Episode 254: Adam Skolnick - Fellow Traveller

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Adam Skolnick is a journalist, none-fiction writer, famed Roll On podcaster, and the author behind the brilliant new novel - his first! - American Tiger.

American Tiger (a work that has been gestating for years) is a milestone for Adam in more ways than one.

As his first published novel it is, of course, the latest stage in his evolution as an artist.

But it is also confirmation of the way that personal philosophies inevitably seep into the work we produce. 

Because while the book is ostensibly about a young girl called Bell spotting a tiger in suburban California, it’s really about much more.

Like all the best works of art, American Tiger brings together the preoccupations that have underpinned Adam’s career up to now into one artistically coherent and page-turning whole. 

It’s an LA novel, a coming-of-age novel, and a novel about the way that Adam sees nature as a partner, not a resource.

And the story of how Skolnick brought this thing into the world is itself an instructive tale for anybody attempting to get their own creative vision off the ground: part creative psychology, part survival guide to the modern writer’s life, part sheer bloody-minded entrepreneurialism in an era of shrinking outlets and collapsing budgets.

I loved this conversation, and I think you will too. Find it via my website, the link in bio, or the usual platform.

My thanks to Adam for the brilliant chat, and to April for all the help. Looking forward to meeting you both in person soon! 

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