Its All Write

Happy Solstice! In this Midsummer Night's Dream of an episode, we chat with Hawley Hussey AKA Mermaid Hawley about the tall tales she likes to tell, scribbled on cocktail napkins in diners and beach boardwalks, some composed alone and some in community. Hawley traffics in love letters, breakup letters and thank you notes, which inspired her first book, or "language object" as she th...

Season two kicks off with It's All Write' s very own Meryl Branch-McTiernan as our guest, discussing the inception of her debut novel, What You Should Worry About , writing during lockdown, being inspired by horny jews, and the joys of chosen family.  Get your own copy of What You Should Worry About , release June 2, wherever you get books (preferably from you local bookstore or library)...

In the season finale, we chat with bestselling novelist, Dawnie Walton , about how her journalism background inspired the unusual structure of her first novel, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev . She digs into how she developed the many voices in the novel by finding the characters' syntax, deciding how they would curse, and listening to hours of The Dick Cavett Show. She talks about the chal...

In Episode 10  Loretta Lopez joins us. Her middle grade novel, City Girls , chronicles the lives of three middle schoolers facing some pretty big challenges, such as immigration, adultery, and a parent with cancer. Loretta explains how the book is intended for all audiences and was originally conceived for adults. She talks about how her work as a translator and therapist informs her writing and h...

In Episode 9, we are back from a fall hiatus with our professor Robert Lopez (of Stony Brook University), author of eight books and numerous pieces in literary journals & magazines. Robert shares his unconventional path to becoming a writer (without having read a full book 'till his 20s!), his thoughts on voice & form, how playing music impacts his fiction, and how teaching has allowe...

Essayist Shaan Sachdev contemplates what it means to be a writer & how to be a writer in the context of today's world; discusses the impact of unconscious bias in corporate journalism; and shares his process for writing on everything from gay bathhouse culture to geopolitical conflicts. It's a sexy and cerebral episode that even includes a little discourse on Queen Bey..."Bounce...

Writer/Director Tyrrell Shaffner joins her writing partner (and It's All Write cohost) Meryl Branch-McTiernan to discuss the gulfs they crossed to bring Katie's Mom from script to screen. Spoiler, it took a cemetery full of dead characters & deleted scenes... plus a couple of exes for inspiration. Katie's Mom stars Dina Meyer as a recent divorcee whose holiday with her adult chi...

Best-Selling author Jennifer Belle shares the method she's used to write five novels, that time she worked with Madonna, how to write sex scenes, and the path that led to publishing her latest novel, Swanna in Love with Akashic Books .  Jennifer Belle is the best-selling author of five novels, Going Down   (which was named best debut novel by Entertainment Weekly and optioned for the screen t...

Jesse Aylen shares his hot takes on "CONENT," ghostwriter matchmaking, book club etiquette, and the future of AI.  Jesse Aylen is an editorial, communications, and (the dreaded word!) content consultant based in New York. He has worked across the publishing and media industries, including a global trade publishing house, a data-driven startup publisher, and on a consulting basis with gho...

Camille Boxhill talks about writing while Black, dating in the age of AI, and attending a writing residency with near puritanical rules.  Camille Boxhill is a writer of Jamaican descent who tells stories about legacy, identity, and the kind of multigenerational ghosts that don’t always stay in the past. Her work weaves the supernatural with the everyday, drawing on Jamaican folklore. She’s enjoyed...

WGA writer Riham El-Ounsi discusses hierarchies in TV writer’s rooms, an indie film about the porn industry in the 70s, and the distraction fighting powers of a Freewrite Typewriter. Warning: there will be some nostalgia & singing at the end of this episode. -- Riham El-Ounsi is a WGA-nominated writer and producer, primarily working in the world of game and competition series. She has produced...

Ariana and Meryl sit down with Maisy Card, award-winning author of These Ghosts Are Family. They share takes on first person narratives, audiobooks, day jobs, dialect, favorite ways to procrastinate writing, and much more. --- Maisy Card Maisy Card is the author of the novel These Ghosts Are Family , which won an American Book Award, the  2021 OCM Bocas Prize in fiction and was a finalist for the...

Meet your hosts Meryl Branch-McTiernan and Ariana McLean. This episode delves into the challenges one faces as a writer trying to release her work into a world dominated by capitalist forces and how building this creative community is the antidote to despair.  -- Watch Meryl's movie Katie's Mom on Amazon Prime or Tubi . Follow the show on Instagram @itsallwritepod .  Email us at itsallwr...