Podcast · Arts & Books

#AmWriting

#AmWriting is a podcast and Groupstack hosted by KJ Dell’Antonia, Jess Lahey, Sarina Bowen, & Jennie Nash. Listen, read and join up for hard-won advice and inspiration to help you play big in your writing life and finish work that matters. amwriting.substack.com

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 32 min
Latest: 9 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026 · 10 min

Is Your Book Getting Better—or Safer?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit amwriting.substack.com Jess Lahey is the OG host of the #amwriting podcast and the author of The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation . She’s a teacher, a speaker, and a very accomplished journalist who writes for The Atlantic, The Washington Post and other media outlets. Now she’s writing a novel. Jess has been working on this novel, on and off, for fifteen years, and recently put it through my Blueprint for a Book process — a method of inquiry for getting your book out of your head and onto the page. When I read her…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

E525 · 2 Oct 2026 · 8 min
Do your Voodoos of Ambition Ever Get a Day Off?
I want to take you inside my favorite yoga studio in Santa Barbara. It’s called Yoga Soup, and it’s a giant, grounding mix of movement, actual nutrient-dense soup in a crockpot, fresh fruit from local trees, and community. My husband Rob and I practice there a few times a week, and one of our favorite instructors—who is also a middle school English teacher—starts every class by reading a poem. She weaves its themes throughout our practice and reads it again at the end. Now, I’ll be honest with you: these classes are often equal parts healing and deeply unsettling for me. Why? Because I’m in…
1 Oct 2026 · 7 min
Get better at seeing and solving problems in your own work.
You’ll get a regular Write Big episode tomorrow! Hi! As you may know, after ten years of #amwriting, KJ, Jess and Sarina are moving on to other endeavors and have handed the reins of the podcast to me. I’m honored—and very excited—to carry it forward. For the past nine months, I’ve been trying things, listening to what resonates with you, and weighing my own energy and my options for what #amwriting could become. And I’ve landed on a new plan. The goal is to keep the spirit of what #amwriting has always done—help writers get their best work done—and to offer more ways to see your own work…
E524 · 25 Sep 2026 · 44 min
How Do You Know When It’s Time to Blow Up Your Book?
Have you ever looked at a project you’ve poured years of your life into and realized… it’s fine? Not catastrophic. Not terrible. Just fine . No one wants to read a book that’s fine — and I am certain you don’t want to write one. The first step in making sure you do better than fine is to catch yourself when you know you’ve hit a wall — which is way easier said than done. We get so used to plowing ahead, getting the words down, prioritizing FINISHING that we often forget to stop and make sure we are writing what we really want to be writing. Think of that pause like checking in with your gut…
18 Sep 2026 · 1 min
Let’s chat about Episode 523!
Paid subscribers can join us in the chat to respond to this invitation! #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. If you haven’t caught episode 523 yet to hear me and Dr. Diana Hill talk about juggling all the things, you can catch up below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
E523 · 18 Sep 2026 · 23 min
Margin Notes: Juggling Opportunities and Rewriting the Story After Mistakes
On the #amwriting podcast’s Margin Notes, host Jennie Nash talks with Dr. Diana Hill, author of Wise Effort, about how writers handle mishaps and self-talk when juggling book-related obligations. Hill describes accidentally booking two plane tickets to a Washington, DC conference, prompting a discussion about shifting the story from “I’m disorganized” to one of abundance and opportunity. Hill introduces Buddhism’s “wise speech” filters—helpful, kind, timely, and true—and distinguishes guilt (which motivates clean-up and repair) from shame (which labels the self as bad and can paralyze…
11 Sep 2026 · 1 min
Let’s chat about Episode 522!
Paid subscribers can join us in the chat to respond to this invitation! #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. If you haven’t caught episode 522 yet to hear me and Stuart Wakefield talk about his marketing efforts for his latest book, you can catch up below. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
E522 · 11 Sep 2026 · 33 min
Margin Notes: Making Marketing a Creative Project with Stuart Wakefield
In this Margin Notes episode of the #amwriting podcast, host Jennie Nash talks with book coach and author Stuart Wakefield about approaching marketing as a creative project by making joyful “artifacts” that expand a story world rather than simply asking readers to buy a book. Wakefield shares his creative background, a past period when his creative practice stopped, and how he now immerses himself in projects tied to his latest novel, All Hands on Dick, set in 1956 aboard the cruise ship SS Celestial. Stuart describes the book’s comedic, queer, mid-century influences and its characters,…
4 Sep 2026 · 1 min
You’re Invited: Come Chat about This Week’s Episode
Jennie filmed this quick video message for everyone about today’s episode! Paid subscribers, come into the chat to respond! (Not a paid subscriber yet? That’s okay! You can become one today!) #AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
E520 · 4 Sep 2026 · 57 min
Write Big: Beyond the Book Deal
Host Jennie Nash talks with novelist and journalist Caroline Madden about why writers crave traditional publishing deals and how that desire can become an unhealthy obsession tied to external validation and “pick me” energy. Madden recounts a 20-year path to publication, including losing two agents and dying on submission, then changing her writing through Lisa Cron’s Story Genius, Nash’s Blueprint for a Book, and Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook; her later two novels earned deals, including her debut The Marriage Vendetta (HarperCollins) and a forthcoming book. They…
E519 · 28 Aug 2026 · 11 min
Write Big: Traditional Submission Ends, Commitment Continues
In this episode of #amwriting, Jennie continues this series of “Write Big” episodes in which she vulnerably shares her own process of turning the Write Big concepts into a book, thanking listeners and inviting them to become paid subscribers. In this tough installment, recorded after a Zoom call with her agent while sick, she explains they are ending submission after sending the proposal to 30 publishers; feedback was largely positive, but publishers felt the book would be hard to break out without a large platform, and there was nothing actionable to change. Jennie feels sad about losing…
22 Aug 2026 · 36 min
Bonus Margin Notes: Finishing the Blueprint: Recognizing the Shift from Planning to Writing
In a bonus #amwriting podcast episode, host Jennie Nash talks with academic writing coach Kathy Mazak of Scholar’s Voice (and host of Academic Writing Amplified) about how writers keep going after completing a blueprint and finish what they start. Mazak explains her mission-based work helping academics—especially women and non-binary scholars—publish their research by aligning time management and writing with an academic mission statement. She argues that big blocks of time are unrealistic and that one to two hours once or twice a week can be enough if protected and supported by project…
E518 · 21 Aug 2026 · 22 min
Write Big: Stop Begging to Be Chosen Part 2
Jennie Nash introduces an upcoming series of Write Big episodes that share her vulnerable, behind-the-scenes process of turning Write Big concepts into a Write Big book, thanking listeners and inviting paid subscriptions. In this episode, she revisits her “don’t wait to be picked” stance while confronting her own feelings as her book submission process stretches seven or eight months with rejections. She examines the discomfort beneath wanting to be chosen—entitlement and exceptionalism, loneliness and the desire for an ally, embarrassment about ambition, doubts tied to leadership and…
E517 · 14 Aug 2026 · 46 min
BookLab: The Art of Storytelling with Kathleen Barber
Jennie Nash hosts a #amwriting podcast BookLab with guest Kathleen Barber, author of Truth Be Told and newly released Sisterhood Above All (co-written with Amayah Shaienne), and discusses Barber’s range across thrillers and romance, her character-first approach, and how RushTok inspired an authentic sorority-rush thriller featuring Madison, Shay, and Ava as tensions escalate and someone dies. They define RushTok as viral TikTok coverage of University of Alabama sorority recruitment and note its broad international fascination. In the BookLab, they evaluate three first-page submissions by…
E516 · 7 Aug 2026 · 44 min
Hot Seat Coaching: Refining Andrew’s Gothic Vampire Chapter
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit amwriting.substack.com Jennie Nash hosts a hot seat coaching episode with #amwriting producer Andrew Perrella, who shares a 5,000-word draft of his Gothic vampire novel to be offered to paid subscribers. Jennie praises the draft as unusually strong and “authoritative,” then coaches Andrew on higher-level editorial concerns: pacing, density of information before the action, and adding more interiority so readers understand Abrianna’s reactions and risk-taking, especially her choice to follow a vampire into an alley. They discuss…
E515 · 31 Jul 2026 · 20 min
Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time Part 2
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
E514 · 24 Jul 2026 · 46 min
BookLab: 3 First Pages, 3 Vibes, One Question
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit amwriting.substack.com I knew we’d get a huge response to our callout for first page submissions for a BookLab with Jo Piazza and I was right. I zipped through the google doc, skimming (there is a particular art to choosing the right submissions without ruining the freshness for me when I read and respond) and I did brilliantly, if I do say so myself (including a very funny callback to our sudden Dr. Pepper digression). Listen for our constructive takes on these 3 first pages and some excellent advice on the art of the first page…
E513 · 17 Jul 2026 · 43 min
Margin Notes: Monsters in the Archive with Caroline Bicks
On the #amwriting podcast’s Margin Notes, host Jennie Nash talks with Caroline Bicks, Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine and co-host of the Everyday Shakespeare podcast, about her book Monsters in the Archives: A Year of Fear with Stephen King. Bicks describes how she became the first invited into King’s Bangor archives after King called to meet her, and how her sabbatical became a year of researching five formative works (including Carrie, Night Shift, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, and Pet Sematary) to understand how horror language creates lasting fear. She explains…
E512 · 10 Jul 2026 · 10 min
Write Big: People Are a Good Use of Time
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
6 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Live with Jennie Nash
Join the Blueprint Summer Challenge Starting a book? Stuck in a draft? Planning a revision? The Blueprint Summer Challenge is designed to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript this summer. Over six weeks, beginning July 10, you’ll use the Blueprint—a proven framework for developing stronger books with greater clarity, purpose, and reader impact—to move your project forward, wherever you are in the process. Whether you’re writing nonfiction, memoir, fiction, or another genre entirely, the goal is simple: spend six focused weeks making your book stronger. Start with the…
E511 · 3 Jul 2026 · 32 min
Revising with the Blueprint: A Summer Challenge Success Story
Jennie Nash interviews author Meghan P. Browne about her journey from picture-book nonfiction to selling her first middle-grade novel, after participating in the 2022 Blueprint Challenge. Browne began the project in 2019, drafted it during her MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, then used the Blueprint framework to “reverse engineer” the manuscript and discover it lacked plot; the inside outline helped her connect scene events to emotional meaning. After tragedy and other commitments, she returned to revise intensively, resubmitted to her agent, and the novel later sold. Browne also…
E510 · 26 Jun 2026 · 1 hr
Hot Seat Coaching: Pressure-Testing a Story Engine with Two Villains
Jennie Nash introduces a hot seat coaching episode where Author Accelerator coaches Stuart and Margaret work through Margaret’s new Blueprint for a historical novel set in Florence in the 1400s. Stuart helps Margaret pressure-test the story engine by differentiating two opposing forces—an Alchemist experimenting with mercury-based syphilis treatments and Savonarola (whom Stuart nicknames “Rolly”), who seeks to purge Florence to save souls—clarifying how each tempts protagonist Eliana. They explore why Eliana is susceptible to each system, the emotional costs of her shifting allegiances, and…
E509 · 19 Jun 2026 · 59 min
Hot Seat Coaching: Reframing a Prostate Cancer Book for Clarity, Voice, and Marketability
In a hot seat coaching session on the #amwriting podcast, Jennie Nash coaches Brenna Humphries on a nonfiction proposal for Where It Hurts: A Couple’s Guide to Kicking Prostate Cancer, noting a disconnect between the proposal’s tone/claims and the sample chapters. They discuss how “salesy” positioning and language that can read as antagonistic toward the medical system may create legal and traditional publishing risks, especially when offering what could be construed as medical advice. Nash suggests shifting authority to lived experience and reframing the book as a framework for how couples…
E508 · 12 Jun 2026 · 21 min
Reframing Success: A New Take on Self-Worth for Writers
On the #amwriting podcast’s “Margin Notes,” Jennie Nash talks with Dr. Diana Hill (author of Wise Effort) about how the urge to prove yourself—through resumes, accolades, or “pre-order my book” pleas—undermines authenticity and connection, especially when pitching ideas, proposals, or personal brands. Hill describes confronting this while rebranding her website and shifting from listing credentials to articulating the real user experience and who the work is and isn’t for, using specific language that reflects her core value of awareness/attunement rather than generic, AI-like claims. They…
E507 · 5 Jun 2026 · 49 min
Hot Seat Coaching: From Concept to Page: The Journey of a Thriller with Andrew Parrella
Jennie Nash returns to a #amwriting hot seat with novelist Andrew Perella. Building on prior guidance from ThrillerFest’s Samantha Skal, they refine Andrew’s thriller outline—especially antagonist Seward’s motivation, escalating twists, and clue/red-herring sophistication—while acknowledging outline fatigue and treating it as a living document updated alongside drafted scenes. Andrew adds a new opening murder to raise the early body count without revealing the killer, links the victim to Abby, and explores Seward’s conflicted “strategy” to preserve an old-world hierarchy that targets women’s…
E506 · 29 May 2026 · 7 min
Write Big: Rejection as Rocket Fuel
In this #amwriting Write Big session, Jennie Nash discusses managing mindset during the submission process, sharing that her new book project is out with an agent in staged publisher batches and that rejections often arrive faster than acceptances because “yes” decisions take more time and coordination. With four early nos, she feels encouraged because most responses cite familiarity with her and her work and affirm the project’s purpose, offering specific, non-boilerplate feedback. She frames these nos as validation and useful information, emphasizes not relying on external approval, and…
E505 · 22 May 2026 · 11 min
Write Big: Stop Begging to Be Chosen
Jennie Nash shares a #amwriting “Write Big” session on letting go of “pick me” energy in publishing. On the day her new agent submits her new nonfiction proposal, Nash—author of 13 books with both Big Five and self-publishing experience—describes feeling calm because she’s also “picking” her agent and potential publishers, clear on the value she brings and what she wants in a partner. She argues writers aren’t limited to gatekeepers anymore and can give themselves permission and define success. Nash notes pick-me dynamics appear in workshops, writing groups, beta reads, and awards, and urges…
E503 · 8 May 2026 · 11 min
Write Big: The Writer in the Arena
Jennie Nash hosts a Write Big session of the #amwriting podcast introducing an “arena” metaphor for writers, inspired by Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly (and Teddy Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” quote), Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Jennie argues that writers, like performers, intentionally gather an audience and should be clear about who they want in the “seats,” what experience they want readers to have, and what energy and feedback they want in return. Using Swift’s deliberate creation of emotionally meaningful, immersive moments and audience delight,…
6 May 2026 · 40 min
Big Time: How to find time abundance in your writer life
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe
E502 · 1 May 2026 · 49 min
Hot Seat Coaching: Building a Killer Twist: Going Deeper Inside a Gothic Mystery Blueprint
Andrew returns with his latest blueprint for a gothic mystery, and the coaching quickly zeroes in on what will make it work: a clear, compelling villain and twists that truly land. With help from thriller coach and Thrillerfest executive director Samantha Skal, the discussion unpacks the hidden layer of the story—what the villain is actually doing—and how that contrasts with the protagonist’s assumptions. As they dig in, it becomes clear that strengthening the mystery means making the murders more personal, introducing a convincing false suspect, and mapping both the visible story and the…

About #AmWriting

#AmWriting is a English arts & books podcast from KJ. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: KJ
Language: English
Category: Arts & Books
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 32 min
Latest episode: 9 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1099630313
Rights: Jennie Nash

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