Writing the Uncanny: Author Interview and Writing Tips from Jeff VanderMeer.

In this episode of our podcast for writers (who take craft too seriously), take a journey into the uncanny with award-winning author Jeff VanderMeer where we explore his multiple novel universes and discuss his fantastic writing craft book, Wonderbook.

Along the way, Jeff discusses writing techniques for crafting the uncanny using layers, diving into the psychology of characters, and writing about the natural world.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:00) - Southern Reach and Borne Universes
• (03:30) - Making the Uncanny Believable
• (18:20) - Making the Alien Relatable
• (30:00) - Wonderbook
• (39:55) - Absolution
• (47:14) - Uncanny Genre
• (57:30) - What's Next?

Jeff's Information:

Jeff VanderMeer's bestselling, critically acclaimed novels include the Borne trilogy (Borne, The Strange Bird, and Dead Astronauts) and the Southern Reach series (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance, Absolution, and the forthcoming Abdication). Annihilation won the Nebula Award and the Shirley Jackson Award and was adapted into a major motion picture by Alex Garland, starring Natalie Portman. The Southern Reach series has been translated into more than thirty languages and was a finalist for the Hugo Award. VanderMeer, a popular public speaker, has given talks at MIT, Columbia, Yale, the Guggenheim, and Vanderbilt. He recently had the honor of delivering the John Hersey Memorial Address (Key West Literary Seminar) and the Walter Harding Lecture at SUNY Geneseo. Called "the weird Thoreau" by The New Yorker, VanderMeer has had major environmental nonfiction appear in Time, The Nation, the Los Angeles Times, and Esquire, among other publications.
https://jeffvandermeer.com

Jeff's Books:

1. Annihilation (or Audiobook)
2. Authority (or Audiobook)
3. Acceptance (or Audiobook)
4. Wonderbook (or Audiobook)
5. Borne (or Audiobook)
6. Dead Astronauts (or Audiobook)
7. Hummingbird Salamander (or Audiobook)

Jeff's headshot photo credit: Azhar Khan

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Writing Mysteries and Writing Historical Fiction: Author Interview with Rhys Bowen

In this episode of your new favorite writing podcast, The Epilogue..., we dive into history and mystery with award-winning author Rhys Bowen who has some great writing advice for writing mystery and for historical research for your historical fiction writing.

Rhys discusses her multiple popular mystery series, as well as her best selling historical fiction, and we discuss how the two complement each other.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:45) - Castle in the Glen
• (06:13) - Historical Research
• (15:20) - Mystery in Historical Fiction
• (17:48) - When to Drop the Body
• (20:21) - Writing Mystery Series
• (31:41) - Co-writing an Existing Series
• (36:25) - Keeping Readers Engaged
• (47:54) - Different Voices in Different Mysteries

Rhys's Information:

Rhys Bowen’s work has sold close to 10 million copies, in over 30 languages. She has been nominated for every major mystery award and has won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. A complete list can be found here.

Her books include the Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy historical mysteries, as well as several international bestselling stand-alone novels.

View Rhys’s books in order here.

Rhys has a loyal fan-base from around the world, including a social media following of over 215k.
https://rhysbowen.com

Rhys's Books:

1. Castle in the Glen
2. Her Royal Spyness
3. Evans Above
4. Murphy's Law
5. The Venice Sketchbook
6. Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure

Rhys's headshot photo credit: Douglas Sonders

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Introducing Season 2 of the Epilogue...the writers podcast and author interview show that goes deep into the craft of writing.
Just dropping a quick note before Season 2 breaks to introduce the season and mention a few changes that are in the works, including a new patron system as an option for listeners to support the show.

Character Voice: Writer Interview with Ben Fountain

In this episode of The Epilogue..., we dive into storytelling with award-winning author Ben Fountain who has some great writing advice for zeroing in on your character's voice.

Through his novels and short stories, we discuss fearlessly embracing big themes and complexity, and Ben talks about the process of having one of his works adapted into a movie.

• (00:00) - Chapter 1
• (00:13) - Understanding Story Voice
• (07:17) - Character Development in Billy Lynn
• (24:33) - Exploring Power Dynamics in Literature
• (30:21) - The Complex Interplay of Power in Haiti
• (41:34) - Reflections on Beautiful Country Burn Again

Ben's Information:

Ben Fountain’s work has received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, the Barnes & Noble Discover Award for Fiction, the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, the PEN-Cerulli Award for Excellence in Sports Writing, and a Whiting Writers Award, and has been a finalist for the National Book Award and runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Most recently, he has been awarded the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and the Thomas Wolfe Prize, and, along with French author Marc Levy, L’Hermione Award given by the French American School of New York. Fountain lives in North Carolina.

benfountain.com

Ben's Books:

1. Rasputin Swims the Potomac or audiobook
2. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk or audiobook
3. Brief Encounters with Che Guevara or audiobook
4. Devil Makes Three or audiobook
5. Beautiful Country Burn Again or audiobook

Ben's headshot photo credit: Laura Overman

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Middle Grade Fiction: Writing Advice From Lauren Wolk

In this episode of The Epilogue..., we bring you an exclusive author interview with Lauren Wolk, the award-winning author of Wolf Hollow and Beyond the Bright Sea. We discuss her story development process, finding connection to place, her lyrical use of language.

The stories we cherished in our childhood seem to have a magical spark to them. How can we capture that spark in our writing today? And do you really need to write differently for kids than adults? Spoiler alert: it’s all about being true to oneself and letting the characters speak their truth, no matter how complex or dark the themes may get!

In this episode we cover:
* Why writing for kids is not that different
* Zooming in and out in your character's voice
* Letting your characters develop

Episode Timeline & Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (09:05) - Writing for Young Readers or Older
• (23:18) - Exploring Theme with Story
• (29:11) - Letting Characters Develop
• (45:10) - Candle Island
• (48:18) - Supporting Young Readers

Lauren's Information:

Lauren Wolk is best known for her novels, including the New York Times bestselling novel Wolf Hollow, which won a 2017 Newbery Honor, the 2016 New England Book Award, a 2017 Jane Addams Honor, the 2018 Massachusetts Book Award, and other honors.

Wolk's latest novel, Candle Island, published in 2025, was a finalist for the New England Book Award.

Collectively, her books have won over 50 state book awards. Lauren is also the Massachusetts Reading Association’s 2024 Children’s Literature Award winner and the author of two new picture books, currently in production.

She is also as a visual artist represented by the Larkin Gallery (Provincetown and Harwich Port, Massachusetts), an award-winning poet, and a filmmaker.

laurenwolk.com

Lauren's Books:

1. Beyond the Bright Sea or audiobook
2. Wolf Hollow or audiobook
3. My Own Lightning or audiobook
4. Echo Mountain or audiobook
5. Candle Island or audiobook

Links:

islandreadersandwriters.org

Lauren's headshot photo credit: Robert Nash

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The Heroine's Journey: Deep Writing Advice from Gail Carriger

Welcome to the Epilogue...the craft-focused writing podcast. This time I'm talking to award-winning and best selling author Gail Carriger! We discuss her Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series, the archaeology of writing, writing connected series, and most especially, she has some great writing tips on the Heroine's Journey--what it is, the structure, and viewing as an alternative to the Hero's Journey.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:19) - Parasol Protectorate Series
• (13:28) - The Archaeologist Role of the Author
• (22:58) - Alien and Normal in Science Fiction
• (35:11) - The Heroine's Journey
• (45:09) - The Hero's Journey vs. The Heroine's Journey
• (56:41) - Genre and Audience Alignment
• (01:01:54) - Finding Your Role as an Author

Gail's Information:

Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs, mostly comedies of manners mixed with steampunk, urban fantasy, and sci-fi (plus cozy queer joy as G. L. Carriger). These include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, Tinkered Stars, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School and Tinkered Starsong series for young adults. Also nonfiction: The Heroine’s Journey. She is published in many languages, has over two million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.

Her first book, Soulless, made Audible’s Best list, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book, an IndieBound Notable, and a Locus Recommended Read. She has received the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Prix Julia Verlanger, the Elbakin Award, the Steampunk Chronicle‘s Reader’s Choice Award, and a Starburner Award. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, cephalopods, and tea. Get early access, specials, and exclusives via her website gailcarriger.com.

Gail's Books Mentioned:

The Heroine's Journey - or audiobook version

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate Book 1) or audiobook version

Prudence (Custard Protocol Book 1) or audiobook

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School Book 1) or audiobook

Crudrat (Tinkered Stars Book 1) or audiobook

Divinity 36 (Tinkered Starsong Book 1)

The Sumage Solution (San Andreas Shifters Book 1) [High Heat]

Gail Carriger photo credit: Vanessa Applegate.

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Writing with empathy: Charlie Jane Anders's writing advice on character

This episode of the Epilogue...writing podcast I talk to Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders! In this interview, we discuss how she gets inside her characters' heads, challenging the traditional ideas of protagonist and antagonist, and writing your way through personal challenges. In addition to writing advice we discuss examples from her work including All the Birds in the Sky, City in the Middle of the Night, as well as her latest book, Lessons in Magic and Disaster.

Episode Timeline & Chapters:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (04:30) - Leading the Reader into the Darkness
• (10:52) - Character Perspectives
• (14:40) - Protagonists and Antagonists and Neither
• (16:49) - Points of View and Structure
• (26:11) - Young Adult Perspectives
• (32:52) - Defamiliarization in Science Fiction
• (41:11) - Finding the Perspective
• (46:04) - Writing Through Personal Challenge
• (51:53) - Outro

Charlie Jane's Information:

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Lessons in Magic and Disaster, coming August 2025 from Tor Books. Her other novels include All the Birds in the Sky, The City in the Middle of the Night and the young-adult Unstoppable trilogy. She's also the author of the short story collection Even Greater Mistakes, and Never Say You Can't Survive, a book about how to use creative writing to get through hard times.

She's won the Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, Lambda Literary, Crawford and Locus Awards. She co-created Escapade, a transgender superhero, for Marvel Comics and wrote her into the long-running New Mutants comic. And she's currently the science fiction and fantasy book reviewer for the Washington Post. With Annalee Newitz, she co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.

charliejaneanders.com

buttondown.email/charliejane

Charlie Jane's Books Mentioned:

• All the Birds in the Sky
• City in the Middle of the Night
• Victories Greater than Death (first in the Unstoppable Trilogy)
• Never Say You Can't Survive
• Even Greater Mistakes
• Lessons in Magic and Disaster

Charlie Jane Anders Photo credit: Sarah Deragon/Portraits to the People

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Blending Myth and Memoir in Writing: Advice from Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

In the second episode of our podcast for writers, Elisabeth Sharp McKetta joins to discuss how the mythology we inherit from our cultures and families can be combined with the personal, to enhance our stories. She discusses the similarities of crafting poetry and prose, and how she weaves the magic of myth into her works, making them resonate with readers while keeping things fresh and exciting.

Episode Timeline & Chapters:

• (00:00) - Chapter 1
• (00:15) - Embracing Mythology in Writing
• (08:25) - Exploring the Intersection of Fairy Tales and Memoir
• (21:52) - The Mythology of Water: Crafting a Narrative
• (31:59) - The Phases of the Heroine's Journey
• (46:33) - The Journey of Writing from a Child's Perspective

Elisabeth's Information:

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta is an award-winning writer and writing teacher and a mother of two. With a PhD on the intersections between fairy tales and autobiography, as well as a seven-year streak of writing weekly poems for strangers, she teaches writing for Oxford Department for Continuing Education and for Harvard Extension School, where she won their highest teaching award. She has authored thirteen books across genres, most recently the novels She Never Told Me about the Ocean and Ark, the essay collection Awake with Asashoryu, and the personal growth guide Edit Your Life, based on her experience living three years in a 275-square foot backyard guest house with her family of four (five, if you count the Labrador). She co-edited the anthology What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience, which Gloria Steinem described as stories that “will help each of us to trust and tell our own.” Elisabeth’s work with myth and memoir, which she began studying at Harvard College and now teaches, has been spotlighted in Harvard Magazine. (elisabethsharpmcketta.com)

Elisabeth's Books:

She Never Told Me about the Ocean

Ark

Edit Your Life

Elisabeth's Ted Talk: Edit Your Life Like a Poem: TedXBoise

Also Mentioned:

The Virgin's Promise by Kim Hudson

The Heroine with 1001 Faces by Maria Tatar

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upcoming member bonuses such as extended interviews and full video.