The Writer's Story

Kristin and Meredith talk about their recent projects, and then chat with Brooklyn-based author Cassandra Neyenesch about her debut novel A LITTLE BIT BAD.

Meredith and Kristin discuss nonfiction book proposals before bringing in Brooke McIntyre to talk writing for young readers and more. Brooke brings a delightful curiosity and passion for the natural world to her new picture book, If You Went to the Bottom of the Ocean , which earned from Publisher's Weekly a starred review! Whoop-whoop!

Kristin and Meredith talk with Natasha Joukovsky about her book, Medium Rare , her invention of the recursive estimation algorithm, and how she juggles her writing with a busy corporate career.

Meredith and Kristin talk about moderating panels at the recent Virginia Festival of the Book, and then discuss Ray Bradbury's entertaining book ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING as their writing "book club" continues.

Valerie Perreault , a Florida Keys resident whose visual artwork has appeared in all sorts of illustrious places, shares with Meredith and Kristin her journey of returning to her long-time creative love, poetry. Valerie's first book-length collection, Neon Pastoral has already garnered two awards and much acclaim. How she got there - lots of walking, literally! - captivates the podcast hosts and i...

It's a new year, and Kristin and Meredith have decided to use half their episodes in 2026 for a writing "book club". They'll be reading books about writing and sharing their thoughts. This month, they discuss the classic The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

Kristin and Meredith talk about their writing projects and then get inspired by chatting with songwriter Susan Munson about her creative process.

Kristin and Meredith get together to celebrate the first novel release of Kristin Swenson's new four book historical series set in Babylon/Persia,   Howl of the Golden Jackal , on Amazon Kindle. Since recording the podcast, A Falcon Takes Flight and Beat the Kettledrum have also been released.

Meredith and Kristin talk about mixing genres, and then chat with Charlottesville poet Nin Andrews about her memoir in prose poems, Son of a Bird .

Kristin and Meredith talk about writing while traveling (or not), and then chat with author Jay Kauffmann about his book, The Mexican Messiah , inspired by his international travels when he worked as a model and travel writer.

Kristin and Meredith talk to two friends, Lisa and Bremond, who have started their own publishing company: Quite Literally Books . Their focus is "discovering and reissuing ought-to-be-in-print books by American women authors" that they love and feel deserve to be back in people's hands--and one their shelves--today.

Meredith and Kristin talk about their new multimedia projects, and then chat with Meredith's former blogging partner from the Debutante Ball, Kristina Riggle about her writing journey and her latest book, VIVIAN IN RED.

Meredith and Kristin talk about pacing and shorter attention spans, and then chat with Charlotte Matthews about her newest book of noticings. Charlotte also talks about her writing method for essays and poems.

Kristin and Meredith talk about writing during the holiday season and interview Dean King , bestselling author of Skeletons on the Zahara. They discuss his most recent book Guardians of the Valley, and how he writes and researches his books.

It's a popular question that writers get a lot when they're on tour: where do you get your ideas? Kristin and Meredith like the question, and attempt to answer it for a few of their books.

Kristin and Meredith discuss their complicated feelings about social media, and how they've seen writers use it to help (or hurt) their sales/craft. 

Virginia Pye returns to talk with Kristin and Meredith about her latest historical novel, THE LITERARY UNDOING OF VICTORIA SWANN . They talk about publishing in the Gilded Era, and how many of the issues that women and women writers had then still resonate today.

Kristin and Meredith talk about filling up their creative well and share great writing advice they've received.

Kristin and Meredith talk about their literary adventures and travels, and then chat with author Tim Wendel about REBEL FALLS , his historical novel set on the Canadian border during the Civil War.

Kristin and Meredith chat with an old friend of Meredith's (from her Brooklyn days), Dina Honour . Dina talks about her journey to becoming a published author, her life as an expatriate, and her essay collection, There’s Some Place Like Home: Lessons From a Decade Abroad , as well as her memoir, It’s a Lot to Unpack .    

Katrin Schumann (author of the novel This Terrible Beauty and Program Director for the Key West Literary Seminar and Workshops) joins Meredith and Kristin. Katrin shares thoughts on craft such as plotting a novel (she's at work on new historical fiction) and what it's like to wear several hats (check out The Curious Kat on Substack, making connections through creative expression!).  

Kristin and Meredith talk about using their life experiences in their fiction and then chat with author Julia Ridley Smith about her short story collection Sex Romp Gone Wrong .

Kristin and Meredith talk about revising books they've been working on for a long time, and interview author Steve Weddle about his writing journey and new book The County Line, an Amazon First Reads selection.  

For their 50th episode, Kristin and Meredith reflect on a year of writing and exciting guests in 2023.

Kristin and Meredith talk about how hard it is for them to write short stories (and why), and then interview friend and author Jody Hobbs Hesler about her short story collection What Makes You Think You're Supposed to Feel Better .