The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
“Learn how acclaimed writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block.” Each week, host Kelton Reid chats with guests like Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, on life after becoming a laureate; #1 New York Times bestselling author, Emily Henry on her past life as a YA mid-lister; Celebrated author, Walter Mosley, on his conflicted feelings after winning a National Book Award; NY Times bestselling author, Lisa Scottoline, on what she learned from literary lion Philip Roth; #1 NY Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane on what he borrowed from Clint Eastwood; and bestselling author, Matt Haig, on the process behind his novel, The Midnight Library, and serial guest hosts: neuroscientist Michael Grybko, journalist Adam Skolnick, and short story writer Robert Bruce.
Episodes
April 18, 2025 • 38 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Susannah Cahalan, spoke to me about her writing process, witch candles, and stepping into the shoes of psychedelic pioneer Rosemary Woodruff Leary in her new biography THE ACID QUEEN.
Susannah Cahalan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and public speaker. Her first book, Brain on Fire, has sold over a million copies and has been translated into more than twenty languages. He...
Mark as Played
April 11, 2025 • 34 mins
New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and entrepreneur Emma Knight spoke to me about finding the courage to write fiction, the Loch Ness Monster of motherhood, and her breakout debut novel The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus.
Emma Knight is an author, journalist, Co-Founder and Head of Brand at Greenhouse, an award-winning organic beverage company, and co-author of The Greenhouse Cookbook (2017), a national bestseller.
He...
Mark as Played
April 4, 2025 • 35 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author, Carley Fortune, spoke to me about her storied career as a journalist, writing a breakout hit in just four months, and her latest novel, MEET ME AT THE LAKE.
Carley Fortune is an award-winning Canadian journalist and the #1 New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of Meet Me at the Lake and Every Summer After.
Her latest, Meet Me at the Lake, is described as a “...love story abou...
Mark as Played
March 28, 2025 • 34 mins
Acclaimed debut novelist and award-winning poet Jeanette Horn spoke to me about writing experimental poetry, getting a fateful call from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and the magical realism in her debut novel PLAY, WITH KNIVES.
Jeanette Horn is an Iowa Writers' Workshop MFA program graduate and was a Maytag Fellow.
Her debut novel, Play, With Knives, is described as the story of “A struggling theater troupe [that] tours the Midwest ...
Mark as Played
March 21, 2025 • 34 mins
Award-winning journalist and The Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan spoke to me about the worst way to launch a book, writing long-form watchdog journalism, and her latest ME, BUT BETTER, The Science and Promise of Personality Change.
Olga Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic – covering science, health, and psychology for more than a decade – and the author, previously, of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider Wor...
Mark as Played
March 14, 2025 • 31 mins
Matt Haig reads an excerpt from The Midnight Library, backed by an original Storybound remix with Robert Wynia, and sound design and arrangement by Jude Brewer.
Robert Wynia is a founding member of the Portland band Floater. Known for their progressive concept albums, Floater is famous for incorporating stylized storytelling. Wynia also releases music under his own name and released his book Night Walks with its own accompanying so...
Mark as Played
March 7, 2025 • 41 mins
Internationally bestselling author, Matt Haig, spoke with me about how the novelist became an accidental "mental health expert," why writers need resilience, and the process behind The Midnight Library.
"The only reader you're ever going to truly know ... is yourself." – Matt Haig
Matt is the author of 20 books, including the #1 bestselling memoir Reasons to Stay Alive, five novels, including How to Stop Time, and several award-win...
Mark as Played
February 28, 2025 • 38 mins
Bestselling author and literary agent Betsy Lerner spoke with me about being a “late bloomer,” what 35 years in publishing has taught her, and portraying mental illness in her debut novel SHRED SISTERS.
Betsy Lerner is the author of the popular advice book to writers, The Forest for the Trees, and the memoirs Food and Loathing and The Bridge Ladies. With Temple Grandin, she is the also co-author of the New York Times bestseller Vis...
Mark as Played
February 21, 2025 • 32 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling novelist and screenwriter, Ernest Cline, spoke to me about what inspired him to become a novelist, the success of Ready Player One, and his love letter to Austin, Texas, the mostly true tall tale BRIDGE TO BAT CITY.
Ernest Cline is the bestselling author of Ready Player One, Ready Player Two, and Armada, and co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg.
His ...
Mark as Played
February 14, 2025 • 30 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling novelist and screenwriter, Ernest Cline, spoke to me about what inspired him to become a novelist, the success of Ready Player One, and his love letter to Austin, Texas, the mostly true tall tale BRIDGE TO BAT CITY.
Ernest Cline is the bestselling author of Ready Player One, Ready Player Two, and Armada, and co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg.
His d...
Mark as Played
February 7, 2025 • 34 mins
#1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer spoke with me about cutting her teeth on fanfiction, working briefly in publishing, and THE HAPPY WRITER, a guide to writing with less stress and more JOY.
Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, Heartless, The Renegades Trilogy, and Instant Karma, as well as the graphic novel duology Wires and Nerve.
Marissa also created and hosted a popu...
Mark as Played
January 31, 2025 • 34 mins
Psychology and Neuroscience Professor Kurt Gray spoke with me about the timely release, and inspiration behind his latest book OUTRAGED: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground.
Kurt Gray is a Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he directs the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding.
Kurt Gray's, new book ...
Mark as Played
January 24, 2025 • 33 mins
Award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author, Robert Crais, returns to talk with me about the destruction of the recent LA fires, writing “enlightened” crime fiction, and the 20th in his Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series THE BIG EMPTY.
Robert Crais is the author of 24 novels, 20 featuring private investigator Elvis Cole and his laconic ex-cop partner, Joe Pike. The first in the series, The Monkey’s Raincoat, won the Anthony...
Mark as Played
January 22, 2025 • 31 mins
NOTE: Preface to Part Two of this prescient interview with a master of the craft: “[Crais is] an enlightened crime writer.”—New York Times Book Review
Award-winning and #1 NY Times bestselling author, Robert Crais, spoke to me about breathing life into the ur detective novel, the legacy of Raymond Chandler, his love of LA, and his latest, "Racing the Light."
Robert Crais is the author of 23 novels, 19 of which feature private inve...
Mark as Played
January 17, 2025 • 39 mins
New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist L.M. Elliott spoke with me about the heyday of magazine writing and new journalism, why research tells her what to write, and her latest novel TRUTH, LIES, AND THE QUESTIONS IN BETWEEN.
L.M. Elliott (who also writes as Laura Elliot) was an award-winning magazine journalist for 20 years before becoming the New York Times bestselling author of 14 historical and biographi...
Mark as Played
January 10, 2025 • 49 mins
Award-winning TV writer/producer turned novelist Georgia Jeffries spoke with me about why Cagney and Lacey was her film school, teaching screenwriting at USC, and the ghosts, grief, and grievance in her debut novel THE YOUNGER GIRL.
Georgia Jeffries is the Emmy-nominated TV writer/producer who became the first individual female screenwriter to earn a Writers Guild Award for Episodic Drama for her work on the ground-breaking series ...
Mark as Played
December 27, 2024 • 46 mins
NOTE: Repost of our second most popular episode of the year, Happy Holidays!
New York Times bestselling author, Ann Napolitano, spoke with me about overcoming rejection early on, how grief transformed her writing process, and getting that fateful call from Oprah about Hello Beautiful.
Ann Napolitano is the New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful which was selected as Oprah’s 100th Book Club pick; Dear Edward, an insta...
Mark as Played
December 20, 2024 • 43 mins
NOTE: Repost of our most popular episode of the year by far, enjoy!
Bestselling author, podcaster, blogger, speaker, and my friend Jeff Goins, brought me along on a creative journey not too long ago called Hey, Creator! and it was some of the most fun I’ve had as a podcast producer.
Here’s an episode from the last season we did together titled “How to Finish the First Draft of Anything.”
Jeff Goins helps creative people succeed. Th...
Mark as Played
December 13, 2024 • 42 mins
New York Times bestselling author Penn Cole spoke with me about her past life as an attorney, living in Paris, how she became a breakout hybrid author, and book #2 in the Kindred’s Curse saga: GLOW OF THE EVERFLAME.
Penn Cole is an internationally bestselling author whose debut series, The Kindred’s Curse Saga, became a BookTok and Bookstagram sensation, and an instant New York Times bestseller with over a million copies in more th...
Mark as Played
December 6, 2024 • 35 mins
PEN/Bellwether winner Fabienne Josaphat spoke with me about being born into storytelling, writing socially engaged fiction, and the revolution and injustice at the center of her new novel KINGDOM OF NO TOMORROW.
Fabienne Josaphat was born and raised in Haiti, and graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University.
Her sophomore novel KINGDOM OF NO TOMORROW was the 2023 winner of the PEN / Bellwether Pri...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.