Finding Her Voice Again: The Class of '74 with Laura Van Wormer

What do you do when a drunk driver takes away the voice you built an entire career on, and ten years later, you find a way to use it again?Laura Van Wormer is a longtime novelist whose 1988 debut, Riverside Drive, was a bestseller, followed by 13 more novels with major publishing houses. In 2015, a head-on collision left her with a crushed collarbone, 16 broken ribs, and what she calls her "ventilator voice." Nearly unable to write another novel for years, she found her way back through an unexpected medium: a serialized fiction podcast called The Class of '74.In this episode, Laura shares how a suggestion from her partner to try podcasting after her 50th high school reunion sparked an entirely new chapter in her writing life, why writing what you know shaped both her career and her recovery, and how The Class of '74 has connected with strangers around the world who never lived through 1971. She also opens up about her early career at Doubleday and writing tie-in novels for Dynasty, Dallas, and Knots Landing.WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:Recovering her voice, physically and creatively, after a near-fatal accidentThe suggestion that sparked The Class of '74Writing serialized fiction as a podcast versus print novelsHer early publishing career at Doubleday and beyondWhy writing what you know resonates so deeply with readersHow podcast storytelling can soothe lonelinessCONNECT WITH LAURA VAN WORMER:Podcast: The Class of '74Facebook, YouTube & LinkedIn: linked on her profile