Summary: Short story writer Gabriel Houck shares his debut collection, You or a Loved One. Gabe talks with Marrie about beginnings, endings and first sentences. He shares insights on how revealing ourselves through fiction, as opposed to essays, is often easier. He deconstructs a few of his stories from initial kernel of an idea, throughout the revision process, and all the artistic decisions he made along the way. He talks about weaknesses and overcoming them, literary influences, and so much more. In the second half, Caeli Wolfson Widger joins to talk about her novel, Mother of Invention. Caeli talks about the origins of her ideas, how to construct (and adhere to) a coherent set of rules for novels set in alternate realities, as well as her research process. Caeli shares how she grapples with difficult characters, how to sustain a reader's intrigue, and much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 11, 2018)
