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

Bestselling author, publisher, and lit podcaster Zibby Owens spoke with us about the evolution of her media company from a podcast into a publishing house, her editorial philosophy, and her new essay collection BETWEEN CHAPTERS.

Zibby Owens was dubbed “the book world’s biggest cheerleader” by the New York Times, and is the national bestselling author and editor of seven books including Blank: A Novel, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, and On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates, which has spent 29 weeks on the USA Today bestseller list.

Her latest book, Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot, consists of “…forty short, funny, honest essays…about what happens when the life you carefully built stops looking like the life you thought you'd have—and you have to figure out who you are now.”

Susan Orlean said of the book, “It is as warm and engaging as morning coffee with a best friend. Zibby parses the joys and pains of midlife awakening and reinvention in these bite-sized essays, each one landing with authenticity and humor and honesty."

Zibby has interviewed more than 2,000 authors on her award-winning podcast Totally Booked with Zibby and weekly TV show Totally Booked on JBS. In 2021 she founded Zibby Media with the launch of boutique publishing house Zibby Publishing and unique year-round hosted retreats and events for book lovers. In 2023, she opened indie bookstore Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica, CA.

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In this file Zibby Owens, Milena, and I discussed:

How her publishing team decides what to acquire

The podcast Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books that launched the “Zibby-verse”

Why those early book fairs in her apartment were the precursor to the LA bookstore

Some early career setbacks

Writing an essay collection that offers a "bookfluencer's" view of a decade of reinvention

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

zibbyowens.com

zibbymedia.com

Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot by Zibby Owens [Amazon]

Zibby Owens Amazon Author Page⁠

Zibby Owens on Facebook

Zibby Owens 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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#1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron spoke with us about her unconventional path to writing, intensive research process, giving hope to young readers, and her ninth novel UP FROM THE ASHES.

Sharon Cameron is the bestselling author of nine award-winning novels, including international bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick The Light in Hidden Places (2020), Bluebird (2021) and Artifice (2023). She is best known for immersive Young Adult historical fiction and thrillers.

Her latest novel, Up from the Ashes, is based on the true story of two heroes and their resistance in the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust. Kirkus Reviews (starred review) called it “Powerfully written...Harrowing and riveting.”

A Booklist starred review said of the book, "Cameron's gripping account...carefully balances visceral descriptions of the Nazis' mind-numbing cruelty with moments of tenderness … as well as showing the prisoners' courage, resilience, and creativity... An unforgettable story of triumphant, defiant determination and hope."

Sharon’s books have won the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, the Westchester Fiction Award, the Junior Library Guild’s Gold Standard Award, earned starred reviews from Booklist, SLJ, Book Page and Kirkus, and have been chosen for Indie Next Top Ten, Audible Best Books, among many 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 Sharon Cameron, Milena, and I discussed:

Using her classical piano training as a foundation for her writing

How she stumbled upon inspiration for the latest on book tour

The differences between dramatized reality and pure historical fiction

Writing for young adults and balancing darkness with hope

Her 20-year friendship with Ruta Sepetys

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

sharoncameronbooks.com

Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron [Amazon]

Sharon Cameron Amazon Author Page⁠

Sharon Cameron on Facebook

Sharon Cameron 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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Internationally bestselling author Meg Mason spoke with us about her journalism origins, the winding road to bestseller, how to navigate bad reviews, and her latest novel SOPHIE, STANDING THERE.

Meg Mason is the author of You Be Mother and the critically acclaimed Sorrow and Bliss, which became an international bestseller in 2020. Winner of the British Book Industry Book of the Year, and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, it has since been translated into more than 30 languages.

Her latest is Sophie, Standing There, set behind the scenes of a literary festival; the novel follows Sophie Pattison, a cheerful but increasingly invisible staffer whose life has quietly unraveled. A starred Library Journal review called the novel “a special treat for book lovers,” and Mason features real authors in the novel.

Ann Patchett praised the book as “a moving examination of what it means to be alone in the world, and what it means to find connection…by turns, heartbreaking, hilarious, and deeply hopeful. Meg Mason is a dazzling talent.”

Meg’s first career was in journalism, beginning at The Times of London, later writing for Vogue, ELLE, GQ, Sunday Style, The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, 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 Meg Mason, Milena, and I discussed:

The viral moment that changed everything for Sorrow and Bliss

How to write in third person ventriloquist

The parasocial reader-author dynamic at the heart of her new book

Hanging out with Ann Patchett

The discipline required to write seriously

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

megmason.com

Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason [Amazon]

Meg Mason Amazon Author Page⁠

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 Alma Katsu spoke with us about her 30-plus-year career in intelligence, her deep expertise in AI and social media disinformation, and her new techno-horror novel INCARNATE.

Alma Katsu’s books have won and been nominated for multiple prestigious awards, including the Stoker, Goodreads Readers Choice, and International Thriller Writers, and have appeared on numerous Best Books lists, including NPR, the Observer, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Prior to becoming a full-time novelist, she spent 35 years working as a senior intelligence analyst for several U.S. agencies, including the CIA and NSA.

Her latest is Incarnate, described as a terrifying reimagining of The Picture of Dorian Gray for the internet age. Library Journal wrote of the book, “A deal with the devil is reworked for the online age, with a healthy dose of body horror joining AI. The combination makes the story uniquely terrifying.”

Author of Japanese Gothic, Kylie Lee Baker called it, “A deliciously addictive techno-horror that you can’t look away from.”

Alma’s debut novel, The Taker, was selected by Booklist as one of the top 10 debut novels of 2011. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Program and Brandeis University, where she studied with novelist John Irving.

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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 Alma Katsu, Milena, and I discussed:

Why intelligence work provided strong preparation for fiction

Her evolution as a writer and path to horror

How she chose Dorian Gray as a framework for her latest

Her concerns with recent developments in social media and generative AI

How she got a Stephen King blurb

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

almakatsubooks.com

Incarnate by Alma Katsu [Amazon]

Alma Katsu Amazon Author Page⁠

Alma Katsu on Facebook

Alma Katsu on Substack

Alma Katsu 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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Bestselling author and historian Isabel Cañas returned to speak with us about the influence of Latin American history and family lore on her writing, the stakes of historical fiction, and her YA debut, THE HOUSE OF GARDENIAS.

Isabel Cañas is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of The Hacienda, Vampires of El Norte, and The Possession of Alba Díaz.

Her fourth novel is The House of Gardenias, and her YA debut. “Set in revolutionary-era Mexico, the novel follows sixteen-year-old Minerva Treviño as she escapes an abusive home and begins a new life as a lady's maid to a wealthy widow.”

#1 NY Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer said of the book, "This is gothic storytelling with teeth: a lyrical and devastating tale of one maid caught in a spiderweb of loyalty, courage, revolution, and monsters both dead and alive."

Isabel holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction inspired by her research and heritage.

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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 Part Two of this file Isabel Cañas, Milena, and I discussed:

“The existential dread” of the week before pub date

How she came of age as a writer during the YA fantasy boom

Why she pivoted to adult horror early in her career

The familial inspiration behind her latest novel

How she walked away from her very first YA offer

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

⁠⁠isabelcanas.com⁠⁠

The House of Gardenias by Isabel Cañas [Amazon]

⁠Isabel Cañas Amazon Author Page⁠

⁠⁠Isabel Cañas on TikTok⁠

⁠⁠Isabel Cañas 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