The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
“Learn how acclaimed writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block.” Each week, host Kelton Reid chats with guests like Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, on life after becoming a laureate; #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry on her past life as a YA mid-lister; Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, on his conflicted feelings after winning a National Book Award; NY Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline, on what she learned from literary lion Philip Roth; #1 NY Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane on what he borrowed from Clint Eastwood; and bestselling author, Matt Haig, on the process behind his novel, The Midnight Library, and serial guest hosts: neuroscientist Michael Grybko, journalist Adam Skolnick, and short story writer Robert Bruce.
Episodes
July 11, 2025 • 37 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Anne Lamott, spoke with me about 40 years of teaching writing, how to write more bravely, on sh*tty first drafts, and sharing hacks she’s learned over her career at the Writers Rising 2024 retreat.
Anne Lamott is the author of 20 books, including New York Times bestsellers Help, Thanks, Wow; Dusk, Night, Dawn; Traveling Mercies; and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, as well ...
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July 4, 2025 • 36 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Jodi Picoult, spoke with me about writing for Wonder Woman, adapting books for musical theater, and the question of Shakespeare's true authorship in her upcoming novel BY ANY OTHER NAME.
Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of 30 novels, including landmark titles such as Mad Honey – her most recent 1 million-copy bestseller – Wish You Were Here, A Spark of Light, and Small Great Things. 40 m...
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Experts Nicole Meier and Gretchen Schaffer, the duo behind Book Works, spoke to me about how to build a meaningful author platform, and how they empower authors through book coaching and branding expertise.
Nicole Meier is a certified book coach and the author of four novels, as well as the host of The Whole Writer podcast for emerging writers. Her books have been recognized by Booklist, Refinery29, BookBub, and Popsugar.
Gretch...
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June 20, 2025 • 39 mins
Bestselling, award-winning author, and founder of the LA Review of Books, Tom Lutz, returned to talk with me about life in the French countryside, his writer’s residency, and the greatest year in literary history, 1925.
He's a Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing at UC Riverside, and the author of multiple bestselling and award-winning titles – translated into dozens of languages – including Doing Nothing (American Book Award wi...
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June 13, 2025 • 45 mins
Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Rachel Slade spoke to me about majoring in “New York,” killing her darlings, and the future of manufacturing in her latest book MAKING IT IN AMERICA.
Rachel Slade is an award-winning journalist and acclaimed author of Into the Raging Sea, a national bestseller, New York Times Notable Book, and winner of the Maine Literary Award for nonfiction.
Her latest work of nonfiction is Making...
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June 6, 2025 • 38 mins
#1 Sunday Times Bestselling ghostwriter Marie Ellis spoke to me about her past lives in both acting and journalism, setting her ego aside as a ghost, and hacking the hero’s journey.
Marie Ellis is a Sunday Times bestselling ghostwriter, freelance editor, and writer of literary fiction. She is a career journalist who walked away from a 15-year in-house gig to go rogue.
She combines her journalism and acting background with her wri...
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May 30, 2025 • 33 mins
New York Times bestselling author Hanif Abdurraqib spoke to me about taking a leap of faith, the tentpoles of his writing practice, and his recent NBCC award-winning THERE’S ALWAYS THIS YEAR: On Basketball and Ascension.
Hanif Abdurraqib is a lauded New York Times bestselling author, recent Winner of the NBCC Award for criticism, and a finalist for the National Book Award for A Little Devil in America. He is also a poet, essayist,...
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May 23, 2025 • 55 mins
New York Times bestselling author Laura Munson spoke to me about her acclaimed writing retreats, building a bridge to readers, and bringing wonder back into our lives with her latest THE WILD WHY.
Laura Munson is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the novel Willa’s Grove and the memoir This Is Not The Story You Think It Is. She is also an editor and Founder of the top-ranked Haven Writing Retrea...
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May 16, 2025 • 33 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Tomi Adeyemi, spoke to me about the film adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, her evolution as a writer, and the final book in her Orisha trilogy, Children of Anguish and Anarchy.
Tomi Adeyemi is the #1 New York Times bestselling, Hugo and Nebula award-winning novelist and screenwriter who was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Forbes’s 30 Under 30 in Media, and who...
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May 9, 2025 • 37 mins
Acclaimed debut novelist Emily Everett spoke to me about finding a writing community, impostor syndrome, setting aside self-doubt, and her literary debut, ALL THAT LIFE CAN AFFORD.
Emily Everett is a writer and the managing editor of The Common, a literary magazine based at Amherst College.
Her debut novel All That Life Can Afford, is the Reese’s Book Club pick for April 2025 (out now from Putnam Books), was named a most anticipa...
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May 2, 2025 • 37 mins
Award-winning writer and producer Arvind Ethan David spoke to me about making sh*t up for a living, late bloomers, and adapting RAYMOND CHANDLER’S TROUBLE IS MY BUSINESS into a graphic novel.
Arvind Ethan David is the Stoker Award-nominated graphic novelist who has also written chart-topping Audiodramas (The Crimes of Dorian Gray, Earworms), television (Anansi Boys) and plays (The Boy with Wings). Arvind is also a producer of film...
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April 25, 2025 • 52 mins
Award-winning author, founder, and editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Review of Books, Tom Lutz, took a timeout to talk with me about his early years as a literary ne'er-do-well, what it's like to hang out with your heroes, and why you can assume every writer is faking it just a little bit.
"Writing has never felt like a chore to me. It always feels like the space of freedom, and that I'm stealing the time from my job to do somethi...
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April 18, 2025 • 38 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Susannah Cahalan, spoke to me about her writing process, witch candles, and stepping into the shoes of psychedelic pioneer Rosemary Woodruff Leary in her new biography THE ACID QUEEN.
Susannah Cahalan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and public speaker. Her first book, Brain on Fire, has sold over a million copies and has been translated into more than twenty languages. He...
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April 11, 2025 • 34 mins
New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and entrepreneur Emma Knight spoke to me about finding the courage to write fiction, the Loch Ness Monster of motherhood, and her breakout debut novel The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus.
Emma Knight is an author, journalist, Co-Founder and Head of Brand at Greenhouse, an award-winning organic beverage company, and co-author of The Greenhouse Cookbook (2017), a national bestseller.
He...
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April 4, 2025 • 35 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Carley Fortune, spoke to me about her storied career as a journalist, writing a breakout hit in just four months, and her latest novel, MEET ME AT THE LAKE.
Carley Fortune is an award-winning Canadian journalist and the #1 New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of Meet Me at the Lake and Every Summer After.
Her latest, Meet Me at the Lake, is described as a “...love story abou...
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March 28, 2025 • 34 mins
Acclaimed debut novelist and award-winning poet Jeanette Horn spoke to me about writing experimental poetry, getting a fateful call from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and the magical realism in her debut novel PLAY, WITH KNIVES.
Jeanette Horn is an Iowa Writers' Workshop MFA program graduate and was a Maytag Fellow.
Her debut novel, Play, With Knives, is described as the story of “A struggling theater troupe [that] tours the Midwest ...
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March 21, 2025 • 34 mins
Award-winning journalist and The Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan spoke to me about the worst way to launch a book, writing long-form watchdog journalism, and her latest ME, BUT BETTER, The Science and Promise of Personality Change.
Olga Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic – covering science, health, and psychology for more than a decade – and the author, previously, of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider Wor...
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March 14, 2025 • 31 mins
Matt Haig reads an excerpt from The Midnight Library, backed by an original Storybound remix with Robert Wynia, and sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.
Robert Wynia is a founding member of the Portland band Floater. Known for their progressive concept albums, Floater is famous for incorporating stylized storytelling. Wynia also releases music under his own name and released his book Night Walks with its own accompanying so...
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March 7, 2025 • 41 mins
Internationally bestselling author, Matt Haig, spoke with me about how the novelist became an accidental "mental health expert," why writers need resilience, and the process behind The Midnight Library.
"The only reader you're ever going to truly know ... is yourself." – Matt Haig
Matt is the author of 20 books, including the #1 bestselling memoir Reasons to Stay Alive, five novels, including How to Stop Time, and several award-win...
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February 28, 2025 • 38 mins
Bestselling author and literary agent Betsy Lerner spoke with me about being a “late bloomer,” what 35 years in publishing has taught her, and portraying mental illness in her debut novel SHRED SISTERS.
Betsy Lerner is the author of the popular advice book to writers, The Forest for the Trees, and the memoirs Food and Loathing and The Bridge Ladies. With Temple Grandin, she is the also co-author of the New York Times bestseller Vis...
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