Elizabeth Searle: Reverse Engineering for the Script Curious

Today, I’m talking to Elizabeth Searle, author most recently of the story collection: THE DRAMA ROOM: A Collection in Three Acts. We’re going to be talking about how her scriptwriting has helped her fiction and vice versa, for any of you who might be “script curious.”Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.I don’t charge for subscriptions, but if you’d like, you can support my work with with a small donation here.To find Searle’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.Elizabeth Searle is the author of six books of fiction. Her new short story collection—THE DRAMA ROOM: A Collection in Three Acts—was released in the fall of 2025. Her previous books include CELEBRITIES IN DISGRACE, produced as a short film, and A FOUR-SIDED BED, a finalist for an ALA award and in development as a feature film. Over 30 of Elizabeth’s short stories have been published in magazines such as Ploughshares, New England Review, Kenyon Review, AGNI and Solstice. Elizabeth is the playwright of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera, and co-writer of the feature film I’LL SHOW YOU MINE (2023; Duplass Brothers Productions). Her film was released in select theaters and is now widely available on home screens. Both her film and her rock opera have drawn national media attention.Photo by Anastasia Zhenina on Unsplash This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com