Thick In The Throat, Honey

I had the great privilege of spending a morning talking to literary and musical couple Claudia and John Savage – they have a whole podcast dedicated to artists with children. It’s hard to underestimate how essential it is to hear the stories of other folks who persist making work while struggling through the day to day reality of the parent’s no sleep/no time/no money life.

Here is a LINK TO THE PODCAST where we talk about marriage, work, taxes and book tours, and give a short video tour of my super messy writing space/office/den/laundry folding station.

Nutshell takeaway: it’s hard as hell but you do it anyway.

Emerging Writers Network Interview

May is National Short Story Month! Did you know that?

Dan Wickett, the brain behind Emerging Writers Network and Dzanc Books, has put together a wonderful array of interviews with many of the writers who had short story collections published last year.

He was kind enough to reach out to me to talk about PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

My interview is HERE.

I encourage you to read through the whole month’s posts. It’s a wonderful array of debut, emerging and well-known writers talking about craft, publishing and the beauty of the form.

Thanks so much to Dan for including me in the mix.

Kickstart Interview About Creative Partner Cohabitation & Other Good Problems to Have

Ann Sihler kindly interviewed me for Kickstart this month.

Amazingly, in a short span of time I manage to insult novelists (without meaning to), blame my kids for my lack of productivity and, luckily, also compliment my husband, Brian Padian.

It’s about short stories, and writing, and living with another creative person, and drawbacks and success and everything in between.

Thanks so much to Ann for the chance to talk about all of it, and to Nancy Woods for her ongoing support of Oregon authors.

https://madmimi.com/p/6a7d39?fe=1&pact=3516-136242581-7881882851-5c747cc7a470abb059b995fe26837d8921d7e4e1#

Go Away, I’m Reading Podcast Chat (Wordstock Style)

I had way, way too much fun talking to Michelle Fredette and Isaac Eldridge in a dark, corner table at a wood-paneled bar on a rain-soaked afternoon during the Wordstock Literary Festival in Portland, Oregon.

Honestly, I could have talked for another hour with them. Plus, they kept pushing pickled vegetables on me.

More importantly, if you don’t already know about this podcast, you should. It’s fantastic and well-produced and they arrange each episode wisely showing you which books and authors were discussed in which order.

Thank so much Michelle and Isaac. I loved every minute.

http://go-away-im-reading.com/2016/11/14/episode-10-part-2-wordstock-margaret-malone/

WordFest Book Chat

Many thanks to Alan Rose for this great conversation leading up to October’s WordFest in Longview, WA. And thanks to KLTV and the fine folks operating the audio and camera.

I felt right at home.

Here’s the link to the Book Chat interview with Alan Rose.

And if you’re in Washington, come say hello on Tuesday, October 11 from 6-8.

The Nervous Breakdown Interview

Thanks to Alaskan writer and fiddler Ken Waldman making the rounds at the bookfair  at AWP this year and chatting me up at the Atelier26 table, I became acquainted with Portland writer Naomi Ulsted who interviewed me for The Nervous Breakdown, wherein we talk about lower-case F feminism, writing, editing, juggling family and creative life, to MFA v. not-MFA, and writing the thing you don’t always want to write.

Naomi and I had a great conversation about all the ways that life must be arranged and rearranged to make writing time and a book come into the world.

Thanks also to TNB and Brad Listi for showing the love to PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

Here’s the full link.

xo

OPB’s State of Wonder Keeps Me in Good Company

OPB’s April Baer put together this week’s State of Wonder show and included an interview with me and the sensational PEN Hemingway honor news in a show with some of the most talented folks I know of, including Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Esperanza Spalding, and Sharon Olds.

Wow!

Listen to the full show here. 

Many thanks to OPB and April Baer and John Sepulvado for their tireless support of People Like You and for their enthusiasm at the PEN news. Thanks guys!!

Propeller Magazine Interview

Alex Behr and I went to have tea on a Saturday inside a now-defunct caboose in Southeast Portland.

The place is usually quiet and comfortable but for some reason on the afternoon of our interview, the place was crawling with high school kids hanging out there, talking and laughing and mostly on their phones, and then leaning over to show each other things on their phones.

It ended up being the perfect imperfect place to talk about writing and editing and character and craft and film and photography, and the result is this wonderful piece Alex has written for Propeller Magazine on PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

quote 1

You can read the full interview here at Propeller.