Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

This week my guest is Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of so many beloved books, including Lady Tan's Circle of Women, The Island of Sea Women, Snow Flower and the Secret Ban, Shanghai Girls, and Dreams of Joy. Lisa's books often center the experience of women across time and cultures, particularly stories that have been lost, forgotten, or deliberately covered up. This week’s episo...

My guest this week is Catherine Bush, whose critically-acclaimed fiction (her book “Blaze Island” was named a “Globe and Mail” best book of the year and “The Rules of Engagement” was a “New York Times” notable book) often addresses the climate question. For example, in her most recent collection, “Skin”, a man falls in love with the wind. In this final part of our interview, we covered:- How and w...

In part two of my conversation with Catherine Bush, author of five novels and the story collection “Skin,” we did a deep dive into the inner work required to nurture a multi-decade writing career, including: - Making peace with your personal process–even when it’s slow, messy, and meandering- The story in her new collection that her editor wanted to nix–and how she made it work- Embracing Annie Di...

This week my guest is Catherine Bush, author of five novels, including the widely acclaimed “Blaze Island,” “Accusation,” and “The Rules of Engagement.” Catherine's brand new book is “Skin,” her first collection of stories. Catherine is a professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph and was a 2024 Landhouse Fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. She lives in T...

In this third and final installment of my conversation with author and Pushcart-nominated essayist and writing teacher (and new mom!) Sheree L. Greer, she said “we’re veering into therapy territory now, Kate,” when I asked her if there was anything she was in the process of shifting, which I took as a very good sign that we were getting into some very juicy thoughts! - Being the first person in yo...

In part two of my interview with Puschart-nominated essayist, novelist, and writing instructor Sheree L. Greer, we get into the nitty gritty of the thought processes, ideas, and attitudes that shape her work and her identity. We talked about:- Pushing your creative boundaries to try new genres and forms- How she gets through the discomfort of sharing personal work, and the payoff that comes on the...

My guest this week is writer, author, teacher, and arts administrator, Sheree L. Greer. Sheree is the author of two novels, “Let the Lover Be” and “A Return to Arms,” and an award-nominated essayist, with two of her essays having been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Sheree is also the founder of Kitchen Table Literary Arts—a Tampa Bay writing community dedicated to nurturing the literary art of Bl...

Welcome back to the final installment of my interview with Jinwoo Park, debut author of Oxford Soju Club, which is coming out in September of this year. In today’s episode, Jinwoo shared some really great insights about how embracing your creativity filters out into all parts of your life, especially relationships. I left this conversation feeling like I was walking on clouds–very hopeful and insp...

In this second part of my interview with Jinwoo Park, author of the soon to be released “Oxford Soju Club,” an award-winning thriller, we talk about the interior side of building a life as a writer. We discussed:- How sharing social media content helps him be a better writer- Staying open to feedback- Appreciating the one- and two-star reviews- The hard-won realization that publishing a book isn’t...

My guest this week is Jinwoo Park, author of the soon-to-be-released “Oxford Soju Club,” which is coming out in September of this year—a riveting story about Korean spies, C.I.A. agents, false identities, love, and betrayal. It also earned Park the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award from the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop. We covered: - Using writing as a form of therapy to “figure myself out”-...

In this final part of my interview with Shannon Watts, activist and author of the brand-new book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age,” we get a look at what's coming up next for her. I also ask her what she's reading, watching, listening to, drinking in her morning cup, and what she'd have for dinner tonight if she could have anything in the world. We talked ab...

In the second part of my interview with Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, host of the Substack newsletter "Playing with Fire", and author of the brand new book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age”, we get into the mindset side of writing. We covered: - Reckoning with the enormity of needing to produce 60,000+ words for a book- The "small miracle" or...

This week I am re-playing my interview with advocate, Substacker, and "summoner of women's audacity," Shannon Watts in honor of the fact that her new book “Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age” released just last week. Shannon first entered that national conversation when she founded Moms Demand Action, the grassroots movement for common sense gun reform that beg...

Welcome back to the Finding the Throughline interview with Denali Sai Nalamalapu, author of the brand new book, “Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance,” which tells the story of six frontline resistors to the Mountain Valley pipeline in Appalachia. In this final installment of our interview, we cover:- The graphic novels and streaming shows that are inspiring Denali these days- Making the s...

In part two of my interview with Danali Sai Nalamalapu, author of the brand new book “Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance,” we talk about the squishier side of writing–the thoughts and beliefs that can affect your work, even if you're not fully conscious of them. We cover:- How being creative is a means of survival- The joy of sharing your work after the years spent working in isolation t...

This week on Finding the Throughline I’m talking with Denali Sai Nalamalapu, a climate organizer, comic artist, and a writer who brought these three strands of their life together in their brand new book, “Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance, which tells the story of six frontline resistors to the Mountain Valley pipeline in Appalachia. Denali is from Southern Maine and Southern India and...

In this final installment of my interview with debut science fiction novelist Christy Climenhage (her brand new thriller is “The Midnight Project”), we covered:The very specific sound of spring that’s giving her life right nowFinding a creative role model very close to homeFiguring out how to write for the joy of it AND make money from itWhy her goal is “write more words”The joy of having her stor...

Welcome to part two of my interview with Christy Climenhage, the author of the brand new science fiction thriller The Midnight Project.“The Midnight Project” is Christy’s first novel, and focused on two friends and scientists who are muddling through a frighteningly real world on the verge of collapse. In this episode, we talked about: How writing, although it requires help from others, is somethi...

My guest this week is Christy Climenhage, the author of the brand new science fiction thriller “The Midnight Project,” a tale of equal parts hope and horror set in the near future where humanity and the climate are on the verge of collapse, focused on two scientists and friends who are charged with designing a new kind of human.“The Midnight Project” is Christy’s first novel, and it was amazing to...

Welcome back to part three of the Finding the Throughline interview with Amy Shearn, the award-winning author of five critically-acclaimed novels, including her latest book which just came out, “Animal Instinct.” Amy has also published hundreds of essays in publications like Real Simple, “O: The Oprah Magazine”, and the “New York Times” Modern Love column and has nearly twenty years of experience...

Amy Shearn, award-winning author of five novels. Her latest book, “Animal Instinct,” is about a 40-something newly divorced woman rediscovering her desires during the height of the COVID pandemic, and doing so both through her interactions with actual live humans and an AI chatbot she designed to compile all her favorite parts of actual live humans and none of the annoying, boring things–it’s such...

This week I’m talking with Amy Shearn, the award-winning author of the critically-acclaimed novels “Dear Edna Sloane,” “Unseen City,” “The Mermaid of Brooklyn,” and “How Far Is the Ocean from Here.” Amy’s newest novel is “Animal Instinct,” which follows a 40-something newly divorced woman re-entering the dating scene and reconnecting with her desires during the social isolation of COVID lockdowns....

This is the final installment of my talk with Samuel Marquis, author of numerous books of history and historical fiction, including his newest, "Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal," a non-fiction look at one of the most notorious “pirates” ever, who also happens to be Samuel’s 9th great grandfather. We talked about: - A peek at his next book, about New York City in the 17th centur...

Welcome back to part of my interview with Samuel Marquis, author of numerous books of history and historical fiction, including his newest, "Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal."Samuel’s previous book "'Blackbeard" won the Kirkus Reviews Book of the Year Award and his articles have been published in "History Central," "Writer’s Digest," "The Lazy Historian," and "The Good Men Proje...

This week I’m speaking with Samuel Marquis, author of twelve books that cross genres, including American nonfiction-history, historical fiction, and suspense books. Samuel’s newest book, “Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal” comes out in May and is about Samuel’s ninth great grandfather, legendary pirate Captain William Kidd. His other books include “Blackbeard: Birth of America,”...