Episode 457: Take the Leap: Chase Your Passion, Quit Your Job, and Write a Memoir — Interview with Leslie Karst

by Gabriela Pereira
published in Podcast

Today, Lori is interviewing Leslie Karst. They’ll be talking about weaving past experiences into your writing and her new book Justice is Served.

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In this episode Leslie Karst and Lori discuss:

  • Letting go of ego in order to follow your dreams.
  • The importance of perseverance
  • How the writing mindset for memoir is different from that of mystery.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Leslie Karst

The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst waited tables and sang in a new wave rock band before deciding she was ready for a “real” job and ending up at Stanford Law School. It was during her career as a research and appellate attorney in Santa Cruz, California, that she rediscovered her youthful passion for food and cooking, at which point she once again returned to school—this time to earn a degree in culinary arts. Now retired from the law, Leslie spends her days penning the Sally Solari culinary mystery series, as well as cooking, gardening, cycling, and singing alto in her local community chorus. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai’i.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Justice is Served

Leslie was a small-town lawyer who was good at a job she hated and had taken up cooking as a way to spice up the daily grind. Spice is exactly what she got when her offer to cook for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband was accepted. Leslie was terrified – she had never thrown a high-stakes dinner before! 

What follows is a lighthearted account of Leslie’s journey following this challenge – including a new unexpected connection with her partner and her parents, an inspiring trip to Paris, mouthwatering recipes, Ginsburg’s transformation from Jewish girl from Flatbush to one of the most celebrated justices in our nation’s history, and the dinner itself. 

A heartfelt story of simultaneously searching for delicious recipes and purpose in life, Justice is Served is an inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to discover—and follow—your deepest passion.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link where, if you choose to purchase via the link, DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 457

(Right-click to download.)

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

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