Robin is the National Book Award-winning author of FAR FROM THE TREE, as well as: EMMY & OLIVER, ALSO KNOWN AS, GOING ROGUE, THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE and AUDREY, WAIT!

Find Robin on Twitter: @robinbenway and Instagram: @robinbenway. Her website is robinbenway.com

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Show Notes:

Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

The Confusion of Laurel Graham by Adrienne Kisner

Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

Rachel Cohn

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

David Levithan

Holly Black

Baby-Sitters Club

Sweet Valley High

Ramona books by Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary

Mitch and Amy by Beverly Cleary

Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

Bianca Turetsky

Baby-Sitters Club Netflix reboot

Lucia Aniello Architectural Digest story

Lucia Aniello

Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn

Audrey, Wait! by Robin

Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz

It Might Get Loud by Davis Guggenheim

Paul McCartney: The Love We Make by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan

Blackbird by Paul McCartney

Heartbreaker by Mariah Carey

Los Lobos

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June by Robin

Going Rogue by Robin

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Quibbler podcast

Emmy & Oliver

Far From the Tree

Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine

National Book Foundation / National Book Awards

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Lisa Kudrow interview on Nerdist

Meg Medina

Noah Centineo

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Rob Sheffield at Rolling Stone

Taylor Swift

Pitchfork

The Ripped Bodice

Sarah McLean

Meg Cabot

Judy Blume

Samantha Bee

Wifey by Judy Blume

Tavi Gevinson

Julie Klausner

Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself by Judy Blume

Forever … by Judy Blume

Hasan Minhaj

Molly Ringwald

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Bright Lights by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens

Becky Albertalli

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson (Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin)

Deep Creek: Finding Hope in High Country by Pam Houston

Stevie Nicks

Five Seconds of Summer

Shrill

Salt Fat Acid Heat

Amy Spalding

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 13th episode of Truer Words, Melissa talks with author Jessie Janowitz about writing middle grade fiction that readers can curl up with, and empowering kids through entrepreneurship.

Jessie is the author of the middle grade novels THE DOUGHNUT FIX and THE DOUGHNUT KING.

Find Jessie on Twitter: @jessiejanowitz and Instagram: @janowitzjessie. Her website is jessiejanowitz.com.

Show Notes:

The Baby-Sitters’ Club

Glazed Over Donuts in Beacon, NY

Wassaic Project

Dave’s Cosmic Subs

Joyce Carol Oates

Toni Morrison

Russell Banks

Beverly Cleary

Harry Potter

Meg Cabot

Fulbright Scholarship

Norma Klein

You’re Wrong About . . . podcast Preppy Murder episode

SCBWI - Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Jandy Nelson

I’ll Give You the Sun

R.J. Julia bookstore in Connecticut

The Bookworm bookstore in Omaha

The Bookmark Shoppe bookstore in Brooklyn

The King’s English bookstore in Salt Lake City

There There by Tommy Orange

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Killing Eve

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

Yamile is the author of Scholastic’s Blizzard Besties, the upcoming picture book Where Are You From? and many more books to come!

Find Yamile on Twitter: @YamileSMendez. Her website is YamileSMendez.com.

Show Notes:

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet

Samantha Hahn

Coffee is for closers only watercolor by Samantha Hahn

Well-Read Women by Samantha Hahn

Make Art, Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career by Elizabeth Hyde Stevens

Marianne Murphy’s Society6 page (flamingoboots)

Vermont College of Fine Arts

Random Acts of Kittens by Yamile

On These Magic Shores by Yamile

Furia by Yamile

NaNoWriMo

Harry Potter

Martine Leavitt

Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers

Carol Lynch Williams

Cynthia Leitich-Smith

Mary Quattlebaum

Cynsations - Cynthia’s blog

Yamile’s agent Linda Camacho’s interview on Cyn’s blog (note: she has since switched agencies and has a newer interview here)

Lee & Low

New Visions Award for Authors of Color

Uma Krishnaswami

Jaime Kim - illustrator of Where Are You From?

Clarissa Wong editor of Where Are You From?

Nova Ren Suma

Elise Howard at Algonquin Books

Council of 100

Christina Bryza (Our Episode 9 guest!)

Write Out Camp

Ally Condie (Our Episode 7 guest!)

Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey

Las Musas

Robert Polk (Inteview via Bookish Babes)

Latinos in Action

Aida Salazar

Sara Faring

K.K. Perez

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

Game of Thrones

Avengers: Endgame

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 11th episode of Truer Words, Kathryn talks with author Julia Kelly about writing romance and historical fiction, how a writing career can complement a day job with transferable skills, and how to move to London (tip: have a British mom).

Julia is the author of several romance and historical fiction novels and co-host of the podcast, You’re Never Going to Read This.

Find Julia on Twitter: @the_julia_kelly and Instagram: @juliakellywrites. Her website is juliakellywrites.com.

Show Notes:

Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

The Light Over London by Julia

The Matchmaker of Edinburgh series by Julia

Alexis Anne

Alexandra Haughton

Audra North

One Week in Wyoming

One Week in Hawaii

You’re Never Going to Read This - Julia’s podcast with her sister

The Martian by Andy Weir

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

About Truer Words:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast.

In the 10th episode of Truer Words, Melissa talks with Christina Bryza about working in journalism and publishing, advocating for herself as an unagented author who also worked at her publisher, and her shift into intuitive work.

Christina is the author of the picture book parody, ARE YOU MY BOYFRIEND?

Find Christina on Twitter: @christinabeane and Instagram: @christinabeane. Her website is christinabryza.com.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

The Artist’s Way

Julia Cameron

A recent profile of Julia Cameron in NYTimes

The Daily Northwestern

How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan

Medill diplomas misspelled

The Wizard of Oz

Popular Science

Parenting Magazine

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Are You My Boyfriend?

Are You My Mother?

Urban Outfitters

Pretty is the kid-safe “sexy”

Spiritual Mechanic - Erin-Ashley Kerti

Glo.com meditation

Christina’s website (you can sign up for #ThankYouThursday here)

In the 9th episode of Truer Words, Melissa talks with Bianca Turetsky about working for an artist, doing historical research, hunting for vintage fashion, and how to get cheap theater tickets. Plus: how Bianca is DEFINITELY WRITING A THRILLER now.

Bianca is the author of the Time-Traveling Fashionista books and co-author of the upcoming Magic on the Map series with Courtney Sheinmel.

Find Bianca on Twitter: @biancaturetsky and Instagram: @biancaturetsky. Her website is biancaturetsky.com. Magic on the Map #1: Let's Mooove! will be available May 7th from Penguin Random House.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

Writopia Lab

Writopia Worldwide Plays Festival

Minds Matter

Bridge to Terabithia

The Baby-Sitters Club

Sweet Valley Twins

Sweet Valley High

Nancy Drew

Christopher Pike

R.L. Stine

The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel

Lucia Aniello in Architectural Digest

Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix

Robin Benway / Robin’s instagram

Steven Kellogg

Rolling Stone

Julian Schnabel

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Before Night Falls

Javier Bardem

Les trésors de les parfums françaises

Versailles

Sofia Coppola

Marie Antoinette

Titanic exhibit

Great Lakes Science Center

New York Historical Society

Hamilton exhibit at the New York Historical Society

Hamilton

Hamilton app

TDF - Theater Development Fund

Hello, Dolly!

TodayTix

HipTix

LincTix

Twilight

Sandra Suy - illustrator for The Time-Traveling Fashionista

Sandra Suy on Instagram

Children’s animation on the Titanic

Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra

Fashion Plates

Full Fathom Five

James Frey

Writopia

Radical Candor, by Kim Scott

Writopia Sleepaway Camp

Bug Juice

Courtney Sheinmel

Magic on the Map

Celeste Ng

Little Fires Everywhere

Everything I Never Told You

Tana French

The Met Gala

Ocean’s 8

FIT Museum

Isla Fisher

Marge in Charge

Hollywood’s Eve by Lili Anolik

Seduction by Karina Longworth

You Must Remember This - Karina Longworth’s podcast

Ecuador Service Trip with Writopia

In the 8th episode of Truer Words, we bask in the warmth of Ally Condie.

Ally is the New York Times best-selling author of the MATCHED trilogy, ATLANTIA, the Edgar-nominated SUMMERLOST, and the DARKDEEP series (with Brendan Reichs).

Find Ally on Twitter: @allycondie and Instagram: @ally.condie. Her website is AllyCondie.com. THE LAST VOYAGE OF POE BLYTHE comes out March 26th from Penguin Random House.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, authors, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

Ally Carter’s A Letter to Baby Author Me (circa 2004)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk about following up Eat, Pray, Love

Cynthia Leitich-Smith

Cynsations Survivor Series

Madonna

Kekla Magoon

Shadow Mountain

Brandon Mull

Jodi Reamer

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

John Green

Dan Santat

Carolyn Mackler

Julie Strauss-Gabel

On women writers using grants for childcare: Financial Windfalls: 15 Stories of the Money That Changed Everything

Edgar Awards

Brendan Reichs

YAllWest

VCFA Writing for Children and Young Adults

Martine Leavitt

Soman Chainani

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel H. Pink

The Good Place

The Olympics

P.D. James

Agatha Christie

Laurie King

An Na

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 7th episode of Truer Words, we focus on romance novels! We also include some housekeeping notes, including that we are moving to an every-other-week publishing schedule moving forward.

Then we talk to author Jasmine Guillory! Jasmine is the author of the wildly popular romance novels, The Wedding Date and The Proposal, along with the upcoming The Wedding Party and future novels yet to be written.

Find Jasmine on Twitter: @thebestjasmine and Instagram: @jasminepics. Her website is JasmineGuillory.com.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

The Worst Bestsellers Podcast / @worstbestseller

Kathryn’s episodes of The Worst Bestsellers:

Episode 117: Year One

Episode 28: Black Hills

The Sauce Podcast / @saucepodcast

Melissa’s All I Wanna Do essay

Jasmine on the Today Show!

Reese’s Book Club

Berkley Romance

Tessa Dare

Courtney Milan

Beverly Jenkins

Nora Roberts

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Rachel Fershleiser

Tessa Dare quote that Kathryn mentions

The Ripped Bodice store

The Ripped Bodice Diversity Report

Thinking About Jewish Children’s Literature in a Time of Rising Antisemitism - Katherine Locke

NaNoWriMo

Holly Root, Jasmine’s agent

Holly’s interview on 88 Cups of Tea

The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang

Intercepted, by Alexa Martin

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfield

Betsy-Tacy, by Maud Hart Lovelace

Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery

Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Girls of Canby Hall, by Emily Chase

Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz

Sherry Thomas

The Hollow of Fear (third book in Lady Sherlock series), by Sherry Thomas

@ThatEricAlper tweet about waking up in 1918

The Agency series, by Y.S. Lee

All You Can Never Know, by Nicole Chung

Unmarriageable, by Soniah Kamal

Pride, by Ibi Zoboi

Judy Blume

Back to the Future series

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 6th episode of Truer Words, we focus on the challenges of writing historical biographical fiction.

Then we talk to author J. Albert Mann! Jen is the author of the new YA biographical historical fiction WHAT EVERY GIRL SHOULD KNOW, about the early life of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. She is also the author of the Sunny Sweet middle grade series and another historical novel, Scar.

Find Jen on Twitter: @jenannmann and Instagram: @jenniferannmann. Her website is JAlbertMann.com.  

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

Scar by J. Albert Mann

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell

The Autobiography of Margaret Sanger

My Fight for Birth Control by Margaret Sanger

Woman of Valor by Ellen Chesler

Other books by Margaret Sanger

Planned Parenthood

Racism, Birth Control, and Reproductive Rights by Angela Davis

Surprise! The ERA is back!

Jennifer K. Mann

People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann

Highlights Magazine

Kerry Sparks, literary agent

Kirby Larson

Unpresidented by Martha Brockenbrough

Eugene V. Debs

Heartland by Sarah Smarsh

Just As I Thought by Grace Paley

Monica Hesse

Ruta Sepetys

Amanda West Lewis

Rachel Syme on Twitter

Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly

Eloquent Rage by Dr. Brittney Cooper

Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister

My Life As a Goddess by Guy Branum

We Need Diverse Books

Ellen Oh

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In this Very Special Episode, Melissa and Kathryn chat about their creative, career, and personal goals for 2019.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Better Than Before, by Gretchen Rubin

David Rakoff on Rent / transcript

More David Rakoff

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff

“No More Little White Gloves”: Sarah Kernochan’s ‘All I Wanna Do’ by Melissa

You Have to Fail A Little by Melissa

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse

Apocalypse Now

Goodreads

Book Riot Read Harder challenge

Dear Heartbreak, edited by Heather Demetrios

ALA Awards

The Season of Styx Malone, by Kekla Magoon

Coretta Scott King awards

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

In the fourth episode of Truer Words, we focus on balancing writing with other jobs that pay the bills.

Then we talk to one of our personal mentors, Nova Ren Suma! Nova is the New York Times best-selling author of multiple YA novels, including her latest, A ROOM AWAY FROM THE WOLVES, THE WALLS AROUND US, and IMAGINARY GIRLS. She is on the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program.

Find Nova on Twitter: @novaren and Instagram: @novaren. Her website is novaren.com. She is also the co-founder of the Foreshadow YA anthology, which is on Twitter @foreshadowYA and online at ForeshadowYA.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, movies, TV, specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work edited by Mason Currey

Distraction 99 - Nova’s blog

Vermont College of Fine Arts

A Room Away from the Wolves - Nova’s latest book

The Walls Around Us - Nova’s previous book

The Writers Room

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

Feathered by Laura Kasischke

Boy Heaven by Laura Kasischke

Winter Institute

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 3rd episode of Truer Words, we discuss getting started, giving yourself permission to just make mistakes, how where you live can affect your productivity, and the importance of being part of an artistic community.

Then Kathryn speaks to visual artist May Yang about how she balances her art and her screenprinting business.

Find May online at MayYang.net or Flashfloodprint.com and Instagram: @electrofervor and @flashfloodprints.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, movies, comedy specials, and other media or institutions mentioned include:

Danielle Steel’s desk (believe us, you want to see it)

Nora Roberts

Amy Tan, misandrist hero

Small Business Development Center of Tulsa

MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art)

Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition

Time Blocking

Jessica Hische

Podcast: Song Exploder

The Gathering Place Tulsa

Philbrook Museum of Art

And here’s the mural May painted!

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 2nd episode of Truer Words, we discuss some of the mental roadblocks to committing to writing as a goal.

Then Melissa speaks to comedy writer Erin Foley Chan about how she applies her social work and TV network experience to her writing projects!

Find Erin on Twitter @erinrosechan and Instagram: Erinrosechan. And find Erin’s dog, Thor, on Instagram: @Thebiteythor. She’s also on the How to Watch Movies the Right Way podcast.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Books, movies, comedy specials, and other media mentioned include:

Nanette by Hannah Gadsby

My Life as a Goddess by Guy Branum

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

Cash Cab

Samantha Bee’s This Is Not A Game The Game

Jantsen’s Gift by Pamela Cope / The COPE Foundation

Bubble Guppies

Brooklyn 99

Get Out

Inside You by Heather Fink

Game Night

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.

In the 1st episode of Truer Words, we introduce ourselves! Then we speak to debut YA novelist and stone cold genius Adrienne Kisner about her path to publication and her creative process/life philosophy (i.e. Beast Mode).

Find Adrienne on Twitter @adriennekisner and visit her website, adriennekisner.com. Her debut novel is Dear Rachel Maddow, and her upcoming June 2019 release is The Confusion of Laurel Graham.

Subscribe to Truer Words on Apple Podcasts.

Show Notes:

We reference our MFA program, Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award.

Books and other media mentioned include:

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Sawkill Girls and Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Murphy Brown

The Good Place

Veronica Mars

About Us:

Truer Words is created and produced by Melissa Baumgart and Kathryn Benson. Our music was composed by Mike Sayre, and our logo was designed by Marianne Murphy.

You can follow us on Twitter @truerwordspod and on Instagram @truerwordspodcast. Contact us via our website, truerwordspodcast.com, or email us at truerwordspodcast@gmail.com.