytelling 

 

At about 12:15, Pete asks which books and writers were formative and transformative for Ruth

 

At about 14:20, Ruth talks about the “contradictory, complicated” Los Angeles of her youth and beyond

 

At about 16:00, Ruth shouts out Richard Siken, Marie Howe, Terrance Hayes, Bryan Washington, Raven Leilani, as inspirational and challenging writers

 

At about 17:35, Pete compliments the book’s “arresting” last image

 

At about 18:30, Ruth describes why she’s “a poet writing novels,” in relation to recent fun viral posts

 

At about 20:15, Ruth highlights a fun “deleted scene” article from Guernica

 

At about 22:55, Pete highlights the book’s epigraph and an early strong characterization of Debbie

 

At about 24:10, Ruth gives a characterization of Debbie

 

At about 26:00, The two juxtapose the narrator and Debbie and shout the “earnest” Ronnie

 

At about 28:50, Ruth gives background on the “cursed bar game”-“Wealthy Patron” and the bar Salvation 

 

At about 30:30, The two discuss Ronnie as “stable” in light of Debbie and the narrator's troubled parents 

 

At about 31:30, Ruth talks about traumas and how they inform the actions of Debbie and the narrator’s mother

 

At about 33:20, Generational gaps are highlighted, particularly among Debbie and the narrator’s grandmother and them; the larger idea of Jewish and other immigrants and ideas of hardship are discussed

 

At about 35:05, Ruth responds to Pete’s question about what one does to “live up to” their forebears’ sacrifices; she points to the narrator’s guilt/conflicted feelings and trying to “honor”

 

At about 37:15, A heavy and darkly humorous party from the book is highlighted

 

At about 37:45, Ruth speaks to the ways in which the sisters acted out in connection to their father as “mostly a nonentity”

 

At about 39:15, Ruth discusses the knife and statue and ideas of agency in the narrator's life

 

At about 42:10, The two discuss touch and “cutting” and the transference of pain

 

At about 43:00, Ruth discusses ideas of “being a victim,” particularly in the ways in which Debbie and her sister deal with their sexual abuse

 

At about 47:00, The two discuss the codependent relationship between sisters, as well as Sasha’s 

 

At about 50:00, Ruth talks about the contrast between the narrator’s relationship with Sasha in the US and Moldova and how their relationship evolved 

 

At about 52:50, Pete quotes some meaningful lines from the book that deal with generational traumas 

 

At about 54:00, Pete wonders if Ruth has plans to further explore issues and characters from All-Night Pharmacy in future projects

 

At about 56:30, An article in Full Stop that cites a reason for the book’s title is mentioned 

You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 195 with Jessica Cuello, whose book Liar was selected by Dorianne Laux for The 2020 Barrow Street Book Prize; her latest book is Yours, Creature, a creative and stirring look at the life of Mary Shelley. 

The episode will air on July 28.

Episode 193 with Ethan Chatagnier, Author of Singer Distance, and Standout Worldbuilder and Character Artist

Episode 193 Notes and Links to Ethan Chatagnier’s Work

 

    On Episode 193 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Ethan Chatagnier, and the two discuss, among other things, Ethan’s early reading and writing-John Saul!-his transformative and formative moments and educators at Fresno State, and salient issues in Singer Distance like emotional distance, entropy, father-child relationships, optimism and pessimism, and successful plot structures and schematics. 

 

   Ethan Chatagnier is the author of Singer Distance, a novel published by Tin House Books in October 2022, and of Warnings from the Future, a story collection from Acre Books in 2018. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of literary journals including the Kenyon Review Online, Georgia Review, New England Review, Story, Five Points, Michigan Quarterly Review, and the Cincinnati Review. His stories have won a Pushcart Prize and been listed as notable in the Best American Short Stories and the Million Writers Award.

   He is a graduate of Fresno State, where he won the Larry Levis Prize in Poetry, and of Emerson College, where he earned an MA in Publishing and Writing. He lives in Fresno, California with his family.

 

 

 

Buy Singer Distance

 

Ethan's Website

 

Review of Singer Distance from Kirkus Review

At about 3:00, Ethan discusses his early relationship with reading and writing-John Saul shout out!

 

At about 6:30, Ethan discusses his wrestling career and how writing and reading became more of interest 

 

At about 9:30, Ethan discusses mentors and great professors at Fresno State, including Juan Felipe Herrera and Steve Yarbrough

 

At about 11:40, Ethan responds to Pete’s questions about whether or not he wants to write widely or more focused on single subjects

 

At about 14:10, Ken Kalfus’ Equilateral is cited as inspiration for Singer Distance

 

At about 15:15, Erika Swyler,  Kazuo Ishiguro, and R.F. Kuang are shouted out as contemporary writers who thrill and challenge Ethan 

 

At about 17:20, Pete compliments Ethan for plot twists and asks him about how he balances science and plot

 

At about 18:15, Ethan summarizes the book and gives necessary background information and backstory

 

At about 23:15, Ethan responds to Pete’s wondering about the speculative nature of women, especially Crystal Singer, in a pre-ERA world

 

At about 24:40, Pete reads a profound line from the book and asks Ethan about young and fervent love’s role in the book

 

At about 26:50, Ethan connects an analogy about garbage in the book to Crystal and Rick’s relationship 

 

At about 28:30, Ethan and Pete share some of the early plot and discuss ideas of fame and ethereal happiness

 

At about 31:50, Ethan sums up Crystal’s actions after her great feat in the Arizona desert, and what motivations she might have had due to her family situation 

 

At about 34:30, Crystal and Rick are discussed in their shared love for Holliday, a famous scientist in the media

 

At about 36:35, Pete wonders about Rick’s fractured relationship with his dad, Ethan talks about it being “a rift that was waiting to happen”

 

At about 37:55, Ethan shares a telling anecdote about fathers and sons from Steve Yarbrough’s class at Fresno State

 

At about 39:30, Pete notes the ways in which “distance” is used in the book and spotlights a beautifully-drawn scene

 

At about 40:25, Pete lays out the book’s structure and its parts and charts the beginning of Part II

 

At about 42:00, Ethan follows up on Pete noting that Rick’s colleague Angie can’t quite break through his emotional armor and why Rick sort of “get[s] by” in life and in his career

 

At about 44:25, The two discuss entropy and its usage in the book

 

At about 45:00, “Loneliness on the top” and obsession with regards to Crystal is discussed; he also juxtaposes with an author’s situation in writing a second book after a successful first one

 

At about 48:55, Pete reads some heaping praise for the book, including from NPR, and Ethan talks about connections made and renewed after publicity for the book

 

At about 50:40, Pete asks Ethan about optimism and pessimism in the book, specifically in its ending; Ethan calls it “surprisingly hopeful” and gives an example of a vastly-depressing short story of his

 

At about 55:15, Ethan talks about his work and any interest in screenwriting

 

At about 57:45, Ethan talks about choosing upcoming projects, and gives out social media and contact information

You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 194 with Ruth Madievsky, whose debut novel, All-Night Pharmacy, came out on July 11 with Catapult, and has been named a Best/Most Anticipated 2023 Book by The Los Angeles Times, Vogue, and Buzzfeed. Ruth’s debut poetry collection, Emergency Brake, was winner of the Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series. 

   The episode will air on July 25.

Episode 192 with Donovan X. Ramsey, Author of When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era and Master Craftsman of a Historical Book that Shines Through Personal Stories

Notes and Links to Donovan X. Ramsey’s Work

   For Episode 192, Pete welcomes Donovan X. Ramsey, and the two discuss, among other things, his early relationship with language, formative and transformative writers like bell hooks, Zora Neale Hurston, Phillip Roth, Colson Whitehead, and the inimitable Toni Morrison, connotations and legal policies that are products of the mythmaking and propagandizing of the “crack era,” the emblematic stories of the people followed in Donovan’s book, historical precedent for the over policing and oppression of Black people in the US, and optimism and pessimism to be seen in the stories of the crack era and of today.

 

   Donovan X. Ramsey is a journalist, author, and an indispensable voice on issues of identity, justice, and patterns of power in America.

His reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, GQ, WSJ Magazine, Ebony, and Essence, among other outlets. He has been a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, NewsOne, and theGrio. He has served as an editor at The Marshall Project and Complex.

Ramsey’s writing career has been focused entirely on amplifying the remarkable unheard stories of Black America. He believes in people-first narratives that center individuals and communities—not just issues. His memorable magazine work includes profiles of Deion Sanders, Killer Mike, and Bubba Wallace for GQ; and Bryan Stevenson and Ibram Kendi for WSJ Magazine.

Ramsey is the author of When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era, a work of narrative nonfiction exploring how Black America survived the crack epidemic for One World, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, the world's largest trade book publisher.

He was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he concentrated in magazine journalism, and Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta. Today, he calls Los Angeles home.

 

 

Buy When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era

 

Donovan's Website

 

Review in The New York Times of When Crack Was King

 

Interview with The Los Angeles Times about When Crack Was King

At about 2:55, Donovan gives background on his early reading and writing life

 

At about 6:00, Donovan and Pete fanboy over Toni Morrison, who Donovan calls “the greatest to ever do it”

 

At about 7:30, Donovan discusses his love of Phillip Roth’s work, as well as that of Zora Neale Hurston and Colston Whitehead’s work

 

At about 9:50, Donovan talks about ideas of representation and how he was taken care of intellectually

 

At about 12:30, Donovan references current writers who thrill and challenge him, including Colson Whitehead, Mat Johnson, and Stephen King, whose cover of It inspired the cover for When Crack Was King

 

At about 14:30, Donovan responds to Pete’s questions about long form versus “longer form” and how he dove into the research

 

At about 17:50, Donovan cites jazz as a must when he’s writing

 

At about 19:00, Pete points to “crack era laws” Donovan references that seemed to be seeds for the book, and Donovan responds by mentioning Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration as an important “seed” for the book

 

At about 23:00, Donovan talks about the connotations that come with the word “crackhead,” as well as government and official language that served to dehumanize drug users and Black Americans 

 

At about 26:20, Pete compliments and notes about a “good historical revision” in use of language that is not dehumanizing 

 

At about 27:10, Pete marks the book’s eight-part structure 

 

At about 28:30, Pete points out the book’s interesting and necessary historical background that is provided

 

At about 29:05, Donovan responds to Pete’s asking about Nixon’s “War on Drugs” and the preceding and succeeding years in drug and policing policies; he specifically speaks about Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” 

 

***At about 33:10, The two discuss connections between events charted in the book with events of today and lament how, since history is cyclical,” there is little

 

At about 34:20, Pete and Donovan discuss the “inconsistent[cy}” in the US government’s and society’s view of drugs and punishment 

 

At about 38:15, Donovan explains the Richard Pryor story and Lenny Bias’ tragic death in the context of mythmaking and propaganda around crack cocaine

 

At about 40:10, The newspaper article “Jimmy’s World” and the almost unbelievable circus around it is discussed 

 

At about 44:20, “Gabo” weighs in on “Jimmy’s World!”

 

At about 44:45, Donovan charts the historical consequences of racist tropes regarding drugs and their supposed transference of superhuman qualities for Blacks and other people of color

 

At about 47:25, The two discuss Kurt Schmoke’s turn towards the decriminalization of drugs 

 

At about 52:00, Donovan reflects on the economic ties between so much of society and the “War

 

At about 53:15, The two discuss the Democrats’ emphasis on “tough on crime” in the crack era and beyond, as well as the need for making things right now, with the adjustment of laws and redress of past wrongs

 

At about 57:20, Pete discusses the importance of Dre Dre and other hip musicians as part of bringing the crack era to an end, as well as communities standing up to bring use down

 

At about 58:40, Donovan talks about pessimism that came after finishing the book in 2020, including the case of young Black men being barred from selling water in Atlanta 

 

At about 1:02:25, Pete highlights the power of the individual stories in the book, including a beautiful andeote involving Shawn-Coach McCray

 

At about 1:04:00, Donovan responds to Pete’s questions about any optimism he feels in examining the individual stories of Shawn, Lennie, Elgin, Kurt, and others

 

At about 1:06:50, Donovan talks about exciting upcoming projects, including podcast potential 

 

At about 1:08:00, Donovan shouts out Reparations Club in Los Angeles, For Keeps Bookstore in Atlanta, and McNally Jackson Books in New York as good places to buy his book, as well as his social media/contact info

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

Check out the next episode with Ethan Chatagnier, which airs today, July 18. 

  Ethan is the author of Singer Distance, a novel lauded by NPR Books and The Millions. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of literary journals including the Kenyon Review Online and he has won a Pushcart Prize and been listed as notable in the Best American Short Stories. 

   Again, the episode with Ethan will air today, July 18.

 

Episode 191 with Sarah Fawn Montgomery, Possessor of a Poetic Sensibility, Chronicler of Nature, the Psyche, and Love’s Many Iterations, and Author of Halfway from Home: Essays

Episode 191 Notes and Links to Sarah’s Work

 

    On Episode 191 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Sarah Fawn Montgomery, and the two discuss, among other things, her early reading and writing, storytelling, growing up in Central California, the ways in which blue-collar Americans have been depicted-or not depicted in literature, and salient themes in her essay collection, like nostalgia, father-daughter relationships, cycles of poverty and violence and trauma, and evolving ideas of home.

 

   Sarah Fawn Montgomery is the author of Halfway from Home (Split/Lip Press, 2022), Quite Mad: An American Pharma Memoir (The Ohio State University Press, 2018) and the poetry chapbooks Regenerate: Poems of Mad Women (Dancing Girl Press, 2017), Leaving Tracks: A Prairie Guide (Finishing Line Press, 2017), and The Astronaut Checks His Watch (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her work has been listed as notable in Best American Essays many times, and her poetry and prose have appeared in Brevity, Crab Orchard Review, DIAGRAM, Electric Literature, LitHub, New England Review, The Normal School, Passages North, Poetry Foundation, The Rumpus, Southeast Review, Terrain, and numerous other journals and anthologies. She holds an MFA in creative writing from California State University-Fresno and a PhD in English in creative writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is an Associate Professor at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. 

 

 

Buy Halfway from Home: Essays

 

Sarah's Website

 

Review of Halfway from Home: Essays from Kirkus Review

 

Split Rock Review-Review of Halfway from Home

 

At about 2:20, Sarah talks about her early relationships with reading and writing, and about how she wanted to write stories about often-overlooked working-class people

 

At about 4:20, Sarah cites some early favorite books and writers, and she analyzes the ways she reads a favorite, Joan Didion, now differently than she did then

 

At about 7:00, The two discuss class and how it is talked about in our society (or not) and represented in literature 

 

At about 9:00, Sarah discusses how she got excited about writing-she shouts out to a high school teacher who gave a meaningful and transformative journal assignment and invited Sarah to keep writing

 

At about 13:00, Sarah references nonfiction writers who thrilled her in college-like Audre Lorde, Sandra Cisneros, and Jamaica Kincaid-and thrill her today, like Chen Chen, Ada Limón, Donika Kelly, Saeed Jones, Dorothy Chan, and torrin a. greathouse  

 

At about 14:40, Sarah recounts the genesis of her Halfway From Home collection and answers Pete’s questions about making the individual essays cohere

 

At about 17:40, Pete summarizes the book’s first essay and its “dig sites” and focus on her father’s whimsy and her love of dirt-it’s called “Excavation” 

 

At about 19:00, Sarah speaks to the significance of “excavation” in the first story and beyond

 

At about 21:00, Pete compliments the story’s “imagined ending” and Sarah speaks about its significance and background 

 

At about 23:25, Sarah discusses the power and symbolism of fire and light, cold and darkness, as featured in her book

 

At about 26:10, The two discuss ideas of homes, serenity, and respite from traumas and chaos

 

At about 31:30, The two discuss her essay on cartography

 

At about 35:40, Pete muses

 

At about 37:00, The history of Sarah’s family in mines is discussed, along with the multiple meanings of “descendants”

 

At about 40:50, Sarah talks about “complicating humanity,” especially with regards to her grandfather and grandmother

 

At about 42:15, Pete asks about the end of an essay and how Sarah approached its second-person address

 

At about 44:20, The two discuss nostalgia and its connections to the essays, the intriguing concept of saudade, and nostalgia’s history as something to be discouraged

 

At about 48:35, Pete recounts how nostalgia has informed the podcast’s ethos

 

At about 50:45, Sarah confesses to being “anti-time” (!) and the two reference a classic Saved by the Bell scene

 

At about 54:45, Cycles of violence as depicted in the essay are examined

 

At about 56:45, Sarah reflects on how she sees and saw he father throughout her collection and in more recent times

 

At about 1:01:00, Pete notes the ways in which women in Sarah’s family are portrayed in her collection 

 

At about 1:02:30, Pete compliments a beautiful scene with father and daughter and Sarah talks about the nostalgia associated with parents and childhood-Pete 

 

At about 1:04:45, Sarah shares an interesting new project involving combatting ableist writing as default 

 

At about 1:05:50, The two fan boy/girl over Alice Wong’s work

 

At about 1:06:15, Sarah shouts out her publisher Split Lip Press as a place to buy her book

 

At about 1:06:45, Sarah gives out social media/contact information

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 192 with Donovan X Ramsey. He is a journalist, author, and indispensable voice on issues of identity, justice, and patterns of power in América; When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era comes out on June 11, i.e. the day this episode with Sarah has been published. 

The episode will air on July 18.

Episode 190 with Ellen Birkett Morris, Renaissance Woman: Teacher, Dramatist, Prose Writer, and Author of the Precise, Affecting, and Chill-Inducing Lost Girls

Episode 190 Notes and Links to Ellen Birkett Morris’ Work

 

   On Episode 190 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Ellen Birkett Morris, and the two discuss, among other things, her early relationship with the written word and Southern gothic writers, her increased confidence in world building that led to her embracing writing as a profession, writers whose work thrills her, her upcoming award-winning novel, promoting her Lost Girls story collection during the onset of Covid, pertinent themes from her collection, such as misogyny, the innocence of youth, aging and its attendant repercussions, connections/intimacy, and death, as well as her mindset in writing emotional and wrenching pieces. 

 

   Ellen Birkett Morris is an award-winning, multi-genre writer, teacher, and editor based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Morris is the author of SURRENDER (Finishing Line Press). Her poetry has appeared in Thin Air Magazine, The Clackamas Literary Review, Juked, Alimentum, Gastronomica, 3Elements Review and Inscape, among other journals.  Morris won top prize in the 2008 Binnacle Ultra-Short Edition and was a semi-finalist for the 2009 Rita Dove Poetry Prize. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

   Her fiction has appeared in Shenandoah, Antioch Review, Notre Dame Review, South Carolina Review, Sliver of Stone, Great Jones Street, Santa Fe Literary Review, and Upstreet, among other journals. She is the 2015 winner of the Bevel Summers Prize for her story “May Apples” and won the Betty Gabehart Prize for Fiction.  

   Morris’s plays have appeared in Mud City Journal, Monologue Bank, and Plays, The Drama Magazine for Young People. Her ten-minute play, “Lost Girls,” was a finalist for the 2008 Heideman Award given by Actors Theatre. “Lost Girls’ received a staged reading at Cincinnati’s Arnoff Center.

   Her essays can be found in trade paperback books including NESTING: IT’S A CHICK THING, THE WRITING GROUP BOOK, THE GIRLS’ BOOK OF LOVE, and THE GIRLS’ BOOK OF FRIENDSHIP, in journals including Brevity blog, The Common, The Butter, The Fem and South Loop Review, and on National Public Radio.

   Morris teaches creative writing at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky.  

 

 

Buy Lost Girls

 

Ellen’s Website

 

Review of Lost Girls by Yvette Benavides for Texas Public Radio

 

At about 3:20, Ellen describes her relationship with the written word, including the impact of the Southern Gothic she often was read

 

At about 4:45, Ellen talks about initial nervousness and small successes that “catapulted [her] into writing”

 

At about 5:40, Ellen keys in on what improvements she made in worldbuilding and “the magic of populating” her writing

 

At about 7:00, Ellen highlights Bobbie Ann Mason, Barbara Kingsolver, Ernest Hemingway and Elizabeth Berg as writers who have shaped her own work, as well as how her jour; Elizabeth Strout, George Saunders, and Rebecca Makkai are cited as beloved contemporary writers

 

At about 8:15, Pete remarks on the book’s economy of language, and Ellen adds how her pacing propels her work and how her journalism career has aided her later writing

 

At about 10:55, Ellen shouts out Rebecca Kuang’s Yellowface as a must-read

 

At about 12:40, Pete remarks on Ellen’s fabulous variety of work and asks her about muses and how she writes in different mediums; she provides an anecdote involving her father that illustrates her philosophy

 

At about 13:55, Ellen talks about how workshop help from Erin Flanagan provided the catalyst for her upcoming novel

At about 15:10, Ellen shares exciting news regarding her upcoming novel winning the Donald L. Jordan Award

At about 18:05, Ellen discusses the difficulties in the promoting and release of Lost Girls in June 2020

At about 19:30, Ellen calls the book a “loosely-linked collection of stories” and its connections to “Winesberg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson

At about 20:40, The two discuss the title story and the real-life backstory that inspired Ellen’s desire to center women in her story collection

At about 22:00, Ellen explains how she complicates the title story

At about 24:00, The two discuss the story of “Inheritance” and Ellen discusses “sin-eating,” themes of oppression and cycles of poverty and trauma and death and the story’s resonant title

At about 28:15, Ellen calls the story’s ending the most “raw, heart wrenching” she’s written

At about 28:55, The story “Religion” is discussed, including its emphasis on intimacy and social groups, and Ellen underlines the story’s humor

At about 30:30, The two talk about “Harvest” and themes of vitality and ageism and misogyny

At about 33:20, Pete fanboys over the story “The Afterlife” and the two discuss the grief and complicated mourning that takes place

At about 35:20, Ellen discusses advice received about complicating characters to create more compelling work

At about 37:10, Pete asks Ellen how emotionally-taxing this story was for her

At about 38:55, Pete compares the story to Alice Elliott Dark’s “In the Gloaming"

At about 39:40, The two discuss “fresh starts” as a theme and “After the Fall” and its connections to the Biblical story, its telling opening line, and its “metaphorical weight”

At about 42:05, The two discuss human connection as a throughline in the collection

At about 44:00, Tony, a repeated character, is highlighted, along with ideas of connections and unrequited love

At about 46:10, Through discussing “Neverland,” the two discuss its pertinent themes of connection and childhood traumas after Pete reads a story excerpt

At about 47:35, Ellen talks about the juxtaposition of youth and aging and complicity fits in the story

At about 48:55, Pete cites the innocence of youth as successfully-rendered by Ellen, including in the story “Kodachrome”

At about 51:45, Ellen responds to Pete’s question about how she ordered the story collection-she cites Lee Martin’s advice

At about 53:55, Ellen gives out publishing info for his work, including Carmichael’s in Louisville; she also gives contact info/social media

Episode 189 with Andrés Reséndez, Researcher on The Spanish Conquest and Author of the Award-Winning and Rigorously-Researched The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America

Episode 189 Notes and Links to Andrés Reséndez’s Work

 

    On Episode 189 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Andrés Reséndez, and the two discuss, among other things, his early trajectory towards becoming a writer, formative and transformative writers and his work with nonfiction and historical writing, the origins of his book on “the other slavery,” the interplay between disease and warfare and focred labor in decimating Native populations, and the machinations, greed, racism, and laws that guided the enslavement of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

 

   Andrés Reséndez is a historian at the University of California, Davis. His specialties are Mexican history, early exploration and colonization of the Americas and the Pacific Ocean, and borderlands history.

   In 2017, Reséndez won the Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy for The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. Reséndez grew up in Mexico City, and he is currently a professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Davis.

 

 

Buy The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America

 

Andres Resendez's Wikipedia Page

 

NPR Review: "Horrors Pile Up Quietly In The Other Slavery"

 

At about 1:35, Andrés describes his early reading and writing and language experiences

 

At about 3:25, Andrés references formational writers 

 

At about 4:20, Andrés responds to Pete’s questions about his background with fiction and nonfiction, and he and Pete discuss the “amazing character” of Carvajal 

 

At about 6:05, Andrés lists contemporary “must-reads” like Robert Darnton and Simon Schama

 

At about 7:30, Pete asks Andrés about connections between the treatment of the indigenous in México and Andrés’ scholarship 

 

At about 10:00, Andrés cites Cabeza de la Vaca’s expedition-a subject of his earlier book-as one of the catalysts for The Other Slavery

 

At about 13:20, Andrés describes the significance of the book’s title 

 

At about 15:25, Pete and Andrés remark on the “amazing” phenomenon of Spain ruling an empire across the world and the arbitrary nature of the enforcement of the prohibition of indigenous slavery 

 

At about 18:35, Pete lays out a guiding hypothesis of Andrés’ in the book, regarding the central role Indian slavery had on the decimation of many groups 

 

At about 21:00, Andrés connects the cycle that brings together epidemics and slavery

 

At about 22:10, Pete wonders about the ways in which people have used Andrés’ research since the book’s publication 

 

At about 24:25, Andrés speaks about the use of the term “Indian”

 

At about 25:40, The two discuss the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and their unique histories

 

At about 29:00, Andrés discusses the overwork and slavery and exploitation that decimated the peoples of the Caribbean 

 

At about 30:50, Andrés responds to Pete’s question about white supremacy and social caste and how these ideas permeated the laws and regulations and practices of the conquistadors

 

At about 36:00, Andrés answers Pete’s questions about whether or not he found any “heroes” in his research 

 

At about 37:15, Andrés explains how the US Civil War led to an uptick in the slavery of the indigenous

 

At about 39:30, Andrés gives background on how the US Congress played a role in ending indigenous slavery

 

At about 41:30, Pete and Andrés’ draw historical comparisons to today and 

 

At about 42:30, Pete compliments Andrés’ “humanizing” of the historical figures, and Andrés responds to Pete’s question about how he avoids “moralizing”

 

At about 44:20, Andrés shares an exciting future project regarding the Philippines and South Asia

You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 190 with Ellen Birkett Morris. She is an award-winning, multi-genre writer, teacher, and editor based in Louisville, Kentucky. She is also the 2015 winner of the Bevel Summers Prize for her story “May Apples” and won the Betty Gabehart Prize for Fiction.

The episode will air on July 5.

Episode 188 with Kavita Das, Writer and Editor of Craft and Conscience: How to Write about Social Issues, and Reflective and Thoughtful Chronicler of Important and Compelling Stories

Episode 188 Notes and Links to Kavita Das’s Work

 

    On Episode 188 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Kavita Das, and the two discuss, among other things, her early trajectory towards becoming a writer, formative and transformative writers and writing, how writing her first book and working in social change led her to write Craft and Conscience, and ideas of history, forgotten histories, personal narrative, writing about emotional issues, the power of anthology and writing being in conversation with other writing, writing as political, and ideas of power.

 

   Kavita Das worked in social change for close to fifteen years, addressing issues ranging from community and housing inequities, to public health disparities, to racial injustice. Although Kavita remains committed to social justice issues, she left the social change sector to become a full-time writer and to tell the life story of Grammy-nominated Hindustani singer Lakshmi Shankar through her first book Poignant Song: The Life and Music of Lakshmi Shankar  (Harper Collins India, June 2019).

   At the root of both her writing and social change work is Kavita’s desire to provoke thought and engender change by recognizing and revealing the true ways in which culture, race, and gender intersect especially when it comes to societal inequities. Kavita has been a regular contributor to NBC News Asian America, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Rumpus. In addition, her work has been published in WIRED, Poets & Writers, Catapult, LitHub, Tin House, Longreads, Kenyon Review, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNN, Guernica, McSweeney’s, Fast Company, Quartz, Colorlines, Romper, and elsewhere. She was nominated for a 2016 Pushcart Prize. 

   Kavita created the popular “Writing About Social Issues” nonfiction seminar, which inspired her second book, Craft and Conscience: How To Write About Social Issues,  and has taught at the New School and Catapult, along with being a frequent guest lecturer. Her essays on social issues have been included in two creative writing textbooks. Kavita received a B.A. in Urban Studies from Bryn Mawr College and a M.B.A. in Marketing from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A native New Yorker, Kavita and her husband, Om try to keep up with their toddler, Daya and Harper, their hound.

 

 

Buy Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues

 

Kavita Das' Website

 

Review of Craft and Conscience from Hippocampus Magazine

 

At about 2:55, Kavita shares social media/contact info and places to buy her work, as well as discussing where to connect with her over writing and writing classes

 

At about 5:25, Kavita discusses her early journeys involving language, reading, imagination, and searching for a diversity of books and characters  

 

At about 8:45, Kavita shares her first impressions upon reading some of the chill-inducing greats, such as James Baldwin, and seeing literature for the first time as personal

 

At about 9:50, Pete and Kavita highlight her writing about her experience with a cleft palate, and she connects the last chapter to the first chapter and Orwell’s writing, as well as her own rationale in writing as she does and what lessons she has learned through her life that informed 

 

At about 16:40, Kavita reflects on the influences that Bengali and Tamil have had on her and her writing

 

At about 19:25, Kavita shares an indicative saying from Tamil

 

At about 21:10, Kavita responds to Pete’s questions about seeds for the book and why she chose to make it an anthology

 

At about 23:30, Kavita homes in on how her first book influenced Craft and Conscience

 

At about 27:45, Kavita details writer’s workshops and classes and experiences that helped her solidify her writing and teaching skills and philosophies 

 

At about 30:10, Kavita remembers her learning and early emphasis on honing her writing craft in using her knowledge base in conjunction with what makes compelling reading 

 

At about 33:00, Pete lays out the book’s structure and highlights Mira Jacob’s and Kavita’s Introduction, which leads Kavita to expand upon why the book took the form of anthology

 

At about 36:20, Pete cites the resonant epigraph from Jericho Brown, and homes in on Chapter One and connections between writing and politics

 

At about 38:20, Kavita expands on ideas of craft and culture and their connections  

 

At about 39:55, Pete highlights a meaningful quote from Christiane Amanpour-”being truthful and not neutral” and Kavita discusses the “key distinction for [her]” and underlines Kaitlyn Greenidge’s powerful piece in the anthology

 

At about 42:20, Pete references James Baldwin’s evolving philosophy on his writing topics and what how he chronicled culture 

 

At about 45:55, The two discuss the often-lacking forethought that governs well-meaning writers’ work

 

At about 51:10, Pete notes the anecdote from the book about Alexander Chee choosing not to write a story, and Kavita muses about his thought process and wishes more writers stepped back a bit before writing a piece/book

 

At about 53:55, The two discuss objectivity and subjectivity and the connection between readers/writers/subjects-they cite great works by Garnette Cadogan, Jaquira Diaz, and Kavita (writing on Jyoti Singh)

 

At about 57:40, Kavita recounts a chance meeting with her editor, the legend Roxane Gay

 

At about 58:55, The two discuss the power of writing-Pete and Kavita fanboy over Cadogan’s work-in inviting empathy; Kavita also cites the powerful “My Body is a Confederate Monument” by Caroline Williams

 

At about 1:03:45, Pete cites thought-provoking pieces from Dunbar Ortiz and Imani Perry and he and Kavita point to the importance of context and family histories in the pieces; 

 

At about 1:05:30, Kavita underlines the importance of “power” as a common theme in the collection and discusses the culture need and often unwillingness to really engage on tough cultural histories 

 

At about 1:08:20, Kavita keys in on textbooks and education and the ways in which they have sometimes been purposefully lacking in material/insights  

 

At about 1:10:30, Societal change and its connection to uncomfortable writers and writing is discussed 

 

At about 1:13:10, The “how” is discussed-that is, the book’s featuring important craft ideas, including the power of “hybrid” writing that combine data-driven and personal writing

 

At about 1:16:05, Pete references José Antonio Vargas and Yashica Dutt as someone personally-affected and how they took their 

 

At about 1:19:10, The two discuss Nicole Chung’s thought-inducing piece from the anthology 

 

At about 1:22:10, Pete compliments the piece from the anthology on “tolerance” written by Kavita and she reflects on the word’s shifting meaning for her

 

At about 1:25:10, Kavita continues to reflect on the implications of power and repressed histories and complicity and exciting new explorations of these issues, including work by Crystal Z. Campbell

 

At about 1:30:15, The two discuss the book’s present impact and future implications

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 189 with Andrés Reséndez. He is a historian at the University of California, Davis, and in 2017, he won the Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy for The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. 

   The episode will air on June 27.

Episode 187 with V Castro, Author of The Haunting of Alejandra, Two-Time Bram Stoker Nominee, and Creator of Scary and Real Worlds and Characters That Resonate

Episode 187 Notes and Links to V Castro’s Work

 

    On Episode 187 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes V Castro, and the two discuss, among other things, her early and lifelong fascination with horror, the ways in which her family stories and stories of Texas and México have shaped her sensibilities and her writing, the indie horror writers who thrill and inspire her, connections to The Mexican Revolution and La Llorona which populate The Haunting of Alejandra, and themes of misogyny and self-determination, emotional warmth and coldness, the importance of therapy in formal and informal ways, and generational trauma and working to overcome or control its effects.  

   

   V Castro is a two time Bram Stoker award nominated writer born in San Antonio, Texas, to Mexican American parents. She’s been writing horror stories since she was a child, always fascinated by Mexican folklore and the urban legends of Texas. Castro now lives in the United Kingdom with her family, writing and traveling with her children.

 

 

Buy The Haunting of Alejandra

 

V Castro's Website

 

Southern Review of Books: “V. Castro’s “The Haunting of Alejandra”: A Feminist Folk Lore Remedy”

 

At about 1:40, V talks about being a “bookworm” and her relationship with reading, writing, and the lack of exposure to Latinx horror writers as she was growing up 

 

At about 4:20, V points to reasons for her love of horror from a young age

 

At about 6:20, V responds to Pete’s questions about how much of her family’s histories were told to her, and how she sought out scary stories over the years

 

At about 7:50, V discusses finding her communities of horror writers/readers, and how seeking them out was a catalyst for her own writing

 

At about 9:50, V cites the thriving “indie horror community” inspiring her, including Haley Piper, Laurel Hightower, Gabino Iglesias, Eric LaRocca, Chuck Wendig, Gemma Amor, and Brian Keene

 

At about 10:45, V speaks to her varied writing and how she views “genre”

 

At about 11:30, V describes her mindset after her book is out in the world, and she gives contact info and social media info, indie.org, and other websites to buy her book

 

At about 13:05, V talks about seeds for The Haunting of Alejandra

 

At about 14:10, V responds to Pete’s questions about the relationship between storyline and themes/symbolism-especially in The Haunting of Alejandra

 

At about 15:20, Pete references the story’s epigraph, and V points out the historical reality of Flor Castillo’s friend in the book

 

At about 17:30, Pete lays out the book’s exposition, and V reflects on an opening scene and its implications 

 

At about 20:55, V explains the ways in which Alejandra “puts herself last” and feels anxious and angry and frustrated and sad 

 

At about 23:30, Pete and V talk about Melanie and therapy and how different generations have had access or not

 

At about 24:40, Pete cites the book’s flashback to Atzi and V discusses a pivotal deal that is made and leads to the family’s curse

 

At about 27:25, Pete and V further discuss the relationship between Alejandra and Melanie and explorations of generational trauma and connections between Catrina and Mictlāntēcutli and their importance up to today

 

At about 30:00, Pete charts a slow growth in autonomy 

 

At about 31:30, V traces Cathy’s story and history, especially with regard to her pregnancy, and she and Pete talk about Cathy’s mother Francés and her connection to La Llorona

 

At about 33:10, Pete and V discuss Alejandra’s “cleansing” of her house

 

At about 34:50, Pete asks V about Matthew and she (succinctly) describes his genesis 

 

At about 36:05, Flor’s story/chapter is explored, and V connects her to the other women in the 

 

At about 38:10, Pete and V explore generational trauma and the ways in which people, especially the women in the book, 

 

At about 40:20, Emilio Robles Avila and his amazing life is discussed 

 

At about 41:35, Pete wonders if V “sat in judgment” of her characters 

 

At about 43:00, The two discuss the book as “timely” and “timeless”

 

At about 44:30, V talks about exciting upcoming products, including a book about Rebel Moon 

 

 

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

  Please tune in for Episode 188 with Kavita Das. She worked in social change for close to fifteen years, addressing issues ranging from community and housing inequities, to public health disparities, to racial injustice and now addresses social injustice through writing and editing, including her first book, Poignant Song: The Life and Music of Lakshmi Shankar. She is writer/editor of Craft and Conscience: How To Write About Social Issues, an anthology featuring countless stellar writers  

   The episode will air on June 20.

Episode 186 with Stephanie Feldman, Author of Saturnalia, Master Worldbuilder, and Crafter of Intriguing and Engrossing Satire and Allegory

Episode 186 Notes and Links to Stephanie Feldman’s Work

 

*Content Warning-Please be aware of discussion of sexual assault* 

 

    On Episode 186 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Stephanie Feldman, and the two discuss, among other things, her early trajectory towards becoming a writer, formative and transformative writers and writing, genre and genre-less writing, the balance between allegory and plot in Saturnalia, the book’s focus on Philadelphia and on the world at large, hedonism/inaction  in the wake of climate disasters, the long echoes of sexual assault, class and power in her book, and whether the book has a sense of optimism. 

 

   Stephanie Feldman is the author of the novels Saturnalia and The Angel of Losses, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, winner of the Crawford Fantasy Award, and finalist for the Mythopoeic Award. She is co-editor of the multi-genre anthology Who Will Speak for America? and her stories and essays have appeared in or are forthcoming from Asimov’s Science Fiction, Catapult Magazine, Electric Literature, Flash Fiction Online, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Rumpus, Uncharted Magazine, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Weird Horror, and more. She lives outside Philadelphia with her family.

 

 

Buy Saturnalia

 

Stephanie Feldman's Website

 

Review of Saturnalia from John Mauro at Grimdark Magazine

 

At about 1:55, Stephanie describes her early reading and writing, and being “fated” to be a writer

 

At about 4:00, Stephanie shouts out Anne Rice, Jeanette Winterson, and others as formational and transformational writers

 

At about 6:00, Stephanie cites the “world building and atmosphere” of Rice’s work that inspired Saturnalia and the Philadelphia of the book

 

At about 7:20, Stephanie highlights Sofia Samatar, her work regarding Uzbekistan especially, and Jeffrey Ford as beloved contemporary writers

 

At about 9:00, Stephanie responds to Pete’s questions about the importance (or lack thereof) of genre

 

At about 11:55, Stephanie gives background on/seeds for Saturnalia, including The Masque of Red Death and the Covid pandemic

 

At about 15:00, Pete asks about the balance/timing involving the book’s allegory/symbolism and its plot/premise

 

At about 16:30, The two discuss the epigraph from Umberto Eco and its connection to hedonism and climate change 

 

At about 18:40, The exposition is laid out, and Stephanie discusses connections to Saturn and fortune telling’s importance in the book

 

At about 22:45, Pete summarizes the night of the winter solstice, including The Lord of Misrule, and Nina’s tough times that lead her to do a job for Max 

 

At about 24:30, Pete connects a telling quote from Faulkner to the book’s pivotal violation and gender roles and power dynamics

 

At about 30:50, Stephanie responds to Pete’s musings about the book’s commentary on social class and power 

 

At about 33:00, Stephanie and Pete speak about Philadelphia’s small-town feel and Niña’s feelings of being “trapped”

 

At about 36:55, Stephanie responds to Pete’s questions about any optimism/pessimism that comes from the book

 

At about 38:55, Alchemy and myth and the stories are discussed 

 

At about 40:00, Stephanie talks about the ways she and readers continue to experience the book some seven months after publication 

 

At about 41:40, Pete shares the book’s blurb from Carmen Maria Machado 

 

At about 42:00, Stephanie shares an exciting future project

 

At about 43:00, Stephanie gives the history of the “blue laws” in PA

 

At about 44:00, Stephanie shares social media/contact info and places to buy her work, including Main Point Books, A Novel Idea, Weird Horror “The Getaway”

 

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 Please tune in for Episode 187 with V Castro. She is a two-time Bram Stoker award nominated writer born in San Antonio, Texas, to Mexican American parents, and she has been writing horror stories since she was a child, always fascinated by Mexican folklore and the urban legends of Texas. Her latest is The Haunting of Alejandra.

   The episode will air on June 13.