Ep. 38: Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) Poison for Breakfast

Page One, produced and hosted by author Holly Lynn Payne, celebrates the craft that goes into writing the first sentence, first paragraph and first page of your favorite books. The first page is often the most rewritten page of any book because it has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. We interview master storytellers on the struggles and stories behind the first page of their books. Today's episode is a republishing of Ep. 6 because Holly was in the hospital. She'll explain why.

About the guest author:

Daniel Handler is the author of seven novels, including Why We Broke Up, We Are Pirates, All The Dirty Parts and, Bottle Grove and most recently Poison for Breakfast, his first book for readers of all ages published by Liveright/W.W. Norton.

As Lemony Snicket, he is responsible for numerous books for children, including the thirteen-volume A Series of Unfortunate Events, the four-volume All the Wrong Questions, and The Dark, which won the Charlotte Zolotow Award. 

Handler has received commissions from the San Francisco Symphony, Berkeley Reperatory Theater and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has collaborated with artist Maira Kalman on a series of books for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and with musicians Stephin Merritt (of the Magnetic Fields), Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie), Colin Meloy (of the Decemberists) and Torquil Campbell (of Stars).

His books have sold more than 70 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages, and have been adapted for film, stage and television, including the recent adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events for which he was awarded both the Peabody and the Writers Guild of America awards. He lives in San Francisco with the illustrator Lisa Brown, to whom he is married and with whom he has collaborated on several books and one son.

You may also find him on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, IMDB, and purchase his books via Upstream(for signed copies), Indiebound, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

About the host:

Holly Lynn Payne is the CEO and founder of Booxby , a startup helping authors succeed. Holly is also an internationally published novelist in eleven countries whose work has been translated into nine languages. Her most recent novel, Damascena:The Tale of Roses and Rumi, has been optioned for a film series. She is the founder of Skywriter Books, an award-winning small press, publishing consultancy and writing coaching service. She lives in Marin County with her daughter and enjoys mountain biking, surfing and hiking with her labrador retriever, Lady Gaia. To learn more about her writing coaching services, please visit hollylynnpayne.com.

Thank you for listening to the Page One Podcast, where master storytellers discuss the stories and struggles behind the critical first page of their books. If you liked this episode, please share it on social, leave a review on your favorite podcast players and tell your friends! 

I hope you enjoy this labor of love as much as I love hosting, producing, and editing it. Please keep in touch by signing up to receive my newsletter at www.hollylynnpayne.com with the latest episodes each month. Delivered to your inbox with a smile.