349: When a Story Idea Won’t Let a Writer Go - Interview with Jeremy Hance
03/17/21 • 46 min
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jeremy Hance.
Jeremy is writer and freelance environmental journalist, who also happens to cohabitate with mental illnesses. He has named his OCD Steve and his depression goes by the name of Malachi. He is the author of the memoir Baggage: Confessions of a Globetrotting Hypochondriac.
As a journalist, Jeremy is passionate about wildlife conservation, climate change, forests, animal behavior, and indigenous people and many other topics. His work has appeared in Mongabay, the Guardian, HuffPost, Ensia, YaleE360, Sydney Morning Herald and others. His story on the Sumatran rhino was chosen for the 2019 edition of the Best American Science and Nature Writing.
Jeremy has traveled to over 30 countries on five continents and considers himself ridiculously lucky to have spent time with singing rhinos, dinosaur mammals, and angry clown fish. He is graduate of Macalester College with a major in English and minor in History as well as the Great Books Master’s Degree program at St. John’s College. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife, daughter, and pooch. When he’s not writing, he enjoys time with friends, cups of tea, long hikes, longer naps, even longer novels, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.
In this episode Jeremy and I discuss:- How he juggled writing about travel, mental illness, and nature in one book.
- Why he chose to write his memoir thematically as opposed to chronologically.
- What myths he hoped to dispel by writing so openly about his mental illness.
Plus, his #1 tip for writers.
For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/349
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jeremy Hance.
Jeremy is writer and freelance environmental journalist, who also happens to cohabitate with mental illnesses. He has named his OCD Steve and his depression goes by the name of Malachi. He is the author of the memoir Baggage: Confessions of a Globetrotting Hypochondriac.
As a journalist, Jeremy is passionate about wildlife conservation, climate change, forests, animal behavior, and indigenous people and many other topics. His work has appeared in Mongabay, the Guardian, HuffPost, Ensia, YaleE360, Sydney Morning Herald and others. His story on the Sumatran rhino was chosen for the 2019 edition of the Best American Science and Nature Writing.
Jeremy has traveled to over 30 countries on five continents and considers himself ridiculously lucky to have spent time with singing rhinos, dinosaur mammals, and angry clown fish. He is graduate of Macalester College with a major in English and minor in History as well as the Great Books Master’s Degree program at St. John’s College. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife, daughter, and pooch. When he’s not writing, he enjoys time with friends, cups of tea, long hikes, longer naps, even longer novels, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.
In this episode Jeremy and I discuss:- How he juggled writing about travel, mental illness, and nature in one book.
- Why he chose to write his memoir thematically as opposed to chronologically.
- What myths he hoped to dispel by writing so openly about his mental illness.
Plus, his #1 tip for writers.
For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/349
Previous Episode
348: Blending Genres in a Historical Series - Interview with Michelle Cox
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Cox.
Michelle is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series. She also writes Novel Notes of Local Lore, a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. Her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and more. It’s highly possible that Michell may have once lived in the 1930s and, since time travel has yet to be invented, she has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there. She is a lover of board games, period dramas and big band music. Also, marmalade.
In this episode Michelle and I discuss:- How her experiences working in a nursing home influenced her novel.
- Her method for writing societal issues revolving around wealth, women’s roles, and mental health.
- Her decision to use She Writes Press and what sets them apart from traditional and self-publishing.
Plus, her #1 tip for writers.
For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/348
Next Episode
350: Voice, Emotion, and Metastory in a "Mistopia" - Interview with Simon Stephenson
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Simon Stephenson.
Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Simon is a writer and screenwriter now living in LA (with stop-overs in London and San Francisco along the way).
His first book was the memoir Let Not The Waves Of The Sea, about losing his brother Dominic in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards in 2011. His most recent novel, Set My Heart To Five, was released in summer 2020 and this is what we’ll be discussing today.
In this episode Simon and I discuss:- His method for writing a “mis-topia” future and how that differs from a dystopia.
- Why writing a character without feelings allows you to explore feelings more.
- What role movies played in developing his protagonist and the plot.
Plus, his #1 tip for writers.
For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/350
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