The Long Road to Girl Gone Wild: From First Essay to Publication & Promotion with Antonia Crane

Welcome, writers and book lovers. The Bleeders is a podcast about book writing and publishing. Make sure you subscribe to the companion Substack: https://thebleeders.substack.com/welcomeToday’s guest is Antonia Crane, author, academic, and one of my all-time favorite memoirists. In this special episode, the tables are turned as Antonia interviews me about my debut memoir Girl Gone Wild, and we get into what it actually takes to write a book over 15 years and finally share it with the world.We talk about the long, nonlinear road from first essay to finished memoir, including incubators with Chloe Caldwell, revising through many drafts, and why sometimes you have to write an entire version of a book just to figure out what it isn’t. We also get into structure, how trusting your gut can be more important than following industry expectations, the difference between factual accuracy and emotional truth, the challenge of fact-checking your own life, and why writing about the past often means confronting the parts you’ve tried hardest to forget. We discuss “dark teachers,” perfectionism, and the complicated process of making meaning out of tough experiences like addiction, abusive relationships, and sexual trauma.Plus, we get into sex work, feminism, the male gaze, and the cultural forces shaping Girl Gone Wild—from growing up in small-town Minnesota to chasing Hollywood dreams and encountering its underbelly.Subscribe to Antonia's Substack Meow Town. Follow her on Instagram @antoniacrane, and buy your copy of her amazing memoir Spent on Bookshop.org, or wherever books are sold!Get your copy of Courtney's debut memoir Girl Gone Wild from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.The Bleeders is hosted by Courtney Kocak. Follow her on Instagram @courtneykocak and Bluesky @courtneykocak.bsky.social. For more, check out her website courtneykocak.com.Courtney is teaching some upcoming workshops you might be interested in:The Multi-Passionate Writer's Life: https://writingworkshops.com/products/the-multi-passionate-writers-life-zoom-seminar-with-courtney-kocakHow to Build a “Platform” for Writers Who Shudder at the Thought: https://writingworkshops.com/products/how-to-build-a-platform-for-writers-who-shudder-at-the-thought-zoom-seminarStart a Newsletter to Supercharge Your Platform, Network and Business: https://writingworkshops.com/products/start-a-newsletter-to-supercharge-your-platform-network-business-zoom-seminar12 Months to a Full Memoir in Essays Incubator: Write Your Memoir in a Year: https://writingworkshops.com/products/memoir-in-essays-incubator-nonfiction-writing-workshop-online-june-2026Land Big Bylines by Writing for Columns: https://writingworkshops.com/products/land-big-bylines-by-writing-for-columns-zoom-seminarSo You Want to Start a Podcast?: https://writingworkshops.com/products/start-podcast-workshop-courtney-kocak