November 11, 2025 • 11 mins
What if you could turn your deepest pain into something beautiful? In this episode, Rachel Korman reveals the powerful story behind We'll Always Have the Stars—a novel about resilience, hope, and finding light in the darkest times. Discover how her characters, inspired by real struggles and triumphs, remind us that perseverance is an active choice. Get ready to be moved, inspired, and challenged to see your own journey in a new light.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey is Benji Cole, Son of Alcohol from CBS Radio
and host of the syndicated talk show People of Distinction.
The talk gives you an in depth view of some
of the most dynamic, intelligent, and successful people on the planet.
Run to our website Alcohol Enterprises dot com for more info.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Email me through Benji.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
At Alcohol Enterprises dot com if you'd like to get
involved with what we have going, and as always, please
continue to like and follow our broadcasts. People of Distinction
is internationally syndicated solely due to the love and support
that you all continue to give. We're available across all
major distributors and as long as you keep following, we're
going to continue to put out the content. Now sit
(00:47):
back and strap in, because on the line with us
today we have the impressive Rachel Korman that we're gonna
be discussing her amazing book Will Always Have the Stars.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's Amazon, it's Born Noble Man, it's a lot of
other places. While you're at it, check out her other.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Book, Dancing through the Cosmos.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Both of these books are fantastic additions to your shelf,
and I promise you're gonna want to run and purchase
your copies Listen. It is an absolute pleasure to have
Rachel here on the line.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Man, in a.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
World that often feels overwhelmingly heavy, how do we find
the strength to not just survive, but to manage to
create something beautiful from our pain? I think that's a
profound question to ask, and it's a pivotal one that
is explored in this powerful novel.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
It's set during World War Two, but it's a message
about resilience and finding light in the darkness that feels
incredibly urgent for today. It feels incredibly connected and so
wonderfully timed. Adversity is gonna hit us at any point.
It doesn't really matter the year. It's part of life.
(02:03):
But some of the themes, the message is found within
this book, Man, tell you, they're gonna help you look
at things a little differently now an entertaining read. Yeah
it's got it. Something that has a little more substance,
something that's a little that's grounded. Yeah, it's got that
as well. And that's all I'm gonna say at this moment.
(02:24):
It's gonna be up to you to run and purchase
your copies to discover it all.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
But let's start there.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Rachel first and foremost welcome to people of distinction, and
thank you for being a guest.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
How are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Oh, thank you for having me. I am so excited.
I've been looking forward to this for a while. Yeah,
I'm so happy to be here and talk about my book.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Rachel, listen, the pleasure is all ours.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I think what you've done here is something special and again,
as I mentioned in my opening, much more than just
an entertaining read. So let's dive right in as I
generally like to do. Fundamentally, let's learn a little bit
more about yourself course.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
So my name is Rachel Corman. I'm twenty seven years old.
I live in Pennsylvania, and I have a degree in
history and political science from the University of Pittsburgh. I
was going to go into being a teacher, but I
rediscovered my love for writing during the pandemic and I
haven't let go of it since then.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It's interesting how if you search for it right, And
I think this perfectly aligns as well with your book.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
It's based upon perceptions sometimes because there's been a lot
of positive that has been able to come through COVID,
and I've heard so many stories of people almost reinventing
themselves through that.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So love that message.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Let's dive now into the book Will Always Have the
Stars tell us a little bit more about it.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
So this book, it's set during World War Two. Specifically,
I wanted to focus on the different before the war,
during the war, and after the war, but in a
different perspective. Instead of it being on the front or
in perspective of battles, it's of a teenage girl growing
up and learning to live and adjust despite what the
(04:07):
war does to her and her family. I just think
that generally, that Ella, my main character, is in a way,
I think the most important thing in terms of perseverance,
Like despite adversity, despite losing things, despite bad things happening
in the world, she finds beauty and strength and hope
and all. And that's that's what I really want, wanted
(04:28):
why I really wanted to write it.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Listen, I'm glad that you did. I think that's a
great message, and I think it's something that is really pivotal.
It's a crucial component to all of this because listen,
as we still tied to your book, but when we
look at that over arching journey, that message of perseverance,
the message in the story of resilience.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Here.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Oftentimes we hear the stories of resilience from those around
us and what we have gone through ourselves, but we
generally miss the incredible work that is involved to get
to that final point of resilience, perseverance, whatever it is.
So again tying it to your character, Ella, but also
(05:10):
as a way of paying it forward, what would you
say are some of the most critical and perhaps unglamorous
tools that she had to pick up along the way
to achieve that.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Allah had to learn a lot of lessons. She had
to learn about loss at a very young age. She
had to learn about perseverance and finding herself despite losing
so much. She also had to learn how to protect
herself and be strong for herself. And most importantly, I
think the message your Benji is to save herself. She
(05:42):
has to learn how to save herself. Yeah, it's just
something that it's a very hard lesson. I think a
lot of people say, you know, yeah, you have to
save yourself, but they don't ever talk about what goes
into how bad it gets so you can do that.
And Ella goes through a lot of trials and tribulations,
and she learns a lot about herself about the world,
(06:03):
and she doesn't come out on the other end feeling
like she's lost or anything. She's actually felt like she's
gained something and she's found out and learned who she
is as a person.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Rachel, without giving any spoilers away, was there during this
writing journey?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Was there a character who surprised you the most while
you were writing it? Maybe one who you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Intended to maybe be a minor player in the book,
but whose voice in potential role grew because the story
demanded something else, more empathy, whatever the case may be.
Talk to us a little bit more about that writing
process and if anything really surprised you along that way.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Oh yeah, I had a lot of surprises when I
was writing this. I think the character that's sticking out
in my mind is her brother Kenny. For most of
the book, he's not really in it, but I think
in a way, at the end of the book, without
giving too much away, Ella has a realization moment about
her brother and even just about what he's shown her
(07:00):
shown her in the world. That when I first got
into writing this book and I was planning the characters,
her brother Kenny surprised me the most of being I
argue one of the most important characters in this book,
at least for Ella in particular. He really shaped her
life in so many ways, good and bad, but ultimately
she learned a lot and she grew a lot from it.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Bomb tell you you got to head on over to
Amazon and Barnes and Noble pickup copies of Will Always
Have the Stars. While you're at it, make sure to
gather the other one dancing through the cosmos and as
we continue moving forward here Rachel. A common thing that
I hear from writers in particular, but artists across the
board is a lot of times infusing part of yourself
(07:43):
within your creation. Right As a filmmaker myself, I oftentimes
try to I gather inspiration from my past.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Right, people will categorize it as.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
A particular muse that one may have a lot of
times writers they operate from a perspective of writing what
you know.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Sticking along the lines of this writing process.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Either a are there any characters that are potentially imbued
with aspects of yourself or your life? Or is there
a personal connection to the creation itself.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Honestly, that is a million dollar questions. Jeeves' like, is
Ella me I'm gonna be honest. No, I did not
base Ella off myself, but there is one character that
I did based off myself. Actually, ironically enough, I don't
base one character. I base many characters. I find myself
very inspired by people around me, by the world, by
(08:37):
the media I consume by just like public events, and
I think that I take all that in and then
I take what I know, and then I take for myself,
and that becomes the character. I think it's a little
bit of me. I think, yeah, there's a little bit
of me and Ella, for sure. She has my strength,
she has my compassion, my empathy. She also has my determination,
(08:59):
and she's just like I am.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, listen, as we start to close out, Rachel, we
know about this fantastic book, and of course it was
the anchor, so we wanted to invest the majority of
the time there. But your other book, Dancing through the Cosmos,
let's take a few minutes here, tell us a little
bit more about it.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
So, oh, Dancing to the Cosmos is a sequel to
Will Always Have the Stars, and it's in the main
character in this novel is Ella's daughter, Isabella, and it
follows Isabella's journey of becoming an actress in the highs
and the lows of Bollywood in the sixties and the seventies,
and then a whole undertow of a plot of Isabella
just trying to find herself in a very uncertain world.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
People, listen, I mentioned it before, I'm going to quickly
say it again. It's Amazon, It's Barnes and Noble. Type
it into a search bar, gather all of it. And
I think, what I found so incredible about this, and
I know that you are going to explore as well
once you pick up the novel and you start to
embark upon it, is that it's that underlying message of
constantly remembering that like getting better is active work, the
(10:04):
beauty is a choice that we can make, and exactly
I get it. Like when we look at the analogy
of the iceberg, everybody wants the tip of it. Nobody
really wants to see everything that's below the surface, right,
because that is the journey that sometimes is arduous, sometimes
is it could be tumultuous, It could really pull you
in a lot of different directions, but there are gems
(10:26):
to be found within that journey, and that's where your
ultimate resilience and perseverance is going to be derived from.
And that's a big message that I hope we have
all taken. I know I have, and is something that
is going to continue to be reimpressed throughout your reads.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So listen.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I hope we all have the courage to churn our
tragedies into the beauty that we find represented here in
this book. That's a challenge that I pose to all
of you, and I know that you're going to be
a little bit better tomorrow because of the decisions that
you make here today. It starts with these books. Rachel,
this has been an absolute pleasure, and I really just
want to give you a huge thanks for being a
(11:06):
guest with us on People of Distinction.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Thank you so much. I've had a great experience. It's
been so surreal and I'm so happy with what you've
had this conversation, and I hope we can touch people's
life and improve the world in a better way, make
it more beautiful.
Hey is Benji Cole, Son of Alcohol from CBS Radio
and host of the syndicated talk show People of Distinction.
The talk gives you an in depth view of some
of the most dynamic, intelligent, and successful people on the planet.
Run to our website Alcohol Enterprises dot com for more info.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Email me through Benji.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
At Alcohol Enterprises dot com if you'd like to get
involved with what we have going, and as always, please
continue to like and follow our broadcasts. People of Distinction
is internationally syndicated solely due to the love and support
that you all continue to give. We're available across all
major distributors and as long as you keep following, we're
going to continue to put out the content. Now sit
(00:47):
back and strap in, because on the line with us
today we have the impressive Rachel Korman that we're gonna
be discussing her amazing book Will Always Have the Stars.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's Amazon, it's Born Noble Man, it's a lot of
other places. While you're at it, check out her other.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Book, Dancing through the Cosmos.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Both of these books are fantastic additions to your shelf,
and I promise you're gonna want to run and purchase
your copies Listen. It is an absolute pleasure to have
Rachel here on the line.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Man, in a.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
World that often feels overwhelmingly heavy, how do we find
the strength to not just survive, but to manage to
create something beautiful from our pain? I think that's a
profound question to ask, and it's a pivotal one that
is explored in this powerful novel.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
It's set during World War Two, but it's a message
about resilience and finding light in the darkness that feels
incredibly urgent for today. It feels incredibly connected and so
wonderfully timed. Adversity is gonna hit us at any point.
It doesn't really matter the year. It's part of life.
(02:03):
But some of the themes, the message is found within
this book, Man, tell you, they're gonna help you look
at things a little differently now an entertaining read. Yeah
it's got it. Something that has a little more substance,
something that's a little that's grounded. Yeah, it's got that
as well. And that's all I'm gonna say at this moment.
(02:24):
It's gonna be up to you to run and purchase
your copies to discover it all.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
But let's start there.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Rachel first and foremost welcome to people of distinction, and
thank you for being a guest.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
How are you doing today?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Oh, thank you for having me. I am so excited.
I've been looking forward to this for a while. Yeah,
I'm so happy to be here and talk about my book.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Rachel, listen, the pleasure is all ours.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I think what you've done here is something special and again,
as I mentioned in my opening, much more than just
an entertaining read. So let's dive right in as I
generally like to do. Fundamentally, let's learn a little bit
more about yourself course.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
So my name is Rachel Corman. I'm twenty seven years old.
I live in Pennsylvania, and I have a degree in
history and political science from the University of Pittsburgh. I
was going to go into being a teacher, but I
rediscovered my love for writing during the pandemic and I
haven't let go of it since then.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It's interesting how if you search for it right, And
I think this perfectly aligns as well with your book.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
It's based upon perceptions sometimes because there's been a lot
of positive that has been able to come through COVID,
and I've heard so many stories of people almost reinventing
themselves through that.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So love that message.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Let's dive now into the book Will Always Have the
Stars tell us a little bit more about it.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
So this book, it's set during World War Two. Specifically,
I wanted to focus on the different before the war,
during the war, and after the war, but in a
different perspective. Instead of it being on the front or
in perspective of battles, it's of a teenage girl growing
up and learning to live and adjust despite what the
(04:07):
war does to her and her family. I just think
that generally, that Ella, my main character, is in a way,
I think the most important thing in terms of perseverance,
Like despite adversity, despite losing things, despite bad things happening
in the world, she finds beauty and strength and hope
and all. And that's that's what I really want, wanted
(04:28):
why I really wanted to write it.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Listen, I'm glad that you did. I think that's a
great message, and I think it's something that is really pivotal.
It's a crucial component to all of this because listen,
as we still tied to your book, but when we
look at that over arching journey, that message of perseverance,
the message in the story of resilience.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Here.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Oftentimes we hear the stories of resilience from those around
us and what we have gone through ourselves, but we
generally miss the incredible work that is involved to get
to that final point of resilience, perseverance, whatever it is.
So again tying it to your character, Ella, but also
(05:10):
as a way of paying it forward, what would you
say are some of the most critical and perhaps unglamorous
tools that she had to pick up along the way
to achieve that.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Allah had to learn a lot of lessons. She had
to learn about loss at a very young age. She
had to learn about perseverance and finding herself despite losing
so much. She also had to learn how to protect
herself and be strong for herself. And most importantly, I
think the message your Benji is to save herself. She
(05:42):
has to learn how to save herself. Yeah, it's just
something that it's a very hard lesson. I think a
lot of people say, you know, yeah, you have to
save yourself, but they don't ever talk about what goes
into how bad it gets so you can do that.
And Ella goes through a lot of trials and tribulations,
and she learns a lot about herself about the world,
(06:03):
and she doesn't come out on the other end feeling
like she's lost or anything. She's actually felt like she's
gained something and she's found out and learned who she
is as a person.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Rachel, without giving any spoilers away, was there during this
writing journey?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Was there a character who surprised you the most while
you were writing it? Maybe one who you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Intended to maybe be a minor player in the book,
but whose voice in potential role grew because the story
demanded something else, more empathy, whatever the case may be.
Talk to us a little bit more about that writing
process and if anything really surprised you along that way.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Oh yeah, I had a lot of surprises when I
was writing this. I think the character that's sticking out
in my mind is her brother Kenny. For most of
the book, he's not really in it, but I think
in a way, at the end of the book, without
giving too much away, Ella has a realization moment about
her brother and even just about what he's shown her
(07:00):
shown her in the world. That when I first got
into writing this book and I was planning the characters,
her brother Kenny surprised me the most of being I
argue one of the most important characters in this book,
at least for Ella in particular. He really shaped her
life in so many ways, good and bad, but ultimately
she learned a lot and she grew a lot from it.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Bomb tell you you got to head on over to
Amazon and Barnes and Noble pickup copies of Will Always
Have the Stars. While you're at it, make sure to
gather the other one dancing through the cosmos and as
we continue moving forward here Rachel. A common thing that
I hear from writers in particular, but artists across the
board is a lot of times infusing part of yourself
(07:43):
within your creation. Right As a filmmaker myself, I oftentimes
try to I gather inspiration from my past.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Right, people will categorize it as.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
A particular muse that one may have a lot of
times writers they operate from a perspective of writing what
you know.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Sticking along the lines of this writing process.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Either a are there any characters that are potentially imbued
with aspects of yourself or your life? Or is there
a personal connection to the creation itself.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Honestly, that is a million dollar questions. Jeeves' like, is
Ella me I'm gonna be honest. No, I did not
base Ella off myself, but there is one character that
I did based off myself. Actually, ironically enough, I don't
base one character. I base many characters. I find myself
very inspired by people around me, by the world, by
(08:37):
the media I consume by just like public events, and
I think that I take all that in and then
I take what I know, and then I take for myself,
and that becomes the character. I think it's a little
bit of me. I think, yeah, there's a little bit
of me and Ella, for sure. She has my strength,
she has my compassion, my empathy. She also has my determination,
(08:59):
and she's just like I am.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, listen, as we start to close out, Rachel, we
know about this fantastic book, and of course it was
the anchor, so we wanted to invest the majority of
the time there. But your other book, Dancing through the Cosmos,
let's take a few minutes here, tell us a little
bit more about it.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
So, oh, Dancing to the Cosmos is a sequel to
Will Always Have the Stars, and it's in the main
character in this novel is Ella's daughter, Isabella, and it
follows Isabella's journey of becoming an actress in the highs
and the lows of Bollywood in the sixties and the seventies,
and then a whole undertow of a plot of Isabella
just trying to find herself in a very uncertain world.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
People, listen, I mentioned it before, I'm going to quickly
say it again. It's Amazon, It's Barnes and Noble. Type
it into a search bar, gather all of it. And
I think, what I found so incredible about this, and
I know that you are going to explore as well
once you pick up the novel and you start to
embark upon it, is that it's that underlying message of
constantly remembering that like getting better is active work, the
(10:04):
beauty is a choice that we can make, and exactly
I get it. Like when we look at the analogy
of the iceberg, everybody wants the tip of it. Nobody
really wants to see everything that's below the surface, right,
because that is the journey that sometimes is arduous, sometimes
is it could be tumultuous, It could really pull you
in a lot of different directions, but there are gems
(10:26):
to be found within that journey, and that's where your
ultimate resilience and perseverance is going to be derived from.
And that's a big message that I hope we have
all taken. I know I have, and is something that
is going to continue to be reimpressed throughout your reads.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So listen.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I hope we all have the courage to churn our
tragedies into the beauty that we find represented here in
this book. That's a challenge that I pose to all
of you, and I know that you're going to be
a little bit better tomorrow because of the decisions that
you make here today. It starts with these books. Rachel,
this has been an absolute pleasure, and I really just
want to give you a huge thanks for being a
(11:06):
guest with us on People of Distinction.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Thank you so much. I've had a great experience. It's
been so surreal and I'm so happy with what you've
had this conversation, and I hope we can touch people's
life and improve the world in a better way, make
it more beautiful.
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