Estelle

#175 From Mews(es) to Manuscript: How Inspired by Cats Became an Illustrated Literary Book

Estelle Erasmus chats with Bob Eckstein and Nava Atlas about Inspired by Cats: Writers and Their Mews(es) and how a playful literary idea evolved into a fully realized illustrated book.… Read More

#174 Forgiveness Without Apologies. Writing a Mother-Daughter Memoir 

Estelle Erasmus chats with filmmaker and memoirist Gayle Kirschenbaum and her mother, Mildred Kirschenbaum, about Gayle’s mother-daughter memoir and the long arc of a relationship shaped by criticism, silence, and survival.… Read More

#173 Writing Flawed Female Characters in Noir Fiction with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Freelance Writing Direct chats with Writers on Writing’s Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her move into noir, her collection Pool Fishing, and creating characters that linger long after the story ends.… Read More

#172 A Year in Motion: Writing, Teaching, and Publishing in Real Time 

Estelle Erasmus reflects on a year shaped by both loss and persistence, and what staying focused on the work made possible.… Read More

#171 Musings on Writing Through Uncertainty with Abigail Thomas

Freelance Writing Direct chats with legendary memoirist Abigail Thomas about trusting the unknown, finding shape in memory, and allowing surprise to guide your work.… Read More

#170 Braiding Cultural Context into Your Memoir with Melissa Fraterrigo 

Freelance Writing Direct chats with Melissa Fraterrigo, award winning author of The Perils of Girlhood, about growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, the fears that follow girls into adulthood, Judy Blume, Madonna, and how writing can open conversations we were never taught to have.… Read More

#169  Finding the Line: How a Linear Structure Brought a Memoir Into Focus

Freelance Writing Direct speaks with memoirist Heather Sweeney about how she shaped her memoir from years of life on the move, how she found clarity in a linear structure, what she learned to leave out, and how she discovered the moment her story really begins.… Read More

#168 The Making of a Modern Love Essay “Negotiating the End of Us” with Leslie B. Blanchard

Leslie B. Blanchard joins Freelance Writing Direct for a conversation about developing her New York Times Modern Love essay under Estelle’s guidance, finding the emotional center of a grief story, clarifying the negotiation at the heart of the piece, shaping structure through revision, strengthening metaphor, understanding editorial expectations, and discovering what the story truly wanted to say.… Read More

#167  Fairyland: A Transcendent Father–Daughter Story Finds New Life in Film

Freelance Writing Direct chats with Alysia Abbott about Fairyland, adapting memoir to film, and the craft choices behind telling a tender, complex father–daughter story.… Read More

#166 How to Write for Electric Lit with Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris (Part 2)

On this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, I go behind the scenes with Electric Literature’s Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris to talk about what Electric Literature publishes, how to pitch them successfully, the craft mistakes that make editors stop reading, and the kinds of stories they’re looking for next.… Read More

#165 Giving Every Character Main Character Energy in Your Novel with Denne Michele Norris

Denne Michele Norris joins Freelance Writing Direct for a conversation about what it means to give every character main character energy, writing character-first fiction, crafting intimacy and “spicy” scenes with emotional depth, using dialogue as a tool for revelation, switching scenes for maximum impact, finding the story’s three-part structure, discovering the novel’s spine through revision, transforming autobiography into art, and her luminous debut When the Harvest Comes.… Read More

#164 Writing the Restorative Memoir: Finding Meaning in the Messy Middle of Recovery with Mallary Tenore Tarpley

Mallary Tenore Tarpley joins Freelance Writing Direct for a conversation about writing from the in-between—the liminal space between illness and full recovery.… Read More