In Her Room

This week's guest on In Her Room is hiker, dancer, and author Renee D'Aoust. Our conversation features thoughts on movement and the body, pedagogy and the writing craft, and so much more. 

The urgency needs to be on the page...

Renee's website
Renee on Twitter
Body of a Dancer

Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies
Water and What We Know :: Karen Babine
Teacher at Point Blank :: Jo Scott-Coe
Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations :: Jules Evans
In Her Room Episode #37: Maggie Messitt

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, coach, and advocate of healthy boundaries Randi Buckley. Our conversation features the power of Viking women, lots of laughter, and so much more.

Writing is a mountain ... Every time I climb it I get to a different place, 
nd I see new things from there.

Randi's website
Randi on Facebook
Randi on Twitter
Healthy Boundaries for Kind People
"Don't Be So Hungry You Eat the Poison"
A Love Note to the “Hypersensitive,” “Too Nice,” & “Takers-of-It-Too-Personally.”
Concordia Language Villages

This week's guest on In Her Room is author, editor, and publisher Amanda Mays. We talk about the importance of an editor, leaving no trace, and what it means to show up to the page.

I firmly believe in the printed word...

Anchor & Plume Press
Anchor & Plume on Facebook
Anchor & Plume Press on Twitter
Kindred Magazine

In Her Room listeners can use promo code INHERROOM20 to take 20% off any order over $50. Check out subscription options and all the amazing books published by Anchor & Plume Press!
Valid until 3 January 2016.

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, editor, and lover of travel Bronwyn Petry. We talk about maintaining authentic voice, social justice, and so much more.

Writing is my activism.

Bronwyn's Website
Bronwyn on Twitter
Bronwyn on Facebook
Bronwyn on Instagram
"Reclaiming Our Wild Hearts" :: Bronwyn's reading published on Elephant Journal
Be You Media Group

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, teacher, and journalist Maggie Messitt. We discuss her latest book, The Rainy Season, immersion journalism, and so much more.

Writing...has long been a way inside people unlike me.

Maggie's website
Maggie on Twitter
Maggie on Facebook
Maggie on Instagram
The Rainy Season
"When Your Co-Author is Missing" :: Maggie's essay in Creative Nonfiction 

Immersion/Immersive Journalism (a primer)
Elizabethtown College

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer and pop culture thought-provoker Laura Bogart. We discuss the importance of sticking to the work, showing up to hard topics, and so much more. 

Writing is about giving a voice to my younger self, who did not have [one].

Laura's website
Laura on Twitter
"Dormancy" :: Laura's essay on The Rumpus
"Into the Arena" :: Laura's Hunger Games essay on The Nervous Breakdown
"Empathy for Chrissie Hynde" :: Laura's essay in SPIN Magazine

Mary Gaitskill :: "On Not Being a Victim" (pdf) 
Dorothy Allison
Joyce Carol Oates
Cheryl Strayed
Tori Amos
Sarah Hepola
Sonia Saraiya :: "The Truth About TV's Rape Obsession"

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, memoirist, and teacher Ellis Avery. We discuss her new book, The Family Tooth, cultivating a curiosity of the natural world, and so much more.

Underneath all the fear, what is it that's just standing there?

Ellis's website
Ellis on Twitter
Ellis on Facebook
The Family Tooth :: released 11/6/15
"On Fear" :: a kindle single from The Family Tooth
The Teahouse Fire
The Last Nude
Broken Rooms :: a collection of Ellis's haiku

Annie Dillard :: "The Death of the Moth" (from Holy the Firm)
Virginia Woolf :: "The Death of the Moth"
Orlando
David Mitchell
Sharon Marcus
Elaine Scarry

This week's guest on In Her Room is poet, medievalist, and teacher of the craft Anne Brannen. Our conversation is full of laughter, aventure, and what it means to listen to the authentic voice within us.

I think writing is breathing.

Anne's website
Anne's blog
Anne on Twitter
Anne on Facebook
Coaching with Anne
Anne's online courses

Reclaiming Tradition
Feri Tradition
Creative Nonfiction magazine
In Her Room Bonus Episode: Starhawk

This week's guest on In Her Room is the sweetest queen of horror writing, Laura Benedict. We talk about the importance of writing what speaks to you, getting back the rights to work, and how Agatha Christie is like porn for readers, among so much more.

As a writer, I want people to know me as a person.

Laura's website
Laura's blog
Laura on Twitter
Laura on Instagram
Laura on Facebook
Laura on Pinterest (one of her favorites!)
"Resistance, Housekeeping, Writing, and Me" :: Laura's blog post about procrastination
Laura's books
Charlotte's Story :: The newest Bliss House novel

Gallowstree Press
Pinckney Benedict :: An Interview on The Rumpus
Louise Penny
Agatha Christie
Sheryl Monks
Press 53
Surreal South
Joyce Carol Oates :: Celestial Timepiece (A Joyce Carol Oates Patchwork)
Robert Olen Butler
Tom Franklin
Lee Abbott
Benjamin Percy

This week's guest on In Her Room is poet, memoirist and writing teacher Sheila Squillante. Our conversation spans writing memoir, working on literary journals, and so much more. 

Writing is a place where I work stuff out.

Sheila's Website
Sheila on Twitter
Sheila's Chapbooks
Beautiful Nerve :: Sheila's poetry collection
"This Weather" :: one of the poems Sheila read

[PANK]
Roxane Gay
Mia Sara
The Fourth River
MFA program at Chatham
Sheryl St. Germain
Vivan Gornick :: An Interview in The Paris Review
VIDA Count

This week's guest on In Her Room is novelist, journalist, and writing teacher Kristin Oakley. We share thoughts on unschooling, writing the hard stories, goal-setting and so much more.

Writing is a way to play god...

Kristin's Website
Kristin on Facebook
Kristin on Twitter
Carpe Diem, IL

InPrint Professional Writer's Group
Chicago Writer's Association
UW-Madison Department of Continuing Studies in Writing
UW-Madison Writer's Institute
Little Creek Press
In Her Room Episode #25: Laurie Scheer

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, teacher, and mother Amy Lee Czadzeck. Our conversation is full of grace, courage and deep wisdom.

Where I show up for my students is being the permission slip to just show up and write.

Amy's website
Small Gift :: Amy's chapbook
Amy's workshops and offerings
"How to Fly Without Leaving the Ground"
"I am Enough" :: featured by Tracey Clark

"The Invitation" :: Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Digging Deep, Facing Self
Bluestockings Bookstore
Elizabeth Lesser :: Broken Open
In Her Room Episode #14: Jen Louden
In Her Room Episode #27: Caits Meissner
 

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, self-proclaimed cat lady, and founder of Cactus Heart Press Sara Rauch. Our conversation -- about life, writing, autobiographical fiction, and starting a literary journal -- is filled with sharp wit, insight, and infectious laughter. 

Writing is my reason for being. It's who I am.

Sara's website
Sara on Twitter
Sara on Instagram
"The Infidel Approaches Grace" :: Sara's reading (published on Hobart)
Cactus Heart Press website
Cactus Heart Press on Facebook
Cactus Heart Press on Twitter
Cactus Heart Press submissions manager

Lambda Literary
Pacific University MFA program
Marvin Bell
Sarah Waters :: The Paying Guests
Dear John, I Love Jane
Sandra Gail Lambert :: The River's Memory
Kirsty Logan :: The Gracekeepers
T

This week's guest on In Her Room is author, professor, and beautiful soul Joy Castro. Our conversation covers so many topics, from writing about trauma to intersectionality and identity to crime novels. 

Writing...is a tool for exploration.

Joy's Website
Joy on Twitter
How Winter Began :: Joy's latest collection
The Truth Book
Island of Bones
Hell or High Water
Nearer Home
Family Trouble
"Grip" :: Joy's reading

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie :: "I'm Still a Citizen" at PEN
Arundhati Roy
Bending Genre :: Brenda Miller's "Courage and Creative Nonfiction"

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, activist, and poet in the prisons Caits Meissner. Our conversation covers such awesome topics as bridging visual and print culture, the importance of diversity in women's publishing, and so much more. 

[Writing is] not a way to answer the questions, it's a way to ask more.

Caits' website
Caits' on Instagram
Spark :: a book of prompts
The Letter All Your Friends Have Written You :: written with Tishon
Grow Fierce -- Digging Deep, Facing Self

The Wide Shore
Books Not Bars :: video
I am the Beggar of the World :: Eliza Griswold
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
The Poetry Handbook :: Mary Oliver
Ocean Vuong

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, avid reader, and working mother Lindsey Mead. Our conversation covers so much: personal essay, finding the balance between public and private lives, and more.

I unearth things through the process of writing.

Lindsey's website
Lindsey on Instagram
Lindsey on Facebook
"Ten Things I Want my Daughter to Know Before She Turns 10"

"What's Next" :: a post from Nina Badzin
Jessica Piazza
Wendell Berry
William Merwin
H is for Hawk
Ongoingness: The End of a Diary
The Folded Clock
Hold Still
 

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, d-girl, and media goddess Laurie Scheer. We talk about everything from manuscript development and mastering your genre to the importance of community and so much more. 

Writing is pure communication — a way to stay alive.

Laurie's website
Laurie's blog
Laurie on twitter
The Writer's Advantage
UW Madison Writer's Institute
UW Madison Department of Continuing Studies

Weekend with Your Novel
Write by the Lake
Creative Nonfiction 1  
Creative Nonfiction 2

This week's guest on In Her Room is Camille Griep, author of the new novel Letters to Zell. I loved sharing this conversation about genre, form, taking risks in our writing, and so much more. 

Writing gives a voice to all the things that we don’t have time for in the day-to-day.

This episode contains some explicit language.

Camille's website
Camille on Twitter
Camille on Facebook
Letters to Zell

The Lascaux Review
Easy Street Magazine
Cartridge Lit
You Take it From Here :: Pamela Ribon's novel in letters
Speculative Fiction
 

My guest on this special, bonus episode of In Her Room is author, activist, and foremother of the modern pagan movement Starhawk. Our conversation, in conjunction with her crowd-funding campaign for City of Refuge, shares thoughts on spirituality, permaculture, writing, and so much more. 

If you want to be a writer, schedule time to write.

Starhawk's website
Starhawk on Facebook
City of Refuge Kickstarter campaign
City of Refuge on Facebook
Earth Activist Trainings
Reclaiming Tradition

Donna Read Cooper
Belili Productions
Signs Out of Time :: The Marija Gimbutas documentary
The Women's Spirituality film series
UCLA Film Studies Dept
 

This week's guest on In Her Room is author, memoirist, and LA native Wendy C. Ortiz. Our conversation about public and private lives, boundaries and secrecy, and so much more is a thrill to share with you.

I would joke with people that, if I didn’t have time to write, I would feel homicidal.
But really, what I was saying is that I felt suicidal."

This episode contains some explicit language. And it's totally worth it.

Wendy's website
Wendy's tumblr
Wendy on Twitter
Excavation: A Memoir
Hollywood Notebook
"Newly Wed and Quickly Unravelling" :: Wendy's Modern Love essay
"Interiors" :: Wendy's reading published in PANK 

Rhapsodomancy Reading Series
Mary Karr interview in The Paris Review
Eloise Klein Healy
MFA program at Antioch University
Writ Large Press

This week's guest on In Her Room is the soulful and love-guided Gemma Stone. Sitting to talk with her about living from love not fear, designing a life we love, and so much more is exactly the medicine for connecting with our souls and really listening to our own hearts. 

Writing, to me, is soulful communication.

Gemma's website
Gemma's psychology practice
Gemma's writing
Gemma's mentoring work
Gemma on Facebook
Gemma on Instagram
Gemma on Twitter
Gemma on Pinterest
A Love Letter to Life Designers
The Great Life Redesign Retreat
The Great Life Adventure
"Your Great Life: A Love Story" :: Gemma's reading
"Ten Signs You're Abandoning Your Self"

"Beyond Therapy" :: Gemma's TedxCanmore Talk
"True Intimacy Requires Deep Vulnerability"
charity: water

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, teacher, and roller derby athlete Jenna McGuiggan. Our time in The Word Cellar is filled with insights, ideas, and inspiration. It's a joy to share this conversation with you.

Writing is an art and a craft ... A way to create something of substance or meaning.

Jenna's website
Jenna's blog
The Word Cellar on Facebook
Jenna on Instagram
Jenna on Twitter
The Word Cellar Writer's Guild
Workshops with Jenna

"What is Your Emergency?" :: Jenna's reading
In Her Room Episode #4: Sue William Silverman
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Vermont Studio Center
New World Writing
Larry Sutin

This week's guest on In Her Room is the magnanimous and profoundly kind Susan Carol Hauser. Our conversation about teaching, image vocabularies, and the importance of community is such a gift to share with you.

"Writing...Is part of the fabric of my life.

Susan's website
Susan's blog
You Can Write a Memoir!
My Kind of River Journey: Seeking Passage on the Mississippi
Wild Rice: An Essential Guide to Cooking, History, and Harvesting
Wild Sugar: The Pleasures of Making Maple Syrup
Outside After Dark
Susan's other books
Measures of Loss :: Published in Terrain Magazine

Bemidji State University
Minnesota Northwoods Writer's Conference
National Writer's Union
Author's Guild
Poets & Writers magazine
Lake Itasca State Park :: Headwaters of the Mississippi River

This week's guest on In Her Room is the soulful and wise Liz Lamoreux. Our conversation, full of laughter, tears, and lots of nodding in agreement, fills me to the brim with light and community. It's such an honor to share this with you today.

“Writing…Is a lifeline to help me pull out, one word at a time, why I’m here."

Liz's website
Liz on Facebook
Liz on Pinterest
Liz on Twitter
Liz on Instagram
Soul Mantras
Inner Excavation
Poem It Out
Be Present Retreats
Water Your Mama Soul

Keri Smith
Andrea Scher
Christine Mason Miller
Jen Gray
Susan Wooldridge :: Poemcrazy*
Jen Louden's Taos Retreat

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, healer, and believer in bravery Robin Sandomirsky. I loved our conversation about showing up to both nerves and excitement, holding the space for duality, and how self-forgiveness is the heart of discipline.

My writing maps me into knowing myself.

Robin's Website
Robin on Instagram
Robin on Facebook
Robin's healing work
Joy Bomb mailing list
In Body intensive :: Just one of Robin's offerings

Liberated Lines
In Her Room Episode #5: Alisha Sommer
Our Word Collective (link may not work)

Cat’s website
Writing the Body
Writing the Tarot
“My Witch’s Mark”

RAINN :: The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network
Natalie Goldberg
AROHO :: A Room Of Her Own Foundation
Ghost Ranch
The Wild Unknown Tarot
The Rider-Waite Tarot
Listen to Your Mother! Show

Susannah's website
Susannah on Instagram
Susannah on Facebook
Susannah on Pinterest
Susannah on Twitter

Susannah's books
Susannah's photography
The Sacred Alone
Photo Meditations
Blogging from the Heart
All of Susannah's e-courses

Isabel's website
List and Letters
Isabel on Facebook
Isabel on Instagram
Handmapping :: Personal Cartography Readings
Writing the Womb
Writing Freedom
Sanctuary Sessions

"Close to the Bone" :: Isabel's reading
"Finding the Way to Frida's House"
"Belonging to the Body"In Her Skin :: Isabel's course with Stacy de la Rosa
"In Her Skin" :: Stacy's inspiring blog post
Homesick Quote

Jen's website
Jen on Facebook
Jen on Instagram
Jen's Books
Jen's Workshops and Retreats

Teach Now :: Jen's workshop for teachers
Creating Your Own Mastermind
Life Navigation course
The Women's Comfort book
A Year of Daily Joy book
The Life Organizer system
Harry Crews
Marcie Talenda
Omega Institute
Wayne Dyer

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer and labyrinth-walker Alison Gresik. I loved sitting down and talking with her about desire, walking depression, and stepping into amazing adventures.

Alison's website
Alison on Facebook
Alison on Instagram
Alison on Twitter
Pilgrimage of Desire :: Alison's book
10 Signs of Walking Depression :: a critical blog post from Alison
Creative coaching with Alison
Alison's copywriting business

The Unspeakable :: Megan Daum's new book
Labyrinths in Vancouver

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, coach, and accidental entrepreneur Molly Gordon. I loved talking with her about authenticity, radical joy, and trusting the hum in this 42-minute episode.

Molly's website
Molly on Facebook
Molly on Twitter
Molly on Instagram
"Trust the Hum" :: Molly's blog post

Linda Pransky :: Pransky and Associates
The Accidentaly Entrepreneur
Coaching with Molly
Authentic Promotion

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, reader, and homeschooling mother Corinne Cunningham. I loved our conversation about showing up to the page, writing big projects, and the connection between family and our work.

Corinne's website
Corinne on Facebook
Corinne on Instagram
Corinne on Pinterest
"Blueberry Pie" :: Corinne's reading

NaNoWriMo :: National Novel Writing Month
Outlining Your Novel* by K. M. Weiland
Hausfrau* by Jill Alexander Essbaum
The Joan Didion quote Sara shared

Maya's website
Maya's blog
Maya's books
Maya on Instagram
Working with Maya

10-Line Tuesdays :: Maya's weekly poem
Feral Writing :: one of Maya's writing workshops
Spoke & Word :: a creative retreat with Maya and Amy of Food for the Soul Train
Tour de Word :: Maya's cross-country adventure
Type Rider & Type Rider II

This week's guest on In Her Room is storyteller, ritualist, and word alchemist Marybeth Bonfiglio. I loved our conversation about writing, owning our worth, the tarot, and making space in our busy lives for the work we are called to do.

Writing is proof that I am here.

Marybeth's website
Marybeth on Instagram
Wild Alchemy :: Marybeth's Tarot offering
Alchemy Sessions :: mentoring with Marybeth
"Listen to These Hips" :: the piece Marybeth read on the show
"Know Your Worth" :: the piece Marybeth almost read on the show

Amulet magazine
The Wild Unknown Tarot deck
Inherent Worth and Dignity :: the first principle of Unitarian Universalism
Raymond Carver on Goodreads
The Manifest-Station :: Jen Pastiloff
Ingeborg Bachmann quote on Goodreads

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, mystic, and wild enchantress Hillary Rain. I loved sitting down with her to talk about writing as a doorway to ourselves, the entrance to Rumi's Field, and so much more.

Writing is one small "h" away from writhing.

Hillary's website
Hillary on Instagram
Hillary on Pinterest
Spirit Soul Earth on Facebook

Blushing Wild e-course
Into the Dark Night e-workbook
The Gypsy Mystic (and Hillary's meaning for Rumi's Field)
Body Stories (upcoming from Hillary Rain)
Women Who Run With the Wolves*
Harold and the Purple Crayon*

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, storyteller, and visual artist Esmé Weijun Wang. We sat down to talk about creative legacy, living with chronic illness, and the ways we show up and be compassionate with ourselves and others in this 46-minute episode.

How is your heart today?

Esmé's website
Esmé on Instagram
Esmé on Twitter
Esmé on Facebook
Esmé on Pinterest
"Perdition Days," the essay Esmé read

Sarah Manguso :: author of The Two Kinds of Decay* and Ongoingness*
The Radical Sincerity Manifesto
BinderCon :: where Esmé spoke in 2014
Where's the Electricity?* :: Esmé's creative offering 
On Mastery
Esmé's 10-Second Statement (and the post from Mara Glatzel that inspired it!)
Spoon theory :: in reference to living with chronic illness.

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, coach, and intuitive guide Mara Glatzel. We sat down to talk about writing, truth-telling, identity, and all the ways we show up in the world.

Writing is my heart in hard copy.

Mara's website
Mara on Instagram
Sign up for Mara's newsletter

the real bell hooks (on twitter)
The Our Body Project
Mara's ReWired workshops

This week's guest on In Her Room is author, visual storyteller, and seeker Alisha Sommer. We sat down to talk about the importance of diversity in women's voices, creating community, and leaving your mark on the world.

Alisha's website
Some of Alisha's publications
Alisha Sommer on Instagram
Blackberry: A Magazine
Where the Light Is (the instagram hashtag)
Where the Light Is (the John Mayer album*)

The Memoir Project -- Marion Roach Smith
NPR interview with Marion Roach Smith about her book, The Memoir Project*
"Brevity is the soul of wit."
Alice Munro on Goodreads
Raymond Carver on Goodreads
Annapurna Living by Carrie-Anne Moss

This week's guest on In Her Room is author, teacher, and advocate for women's voices Sue William Silverman. We talk openly about writing memoir, telling the hard and scary stories, and the importance of speaking truth to our experiences as women, and as writers, in this world.

As a note, this episode may be triggering to some, as we speak honestly about child abuse and incest. No specific details or experiences are shared.

Sue William Silverman online
Sue's books
Sue William Silverman on Facebook
Sue William Silverman on Twitter

AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Award Series
Vermont College of Fine Arts (where Sue teaches)
The Annie Dillard quote Sara mentions

This week's guest on In Her Room is GG Renee Hill: author, passionate coach, fearless creative, and wildly love-drunk woman. Our conversation is filled with belly laughs, profound recognition, and all the ways we can give ourselves permission to follow our dreams and be perfectly imperfect.

All the Many Layers
GG Renee Hill's books
GG Renee on Instagram
Maya Angelou quote GG Renee mentioned.

The Artist's Way* by Julia Cameron
Writing Down the Bones* by Natalie Goldberg
"I Know Better but I Don't Always Do Better" :: GG Renee's reading
Baltimore Harbor :: a great place for people watching
Kin Fables :: the beautiful visual storytelling movies

This week's guest on In Her Room is journalist, writer, teacher, and mother Evelyn Lauer. We talk about the intersection of creative writing and journalism, the importance of telling the story that burns inside you, and recognizing that we are not alone in our truths.

"Writing is work. You've got to sit down, in front of your computer or your notepad or however you write, and you've got to show up."

from the desk of Evelyn A. Lauer
Evelyn Lauer on Huffington Post
Evelyn Lauer - Author on Facebook
Evelyn on Twitter
Evelyn on Instagram

Evelyn's blog post about working with (and being rejected by) an agent
Evelyn's blog post about the holidays and the love that did not last
Joan Didion quote on GoodReads

This week's guest on In Her Room is writer, photographer, and inspirationist Jeanette LeBlanc. Sitting down with her for a conversation about truth-telling, motherhood, and making your mark on the world was such a treat.

Here are some of the things mentioned in this episode:

peace.love.free
Rebelle Society
Jeanette LeBlanc on SoundCloud
Some of Jeanette’s Spotify playlists

The Hemingway quote
An interview with Joan Didion
Jeanette Winterson
Anne Lamott quotes
Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Chronology of Water