Some books reclaim the stories we thought we already knew.

This week, I’m joined by Ayana Gray, author of Beasts of Prey and her latest, I, Medusa, for a conversation that begins with origin stories and winds its way through the very particular internet experiences of a millennial upbringing—back when blogs were everything and a place called Twitter still existed.

We talk about learning what was “allowed” on the page, and the quiet realization that there was never a rulebook to begin with. Ayana shares how her early hesitation gave way, over time, to curiosity and experimentation, and how each new project helped her step a little further outside the boundaries she once believed in.

We also get into the shift from writing YA to adult, and how those spaces ask for different kinds of storytelling, different freedoms, and different risks.

Links:

Follow No Write Way on Instagram

V.E. Schwab’s Website

Ayana Gray’s Website

Credits:

Host: V.E. Schwab

Producer/Editor/Mixer: Jenna Maurice

Some books remind you that fantasy can be brutal, funny, and painfully human all at once.

This week, I’m joined by Joe Abercrombie, author of the First Law series and his latest, The Devils, for a conversation about the strange dance between fantasy and the expectations that come with it. We talk about drifting around the edges of genre labels (including the ever persistent “grimdark”) and what it means to write stories that refuse to behave exactly the way readers expect.

Joe shares how his background as a film editor shaped the way he builds a story, from pacing to perspective to the careful balancing act of an ensemble cast. We also commiserate over a familiar writerly condition: the convenient amnesia that allows us to forget the horrors of drafting just long enough to start the next book. Joe compares the process to laying bricks. You keep placing them, one after another, even when some are crooked and others will need replacing later. Eventually you look up and realize a wall has begun to take shape.

Links:

Follow No Write Way on Instagram

V.E. Schwab’s Website

Joe Abercrombie’s Website

Credits:

Host: V.E. Schwab

Producer/Editor/Mixer: Jenna Maurice

Some books feel like a rom com written in a minor key.

This week, I’m talking with Ashley Winstead, author of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and her latest, Future Saints. We chat about the idea that first drafts are just secret monsters, something you have to let out just to learn their shape. Ashley tells me about the sticky note she kept on her laptop that read, “no one will ever see this,” a small, stubborn permission that made it possible for her to keep going.

She walks me through her rigorous and deeply self-aware writing process, including how she lets her brain decide what it can realistically handle each day instead of having word count goals or a time frame. And somewhere along the way, I realize I’ve found a kindred spirit, especially when it comes to our shared tendency toward slightly psychotic outlining. What a joy.

Check out the playlist for Ashley’s book Future Saints (mentioned in this podcast) in the links below.

Links:

Follow No Write Way on Instagram

V.E. Schwab’s Website

Ashley Winstead’s WebsiteOfficial Future Saints Playlist

Credits:

Host: V.E. Schwab

Producer/Editor/Mixer: Jenna Maurice