Story Behind the Story

Episode 16: Jillian Christmas - THE GOSPEL OF BREAKING

6 June 2020  |  56 mins 15 secs

authors, books, interviews, ksqd, poetry

I talk to Jillian Christmas about her new poetry collection, THE GOSPEL OF BREAKING.

Episode 15: Rishi Reddi - PASSAGE WEST

2 May 2020  |  50 mins 7 secs

authors, books, historical fiction, interviews, ksqd

I talk to Rishi Reddi about her debut novel, PASSAGE WEST.

Episode 4: Charlie Jane Anders - THE CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

8 June 2019  |  50 mins 10 secs

authors, books, interviews, ksqd, science fiction

Episode 3: M.K. England - THE DISASTERS

2 February 2019  |  1 hr

authors, books, interviews, ksqd, young adult

THE DISASTERS is M.K. England's debut young adult novel about a group of space academy washouts who are forced to step up and save the world after escaping a terrorist attack. It's a wildly entertaining romp through space that has been lauded for its nuanced representation of LGBTQIA characters and the way it handles mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

In this episode, I talk to England about these issues and more, including what it's like to write action scenes, how publishing a novel has changed the way England reads books, and how their experiences with National Novel Writing Month have affected their writing. I hope you enjoy it.

Episode 2: Katya Apekina - THE DEEPER THE WATER THE UGLIER THE FISH

5 January 2019  |  59 mins 13 secs

authors, books, california, interviews, ksqd

Katya Apekina's debut novel, THE DEEPER THE WATER THE UGLIER THE FISH, tells the story of Edie and Mae, two sisters who go to live with their estranged father in New York after their mother’s suicide attempt. It has received a great deal of attention for its unique form: the book is structured like an oral history, with a different narrator from one chapter to the next, interspersed with archival content, including poetry, letters, and interviews.

In this episode, I talk to Katya about THE DEEPER THE WATER THE UGLIER THE FISH and writing as an act of faith. I hope you enjoy it.

Episode 1: Carly Gelsinger - ONCE YOU GO IN

24 November 2018  |  47 mins 16 secs

authors, bay area, books, interviews, ksqd

When Carly Gelsinger was thirteen, she joined Pine Canyon Assemblies of God, a radical evangelical church in rural Monterey County. For years, she was “on fire for God,” speaking in tongues, slaying demons, and following her angry and abusive pastor’s every word. Only when her life literally burned to the ground did she start to make the choices that would lead her to leave the church several years later. In ONCE YOU GO IN: A MEMOIR OF RADICAL FAITH, Gelsinger tells the story of the lengths she was willing to go to in order to belong with candor and vulnerability.

In this episode, I talk to Carly about ONCE YOU GO IN and the challenges of converting her painful and deeply personal experiences into a story she would share with the world. I hope you enjoy it.