Episode 177 Notes and Links to Laura Warrell’s Work
On Episode 177 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Laura Warrell, and the two discuss, among other things, her early love of writing and acting, important works and writers who steered her into her own career, how teaching literature at Berklee College of Music informed her writing and creative outlook, and issues in Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm around love, connection, traumas, promiscuity, character development, real-life inspirations, and structural and character-based decisions.
Laura Warrell is a contributor to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and the Tin House Summer Workshop, and is a graduate of the creative writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has appeared in HuffPost, The Rumpus, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm was published in September 2022, and has been rightly lauded since.
Buy Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm
Laura Warrell's Website
Los Angeles Times Portrait of Laura's Journey in Writing Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm
At about 1:40, Laura talks about the “flurry of activity” that followed her book’s publication, and Pete asks her to speak about “moving on” to her next project and how she sees her first book now and how she remembers her characters are for her
At about 5:00, Laura gives background on her very early writing (“I came to writing before I came to reading”) and reading
At about 8:20, Laura recalls her early desire (and continuing until college) desire to become an actress/theater major
At about 11:00, Laura and Pete muse on the fading idea of the writer as celebrity
At about 12:50, Laura discusses how acting became secondary to writing in her pivotal college days, as well as writers like Toni Morrison, Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, among others, who inspired her
At about 16:05, Pete asks about how Laura’s time as an instructor at Berklee College of Music informed the book and its coverage of art, artists, and creativity
At about 22:20, The two discuss a pivotal and memorable scene where the protagonist Circus receives a wakeup call and
At about 24:30, Laura gives background on the title and its genesis, and she responds Pete’s questions about why Laura used jazz as a topic for the book
At about 28:15, Laura speaks to ideas of centering the multiple women in Circus’ orbit
At about 32:10, Laura points to a particular book she was reading about a “playboy” that made her sure to have the women’s perspective front and center for those in relationships with Circus
At about 34:40, Laura lays our characteristics of Circus’ daughter, Koko, and how fleshing her out led to more narration from Circus
At about 36:30, Maggie is described, and the book’s opening scene is described and how it leads to a pivotal choice for Circus
At about 37:20, Laura talks about basing Maggie on Cindy Blackman, and Pete and Laura discuss a scene where Maggie delineates differences for her between Tip and Circus
At about 41:20, Pete references the opening scene for Koko, and Koko’s “father issues,” and Laura talks about Koko as a caretaker for her mother, Pia
At about 45:05, Pia is described, especially with regard to her maternal outlook
At about 46:05, A key scene involving Odessa (Pete is very complimentary of the craft) is discussed, and Laura talks about readers’ feedback involving Odessa
At about 48:35, Pete and Laura discuss key scenes involving Koko, especially in her unease in growing up
At about 50:20, The theme of aging is discussed, especially in terms of creative output and the world’s expectations
At about 51:25, Pete marks Raquel as in important character, a barometer, and Laura describes the role of Raquel
At about 55:10, The theme of father-daughter relationships and traumas and love is referenced and examples given, with Laura reflecting on the “broken mechanism” that steers Circus’ motivations and actions
At about 1:00:10, Pete and Laura cite a rough scene that calls to mind misogyny in a memorable way
At about 1:01:50, Pia is highlighted for ideas of trauma and ways to cope, and Laura picks up on a thread to reinforce why she wanted to write the book as she did
At about 1:05:40, Treading lightly-not wanting to give plot spoilers, Pete outlines some of the book’s twists
At about 1:06:50, Laura highlights ideas from the book on expectations for success, dreams, family life, and the immediacy of these things
At about 1:09:00, Laura gives social media info, and highlights Octavia’s Bookshelf and Skylight Books as two of many great places to buy her book
At about 1:10:05, Laura talks about an exciting new book project
At about 1:11:50, Laura gives suggestions on possible actors who might play Circus if the book were ever put on the big/small screen
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Please tune in for Episode 178 with Stephen Buoro. Stephen was born in Nigeria in 1993 and at The University of East Anglia in the UK, he was the 2018 recipient of the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship. He has a first-class degree in Mathematics and is currently studying for a PhD in Creative-Critical Writing at UEA on a fully funded studentship. His book, Andy Africa and The Five Sorrowful Mysteries, is bound to be a sensation. Pete’s interview with him regarding the book is forthcoming in Chicago Review of Books.
The episode will air on April 18, the Pub Day for the book!
Episode 197 with Chloe Cooper Jones, Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Nominee, Master of Melding Seemingly-Disparate Ideas and Themes, and Author of the Masterful and Profound Easy Beauty
Episode 196 with Rachel Howzell Hall, Painter of Worlds Both Familiar and Unknown, Creator of Psychological Thrillers, Master Crime Writer, and Author of What Never Happened
Episode 195 with Jessica Cuello, Keen Observer of the Connections Between Classical and the Modern, and Painter of Resonant Imagery in the Poetry Collection Yours, Creature
Episode 194 with Ruth Madievsky, Brilliant Tactician of Plot, Humor, and Nuanced Profundity, and the Writer
Episode 193 with Ethan Chatagnier, Author of Singer Distance, and Standout Worldbuilder and Character Artist
Episode 192 with Donovan X. Ramsey, Author of When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era and Master Craftsman of a Historical Book that Shines Through Personal Stories
Episode 191 with Sarah Fawn Montgomery, Possessor of a Poetic Sensibility, Chronicler of Nature, the Psyche, and Love’s Many Iterations, and Author of Halfway from Home: Essays
Episode 190 with Ellen Birkett Morris, Renaissance Woman: Teacher, Dramatist, Prose Writer, and Author of the Precise, Affecting, and Chill-Inducing Lost Girls
Episode 189 with Andrés Reséndez, Researcher on The Spanish Conquest and Author of the Award-Winning and Rigorously-Researched The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
Episode 188 with Kavita Das, Writer and Editor of Craft and Conscience: How to Write about Social Issues, and Reflective and Thoughtful Chronicler of Important and Compelling Stories
Episode 187 with V Castro, Author of The Haunting of Alejandra, Two-Time Bram Stoker Nominee, and Creator of Scary and Real Worlds and Characters That Resonate
Episode 186 with Stephanie Feldman, Author of Saturnalia, Master Worldbuilder, and Crafter of Intriguing and Engrossing Satire and Allegory
Episode 185 with Toni Ann Johnson, Renaissance Woman, Master Storyteller in Film and on the Page, and Author of the Award-Winning Light Skin Gone to Waste
Episode 184 with Robert Ottone, Bram Stocker-Nominated Creator of Worlds Familiar and Scary, Master of Allegory and Pure Terror, and The Author of The Vile Thing We Created
Episode 183 with Eli Cranor, Master of Dialogue, Suspense, and Profundity, and Author of Edgar Award-Nominated Don’t Know Tough and its Followup, the Standout Ozark Dogs
Episode 182 with Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, Gifted Storyteller, Stellar Translator of Animals’ Inner Lives, and Master of Thoughtful Prose
Episode 181 with Ramona Reeves, Author of It Falls Gently All Around, Keen Observer of the Banal and the Dramatic, and Skilled Craftswoman of the Space Between Scenes and Characters
Episode 180 with Jennifer Dawn Carlson, Thorough and Thoughtful Researcher, Sociologist, and Interviewer, and Author of Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy
Episode 179 with Sarah Cypher, Skilled and Thorough and Thoughtful Chronicler of The Long Reaches of History, Identity, and ,What Constitutes Home
Episode 178 with Stephen Buoro, Master Craftsman of Satire, Humor, Mathematics, Philosophy Merging in His Instant Classic, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa
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