Behind The Prose

Woe be unto you writer, should you land in a Washington Post article titled “The five worst sentences I read in January.” When I read that post written by the new nonfiction book critic Carlos Lozada, I knew two things. First, I needed to interview Lozada. Second, I was afraid to write him an email. Lozada’s voice engaged me because in addition to rhetorical smarts, he’s pretty funny. Though he’s been at the paper for several years, he began his new role at Book Party in January.  I’m proud to announce the March 22 episode of Behind the Prose will feature an interview with Lozada. In classic Behind the Prose fashion, I’ll learn how he approaches his own writing craft and process and what it’s like to read and write for a living. Besides the five worst sentences he read in January, we’ll discuss his Book Party posts including the hilarious book review “Reggie Love on life as Obama’s “chief of stuff” and the ballooning list of journalism cliches forbidden in the The Post’s Sunday Outlook section. Oh, and if

Author Cameron Conaway is a triple threat. He writes. He teaches. He fights. The latter was literal several years ago when he stepped into the ring as a Mixed Martial Artist but now his battles are on the world stage, raising awareness for preventable diseases like malaria through poetry and prose. His latest book, Malaria, Poems, is born of that call to advocacy. NPR selected the book, which is “spliced” (his science-influenced word) with facts about malaria, as a “Best Books of 2014.”  In February, Newsweek published Cameron’s article, “A Working Malaria Vaccine that Can’t Get Money.” In the midst of touring for Malaria, Poems, teaching classes at Penn State Brandywine, and getting ready to travel overseas, I caught up with Cameron at a reading at Penn State Berks.In our interview which will be released on March 15, Cameron discusses the craft in his Newsweek article and in his poem, “Silence, Anopheles,” as well as what martial arts taught him about writing, how he broke into Newsweek, and whether a poet

Besides having one of the best writer’s websites I’ve ever seen, Joan Dempsey has successfully merged the craft she loves with a business model that helps others reach their writing goals. On March 8 at 6 PM EST, she joins me on the Behind the Prose Radio Show to tell us how she lives the literary life oh-so-well. There are things I want to know like: what is a "writing shed” and how does one get one? How do writers decide which genre to focus on? And can you really teach an old writer dog new cut-clutter-from-your sentences-tricks? Besides delving into her original course, Improve Your Writing: Ten Essential Tools for Streamlining Your Sentences, we’ll focus on the craft of her short story, “Wild Swan” which appeared in The Adirondack Review. Joan will take your questions live on the air via my studio call-in phone number 347-857-2225. Tweet your questions or SKYPE in by clicking the button on the live show! #noexcuses Let's listen, learn, and write!

It is with great Behind the Prose pride that I share awesome news about Natalie Baszile's first novel. Queen Sugar is moving to Oprah Winfrey's OWN network under the helm of "Selma" director Ava DuVernay.  I am proud, but I'm not surprised. Days before the news broke, I wrote "If there ever was a novel that surely will be a movie, Queen Sugar is it." I met Natalie at the 2012 VONA Voices Workshop. In a nonfiction workshop taught by Faith Adiele, I had the pleasure of reading excerpts of Natalie's memoir in progress. The same rhetorical qualities that endeared me to her writing are earning her praise in a number of reviews: eloquence, description, and confidence. But in the words of the first book reviewer I knew, "Don't take my word for it." Listen to Behind the Prose on Sunday, March 1 at 6 p.m. EST!

*** UPDATE #2 - AFTER THE SHOW *** This episode is filled to capacity with awesomeness. First, you'll hear the rest of Associate Senior Editor Roxanne K. Young's interview about her work at the Journal of the American Medical Association and Dr. Andrew Bomback's essay "Errands" which ran in the "A Piece of My Mind Column" in JAMA. (BTW: His episode was named most popular writing episode by BlogTalkRadio. JAMA generously has made Andrew's episode available at no cost of a limited time.)  Next, we go behind the prose with Sarah Gerard, MFA whose novel Binary Star is blazing through the literary universe. SARAH GERARD WAS NAMED TO EIGHT BEST BOOKS AND WRITERS LISTS FOR 2015!!! Finally, her publisher and editor, Eric Obenauf of Two Dollar Radio, talks book numbers and how his company keeps on picking winners.

UPDATE ---- JAMA PROVIDED FREE ACCESS TO BOMBACK'S ESSAY FOR A LIMITED TIME!! --- THANK YOU JAMA! Think you don't have time to write? Andrew Bomback is a physician and writer (with toddlers and a wife) but he's still managed to write a novel, a textbook, many academic papers, and first-person essays. On Sunday, February 15, we'll discuss his two nonfiction essays, "I Know That Elmo is Not a Child Molester" and "Errands" published on Full Grown People and in JAMA, respectively. "Errands" reached an audience of 300,000 readers and received an amazing response. In both essays, I get a strong sense of Andrew's voice and we'll talk about how he conveys that voice in different genres.  If you'd like to get a copy of "Errands," here is the citation info: Bomback A. Errands. JAMA. 2006; 295(7):731-733. doi:10.1001/jama.295.7.731. Download the essays, read them, and be ready to call in with your questions about writing, life, and the writing life! ANDREW BOMBACK is a physician and writer. He is the author of You’

I've never read Frankenstein. And honestly, I never wanted to. But then I found "This Monstrous Heart" by Aimee Baker. By the time she finished weaving in and out of three narratives in the creative nonfiction essay, I not only wanted to read Mary Shelley's legendary tome and every autobiography about her messy life, I wanted to devour anything Baker wrote, including her grocery lists and text messages. On February 8, 2015, Aimee will join me on my Behind the Prose Radio Show to discuss her writing life and craft. Make sure you read "This Monstrous Heart" which ran in the December 2014 issue of New Delta Review and tune into the show on Sunday at 6 PM EST. Aimee will take your questions on the air! *** Aimee Baker is an adjunct instructor in English for Clinton Community College and SUNY Plattsburgh, both located in rural, upstate New York. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Arizona State University. She is currently working on a poetry project about missing women in the United States as well as a series of e

This episode of Behind the Prose features an interview with writer and artist Soo Na Pak.  Soo Na Pak lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her essays and prose appear in The Butter; TheRumpus.net; AlterNet.org; “Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption” (South End Press); Hamilton Stone Review; and Digital Artifact Magazine. On Sunday’s show, we’ll analyze her two pieces “Woman” - a tribute to Amy Winehouse and “Osiris.” We will discuss Soo Na's use of voice and tone in her narrative. She's also skilled at adeptly mixing abstract and concrete elements in nonfiction, and we'll get to the bottom of how she does it!  Or at least close to somewhere in the middle.

On Sunday, January 25, 2015, Jennifer Genest, MFA will join me on Behind the Prose to discuss two of her recent publications in the genres of fiction and creative nonfiction. We will be close reading and discussing her flash fiction story "Ways to Prepare White Perch" and her creative non-fiction essay "Her Fighting Weight - A Postpartum Experience," published in New Delta Review and The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review. Genest holds and MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles and was a Peter Taylor Fellow for the 2013 Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. Currently, she is shopping her literary novel, The Mending Wall. Listen at 6 PM EST / 3 PM PST this Sunday on BlogTalkRadio.    

In the pilot episode of Behind the Prose, I interview writer Tavonne Carson who has her MFA from The New School. Tavonne's essay "Closer," which features her unique ability to convey details with rich description, was published in Gastronmica, The Journal of Critical Food Studies. She lives and writes in New York City and is pitching her first manuscript of essays. Today's instrumental, Rusty Trees, was written and produced by Redvers West-Boyle.