Listen:
I always love speaking with bestselling author Caroline Leavitt. She is frank, funny, and so very, very real. It’s not easy to find authentic people who are as successful as Caroline, and she is so honest here about her struggles and what it took to get to the point where she is today, that this episode is a masterclass in not only craft, but also resilience.
In This Episode
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The Inspiration Behind ‘Days of Wonder’
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Caroline’s process for crafting her story with themes and structures
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Turning trauma into art
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Navigating dual timelines
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The art of multiple POVs in her writing
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Writing with themes of change, redemption, and societal perception
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The importance of perseverance in the writing industry
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Caroline’s advice for aspiring writers
Purchase Days of Wonder on Estelle’s Bookshop
Watch on YouTube
About Caroline
Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times bestselling author of 13 novels, most recently Days of Wonder, which was a CBS/Mary Calvi bookclub pick, the recipient of a MidAtlantic Arts Foundation grant, and which was translated into Russia and has a shopping agreement for film. The co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, the book program begun the day of lockdown, she writes a column blog “Runs in the Family” for Psychology Today, and is a book critic for people and the recipient of a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship. She teaches story structure for the novel at UCLA Writers Program Extension and works with private clients. Her work has appeared in the New York Times “Modern Love,” New York Magazine, Salon, Lit Hub, The Millions and many anthologies.
Caroline is longlisted for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.
Connect with Caroline Leavitt
Connect with Estelle Erasmus
Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle’s help with.
Don’t miss episode #119, Solo Episode: Estelle’s Edge on Navigating the Publishing Gauntlet.where I give a forecast on publishing with the good (and there is good) and the bad (unfortunately, a product of our times), and how to navigate it all.
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Sign up for my Substack(for craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests. Check out my post on the Editor of The Cut.
And my latest post takes all the stuff you’ve heard (you need to write a page a day) and tells the truth about these tropes. That post is called Debunking the Myths of Writing.
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Sign up for my Personal Essay Class for Writer’s Digest
NOTE: My private small Zoom classes are sold out for January and March 2025. Email me at [email protected] to get on the list for the next time I do them, which might be end of summer, or Fall.
Congrats to My Students
I’m proud of two of my students for publishing pieces they started in my classes. Check them out.
My Hurliest Memories in The Somerset Review by Beverly Jean Harris
Winter Wanderer in Five Minute Lit by Laura Schep
Laura also published an essay in The Globe and Mail
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Happy New Year everyone! Let’s make magic happen in 2025 in your writing and personal life!
