This week Grant and Brooke return to a topic we love—taking the leap, saying yes to the dare, finding inspiration in the thrill of writing the book you want to read. Guest Krystal Marquis has a special personal story, too, about taking on the dare to write a book from her brother. If you’re a writer who’s trying to find a story to write, or someone looking for a little boost of creative inspiration in your life, this episode will surely light a little fire. And maybe help you set your sights on saying yes to your own dare, and certainly saying yes to the many opportunities NaNoWriMo offers writers for staying on top of their goals.

This is an onstage interview with Brooke Warner and this week’s guest Nicole Chung. Brooke interviewed Nicole at the Bay Area Book Festival in May. The conversation is wide-ranging and covers the topics and themes central to Nicole’s new memoir, A Living Remedy, as well as questions and considerations central to memoir and telling the stories that must be told. Don’t miss this thoughtful and relatable interview. If you’re writing your story, Nicole’s words will make you feel like you can and should keep going! Also, Write-minded is celebrating our 250th episode this week. We thank you for your loyal listenership!

We bring you a powerful show stemming from a powerhouse of a guest this week. Write-minded examines the intersection of activism and writing and love with Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain Gang All Stars. This week’s episode also makes a case for why dystopian fiction needs to be rethought and reclassified, and provides insight in the form of the reminder that the best stories are those that must be told because they shine light on uncomfortable truths.

This week’s episode covers the importance of investigation and research in works of family and personal histories and memoirs. Guest Gretchen Cherington shares the many ways she researched her latest family memoir, The Butcher, The Embezzler, and the Fall Guy, through first-person narratives, interviews, and countless documents and letters. Hers is a book that attempts not so much to solve a crime as to understand the powerful men at the center of a scandal, making for a rich interview about men and power, the legacy our families leave us, and how writing can help us see varying perspectives as we uncover complicated truths.

If you’re a longtime listener, you know Write-minded loves a good show on the mystery, on the magic, on the questions. And that’s because so much of the inspiration that propels us forward in our writing journeys is centered here, in the unexplainable that writers wrangle with, using language to make sense (and sometimes just mirror) the human experience. This conversation goes straight into the heart of the magic, stemming from guest Charif Shanahan’s assertion that the mystery is the clarity. Tune in to hear more about what that means to him—and much more.

Resist, push back, go your own way! These are themes of today’s show as we talk about book publishing with a publisher, Joe Biel, who’s doing things a lot differently from your average indie publisher. Biel shares why Microcosm Publishing stopped selling on Amazon and why that’s not as scary as it may sound. Microcosm was a few years ahead of its time, and now the world is catching up in time for Biel to revel in its well-earned success. For this episode, we invite listeners to check out Microcosm’s software to support other publishers to accomplish what they have at WorkingLit.com, and also to purchase How to Resist Amazon and Why.

When it comes to writing about family, in memoir or fiction, writers must consider the ramifications. To write honestly, writers must know what’s at stake, and be ready. This week’s guest, Rebecca Carroll, shares with Write-minded her own experience with family fallout, and subjects ranging from her readership, to her literary heroine Toni Morrison, to her thoughts on trans-racial adoption. There’s a lot to unpack this week, from a guest who sets the gold standard for radical honesty on the page.

If you’ve been taught never to talk about money, or if the idea of sharing your earnings publicly makes you uncomfortable, this is a must-listen episode because we’re pulling back the curtain on author earnings and disclosing dollar amounts. Guest Rachael Herron walks us through why she started talking about how much she makes as an author—and tells how much she earned last year and from what streams of income. Grant and Brooke jump on the bandwagon, too, and share expenses (Brooke) and earnings (Grant). This week’s show shines a light on money—and encourages authors everywhere to be more transparent, and especially never to apologize about talking about money.

This episode honors a pioneer of a genre with guest Donna Hill, who pioneered a genre and hasn’t looked back. With more than 100 published books to her credit, Hill is a force. This episode covers the stamina it takes to publish so prolifically, a bit of history about...