The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

New York Times bestselling author, Chanel Cleeton, spoke to me about her passion for exploring Cuban-American identity via women's perspectives throughout history, how she plots her popular historical fiction, and her latest novel THE CUBAN HEIRESS.

Chanel Cleeton is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick Next Year in Havana, as well as instant New York Times bestsellers When We Left Cuba, and The Last Train to Key West.

Her most recent historical fiction entry is The Cuban Heiress, described as a novel inspired by true events that “ … follows two women whose lives become intertwined during a fateful journey upon the S.S. Morro Castle—a luxury cruise liner that caught fire and sank on its way from Havana to New York in September 1934”

Booklist wrote of the book, “Nothing is what it seems in Cleeton's latest gripping historical novel.... Handsome con men, clever thieves, desperate rebels, and our valiant heroines all convene on this elegant but doomed ocean liner. Cleeton includes vivid details about the mysterious final voyage of the Morro Castle and provides further reading about this historic disaster.”

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In this file Chanel Cleeton and I discussed: 

How she turned a law degree into a writing career

Why every writer needs to write a terrible first book

The research process of a book-a-year writer

Exploring lesser known events shaping Cuban-American culture

How her characters speak to her in her daily life

Why writers need to dig deep to overcome rejection

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

⁠ChanelCleeton.com⁠

⁠The Cuban Heiress⁠ By Chanel Cleeton (Amazon)

⁠Chanel Cleeton Amazon Author Page⁠

⁠Chanel Cleeton on Instagram⁠

⁠Chanel Cleeton on Facebook⁠

⁠Kelton Reid on Twitter
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New York Times bestselling author and Shakespeare Professor Emeritus, Eloisa James, spoke with us about balancing literary scholarship with romance writing, leaving academia to write full-time, and her new “gothic adjacent” novel, THE LAST LADY B.

Eloisa James is a New York Times bestselling author who has lead a “double life” as both Mary Bly—a Harvard, Oxford, and Yale-educated Shakespeare professor—and Eloisa James—a powerhouse of historical romance (recognized for her Regency and Georgian-era romances).

Eloisa, called “a reigning queen of romance” by CBS Sunday Morning and a newly retired Shakespeare professor, continues to reinvent herself with her latest novel. THE LAST LADY B is a sharp, contemporary take on historical romance and her first foray into near-gothic storytelling—described as Jane Austen meets The White Lotus in the Scottish Highlands.

Publishers Weekly said of the book in a starred review, "As the intrigue ramps up—complete with death, scandalous revelations, criminal allegations, and the potential for supernatural interference—sparks fly …"

Eloisa James inherited a fascination with literature from her father, American Book Award-winning poet Robert Bly; her mother, short story author Carol Bly; and her godfather, Pulitzer Prize winner James Wright.

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[If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen]

In this file Eloisa James, Milena, and I discussed:

The burnout she experienced as a professor and former head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University

Why she decided to break the fourth wall and write her latest in first person

What the romance genre offers writers in creative freedom and experimentation

Her Popular course on writing genre fiction “Dragons, Daggers, and Dukes”

How she collaborated with co-author Julia Quinn

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for iOS, Android, Web

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/files! #squarepod

eloisajames.com 

The Last Lady B: A Novel By Eloisa James (Author)

Eloisa James on Facebook

Eloisa James on TikTok

Eloisa James on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter
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New York Times bestselling author and Knopf Executive Editor, Jenny Jackson, spoke with us about balancing life as an #authormom, editing bestsellers, finding standalone books, and her anticipated second novel, THE SHAMPOO EFFECT.

Jenny Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Pineapple Street, a graduate of Williams College and the Columbia Publishing Course, and a Vice President and Editorial Director of Fiction at Alfred A. Knopf.

Her second novel, The Shampoo Effect (Pamela Dorman Books; June 30), was named a most anticipated book of 2026 by the New York Times, described as “a frothy novel of love, money, sex, and friendship,” [about] “an ambitious young woman [who] insinuates herself into a tight-knit social set, shaking up friendships and marriages in a small seaside town.”

New York Times bestselling author Coco Mellors said, “Jackson has a rare knack for capturing the intensity of old friendships and the way love, jealousy, money, and history combust until everyone is behaving (deliciously) badly.”

Jenny Jackson is a prominent figure in the publishing world, having edited numerous high-profile works, including Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and Cormac McCarthy’s final books, among others.

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[If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen]

In this file Jenny Jackson, Milena, and I discussed:

Why she has the "shortest resume in all of publishing"

What 23 years at Penguin Random House have taught her

How John Updike inspired her latest

The number of pages it takes her to know if your voice works

Why you need to reject “rise and grind”  culture and write whenever you can

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for⁠ iOS,⁠⁠ Android,⁠⁠ Web⁠

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at ⁠square.com/go/files⁠! #squarepod

www.jennyjacksonbooks.com

The Shampoo Effect: A Novel by Jenny Jackson (Author)

Jenny Jackson Amazon Author Page

Jenny Jackson on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Critically acclaimed novelist and entertainment podcaster, Bobby Finger, returns to speak with us about his weekly word counts, wedding DJs, Who? Weekly, and his latest beach read WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY.

Bobby Finger is the author of The Old Place and Four Squares, and co-creator and cohost of the popular celebrity and entertainment podcast, Who? Weekly, "The podcast that tells you everything you need to know about celebrities you don’t."

His third novel, We Are Gathered Here Today, was named a New York Times Summer's Best Beach Read. It’s described as The Wedding People meets The Celebrants, and a “...sharp and tender story [that] follows a recently engaged gay man who begins to question the idea of marriage while attending his cousin’s chaotic Wild West-themed wedding weekend.”

Booklist called the book “… a perfect read for anyone confused by or suspicious of the wedding-industrial complex, which can leave happy celebrations feeling more like a second full-time job for young lovers.”

Bobby previously worked as a staff writer for the culture website Jezebel from 2015 to 2018 and has contributed extensively to outlets like Vulture and The New York Times.

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[If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen]

In this file Bobby Finger, Milena, and I discussed:

How his latest originally featured a death until his editor suggested everyone live, transforming it into a beach read

Why he changed the book’s setting from fall to June at the`` publisher's request to position as summer release

How a scene from the book became a part of the cover design

The craziest thing he’s ever witnessed at a wedding IRL

His next book and upcoming essay collection written with his podcast co-host

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for⁠ iOS,⁠⁠ Android,⁠⁠ Web⁠

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at ⁠square.com/go/files⁠! #squarepod

⁠whoweekly.us⁠

We Are Gathered Here Today By Bobby Finger⁠ (Amazon)

Bobby Finger Amazon Author Page

Bobby Finger on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist, hit entertainment podcaster, and debut novelist, Bobby Finger, spoke to me about writing for Jezebel, turning a screenplay into a novel, and his debut, "The Old Place."

Bobby Finger is a writer and co-host of the popular celebrity and entertainment podcast, Who? Weekly, "The podcast that tells you everything you need to know about celebrities you don’t."

His debut novel is The Old Place, described as "A bighearted and moving debut about a wry retired schoolteacher whose decade-old secret threatens to come to light and send shockwaves through her small Texas town."

It has been named Washington Post‘s 10 Noteworthy Books for September, People‘s Best New Books, Town & Country’s 45 Must-Read Books of Fall, New York’s 25 Notable New Releases, Kirkus Review‘s 150 Most Anticipated Fall Books, LitHub‘s Most Anticipated Books of 2022, among many others.

New York Times bestselling author Emma Straub said of the book, “I loved being inside this skillful novel—at the planning parties for church fundraisers, learning to drive with a can of beer in the cupholder, and in the heads of some wonderfully tangy old Texan ladies. Bobby Finger has built a rich world in The Old Place, and I will think of it every time I make toast.”

Stay calm and write on ...

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If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, ⁠please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews⁠.

In this file Bobby Finger and I discussed:

Growing up in a small Texas town

His start in copywriting and freelance journalism

Writing screenplays in the margins

Becoming a full-time podcaster

How to write autofiction with a twist

What happens when people leave, and those left behind

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for iOS, Android, Web

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/files! #squarepod

⁠whoweekly.us⁠

⁠The Old Place By Bobby Finger⁠ (Amazon)

Bobby Finger on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices