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.

In this episode, Estelle Erasmus talks with Kerry Docherty, author of Selfish: Unlearning, Reclaiming, and Telling the Truth, about what it really takes to write a bold, emotionally honest memoir.

They dive into:

• Why "selfish" is a loaded word for women and how to reclaim it
• Starting a memoir with rupture to hook the reader
• Using dreams, spirituality, and what Estelle calls the "echo effect" to deepen narrative impact
• Writing about marriage, motherhood, desire, and identity without holding back
• The risks and consequences of telling the truth on the page
• How to balance scene, reflection, and tension to keep a memoir propulsive
• What gets cut and why it matters for the arc of the story

Kerry also shares how writing this book changed her, and the one piece of advice every aspiring memoirist needs to hear.

Kerry Docherty cofounded the lifestyle clothing brand Faherty with her husband and his identical twin. A graduate of Yale University and Pepperdine Law School, she is passionate about community building, sustainability, and creativity. Kerry is also the author of the children's book Somewhere, Right Now, featuring art by New York Times bestselling illustrator Suzie Mason. She lives with her husband and two children on the New Jersey shore, where she is constantly looking for sea glass.

Selfish: Unlearning, Reclaiming, and Telling the Truth is a memoir by Kerry Docherty, cofounder of the lifestyle clothing brand Faherty. Blending personal narrative and cultural critique, it explores what happens when a woman decides to prioritize her own desires and wellbeing after years of people-pleasing and overgiving.

Links & Resources:

Order Selfish: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775631/selfish-by-kerry-docherty/
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
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 sits down with literary agent Sally Ekus, senior agent at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, where she leads a boutique division specializing in cookbooks, lifestyle, and select nonfiction.

With over 350 book deals under her belt and deep roots in the publishing world, Sally shares what truly makes a proposal stand out, how the industry is evolving in real time, and why enthusiasm and voice still matter more than ever.

Together, Estelle and Sally explore the shift from traditional publishing models to today's fast-paced, data-driven landscape—and what writers must do now to get noticed.

You'll hear a candid, behind-the-scenes look at how agents think, how deals happen, and how writers can position themselves for success.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What literary agents are really looking for in a nonfiction proposal
• The importance of platform—and what to do if you don't have one
• How to craft a compelling concept that can drive a book deal
• What happens when a book goes to auction (and why the highest bid isn't everything)
• How publishers are using data and trends to shape acquisitions
• The evolving role of AI in publishing—and where Sally draws the line
• The financial and creative realities of producing cookbooks today
• Why enthusiasm, voice, and clarity are your greatest assets as a writer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27dK8IRHT-8&t=5s

Sally Ekus is a senior literary agent at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, where she spearheads a boutique division focused on cookbooks, lifestyle, and nonfiction. She represents chefs, food writers, creators, and thought leaders, and has brokered hundreds of deals with major publishers including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster.

She is also the creator of the Not-So-Secret Agent Substack and founder of the How to Be a Cookbook Author community, where she shares insights into the publishing process and supports aspiring authors.

Links & Resources:

Sally's Substack: Not-So-Secret Agent https://notsosecretagent.substack.com

How to Be a Cookbook Author https://www.ekusgroup.com/cookbookacademy

Estelle's website: https://estelleserasmus.com

Subscribe for exclusive info and podcast clips: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

Sign up for the NYU Editor-on-Call Event on April 22 with the Editor-in-Chief of Provoked Magazine. https://events.nyu.edu/event/384509-editor-on-call-ready-to-pitch-publish-and-g

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.

The words people use tell you exactly who they are, if you know how to read them.

Estelle Erasmus sits down with Jennie Young, a professor of rhetoric whose "Burn the Haystack" method and Facebook group sparked a powerful movement, now captured in her book Burn the Haystack. She flips the traditional dating narrative on its head, showing women how to find their "needle" by torching the men who are duds.

As a former magazine editor and longtime writing teacher, Estelle was especially drawn to how Jennie breaks down language, tone, and behavior with precision. This conversation goes far beyond dating. It's about learning how to read what people say and how they say it, whether you're navigating relationships, the workplace, or your own writing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwQ2rvupeXM

Jennie Young is a professor of rhetoric at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, specializing in applied rhetoric, humor, and feminism. Her work focuses on helping women detect manipulation and decode power dynamics in dating, work, and everyday life.

Her book, Burn the Haystack: Decode Dating, Torch the Duds, and Make Room for Men Who Matter, has inspired a global movement and a rapidly growing online community.

• Jennie Young's book: Burn the Haystack
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/9116647515019601
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/word_case_scenario/
• Estelle's website: https://estelleserasmus.com
• Subscribe for exclusive podcast clips: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com
• Sign up for the NYU Editor-on-Call Event on April 22 with the Editor-in-Chief of Provoked Magazine. https://events.nyu.edu/event/384509-editor-on-call-ready-to-pitch-publish-and-g

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.

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