What makes readers care about flawed characters making questionable decisions? In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle Erasmus talks with bestselling author Vanessa Hua about her new novel Coyoteland and the craft behind creating emotionally layered fiction filled with tension, community, family dynamics, and difficult choices.

They discuss:
• Writing omniscient and multiple point-of-view narration
• Why flawed characters create compelling stories
• Building escalating stakes in fiction
• Using setting as an active force in storytelling
• How journalism shaped Vanessa's fiction writing
• Reverse-engineering stories to improve craft
• The importance of empathy in storytelling
• Writing family, community, and social tension
• Balancing multiple writing projects at once
• Why movement and listening to your manuscript aloud can strengthen revision

Vanessa also shares insights into writing morally complex characters while exploring the hidden pressures shaping modern communities and relationships.

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/KP9W2VZT5Nk

Vanessa Hua is the author of the national bestsellers A River of Stars and Forbidden City, as well as the story collection Deceit and Other Possibilities, a New York Times Editors' Pick. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has also received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a California Arts Council Fellowship, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as honors from the de Groot Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Previously, she was an award-winning columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. She teaches at the Warren Wilson MFA Program, Sewanee Writers Conference, and elsewhere. Her book of narrative nonfiction, Uprooted, is forthcoming.

Links & Resources:
Vanessa:
Website: http://www.vanessahua.com
Instagram: @mononoke97
Facebook: @vanessahuawriter
Bluesky: r@vanessahua.bsky.social

Estelle
Website: https://estelleserasmus.com
Watch Estelle's TEDx Talk How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ
Instagram/X/TikTok/BlueSky: @EstelleSErasmus
NEW Substack post: A Recap of the Editor-on-Call Event with Susan Dabbar of PROVOKEDmagazine. All the intel you need to get published there including a free pitching guide and portal link. https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/how-to-pitch-provokedmagazine-inside
Subscribe for exclusive info and podcast clips: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

About Estelle Erasmus
Estelle Erasmus is an NYU writing professor, former magazine editor-in-chief, TEDx speaker, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed, named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast Freelance Writing Direct, where she shares insider strategies on craft, publishing, and building a writing career.

Enjoying the show
Follow, rate, and review Freelance Writing Direct on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch full episodes on YouTube.

In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle Erasmus speaks with author Jacque Gorelick about her debut memoir Map of a Heart: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Finding the Way Home, a powerful, braided narrative that weaves a present-day medical crisis with a deeply personal exploration of family, identity, estrangement, and belonging.

Jacque shares the harrowing inciting incident at the center of her book: her husband collapsing on a trail just weeks after the birth of their child, leading to a life-or-death ICU experience that unfolds in real time over ten days. From there, she unpacks how that crisis triggered a flood of memory and reflection, bringing her past into conversation with her present.

Together, Estelle and Jacque dive into the craft behind the memoir, including how to braid timelines effectively, how to balance scene and reflection, and how to write about emotionally charged experiences without losing the reader. Jacque also opens up about the challenges of writing about family estrangement, the visceral experience of reliving trauma on the page, and the importance of honoring truth while maintaining compassion.

They also discuss:

• How to structure a memoir using a real-time framework
• The shift from alternating timelines to a fully braided narrative
• Writing epistolary sections to create intimacy and emotional depth
• The role of memory, research, and fact-checking in memoir
• Navigating vulnerability when writing about loved ones
• The realities of the publishing path, including querying, setbacks, and choosing a small press
• Why giving yourself emotional space while writing difficult material is essential

Jacque offers practical advice for writers looking to tell their own stories, including how to access emotional truth, gather sensory memory, and begin shaping raw experience into narrative.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0A-RQy7FKo

Jacque Gorelick is a writer and former educator whose work explores the complexities of family, identity, and belonging. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Salon, Newsweek, The Washington Post, HuffPost, and more. Map of a Heart is her debut memoir. She lives in California with her husband, two sons, and a menagerie of rescue animals.

Links & Resources:
Jacque's website: https://www.jacquegorelick.com/
Her instagram/Threads: @Jacgorelick
Estelle's website: https://estelleserasmus.com
Watch Estelle's TEDx Talk How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ
NEW Substack post: A Recap of the Editor-on-Call Event with Susan Dabbar of PROVOKEDmagazine. All the intel you need to get published there including a free pitching guide and portal link. https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/how-to-pitch-provokedmagazine-inside
Subscribe for exclusive info and podcast clips: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

About Estelle Erasmus
Estelle Erasmus is an NYU writing professor, former magazine editor-in-chief, TEDx speaker, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed, named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast Freelance Writing Direct, where she shares insider strategies on craft, publishing, and building a writing career.

Enjoying the show
Follow, rate, and review Freelance Writing Direct on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch full episodes on YouTube.

Freelance Writing Direct chats with Tia Levings about writing a memoir of escape, and how strong scenes, structure, and editorial choices turn personal experience into a powerful narrative.

Tia Levings is the New York Times bestselling author of A Well-Trained Wife, a memoir about her escape from Christian patriarchy and high-control religious culture. She writes about religious trauma, evangelical influence, and the cultural forces shaping women's lives today. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Salon, Newsweek, and The Huffington Post, and she was featured in the Shiny Happy People docuseries. Her next book, I Belong to Me, releases May 2026.

In this episode, Estelle Erasmus and Tia Levings discuss:

• How to turn lived experience into a compelling, page-turning memoir
• Why choosing the right scenes matters more than including everything that happened
• The difference between situation and story, and how it shapes narrative drive
• How to weave research and cultural context into memoir without slowing the pace
• Writing about trauma while maintaining momentum and reader engagement
• The role of developmental editing in strengthening structure and emotional build
• How to create a memoir that resonates beyond your personal experience
• Why memoir is not a "parade of bad things," but a search for meaning and connection
• Crafting chapter endings that keep readers turning the page
• Building a platform and expanding your story into broader cultural impact

Tia also shares how she broke free from a high-control environment, how visibility became a form of safety, and how storytelling can create both personal healing and collective awareness.

Watch on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6kJKMI77Go

Links & Resources:

Follow Tia Levings on social media: @TiaLevingsWriter
Estelle's website: https://estelleserasmus.com
Watch Estelle's TEDx Talk How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ
NEW Substack post: A Recap of the Editor-on-Call Event with Susan Dabbar of PROVOKEDmagazine. All the intel you need to get published there. https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/how-to-pitch-provokedmagazine-inside
Subscribe for exclusive info and podcast clips: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

About Estelle Erasmus
Estelle Erasmus is an NYU writing professor, former magazine editor-in-chief, TEDx speaker, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed, named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast Freelance Writing Direct, where she shares insider strategies on craft, publishing, and building a writing career.

Enjoying the show
Follow, rate, and review Freelance Writing Direct on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch full episodes on YouTube.