Blair Thornburgh's guest appearances

Blair Thornburgh

The Writing Process podcast – Christopher Wink

Research Hole

What Book Hooked You?

Grover Cleveland

Todd Glass

Carmen Maria Machado

Dulcé Sloan

Danez Smith

Zinzi Clemmons

John Elliott

Rebecca Fisher

Laurie Morrison

Lori Tharps

Mary Winn Heider

Marne Litfin

Jess Estepa

Cory McCarthy

Inez Milholland

OwlTail

YA author Blair Thornburgh shares the appeal of her special witchcraft skill / future apocalypse job. Blair explains the challenge of planning for a garment and graces us with her Strong Opinions about historical costuming in movies. We learn the technical meaning of the word “notions,” wax poetic about the magical appeal of fabric before use, and detour into classic children’s books that really show their age. It was really fun, and I could’ve talked with her about sewing for three more hours. Hope you enjoy!SHOW NOTES: There’s a great video on youtube called “A Dress Historian Explains the Difference between Corsets and Stays” by Abby Cox that explains exactly that, with lots of pictures. Skip to 5:28 to get down to business. The LuLaNo reddit really does provide some sewing schadenfreude, if you need that sort of thing. At one point, Blair refers to the Belle Epoque - check out MyModernMet’s article on the Belle Epoque to learn a bit more about that time period. The wikipedia link that we looked at in “something I learned this week” was called List of Highest Grossing Media FranchisesHit up blairthornburgh.com to learn more about Blair and her projects!

YA author Blair Thornburgh shares the appeal of her special witchcraft skill / future apocalypse job. Blair explains the challenge of planning for a garment and graces us with her Strong Opinions about historical costuming in movies. We learn the technical meaning of the word “notions,” wax poetic about the magical appeal of fabric before use, and detour into classic children’s books that really show their age. It was really fun, and I could’ve talked with her about sewing for three more hours. Hope you enjoy! SHOW NOTES: There’s a great video on youtube called “A Dress Historian Explains the Difference between Corsets and Stays” by Abby Cox that explains exactly that, with lots of pictures. Skip to 5:28 to get down to business. The LuLaNo reddit really does provide some sewing schadenfreude, if you need that sort of thing. At one point, Blair refers to the Belle Epoque - check out MyModernMet’s article on the Belle Epoque to learn a bit more about that time period. The wikipedia link that we looked at in “something I learned this week” was called List of Highest Grossing Media Franchises Hit up <a href="http://blairthornburgh.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blairthornburgh.com</a> to learn more about Blair and her projects!

Sewing, with Blair Thornburgh

Blair Thornburgh comes from “book people, going back generations.” The author of the 2017 Young Adult Fiction novel “Who’s That Girl” from HarperCollins, she says there is a saying around her family. Never give a Thornburgh a book — or you’ll be forced to sit there politely while they read it in front of you. She’s just 28 but as an editor at beloved novelty publisher Quirk Books and in the midst of a two-book deal with a major industry powerhouse, she has some insight. The author of two books, an editor on several others and working on her next novel, she reminds us that the joy of a book is that, as author, “you’re making a promise to the reader” and want to deliver.  Among the topics, here’s what we discussed:  Have different modes: Blair schedules long working sessions “locked” in her office to do most of the real writing, short sprints on a train commuting, and then thinks through plot while doing the dishes (or activities like it) while also collecting ideas throughout her life. The work is convincing yourself the work of not getting work done is still work. That is, you must live to collect. Blair references author Anne Lamott who talked here about feeding paper to the “Dr. Seuss character inside of us,” whom will naturally find clever ways to tell story. “You write behind your back,” meaning you must always capture what you have. Or as she also says: Don’t hold the butterfly too tightly. We also discuss writing exercises to develop character, which she says can work.  For extras, listen here Blair talk about the business of selling books and here for thoughts about what’s harder, writing funny or writing sad.

<a href="http://blairthornburgh.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blair Thornburgh</a> comes from “book people, going back generations.” The author of the 2017 Young Adult Fiction novel “<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062447777/whos-that-girl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who’s That Girl</a>” from HarperCollins, she says there is a saying around her family. Never give a Thornburgh a book — or you’ll be forced to sit there politely while they read it in front of you. She’s just 28 but as an editor at beloved novelty publisher Quirk Books and in the midst of a two-book deal with a major industry powerhouse, she has some insight. The author of two books, an editor on several others and working on her next novel, she reminds us that the joy of a book is that, as author, “you’re making a promise to the reader” and want to deliver. Among the topics, here’s what we discussed: <ul> <li>Have different modes: Blair schedules long working sessions “locked” in her office to do most of the real writing, short sprints on a train commuting, and then thinks through plot while doing the dishes (or activities like it) while also collecting ideas throughout her life.</li> <li>The work is convincing yourself the work of not getting work done is still work. That is, you must live to collect.</li> <li>Blair references author Anne Lamott who talked <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2006/02/17/february-17-2006-anne-lamott-extended-interview/3636/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> about feeding paper to the “Dr. Seuss character inside of us,” whom will naturally find clever ways to tell story.</li> <li>“You write behind your back,” meaning you must always capture what you have. Or as she also says: Don’t hold the butterfly too tightly.</li> <li>We also discuss writing exercises to develop character, which she says can work.</li> </ul> For extras, listen <a href="http://christopherwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Blair-Thornburgh-SELLING-CLIP.mp3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> Blair talk about the business of selling books and <a href="http://christopherwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Blair-Thornburgh-FUNNYorSAD-CLIP.mp3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> for thoughts about what’s harder, writing funny or writing sad.

01:05: YA Author Blair Thornburgh