Ep. 57 - When Fiction Is More Personal Than Memoir

How can a thriller be more personal to an author than her own memoir? Paula McLain--New York Times and international bestselling author of The Paris Wife; the memoir Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses; and the new thriller When the Stars Go Dark--shares with Eve and Julie various ways in which her childhood of trauma and survival has influenced her writing. They discuss how Paula’s books engage with both the ordinary and extraordinary of being human; how her time spent in libraries as a child gave her one source of stability and happy endings; and why she has learned to trust the workings of her subconscious as she writes. Paula also gives advice on a question faced by every writer sharing their experience: Do I have permission to tell this story? Find us on Twitter (@bookdreamspod) and Instagram (@bookdreamspodcast), or email us at [email protected]. We encourage you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter for information about our episodes, guests, and more. Book Dreams is a part of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you’re listening to Book Dreams, we’d like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows about literature, writing, and storytelling like Storybound and The History of Literature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices