Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for March is Magic, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Brian Leung and I discuss:

• How to turn a real life event into a novel, especially when you are close to the event.
• Bringing out the emotional truth of a story and remaining true to the characters.
• Why it can be tricky to write first person narratives and how to make them sound distinct.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Brian Leung

Brian Leung is the author of the novels Lost Men, Take Me Home, and Ivy vs Dogg: With a Cast of Thousands!. His short-story collection, World Famous Love Acts, won the Asian American Literary Award and the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. Born and raised in San Diego County, he is a Professor of Creative Writing at Purdue University as well as Core faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts. All I Should Not Tell was published by C&R Press in Spring, 2022.

You can find them on his website, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

You can also check out Brian’s article on DIY MFA, #5onFri: Five Tips for Finding the Kind Genius Writer in Your Mad Genius Writer.

All I Should Not Tell

In All I Should Not Tell, Conner Grayson, fourteen, wants nothing more than to see, Cudge, his intensely abusive step-father destroyed. He considers it a blessing for himself and his younger, too-innocent, brother, Sammy, when the man disappears, though he’s convinced that his mother has done something unspeakable to her husband. With Cudge gone, there’s no threat of exposing Conner’s deepest secret, his love for Mark, another boy in Orgull, a fictional river town outside of Louisville. But almost immediately, Mark disappears as well.  Flash forward two decades. Conner remains tortured about his past, including the apparent suicides of his biological father and his brother. But, he has found a certain level of happiness with the family he’s built with his wife, Lamb, as well as his boyfriend, James. It’s complicated. When Cudge’s octogenarian father shows up from California to investigate Cudge’s long ago disappearance, Conner spirals into a series of unwise decisions culminating in discoveries about his past that may destroy his current family. It might be there’s only one person who can pull him from the wreckage.

You can order Brian Leung’s book, All I Should Not Tell, via this C&R Link.

Link to Episode 402

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 402: Writing About Difficult Subjects with a Distinct First Person Voice – Interview with Brian Leung appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Gail Honeyman on the show!

Gail is the author of the novel Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, which hit shelves in May of last year and made a huge splash with readers. Gail’s debut novel was the star book at the Frankfurt Book Fair and was selected as an Indie Next Pick by booksellers across the country.

It soon became one of the most beloved novels of 2017, catching the attention of readers worldwide, including Reese Witherspoon, who made it one of her book club picks and bought the film rights.

The love for this book has not let up since its release, and it has been heralded as a must-read for summer by The New York Times, People, and TheSkimm. Independent booksellers were so excited about the book that many of them even participated in an “Eleanor Oliphant Day,” touting this quirky, funny, and heartbreaking novel to their customers both in their stores and across social media.

So listen in as Gail and I unpack this quirky, sometimes difficult, but always lovable character of Eleanor Oliphant, and how to craft a story that really puts readers directly into the heart and soul of a character.

In this episode Gail and I discuss:

• Crafting a voice driven novel that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
• The learning curve of your first book.
• Creating empathy for an unlikable character through close first person narration.
• How to “feel” your way through writing and editing your novel.
• Building a compelling character with multiple layers.

Plus, Gail’s #1 tip for writers.

About Gail Honeyman

Gail Honeyman is a graduate of the universities of Glasgow and Oxford, and currently lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Her debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, won the Costa First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize.

The novel is now available in both hardcover and paperback

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Awkward, naïve, and at times downright peculiar, Eleanor reminds us of those parts of ourselves that we’d rather not, but do all too easily, recognize. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. Eleanor Oliphant isn’t unhappy. Nothing is missing from her life, except, sometimes, everything.

But that changes when Eleanor strikes up a friendship with Raymond, a classically nerdy, unkempt IT guy from her office, who, with one simple act of kindness, shatters the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted–while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Deeply moving yet disarmingly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will make you laugh, cry, squirm in embarrassment, and cheer along with Eleanor as she learns to open her heart and face her troubled past.

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 208

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 208: A Character’s Heart and Soul — Interview with Gail Honeyman appeared first on DIY MFA.