EP 225 - Writing Personal Experience in Fiction with Ami Sands Brodoff

Mark interviews Ami Sands Brodoff, the award-winning author of three novels and two story collections about her latest book, The Sleep of Apples and the stories and books she has written over the years.

Prior to the main content, Mark discusses recent comments, welcomes new patron Jared Nelson, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation Mark and Ami talk about:

• Ami as a "late-bloomer" writer who had worked on a number of short stories for years before working on a novel
• The encouragement, including a nomination for The Pushcart Prize that happened early on with Ami's first published story
• Being invited to The Algonquin Hotel in New York for lunch with some editors
• Asking herself is this the career I want to be doing no matter what
• The related anchor job that Ami had for guaranteed writing money coming in while she did freelance work
• Adapting real-life circumstances into her first novel, Can You See Me?
• How the stories in The Sleep of Apples are linked by a neighborhood, whereas in a previous collection, it was a theme that unified the stories
• The concept of neighborhoods in cities like Montreal and New York
• The amazing critical acclaim for The Sleep of Apples and how publicist can snowball
• Various workshops that Ami has lead over the years
• Tapping into the stories that other people want to share and tell
• Advice Ami would have for beginning writers
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of how publicist can snowball, or how a lot of hard work can lead to those "viral" things.

Links of Interest:

• Ami Sands Brodoff Website
• EP 223 - Love, Only Better with Paulette Stout
• The Canadian Mounted
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon

Ami Sands Brodoff is the award-winning author of three novels and two story collections. Her latest novel-in-stories, The Sleep of Apples, centres on 9 closely-linked characters confronting crises related to mental illness, mortality--sooner rather than later--and gender identity.

Ami's novel, In Many Waters, grapples with our world-wide refugee crisis. The White Space Between, which focuses on a mother and daughter struggling with the impact of the Holocaust won The Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction. Bloodknots, a volume of thematically-linked stories was a finalist for the ReLit Award.

Ami leads workshops for teens, adults, and seniors. She has taught writing to formerly incarcerated women and to people grappling with mental illness. Ami has been awarded fellowships to Yaddo, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation, and St. James Cavalier Arts Centre for Creativity (Malta).

Ami lives in ...