LOTF 18: Julia Fine On Writing Her Debut, Feminine Desire, and Finding an Agent

In this episode we’re chatting with author Julia Fine. We talked about her new novel in episode 16 and we are so excited to have her on the show. A little about Julia: Her debut What Should Be Wild is out now from Harper Books. She earned her MFA at Columbia College Chicago, and has taught writing at Columbia College and DePaul University. She's currently living in Chicago with her family, hard at work on both her second novel and her one year-old son.

• Julia's process of writing What Should Be Wild's from initial idea to publications

• Advice on finding an agent

  • Julia's agent: Stephanie Delman with Greenburger Associates

  • Query Tracker

• Getting an MFA; what that experience was like

  • Audrey Niffenegger

    • The Time Traveler's Wife

    • Her Fearful Symmetry

• What Should Be Wild: the pitch, the (pretty spoiler-free story), influences

  • From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner

  • We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

  • The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

  • Doris Lessing

    • The Fifth Child

    • The Golden Notebook

• The unique challenges that face women in this culture

  • Lauren Groff Quote

• Getting those blurbs!

  • Josh Malerman

  • Leni Zumas

  • Audrey Niffenegger

  • Annie Hartnett

• Advice to early career writers

  • Augustus Rose

• Classic book Julia doesn't plan to read

• What super power would Julia choose?

• Find Julia: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

LOTF 17: The Changeling, by Victor LaValle

In this episode we’re discussing Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, which is about “One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after supposedly committing an unforgivable act of violence, from the award-winning author of the The Devil in Silver, Big Machine and The Ballad of Black Tom."

Show Notes

• Mackenzie has an exciting announcement!

• Lisa talks about how this book examines how fucking scary social media and our technology-driven lives are and made it scarier than it already is.

• Lisa discusses "the pivotal scene" in the book

• Mackenzie talks about word choice and repetition, and how that’s a fairy tale thing. Lisa agrees and discusses the repetition of Apollo's dream.

  • This Is Horror podcast episode 161, interview with Victor LaValle

• Lisa discusses echoes of great authors.

  • Stephen King: Pet Sematary;

  • Neil Gaiman: American Gods;

  • Joe Hill: The Fireman

• Mackenzie ponders the purpose of the North Brother Island in the book

• Mackenzie rants: The fact that Emma is a witch is never fucking used! Not REALLY. Lisa counters this with her own thoughts.

• Mackenzie and Lisa each share what they learned from this book.

• Favorite quotes.

• Favorite parts.

• Thank you to Audra Figgins for your recent iTunes review! We are so grateful for the support.

LOTF 16: What Should Be Wild, by Julia Fine

Mackenzie and Lisa discuss What Should Be Wild, the debut novel by Julia Fine.

Book description: 

In this darkly funny, striking debut, a highly unusual young woman must venture into the woods at the edge of her home to remove a curse that has plagued the women in her family for millennia—an utterly original novel with all the mesmerizing power of The Tiger’s Wife, The Snow Child, and Swamplandia!

Show Notes:

• Blurbed by Josh Malerman

  • Unbury Carol

  • Bird Box

• Roses and Rot by Kat Howard