Episode 214 Learning to Be #GenreFlexible with Catherine Newman

Why stick to any one genre? Our guest this week is Catherine Newman: memoirist, middle grade novelist, etiquette columnist and now the author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781635861822">How to Be a Person: 65 Highly Useful, Super-Important Things to Learn Before You&#8217;re Grown-Up</a>. While she&#8217;s at it, she writes a cooking blog, co-authored a book on crafts for kids and edits <a href="https://www.chopchopfamily.org/">ChopChop</a>, a kids cooking magazine. And she pens frequent funny essays for everything from O to the New York Times to the Cup of Jo website. In other words, she&#8217;s putting a pastiche of writing together and making it work with an insouciant disregard for any and all advice about self-branding or owning an niche or sticking to one topic or identity.<br/><br/>In fact, I&#8217;d argue that &#8220;insouciant disregard&#8221; might just BE her brand. <br/><br/>This episode also includes the immortal words &#8220;I&#8217;ve never had to kill anything during the podcast before,&#8221; uttered by Jess&#8212;so that&#8217;s a reason to listen right there. But there are plenty of others&#8212;this is a real nitty gritty episode on building a career and getting things done.<br/><br/>#AmReading<br/><br/>KJ: <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780778309451">Henna Artist</a> by Alka Joshi<br/><br/><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781416593379">Recipes for a Beautiful Life</a> by Rebecca Barry<br/><br/>Jess: <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9781950155019">Sure Shot</a> by Sarina Bowen<br/><br/><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780060852559">Animal, Vegetable, Miracle</a> by Barbara Kingsolver<br/><br/><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780451414120">Missing You</a> by Harlan Coben<br/><br/>Catherine: <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780735223707">Know My Name</a> by Chanel Miller<br/><br/><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780525656494">Sea Wife</a> by Amity Gaige<br/><br/><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/1183/9780593085141">The Chicken Sisters</a> by KJ Dell