Let's Deconstruct a Story

Please read “The Bed and Breakfast” before listening to the episode. Molly Dektar is the author of two novels, The Absolutes and The Ash Family. Her short stories have been published in the Best American Short Stories 2024, the Yale Review, N+1, the Harvard Review, Ploughshares, and the Sewanee Review, among others. The recipient of a Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a residency at Hawthornden, Brooklyn, she is from North Carolina and lives in Queens, NY.Follow her on Instagram here.This interview is available here on Substack and on Apple, Spotify, and other platforms.**Would you Like Your Story Reviewed?I’m offering a review right here on the show. If you want my professional feedback on your short story, here’s how it works:* Join the paid subscriber community at letsdeconstructastory.substack.com* Leave a review for the podcast on Apple Podcasts (and send me a screenshot!)* Email your draft (up to 15 pages) to [email protected] me know if you’d like your feedback to be anonymous, if you want your name shared, or if you’d just prefer your comments emailed to you instead of being discussed on air.I’ll be selecting one story each month to talk about live on the podcast.I cannot wait to read your work.***In July and August, we will be on summer hiatus, working on the fall schedule.Please feel free to send story suggestions anytime!Cheers,Kelly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

I recorded a short episode chock-full of advice from the last few podcast episodes. Hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you would like me to record more of these. I am cleaning up some old recordings, and I’m always struck by how often the person I’m interviewing offers the most unexpected yet sound counsel.PS: It’s Andre Dubus III :) My apologies for botching that. ***This summer, we’re introducing a brand-new benefit to build community here on LDAS. We’re piloting a “Listener Submission” segment where I will deconstruct a story from an audience member live on the air.* The Format: I will pick a submission (up to 15 pages) and provide a “Report Card” with three specific areas that are working, plus ideas for revision. * This is a Tiered Benefit for paid subscribers: All you have to do is join as a yearly member, leave a review on Apple or Spotify, and send me a copy of your story (up to 15 pages) at [email protected].**Congratulations to Let’s Deconstruct a Story podcast guest, Erika Krouse, who won the Joyce Carol Oates Prize this month for her collection, Save Me, Stranger. Erika discussed one of the stories, “Jude,” here on the podcast last year.Congratulations also to ‘Pemi Aguda, whose new novel, One Leg on Earth, was published by Norton this month as well. It’s already racking up rave reviews! ‘Pemi discussed her story, “Manifest,” here on the podcast from her collection, Ghostroots, which was a finalist for the National Book Award.**Paid subscribers are welcome to join me for an interview with Madeleine Stein on June 11th at 6 pm EST about her prize-winning story, “Too Beautiful,” first published in The Hopkins Review. ***How “Let’s Deconstruct a Story” works:Read the story below carefully. This is important because the interview will contain spoilers.During our session, the author will discuss their personal practice and analyze craft elements: plot, character, setting, dialogue, pacing, and revision. The aim is to learn how the story was built, with the hope that this will help you with your process.Here’s a copy of Madeleine’s story:Madeleine Stein is a fiction writer living in the Hudson Valley. Her work has appeared in The London Magazine, The Hopkins Review, The Kenyon Review, Ambit, Raymond Carver Review, Saranac Review, Cairo Times, and Orbis. She taught at the American University in Cairo and New York University.**I’ll send the Zoom link to paid subscribers one week before we record. **Lastly, the podcast episode (audio only) with Molly Dektar will be released on Apple and Spotify for all listeners on June 1st. Be sure to read her story first here at The Harvard Review. If you would like to access the video recording of our interview, it’s already available to paid subscribers here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,In this episode, I sit down with Jim Shepard to deconstruct his short story “The Queen of Bad Influences.” If you haven’t read the story yet, I recommend reading it first—this is a full short story analysis and writing craft breakdown, and we go deep.This conversation is all about how a story works beneath the surface. We break down point of view (POV), story structure, character tension, and emotional conflict, and how these elements come together in strong historical fiction writing.At the center of the story is the relationship between Constance and Minna—two young women navigating intimacy, repression, and expectation in early 20th century England. Set against the backdrop of the RMS Lusitania sinking, this story shows how catastrophe in fiction creates pressure that reveals character.If you’re interested in:how to write stronger short storieshow POV shapes characterhow structure impacts emotional payoffor how historical fiction can explore complex relationshipsthis episode will give you a clear breakdown you can apply to your own writing. Bio:JIM SHEPARD is the author of seven previous novels, most recently The Book of Aron (winner of the 2016 PEN New England Award, the Sophie Brody medal for achievement in Jewish literature, the Ribalow Prize for Jewish literature, the Clark Fiction Prize, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award) and five story collections, including Like You’d Understand, Anyway, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize. His short fiction has appeared in, among other magazines, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, Esquire, Tin House, Granta, Zoetrope, Electric Literature, and Vice, and has often been selected for The Best American Short Stories and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories. He lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with his wife, three children, and three beagles, and he teaches at Williams College. Want Your Story Deconstructed on the Podcast?I’m offering a Craft Report Card right here on the show. If you want my professional feedback on your short story, here’s how it works:Join the paid subscriber community at letsdeconstructastory.substack.comLeave a review for the podcast on Apple Podcasts (and send me a screenshot!)Email your draft (up to 15 pages) to [email protected] me know if you’d like your feedback to be anonymous or if you want your name shared.I’ll be selecting one story each month to deconstruct live on the podcast.I cannot wait to read your work.  Upcoming Episode: June 1st: Molly Dektar:Please read “The Bed and Breakfast” before listening to the episode.Molly Dektar is the author of two novels, The Absolutes and The Ash Family. Her short stories have been published in the Best American Short Stories 2024, the Yale Review, N+1, the Harvard Review, Ploughshares, and the Sewanee Review, among others. The recipient of a Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a residency at Hawthornden, Brooklyn, she is from North Carolina and lives in Queens, NY. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone, I’m so happy to share ‘Pemi Aguda’s short story, “Manifest,” with you. Please read the story before you listen to the podcast, because there will be spoilers!Read “Manifest” here on Granta (or here: https://granta.com/manifest/).Let’s Deconstruct a Story is available here on Substack, as well as Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.Bio: ‘Pemi Aguda is from Lagos, Nigeria. She has an MFA from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her short stories have won O. Henry Prizes, a Nommo Award for Short Story, a Henfield Prize, and the Writivism Prize. Her work has been supported by an Octavia Butler Memorial Scholarship, and her novel-in-progress won the 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. She was a 2021 Fiction Fellow with the Miami Book Fair, a 2022 MacDowell fellow, and is the current Hortense Spillers Assistant Editor at Transition Magazine. Ghostroots, her debut story collection, was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Awards in Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award.W. W. Norton, Virago, and Masobe published Ghostroots in 2024 and will publish her novel, One Leg on Earth, in 2026.I hope you enjoy this episode!Cheers,KellyUpcoming Podcast Release Schedule: May 1st: Jim ShepardPlease read “The Queen of Bad Influences” before you listen to the episode.JIM SHEPARD is the author of seven previous novels, most recently The Book of Aron (winner of the 2016 PEN New England Award, the Sophie Brody medal for achievement in Jewish literature, the Ribalow Prize for Jewish literature, the Clark Fiction Prize, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award) and five story collections, including Like You’d Understand, Anyway, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize. His short fiction has appeared in, among other magazines, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, Esquire, Tin House, Granta, Zoetrope, Electric Literature, and Vice, and has often been selected for The Best American Short Stories and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories. He lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with his wife, three children, and three beagles, and he teaches at Williams College.June 1st: Molly Dektar: Please read “The Bed and Breakfast” before listening to the episode.Molly Dektar is the author of two novels, The Absolutes and The Ash Family. Her short stories have been published in the Best American Short Stories 2024, the Yale Review, N+1, the Harvard Review, Ploughshares, and the Sewanee Review, among others. The recipient of a Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a residency at Hawthornden, Brooklyn, she is from North Carolina and lives in Queens, NY.Follow her on Instagram here.In July and August, we will be on summer hiatus, working on the fall schedule. Please feel free to send suggestions!Cheers, KellyPaid Subscribers:One last chance this season to join us for a live discussion. On April 14th at 11 am EST, I will be talking to Molly Dektar about her 2024 Best American Short Story, “The Bed and Breakfast.” First read: “The Bed & Breakfast.” Then bring your questions! The Zoom link for paid subscribers is posted here. We Need You!Live Discussions with the author are one good reason to become a paid subscriber! Another good reason to become a paid subscriber? Access to the video recordings.Yet, another? Annotated texts. A fourth, and final reason: I would love to produce more podcasts. Currently, I can only afford to produce one per month. I hope that will change someday soon. There are so many wonderful stories out there.Cheers,Kelly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Let’s Deconstruct a Story!How this works:Read the story carefully. This is important because the interview will contain spoilers.During this session, we will talk with the author about their personal process and analyze craft elements: plot, character, setting, dialogue, pacing, and revision.The aim is to learn how the story was built, with the hope that this will help you with your process.Hope you enjoy it.Cheers,KellyToni Ann Johnson will be talking about her story, “Daughtered Out,” from The Coachella Review.https://thecoachellareview.com/2021/06/02/daughtered-out-by-toni-ann-johnson/TONI ANN JOHNSON is the winner of the 2021 Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction with her linked collection Light Skin Gone to Waste, released in October 2022. Roxane Gay selected the book for the prize and is its editor. Johnson’s novella Homegoing was a semi-finalist for the William Faulkner Wisdom Award in fiction. It won Accents Publishing’s inaugural novella contest in 2020 and was released in May of 2021. The novel Remedy For a Broken Angel was released in 2014 and earned Johnson a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author.In 1998, Johnson won the Christopher Award and the Humanitas Prize for her screenplay “Ruby Bridges,” the Disney/ABC movie and true story of the young girl who integrated into the New Orleans Public School system. In 2004, Johnson won a second Humanitas Prize for her screenplay “Crown Heights” (Showtime), also a true story.Purchase Toni Ann Johnson’s book here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone, During this episode, Shastri Akella discusses his Best American Short Story, “The Magic Bangle.” The podcast episode is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.Please read the story before listening to the podcast episode. It’s available here at The Fairy Tale Review.I hope you enjoy this discussion with Shastri as much as I did!Cheers,KellyPS: As always, I would love to hear about your favorite stories! Please send ideas anytime. Bio: Shastri Akella’s debut novel, “The Sea Elephants,” has been published by Flatiron Books (USA, Canada) and Penguin (India). He was a writing resident at the Fine Arts Works Center (2021) and the Oak Springs Garden Foundation (2023). He’s the winner of the 2022 FracturedLit Flash Fiction Contest and the 2023 Best Microfiction Contest. His writing has appeared in Guernica, Fairy Tale Review, CRAFT, The Masters Review, Electric Literature, World Literature Review, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing and a PhD. in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He’s an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Michigan State University. Contact him for readings and book signings at your bookstore, college, or library at shastriakella.com.Shastri Akella’s book is available here.Upcoming Podcast Schedule Free and available on Spotify, Apple, and Substack, as well as other podcast platforms.March 1st: Toni Ann JohnsonApril 1st: ‘Pemi AgudaMay 1st: Jim ShepardJune 1st: Molly DektarUpcoming interview schedule:Paid subscribers and former guests are welcome to join me for live interviews with these writers below. Please read the story beforehand and come ready to discuss it with the author :)On February 17th at 1 pm EST, I will talk to ‘Pemi Aguda about “Manifest.”On March 4th at 1 pm: Jim Shepard: “The Queen of Bad Influences.”On April 8th at 11 am: Molly Dektar: “The Bed & Breakfast.”If you are a member of the Conscious Writers Collective with Maya C. Popa, you are also welcome to join us for the interviews. I highly recommend CWC. The instructors are amazing, and everyone is extremely supportive. I hope you will check it out!In other news, I am heading to France from March 11th to May 29th to serve as the Resident Fellow at VCCA’s Moulin à Nef campus. If you’re nearby (or heading there for a residency), I’d love to see you!Cheers, Kelly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Happy New Year!Maura Stanton and I had so much fun discussing “School for Robots.” Please be sure to read the story first before watching this video, and check out more of Maura’s fantastic stories below.Enjoy!KellyBio: Maura Stanton’s Cities in the Sun was the recipient of the Michigan Literary Fiction Award. She is the author of two previous books of stories, Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling, which won the Sullivan Prize, and The Country I Come From. Stanton’s books of poetry include Glacier Wine, Snow on Snow, Cries of Swimmers, Tales of the Supernatural, and Life Among the Trolls. She teaches in the M.F.A. creative writing program at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her supernatural robot stories have appeared in Allium, Pacifica Literary Review, Baltimore Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, The Phoenix, and North American Review. Her chapbook, Interiors, won the Open Chapbook contest and was published by Finishing Line Press. With “School for Robots,” she is a two-time winner of The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award. She also won the Fall 2015 Supernatural Fiction Award for her story, “House Ghosts.”Other stories by Maura Stanton:North American Review: Tin ManThe Baltimore Review: BallerinaPacifica Review: Star CrossedThe Bennington Review: MARSPAINTSDAILYA little about your host, Kelly Fordon: KELLY FORDON’s latest poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, was published by SFAPress in 2025. Her short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, was published by WSUP in 2015. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online. What Trammels the Heart is on sale right now for 40% off at tamupress.com with the code HEART40 :) and Amazon here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I hope you enjoy this episode, which features Susan Shepherd discussing her Best American Short Story, “Baboons, “ first published in The Kenyon Review. Paid subscribers and Conscious Writers Collective members are welcome to join us for interviews, and I want to thank Paul Delong, in particular, for his question, which is included in this recording. Also, thanks to audio engineer Elliot Bancel for his help with this episode.**Susan recommended a memoir during the interview: The Sheep Stell: Memoirs of a Shepherd by Janet White.Upcoming Schedule:On January 1st, Maura Stanton will discuss her story “School for Robots” on the podcast.On January 14th at 12 pm, I will be talking to Toni Ann Johnson about “Daughtered Out” in The Coachella Review. Paid subscribers and CWC members are welcome to join us—more information to come.On February 1st, Shastri Akella’s podcast episode drops. Remember to read “The Magic Bangle” first.On February 17th, ‘Pemi Aguda will join me to discuss her story, “Manifest,” first published in Granta. Thanks to Peter Ho Davies for connecting us! Paid subscribers and CWC members are welcome to join. On March 1st, Toni Ann Johnson’s podcast episode will drop for everyone.On April 1st, ‘Pemi Aguda’s podcast episode will drop. We will be discussing her story, “Manifest,” first published in Granta.Bio:Susan Shepherd’s writing has been published in the Boston Globe, Ploughshares, Story Magazine, the Chicago Quarterly, the Kenyon Review, One Story Magazine, Swamp Pink, Best American Short Stories 2024, and is forthcoming in the Harvard Review.Her story “Goats’”(Ploughshares), was a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2021, edited by Jesmyn Ward, and “Snakes’”(Chicago Quarterly) was a distinguished story in Best American Short Stories 2023, edited by Min Jin Lee.“Baboons” was chosen by Lauren Groff to be published in the 2024 edition of Best American Short Stories. Available now from Bookshop.org or Amazon.Susan Shepherd’s work as a producer and reporter has aired on multiple National Public Radio shows, including Living on Earth, and Marketplace.Her show, 11 Central Ave, a radio comic strip, aired on select NPR stations on Morning Edition around the country. 11 Central Ave won a Gold Medal for ‘Best Comedy’ from the New York Festivals, and a National Gracie Allen Award for ‘Best Producer, Comedy’.In other news:Have you heard about Telephone?! The brainchild of Nathan Langston, TELEPHONE is a game played by artists. It works like the children’s game of the same name. A message is whispered from person to person, changing and evolving as it is passed from player to player—a secret message is passed from art form to art form. Here are links to two artists from Australia and the Netherlands responding to my poem. This game has given me a little hope in these dire times. I hope you enjoy it.Cheers,KellyAbout your host:KELLY FORDON’s latest poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, was published by SFAPress in 2025. Her short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, was published by WSUP in 2015. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online, where she also runs a fiction podcast called “Let’s Deconstruct a Story.” http://www.letsdeconstructastory.substack.com.What Trammels the Heart is on sale right now for 40% off at tamupress.com with the code HEART40 :) and $10 on Amazon here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Katherine Damm talks about her story, "The Happiest Day of Your Life." First, be sure to read the story from The Iowa Review. There will be spoilers! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Deb Olin Unferth discusses her short story, "Wait Till You See Me Dance" with Kelly Fordon This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

I spoke with Ananda Lima about her story, Antropófaga! Make sure you read it before you listen. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and happy listening!KellyAnanda Lima is the author of Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil (Tor Books, 2024) and Mother/land (Black Lawrence Press, 2021), winner of the Hudson Prize. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Kenyon Review, Electric Literature, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming in Ghosts of Where We Are From, an anthology of dark fiction by Latin American authors, edited by Cynthia Pelayo (Primer Sueño/Atria Books). She is a Contributing Editor at Poets & Writers and Program Curator at StoryStudio, Chicago. Lima was a mentor at the NYFA Immigrant Artist Program and the inaugural Latinx-in-Publishing WIP Fellow, sponsored by Macmillan Publishers. She has an MA in Linguistics (UCLA) and an MFA in Creative Writing (Rutgers-Newark). Craft, her fiction debut, was longlisted for the ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal. The New York Times describes it as “a remarkable debut that announces the arrival of a towering talent in speculative fiction.” Originally from Brazil, she lives in Chicago and New York. Purchase the book here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

* Here is Eli in a half-trench coat Sheila Heti gave him :)Hi Everyone,Well, the world might be a s%$# show, but at least we still have our stories. Today, I’m featuring the work of the brilliant Eli Sparkman, one of the member-owners of Book Suey in Hamtramck, Michigan. We had so much fun discussing his stories. I hope you enjoy this deep dive as much as I did. This is FLASH, so Eli was able to read three in their entirety before we discuss them; however, I still recommend reading and annotating them beforehand on your own. Thanks to Elliot Bancel for editing this discussion!***Read Eli’s stories here: Crown Molding – X-R-A-YChew – Action, Spectacle400,000 Lawns – HADDaffodil – Bending GenresNo Dinosaur – ANMLY***Bio:Elijah Sparkman is a writer based in Detroit. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in ANMLY, Sleepingfish, Sundog Lit, and X-R-A-Y. He is the Program and Volunteer Coordinator for 826michigan, a youth creative writing organization. He is a member-owner of the co-op bookstore Book Suey in Hamtramck, MI. ***On August 1st, I’ll be speaking with Ananda Lima on the podcast about her story, “Antropófaga,” featured in The Kenyon Review Online. Ananda Lima is the author of Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil (Tor Books, 2024) and Mother/land (Black Lawrence Press, 2021), winner of the Hudson Prize. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Kenyon Review, Electric Literature, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming in Ghosts of Where We Are From, an anthology of dark fiction by Latin American authors, edited by Cynthia Pelayo (Primer Sueño/Atria Books). She is a Contributing Editor at Poets & Writers and Program Curator at StoryStudio, Chicago. Lima was a mentor at the NYFA Immigrant Artist Program and the inaugural Latinx-in-Publishing WIP Fellow, sponsored by Macmillan Publishers. She has an MA in Linguistics (UCLA) and an MFA in Creative Writing (Rutgers-Newark). Craft, her fiction debut, was longlisted for the ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal. The New York Times describes it as “a remarkable debut that announces the arrival of a towering talent in speculative fiction.” Originally from Brazil, she lives in Chicago and New York. (photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan)***Paid subscribers can join me for a subscriber-only discussion of the story on July 16th at 4 pm by registering here.***In Other News: I’ve revamped my poetry blog, My Personal Favorite, because I want to celebrate the work of fellow poets. A poetry community is harder to find in rural Ohio, where I spend a lot of time these days, so creating a virtual community has become a priority for me. I also have a new poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, available from SFAPress, which can be found here. If you use the 40% discount code: HEART40, it’s a bargain!The cover artist for What Trammels the Heart was Michigan artist Kimberly Santini. If you don’t know her work, you should check it out: See you soon and Happy Summer! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone!In this episode of the podcast, Caitlin Horrocks and I interview Erika Krouse about “Jude” from her new collection, Save Me, Stranger. AND THEN…Erika and I interview Caitlin about her story “Better Not Tell You Now.” We had so much fun! And I learned so much about the craft of writing. You will too.Links to both stories are below. Please read before you listen, because we will spoil the endings :) “Jude” is available here at The Colorado Review, Summer 2024.“Better Not Tell You Now” is here at swamp pink.See below for more information on these esteemed guests, along with links to purchase their books. I’ll see you again on July 1st with Eli Sparkman. We’ll be discussing five of his flash fiction pieces (available on my Substack right now.)I hope you enjoy the episode. As always, please send your reading recommendations!Cheers,Kelly PS: Shout out to our new paid subscribers who heard my plea for help supporting this podcast:) Thank you so much, Maureen, David, Lisa, Chris, Erika, and Barbara. I appreciate it! Caitlin Horrocks is the author of the story collections Life Among the Terranauts and This Is Not Your City, both New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections. Her novel The Vexations was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Her stories and essays appear in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Paris Review, Tin House, and One Story, as well as other journals and anthologies. Her awards include the Plimpton Prize and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the MacDowell Colony. She formerly served as fiction editor of the Kenyon Review. She teaches at Grand Valley State University and occasionally in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the writer W. Todd Kaneko and their three noisy kids.Purchase Caitlin’s amazing books here. Erika Krouse is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her newest short story collection, Save Me, Stranger (Flatiron Books) was hailed as “a dozen little masterpieces,” by Adam Johnson, “remarkable” by Ann Beattie, and Louise Erdrich said, “Read these stories with a buddy, because someone will have to scrape you off the floor.” “Eat My Moose” from the collection is the winner of the 2025 Edgar Award for Best Short Story, and will be included in 2025 Best Mystery Stories of the Year and The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025.Erika is also the author of Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation (March 2022, Flatiron Books): winner of the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime, the Colorado Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, and the Housatonic Book Award for Nonfiction. Tell Me Everything is also a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Book of the Month Club pick, a People Magazine People Pick, named “Best Nonfiction of 2022” by BookPage and Kirkus Reviews, and “Best 10 Books of 2022” by both Slate and Jezebel. The memoir has been featured/reviewed in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, Airmail, The Week, Harper’s Bazaar, LitHub, Real Simple, ELLE, CrimeReads, BookPage, and others.Purchase Save Me, Stranger (so good!!!) here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Before listening to my interview with Christie Hodgen, please read her story, “Rich Strike,” because the interview is full of spoilers! The story is available for free here on the Story website, thanks to Michael Nye. Please consider subscribing to Story and supporting great literature here.Congratulations to Christie for winning a Pushcart Prize for this story as well.If you would like to read my annotation of the story and some background on the books discussed during our interview, please consider becoming a paid subscriber and accessing my annotation in the archives here. The interview is available for free here on Substack and Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. I can’t wait to unpack this story with you!Cheers,KellyP.S.: I gave Christie Hodgen’s novel, Elegies for the Brokenhearted, to at least eight people one Christmas (I feel like it was more than that, but eight—at least—that I can track). It’s one of my all-time favorites. You can purchase a copy here.Bio: Christie Hodgen’s most recent novel, Boy Meets Girl, won the 2020 AWP Prize for the Novel. Her other books include Elegies for the Brokenhearted, hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “the literary equivalent of a hand grenade,” as well as Hello, I Must Be Going and A Jeweler’s Eye for Flaw.Hodgen has published short stories and essays in dozens of literary journals and anthologies. Her work has received several awards, including two Pushcart Prizes, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in Kansas City and is the editor of New Letters magazine.***I hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, please consider joining me as a yearly subscriber and/or helping to sponsor LDAS with a small donation. I would love to produce more content, but I need funds to do that. LDAS is entirely listener-supported, which allows us the freedom to create content of our choosing, and I hope to keep it that way.**Thanks also to our audio engineer, Elliot Bancel!*****On June 15th, I will be speaking with Eli Sparkman about his flash fiction (see the archive here for his stories.)On July 1st, I’ll be speaking with Erika Krouse about her story, “Jude,” first published in The Colorado Review and later in her phenomenal short story collection, Save Me, Stranger. Caitlin Horrocks will join me for the interview, and after we discuss Jude, we will talk about Caitlin’s story, “Better Not Tell You Now,” from swamp pink. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

My guest today is Desiree Cooper, the 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow. Cooper is a former attorney. She is also a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and much-beloved community activist. Originally from Virginia, she currently lives in Virginia. BUT she lived in Detroit for decades and will always be an honorary Detroiter!She is much beloved here, and I am honored to call her my friend. Today’s podcast includes four stories from her award-winning flash fiction collection, Know the Mother. Cooper’s fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in The New York Times, 2023 Flash Fiction America, The Best Small Fictions 2018, Callaloo, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, River Teeth, and Best African American Fiction 2010, among other publications. This podcast was recorded at Book Suey, a fabulous cooperatively owned bookstore in Hamtramck, Michigan. My fellow moderator was member-owner Eli Sparkman. Eli is the Detroit Program and Volunteer Coordinator for 826michigan, a youth writing organization. He is a Teaching Artist for The Moth and a Memoir Reader for Split Lip Magazine. He graduated from Northern Michigan University’s MFA program, where he was a Flash Fiction Editor for Passages North.And many many thanks to Vincent James Perrone, who edited this audio podcast—the first one I’ve hosted with a live audience. Vincent is also a writer from Detroit. He’s the author of the poetry collection, Starving Romantic. He is currently based in Charlottesville, VA, where he is pursuing an MFA at the University of Virginia.I hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please consider joining me as a yearly member of the Substack and/or helping to sponsor LDAS with a small donation. I would love to produce more content, but I need funds to do that. LDAS is entirely listener-supported, which allows us the freedom to create content of our choosing, and I hope to keep it that way. I appreciate your support. And now for the show! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I had so much fun discussing “Monitor World” with Cleo Qian. In case you missed my earlier posts, “Monitor World” was first published in Shenandoah in 2021, and is available ⁠here.⁠Please read the story before listening to our discussion!Here’s a link to Lucia Berlin, another writer discussed during our interview.Next up on Let’s Deconstruct a Story, paid subscribers will be talking about Ethan Canin’s story, “The Palace Thief,” on Thursday, February 27th at 3 pm.Cleo Qian is a queer fiction writer and poet. She is the author of the award-winning story collection LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO (Tin House, 2023) and a 2024 National Poetry Series finalist. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in nearly thirty outlets including, recently, ZYZZYVA, The Sun, and The Massachusetts Review. She has been awarded residencies at Casa Snowapple and the Sundress Academy for the Arts. She is a 2024 MacDowell Fellow and will be the 2025 Notre Dame Storozynski Writing Fellow. She has taught creative writing at the low-residency University of Southern Maine Stonecoast MFA program and the Tin House Summer Workshop.Please find Cleo Qian’s fantatic short story collection, Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go here on Bookshop.Cheers,KellyPS: All of the podcasts are free, but if you would like to support the podcast, please consider subscribing to this Substack. You’ll receive bonus material—discussions! prompts! fun Zoom discussion! Yay!This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,“The Depletion Prompts” was first published in The New Yorker on October 25, 2021, and is available ⁠here.⁠Here’s a link to two other stories discussed during our interview:Vladimir Nabokov's “Signs and Symbols.”Virginia Woolf’s “The Mark on the Wall.”Next month, I’ll be talking to Cleo Qian about her story, “Monitor World” first published in Shenandoah. Check out our discussion here on Substack!Cheers!KellyPS: All of the podcasts are free, but if you would like to support the podcast, please consider subscribing to this Substack. You’ll receive bonus material—discussions! prompts! fun Zoom discussion! Yay! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Kelly Fordon talks to Brad Felver about his story "Orphans" which was first published in Subtropics and later chosen for The Best Short Stories 2024: The O. Henry Prize Winners by Amor Towles.For more information, and to access a PDF of the story, please visit Let's Deconstruct a Story on Substack.Brad Felver is a fiction writer, essayist, and teacher of writing. His honors include two O. Henry Prizes, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Zone 3 Fiction Prize, and a Fellowship to the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference among others.His debut collection of stories, The Dogs of Detroit, was a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award and was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by Library Journal and the Washington Independent Review of Books. His fiction and essays have appeared widely in magazines such as One Story, New England Review, Colorado Review, Story, Subtropics, and many others.He lives in Ohio with his wife and two sons.Podcast host Kelly Fordon’s latest book is a short story collection called I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), which was chosen as a Midwest Book Award finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP, 2015) is a 2016 Michigan Notable Book, a 2016 Foreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist in the short story category. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was chosen as an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist for poetry. Her second poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, will be published in 2025. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone, This post is a video recording of my preparation for the interview with Brad next Wednesday. If you enjoy deconstructing stories, please feel free to join me for one of these prep sessions. I’ll be recording again on November 8th as I deconstruct David Means' story, “The Depletion Prompts.” Paid subscribers will have access to the Zoom link for David Means.Paid subscriptions also include the annotations and transcript from this recording today. My interview with Brad Felver about “Orphans” will be posted on November 1st. Cheers!KellyPS: Please consider subscribing to Subtropics.Find out more about the author, Brad Felver.Thanks, Kelly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,We're a little late with this episode and it's all my fault! As I mentioned in my May 1st blog post (sign up here for updates), for the first time in four years, I conducted an amazing interview with Sheila Kohler and forgot to hit record on Zoom. Sheila--the most gracious person on Earth--forgave me for wasting 45 minutes of her time and agreed to re-record the episode. Thank you to Sheila for sitting down with me twice! After I recovered from the shame, I realized this might be a great boon for readers. I loved Cracks—the short story, the novel, and the movie! You will find links to all three below. It was fascinating to talk about Sheila's adaptation from short story to novel and to hear about the making of the movie and the decision to set the movie in England rather than South Africa. I hope you have had time to read the short story and the novel. What did you think of the movie? Let me know if you have any follow-up questions or comments. I would love to hear.Here are the links: Content Warning: Sexual AssaultCracks, the short story, by Sheila KohlerCracks, The Novel by Sheila Kohler, available at Bookshop and Amazon.Cracks, The MovieIn other news...I am taking a sabbatical from the podcast this summer to rest, regroup, and figure out what direction to take this show in in the future. I love doing it, but every now and then, I think it's a good idea to reevaluate and hone in on what has been valuable and what parts need to go.My first guest in the fall is Tim Tomlinson. Although I will be talking to him about one of his short stories, he has a new book coming out this month. It looks terrific! Check out kellyfordon.com for a picture of the cover and publication information from Nirala.Cheers!KellySheila Kohler Bio:Sheila Kohler was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the younger of two girls. Upon matriculation at 17 from Saint Andrews, with a distinction in history (1958), she left the country for Europe. She lived for 15 years in Paris, where she married, did her undergraduate degree in literature at the Sorbonne, and a graduate degree in psychology at the Institut Catholique. After raising her three girls, she moved to the USA in 1981, and did an MFA in writing at Columbia.In the summer of 1987, her first published story, “The Mountain,” came out in “The Quarterly” and received an O.Henry prize and was published in the O.Henry Prize Stories of 1988. It also became the first chapter in her first novel, “The Perfect Place,” which was published by Knopf the next year.Knopf also published the first volume of her short stories, “Miracles in America,” in 1990.Kohler has won two O.Henry prizes for “The Mountain” 1988 and “The Transitional Object” 2008. She has been short-listed in the O.Henry Prize Stories for three years running: in 1999 for the story, “Africans”; in 2000 for “Casualty,” which had appeared in the Ontario Review; and 2001 for “Death in Rome,” a story which had appeared in The Antioch Review. “Casualty” was also included in the list of distinguished stories in The Best American Short Stories of 2001.In 1994 she published a second novel, “The House on R Street,” also with Knopf, about which Patrick McGrath said, in “The New York Times Book Review: ” “Sheila Kohler has achieved in this short novel a remarkable atmosphere, a fine delicate fusion of period, society and climate.”In 1998 she published a short story, “Africans,” in Story Magazine, which was chosen for the Best American Short Stories of 1999, was read and recorded at Symphony Space and at The American Repertory Theatre in Boston and was translated into Japanese. It was also included in her second collection of stories,” One Girl,” published by Helicon Nine, which won the Willa Cather Prize in 1998 judged by William Gass.In 1999 she published her third novel, “Cracks,” with Zoland, which received a starred review from Kirkus, was nominated for an Impac award in 2001, and was chosen one of the best books of the year by Newsday and by Library Journal.” Cracks” also came out with Bloomsbury in England, was translated into French and Dutch, and will come out in Hebrew. It has been optioned six times by Killer films and Working Track 2. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, 2009, and at the London film festival and came out here in the summer of 2010 and is now on Netflix. It is directed by Jordan Scott, with Eva Green in the role of Miss G.In 2000 Kohler received the Smart Family Foundation Prize for “Underworld,” a story published in the October “Yale Review.”In 2001 she published her fourth novel,” The Children of Pithiviers,” with Zoland, a novel about the concentration camps during the Vicky Period in France in Pithiviers and Beaune la Rolande.In 2003 she was awarded a fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Institute to work on a historical novel based on the life on the Marquise de la Tour du Pin, a French aristocrat who escaped the Terror by bringing her family to Albany, New York. Also that year she published her third volume of short stories, “Stories from Another World” with the Ontario Review Press.She won the Antioch Review Prize in 2004 for work in that magazine. Both “ The Perfect Place” and “Miracles in America” came out in England with Jonathan Cape and in paperback with Vintage International. “The Perfect Place” was translated into French, German, Japanese, and Portuguese.Her fifth novel, “Crossways,” came out in October, 2004, also, with the Ontario Review Press edited by Raymond Smith and Joyce Carol Oates. It received a starred Kirkus Review and is out in paperback with the Other Press as well as “The Perfect Place.”Kohler has published essays in The Boston Globe, Salmagundi (summer 2004, 2009), The Bellevue Literary magazine, and O Magazine,”The Heart Speaks” ( May 2004), “What Happy Ever After Really Looks Like” (2008) and reviews in The New Leader and Bomb as well as essays in The American Scholar in 2014 and 2015.Kohler began teaching at The Writer’s Voice in 1990, going on from there to teach at SUNY Purchase, Sarah Lawrence, Colgate, CCNY , Bennington and Columbia. She has taught creative writing at Princeton since 2008 and now teaches freshman seminars there .Sheila’s sixth novel, “Bluebird or the Invention of Happiness” was published in 2007, and the paperback was published with Berkely in 2008. “The Transitional Object” in Boulevard won an O.Henry prize and is included in the 2008 volume.Her tenth book, “Becoming Jane Eyre” came out with Viking Penguin in December, 2009, and was a New York Times editor’s pick. Casey Cep wrote in the Boston Globe about this novel: “With an appreciation for their craft and sympathy for their difficult profession, Kohler’s “Becoming Jane Eyre’’ is a tender telling of the Brontë family’s saga and the stories they told.”Her eleventh book “Love Child” was published by Penguin in America and by La Table Ronde in France. In June of 2012, her twelfth book “The Bay of Foxes,” was published by Penguin. “Dreaming for Freud” was published by Penguin in 2014. It will be translated into TurkishIn 2013 the story, “Magic Man” was published in Best American Short Stories.Sheila Kohler published her memoir “Once we were sisters” in 2017 with Penguin in America and with Canongate in England and Alba in Spain. Sheila’s latest novel is “Open Secrets” published by Penguin in July 2020.Kohler currently lives in New York and Amagansett.*** This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I'm thrilled to host Cara Blue Adams today on the podcast. We talked about her stellar short story, "Vision," available from Joyland Magazine. I met Cara years ago at the Kenyon Writers Workshop (which I highly recommend by the way...) so it was great fun to reconnect on the podcast. Cara's work was recommended by Vincent Perrone, who is a part owner of the co-op bookstore, Book Suey, in Hamtramck, MI, so he joined us for the podcast as well. See his bio below, and please consider buying from Bookshop or even directly from Book Suey to support local bookstores! Enjoy the show and see you on April 1st! KellyCara Blue Adams is the author of the interlinked story collection You Never Get It Back (University of Iowa Press, 2021), named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and awarded the John Simmons Short Fiction Prize, judged by Brandon Taylor, who calls it “a modern classic.” The collection was shortlisted for the Mary McCarthy Prize and longlisted for the Story Prize. Over twenty-five of her stories appear in magazines like the Granta, The Kenyon Review, Epoch, American Short Fiction, and Electric Literature, and her nonfiction appears in Bookforum and The Believer.She has received the Kenyon Review Short Fiction Prize, the Missouri Review William Peden Prize, and the Meringoff Prize in Fiction, along with a 2018 Center for Fiction Emerging Writer fellowship and selection as a Pushcart Prize Notable. She has also received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the VCCA, the Lighthouse Works, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts.Cara earned a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Smith College and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Originally from Vermont, she has lived in Boston, Tucson, Montreal, Maine, South Carolina, and Baton Rouge. She is a former coeditor of The Southern Review. Currently, she is an associate professor in the MFA program at Temple University and lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley.Purchase Cara's book at Book Suey (link above) or Book Shop or Amazon.My co-host:Vincent James Perrone is the author of the poetry collection, Starving Romantic (11:11 Press, 2018), the microchap, Travelogue For The Dispossessed (Ghost City Press, 2021), and a contributor to the anthology, Collected Voices in the Expanded Field (11:11 Press, 2020). His recent and forthcoming work can be found in Pithead Chapel, New Flash Fiction Review, TIMBER, Storm Cellar, and A Common Well Journal. Vincent lives in Detroit where he teaches at Wayne State University. He reads for Conduit and is a member-owner of the co-op bookstore, Book Suey.#shortstories#creativewriting#joylandmag#kenyonreview#booksuey This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,We had so much fun discussing Leigh Newman's short story, "An Extravaganza in Two Acts," available here from Electric Literature. You are going to learn so much about writing historical fiction. Leigh is a hoot! The conversation moved at a clip, so I have some discussion notes for you below.Also, check out the bonus question one of my earlier guests, award-winning author and Pulitzer-prize nominated journalist Desiree Cooper, sent to Leigh after we recorded the podcast.We have a new Let's Deconstruct a Story Facebook page and Instagram page. I'd love to see you there. Please like or follow it if you have a chance, and feel free to post questions, comments, or suggestions for future guests.Here's a link to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, and Audible.Next month, I'll be talking to Cara Blue Adams about her short story, "Vision," available here. You might consider buying Cara Blue Adams' book, You Never Get it Back, from Bookshop because my co-host for that podcast, Vincent Perrone, is part owner of Book Suey in Hamtramck, and all sales that roll through Bookshop next month will support his store.Happy reading!KellyPS: Do you have trouble sleeping? If so, I highly recommend Nothing Much Happens, Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups by Kathryn Nicolai. Apparently, Kathryn also lives in Michigan. I don't know her, but I'm obsessed with these bedtime stories because they are designed to put you to sleep, and her voice is very soothing, but they are also wonderful. If you are in the mood for delightful, feel-good stories, check them out here. PSS: I have to give one television show a plug...I was listening to a podcast featuring a former classmate from Kenyon, and she suggested a Swedish show called The Restaurant. IT IS SO GOOD. It's winter here in Detroit, and bleak bleak bleak, so I figured, like me, you might want to light some candles and curl up with a good drama. This one is cutting into my reading time, which is the highest praise from me. Let me know what you think!!Leigh Newman: Leigh Newman's collection Nobody Gets Out Alive (Scribner) was long-listed for the National Book Award for Fiction and The Story Prize. Her stories have appeared in the Paris Review, Harper’s, Best American Short Stories 2020, Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, Tin House, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, One Story and Electric Literature, and have been awarded a Pushcart prize and an American Society of Magazine Editors’ fiction prize. Still Points North (Dial Press), her memoir about growing up in Alaska, was a finalist for the National Book Critic Circle’s John Leonard prize. In 2020, she received the Paris Review’s Terry Southern Prize for “humor, wit, and sprezzatura."Newman's essays and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Bookforum, Vogue, O The Oprah Magazine, and other magazines. When not writing, she looks after her two dogs, two kids, and one cat. Goals include: goats and more chickens.Podcast Host: Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind (WSUP), was a Michigan Notable Book, an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, an Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone!Welcome to Let's Deconstruct a Story! This month I'm talking to Jai Chakrabarti about his wonderful story, "A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness." Please find the link to the story at www.kellyfordon.com, It's best to read it before tuning into the podcast.Next month, I'll be talking to Leigh Newman about her story, "An Extravaganza in Two Acts," also available via a link on my website. If you have any questions for Leigh, feel free to contact me, and I will pass them along.Also, I've switched over to Let's Deconstruct a Story accounts on both Facebook and Instagram. Please follow us here:FacebookInstagram#letsdeconstructastoryCheers!KellyJai Chakrabarti:O. Henry and Pushcart Prize winner Jai Chakrabarti is the author of the novel A Play for the End of the World (Knopf ’21), which earned him the National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction. The novel was also recognized as the Association of Jewish Libraries Honor Book, a finalist for the Rabindranath Tagore Prize, and long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award.Chakrabarti is also the author of the story collection A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness (Knopf), which was included in several end-of-year lists, including The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023. His short fiction has been published in Best American Short Stories, Ploughshares, One Story, Electric Literature, A Public Space, Conjunctions, and elsewhere and performed on Selected Shorts by Symphony Space.Beyond fiction, Chakrabarti’s nonfiction has been widely published in journals such as The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Writer’s Digest, Berfrois, and LitHub. He was an Emerging Writer Fellow with A Public Space and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. Despite his literary pursuits, Chakrabarti is also a trained computer scientist.Born in Kolkata, India, he currently lives in New York with his family and is a faculty member at Bennington Writing Seminars.Your Host: Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind (WSUP), was a Michigan Notable Book, an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, an Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online, where she runs a fiction podcast called “Let’s Deconstruct a Story.” http://www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone!Welcome to Let's Deconstruct a Story! This month I'm talking to Katherine Vaz about her wonderful story, "Our Lady of the Artichokes." Please read the story (available at www.kellyfordon.com/blog) before tuning into the podcast.Also, please check out the link to her fantastic new novel Above the Salt which I read and adored. Sometimes I wish this was also a podcast about novels, but we do offer a brief preview of the book during our discussion. Purchase options are available below.Next month I'll be talking to Jai Chakrabarti about his story, "A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness," also available via link on my website. If you have any questions for Jai, feel free to contact me and I will pass them along. Have a wonderful holiday season. I'll be reaching out to my subscribers (here) in two weeks with some end-of-the-year recommendations and then we'll see you on January 1st for Jai Chakrabarti.Cheers!KellyP.S. You can purchase Katherine Vaz's amazing new book here on Bookshop or here on Amazon. Upcoming Class: I'm offering a "Let's Deconstruct a Story" workshop in January. More details here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone, I had the best conversation with Bonnie Jo Campbell. Can't wait to share it with you! Please read "Boar Taint" in The Kenyon Review before you listen, or our discussion won't make a lick of sense. This episode is available on Apple, Spotify, Audible or anywhere you get your podcasts. If you would like a transcript, please get in touch with me via the contact form on my website, www.kellyfordon.com. Next month, I will be talking to Katherine Vaz. See you then! KellyPS: Looking for a great audio engineer? Contact Elliot Bancel at [email protected]. Bio: Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the novels Once Upon a River, a National Bestseller, and Q Road. Her critically acclaimed short fiction collections include American Salvage, which was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award; Women and Other Animals, which won the AWP Prize for Short Fiction; and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. She was a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.Her novel, Once Upon a River, was adapted into a full length feature film and released to international critical acclaim in 2020. Her forthcoming novel The Waters (January 9, 2023) will be released by W.W. Norton; “with a ‘ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world’ (New York Times Book Review), Bonnie Jo Campbell presents an elegant antidote to the dark side of masculinity, celebrating the resilience of nature and the brutality and sweetness of rural life.” Her story collection American Salvage, a National Book Award Finalist, was heralded by The Guardian as a top 10 rural noir novel of all time. Please purchase Bonnie Jo Campbell's books through⁠ Bookshop⁠, if possible, or Amazon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi!I am so happy to share my podcast interview with the esteemed Southern writer George Singleton. We delved into some serious subjects: the legacy of racism in the South, gun control, and substance abuse, but despite all of that, we managed to laugh every now and then because he is hilarious! (And I said the word "interesting" about a gazillion times--Why? Why did I keep saying the same word over and over again as if I was malfunctioning?)Anyway, George taught me a lot about persevering despite the fact that he (like many of us) gets sick of his own voice. He shared an anecdote about working with C. Michael Curtis of "The Atlantic Monthly" that shocked and delighted me.We laughed about that too.Please read his story, "I'm Down Here on the Floor," before you listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts. My apologies to StorySouth. I forgot to mention where the story was published during the podcast, but this is actually the second story in a row from StorySouth. Check out Jason Ockert's story "The Peoplemachines" from the September 1st episode as well.Also, here's a link to The Atlantic Monthly story George mentioned called "Show and Tell." I think the paywall might be down now (?), but I subscribe to that magazine, so someone needs to let me know.*Warning: There is some profanity on this episode, folks.See you next month when I'll be talking to Bonnie Jo Campbell about her story, "Boar Taint," from The Kenyon Review. Cheers,KellyBio: George Singleton has published eight collections of stories, two novels, and a book of writing advice. Over 200 of his stories have appeared in magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Playboy, the Georgia Review, the Southern Review, the Cincinnati Review, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship, the Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and the Corrington Award for Literary Excellence. He lives in Spartanburg, SC, where he holds the John C. Cobb Chair in Humanities at Wofford College. Please find his books on Bookshop or Amazon.Information about the podcast host, Kelly Fordon, as well as podcast updates and donation opportunities (we would be so grateful!) can all be found here. We are so grateful to sound engineer Elliot Bancel for his work on this episode. If you need help with your podcast, please find his contact information here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Chad B. Anderson's story "The Kelley Street Disappearances" has been lodged in my brain for almost a decade, so I decided to track him down, and I was so grateful when he agreed to be on the podcast. I'm sure if you are an avid reader like me, you know how rare it is to have a story resonate for that long. I hope you feel the same way I do about this one!Thanks also to LDAS-featured writer, Robin Martin, for sending me the story many years ago.For the first time with this podcast, in the interest of fostering our community of writers, I sent the story to all of my previous guests. LDAS-featured writers, Desiree Cooper and Renee Simms weighed in with a couple of really compelling questions for Chad. You can check out my interviews. with Desiree and Renee here as well.Also, I'm grateful to Renee for mentioning the story, Recitatif by Toni Morrison, which I had not read, and the stunning New Yorker essay about the story by Zadie Smith.Salamander Magazine has kindly removed the paywall for "The Kelley Street Disappearances." Please find it here. Thanks so much to the managing editor, Katie Sticca, for helping us keep this podcast accessible.**Salamander runs a fiction contest every year that runs from May 1 - June 1, with results announced by early September. Anyone interested can find more information on the website salamandermag.org.Please check out the Let's Deconstruct a Story podcast on Spotify, Apple, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts after you read the story, and if you have a chance to rate the show, I would really appreciate it.See you on October 1st, when we'll be talking about "I'm Down Here on the Floor" in StorySouth by George Singleton. Thanks to Dan Wickett of Dzanc Books for suggesting George's work. On November 1st, Bonnie Jo Campbell visits to talk about her short story, "Boar Taint" in The Kenyon Review.Chad has just finished editing this wonderful anthology. Check it out here. Bio: Chad B. Anderson has published fiction in Salamander Review, Black Warrior Review, Nimrod International Journal, The Best American Short Stories 2017, Clockhouse, and Burrow Press Review, and he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He has had residencies at the Ledig House International Writers’ Colony, the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida, and the Carolyn Moore Writers House in Portland, Oregon. He has served as an acting managing editor for Callaloo: Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters and a guest editor for Burrow Press Review and is currently an associate fiction editor for Orison Books. He edited and penned the introduction for an anthology of art, poetry, and prose titled What's Mine of Wilderness?, published by Burrow Press in 2023. Born and raised in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, he earned his B.A. in American Studies and English from University of Virginia and his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Indiana University, where he served as fiction editor for Indiana Review. He currently lives in Michigan.If you would like to donate the show (and even earmark it for transcription services), you can make a donation here.Thank you so much! Kelly. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I'm happy to welcome Jason Ockert to show! We discussed his story, "The Peoplemachines" in StorySouth Spring 2023. It blew me away! Who reminds me of a modern-day ⁠Agathocles⁠??...hmmmm....I can't imagine.Please read the story (available below) before listening to our discussion. Thank you SO MUCH to storySouth for publishing this thought-provoking dystopian story. It will stay with me.Thanks also to Dan Wickett of ⁠Dzanc Books⁠ for recommending Jason's work.⁠The Peoplemachines by Jason Ockert ⁠Afterward, look for the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to ⁠Elliot Bancel⁠, audio engineer extraordinaire for his meticulous work.***In other news...Coming up in the near future: Interviews with Chad B. Anderson and George Singleton.Also, I was thrilled to visit the podcast ⁠Homespun Haints⁠, where I tried hard but didn't even make it through half of my Irish ghost stories. Saving a few for a later date! Becky and Diana are so fun--if you have any ghost stories, you should definitely contact them ⁠here⁠.One last thing I wanted to mention, Susan Perabo (a past guest and extraordinary writer) is featured on Symphony Space here. This story is not to be missed.Cheers,KellyPSS: Looking for ways to support LDAS? Send us a one-time or recurring donation. We (meaning me...it's just me) would ⁠really appreciate it! ⁠Bio: Jason Ockert is the author of the novel Wasp Box and three collections of short stories: Shadowselves, Neighbors of Nothing, and Rabbit Punches. His fiction has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, Granta, Oxford American, One Story, and McSweeney's. He teaches at Coastal Carolina University.You can purchase Jason's books here on my ⁠Bookshop⁠.Your Host: Kelly Fordon's latest short story collection I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online. www.kellyfordon.com Find her books here on Bookshop, Amazon, or Audible. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone!I'm thrilled to welcome Caroline Kim on the podcast today! We will be reviewing her story "Motherhood" which is available for free from August 1st-31st on the Story Magazine website. Thank you, Michael Nye! Please see my website to access the story: https://kellyfordon.com/lets-deconstruct-a-story/CAROLINE KIM is the author of a collection of short stories about the Korean diaspora, The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories, which won the 2020 Drue Heinz Prize in Literature, was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award, the Janet Heidinger Award for Fiction, and was long listed for both the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and The Story Prize. She has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan where she was a recipient of a Hopwood Award and an MA in Fiction from UT Austin where she was a Michener Fellow. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Georgia Review, New England Review, Story, TriQuarterly, Lithub, The Rumpus, The Millions, Pleiades, Porter House Review, MANOA, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Spinning Jenny, Meridian, Faultline, Pidgeonholes, The Bare Life Review, Santa Monica Review, and elsewhere. She has lived on the East Coast, Midwest, and Texas but now makes her home in Northern California with her family. ​Host: Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog. www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I'm thrilled to host fiction writer, Anna Caritj this month on "Let's Deconstruct a Story." The Sewanee Review has graciously taken down the paywall for Anna's story for the month of June so you can read the story all month for free! They have also offered readers/listeners of LDAS 10% off a subscription to The Sewanee Review with the code: SISTER. I am definitely going to take advantage of the offer, and hope you will too. We are so grateful to them!Before listening to our discussion, please read the story "Ugly Sister" here at The Sewanee Review. And then enjoy our discussion below on Spotify, Apple, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the coming months, I will be talking with Caroline Kim, George Singleton, Jason Ockerts, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, so make sure to sign up for the newsletter here if you would like to be notified about upcoming episodes. I'm always looking for new writers, so if you have any suggestions, or a book coming out, you can reach me at [email protected] so much!KellyPS:The audiobook edition of my short story collection I Have the Answer is out on Audible. I was thrilled to read four of the stories and the other nine are narrated by incredible voice actors. You can access the audiobook at the link above, but I also have a few free promo codes left. Feel free to email me if you are interested. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,Robin and I have been good friends and writing buddies since we met at a writer's conference in 2008. Since then, she has won numerous awards for her work and I am so thrilled to feature her brilliant writing here. We did something a little different for this episode. We are taking a look at two of Robin's stories:1969 is available at The New Orleans ReviewandThrough the Hole is available at PenDust Radio.To get the most out of this podcast you should read or listen to the story first, as we will be discussing them in-depth i.e. there will be spoilers!Many thanks to Elliot Bancel for his help editing this episode.Enjoy!KellyBio: Robin Luce Martin's honors for stories and novel excerpts include the Tennessee Williams Festival Story First Prize, San Francisco PEN John KeatsSoul Awakening Story Competitions, Old Scores won the 2019 Novel Manuscript and Lizardmaid 2020 Eyelands International 3Rock prize. OutLike a Lion was short-listed for the Dundee International Prize and the Del Sol First Novel Prize. In 2015 she co-founded the NY author reading series,https://yeahyouwriteevents.com/For more information on this podcast, please visit www.kellyfordon.com. Many thanks to Elliot Bancel for his help editing this episode.   This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone, This month I'm thrilled to welcome Meghan Louise Wagner to the podcast! First, because I love the story. Secondly, because I am from NE Ohio and she lives there! Yay! So happy to be promoting fellow Midwesterners. Her story, "Elephant Seals" is available in these two places:  Agni Online here or in Best American Short Stories 2022. Please read the story first before listening to our discussion.Enjoy!KellyBio/Contributor Notes:Meghan Louise Wagner lives in Northeast Ohio. Her work is forthcoming from or has appeared in such places as AGNI, Story, Cutleaf, Autofocus, Okay Donkey, McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies, X-R-A-Y Lit, and The Best American Stories 2022. She’s a graduate of the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program and currently teaches writing at Cleveland State University and the Cleveland Institute of Art. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,So glad to be back after a short hiatus!I’m grateful to the Grosse Pointe Public Library for allowing me to use their recording studio for these next few episodes. It was fantastic; however, there was a little learning curve…I apologize for a couple of staticky moments during this podcast. Luckily, it only happened when I was talking! Julie sounds fantastic–and that’s all that matters…but I will add that I am producing this podcast with no money for editing, unfortunately. Please feel free to donate if you like it, and would appreciate some better editing (as I would!). The donation button is featured in the right-hand column on my blog page.Before you listen, please read Julie’s story “The Ending” here.Also, please read her blog spot here.We will be discussing both!This coming year I will be alternating podcasts with Q and A’s. The next Q and A will feature Michigan short story writer Kevin Fitton on February 15th.I hope you enjoy this episode.KellyJulie Ann Stewart earned an MFA from Spalding University and has published stories in Good River Journal, Litro Magazine, PoemMemoirStory, and Punch Drunk Press. In Sophie Speaks (http://julieandsophiespeak.blogspot.com/ ), Stewart explores the challenge of balancing creative and family life as she recopies Anna Karenina by hand, as Sophia Tolstoy did for her husband. Now that their seven kids have flown the coop, she and her husband migrate between Indiana and Michigan.Purchase Water and Blood from Dzanc here or on Bookshop here or Amazon here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone!I'm really looking forward to sharing this discussion with Toni Ann Johnson. I loved this collection! We will be talking about the story "Time Travel" winner of the 2021 Miller Audio Prize. Please listen to the story at the link below before you tune in to our podcast discussion.This is the last post of 2022. Thanks so much to the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan and Pages Bookshop in Detroit for supporting us throughout the year. We will be on hiatus until February 2023. Please message me if there are any particular writers you would like to hear on the show.Happy New Year!KellyBio: Toni Ann Johnson is the winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Her short story collection Light Skin Gone to Waste was published by the University of Georgia Press in the fall of 2022. She is also an accomplished novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Having grown up in Monroe, New York, in one of the first Black families to live there, many of Johnson’s short stories reflect her experience as a person of color. Johnson’s essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Emerson Review, Xavier Review, and many other publications. Her first novel, Remedy for a Broken Angel, was nominated for a 2015 NAACP Image Award. Her novella Homecoming won Accents Publishing’s novella contest and was published in May 2021. Johnson has won the Humanitas Prize and the Christopher Award for her screenplay of the ABC film Ruby Bridges, as well as a second Humanitas Prize for Crown Heights, which aired on Showtime Television. She also co-wrote the popular dance movie Step Up 2: The Streets. Johnson has been a Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab Fellow, A Callaloo Writer’s Workshop Fellow (2016), and she’s received support for her writing from The Hurston/Wright Foundation, The Prague Summer Program for Writers, and the One Story Summer Conference.Flannery O’Connor series editor Roxane Gay says of the collection, “Toni Ann Johnson’s Light Skin Gone to Waste is one of the most engrossing short story collections I’ve read in recent memory. These interconnected stories about a black family living in a predominantly white suburb of New York City are impeccably written, incisive, often infuriating, and unforgettable. At the center of many of these stories is Philip Arrington, a psychologist who tries to reshape the world to his liking as he moves through it, regardless of the ways his actions affect the people in his intimate orbit. With a deft eye for detail, crisp writing, and an uncanny understanding of human frailties, Toni Ann Johnson has created an endlessly interesting American family portrait.”Podcast host Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection  I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online.  She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog. www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Well, I'm not going to lie. It was one of the top ten thrills of my life speaking with George Saunders. I was so excited, I thought I might pass out partway through the interview. But he could not have been more unpretentious, kind, and engaging. I learned so much from him, and hope you do too! Every story he writes reminds me that we are all multifaceted and precious, despite our flaws--what a gift.More thanks are in order:I am so grateful to George Saunders because he agreed to this podcast as a benefit for Pages Bookshop in Detroit. Plus, the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan bought ten copies of Liberation Day for their patrons from Pages Bookshop, so this really ended up being a great collaboration.In addition, my gratitude to fellow writers Jenn Goddu, Linda Downing Miller, Ellen Birkett Morris, Suma Rosen, Julie Ann Stewart, Laura Hulthen Thomas, and Gloria Whelan for their incisive questions, and for participating in the class!Please read "Mother's Day" before listening to our discussion. It's available in his new book, Liberation Day, or in The New Yorker, or for free as a New Yorker Fiction Audio Selection.Check out this wonderful article (one of many!) about this new collection: The sweet humanityNext month I'll be talking to Toni Ann Johnson author of Light Skin Gone to Waste about a story from her Flannery O'Connor Award-winning collection.Thanks for tuning in, everyone.KellyPS: We had some technical difficulties. At one point you might hear some garbage trucks in the background, at another point we got cut off mid-sentence (talking about the hot hands) and had to continue that conversation near the end of the recording, but I managed to edit out most of it, and then I handed it over to podcast engineer, Andrew Mason, at Upwork who managed to clean up the rest. Thanks, Andrew!PSS: If you would like a transcript of this conversation, please contact me. Check out https://kellyfordon.com/lets-deconstruct-a-story/ for more episodes or more info about your host.#georgesaunders#penguinrandomhouse This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,      "Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author. Today I'll be talking about the short story "Chance" with the author, Peter Ho Davies.***Content warning: This episode deals with pregnancy/childbirth, miscarriages/abortion***     Please read the story first and then listen to the podcast, available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, Anchor, as well as several other platforms.     "Chance" was first published in Glimmer Train and then later in Catamaran and Drum. It's also the first chapter in his 2021 novel, A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself. I'm excited about this episode because after we delved into the creation of the story, Peter shared some insights into how a story morphs into a novel.      As usual, if you have any suggestions about writers/stories/people to feature on this podcast, please let me know! I'd love to hear your comments about the discussions as well.      If you would like a written transcript of this podcast, please contact me at www.kellyfordon.com      Enjoy!      Kelly       Please find a link to the story at www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author. This week I am talking to Jacob M. Appel about his story "The Frying Finn" first published in Agni and available here. Please read the story first before listening to our discussion. Learn more about Jacob M. Appel on my blog here.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author. This week I am talking to Selena Anderson about her Oxford American and later, Best American Short Story, "Godmother Tea!" Please read the story on my website and then enjoy the podcast! All best,KellyBio: Selena Anderson is a writer from Texas. Her stories have appeared in Fence, BOMB, Conjunctions, The Baffler, Oxford American, and The Best American Short Stories 2020. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, The Henfield/TransAtlantic Prize, and The Texas Emerging Star Award. She is working on a novel.Kelly Fordon This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author.In this episode, Lydia Conklin and Lillian Li will be discussing the story "Sunny Talks" first published in One Story in January 2022. This conversation was recorded live at Pages Bookshop in Detroit on June 24, 2022.This episode is part of a series of "Let's Deconstruct a Story" podcasts offered in collaboration with the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan. The GPPL has committed to purchasing ten books by each author this season to give to their patrons! If you are a short story writer who has tried to make money in this game then you know what a big deal their support is to us! My hope is that other libraries will follow the GPPL's lead and be inspired to buy books by these talented short story writers. I will be contacting many libraries this year to suggest this programming. Please feel free to do the same if you enjoy this podcast.This podcast is also supported by Pages Bookshop in Detroit, and we would be extremely grateful if you purchased the book online through Pages here. Local bookstores won't survive without help from customers like you! Lydia Conklin is an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Previously they were the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fiction at the University of Michigan. They’ve received a Stegner Fellowship in Fiction at Stanford University, a Rona Jaffe Writer’s Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative & Performing Arts Fulbright to Poland, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Djerassi, Hedgebrook, the James Merrill House, the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, Millay, Jentel, Lighthouse Works, Brush Creek, the Santa Fe Art Institute, Caldera, the Sitka Center, and Harvard University, among others. They were the 2015-2017 Creative Writing Fellow in fiction at Emory University. Their fiction has appeared in Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere, and is forthcoming from The Paris Review. They have drawn graphic fiction for Lenny Letter, Drunken Boat, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine. Their story collection, Rainbow Rainbow, will be published in June 2022 by Catapult in the US and Scribner in the UK.Lillian Li is the author of the novel Number One Chinese Restaurant, which was an NPR Best Book of 2018, and longlisted for the Women’s Prize and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Granta, One Story, Bon Appetit, Travel & Leisure, The Guardian, and Jezebel. Originally from the D.C. metro area, she lives in Ann Arbor.The host of this podcast is Kelly Fordon and you can find out more about her at www.kellyfordon.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author. For this episode, please read "Goodbye" by Maurine Ogbaa, first published in Agni. **Please note we will be talking about suicide on this episode.**This summer I am posting two episodes with writers who have not yet published their first short story collections. This podcast is dedicated to the work of Maurine Ogbaa and on August 15th I will be posting a conversation with Selena Anderson about her short story "Godmother Tea," which was chosen for the Best American Short Stories anthology in 2020.  I'm thrilled to highlight the work of these two new voices!"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is offered in collaboration with the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan. The GPPL has committed to purchasing ten books by each author this season to give to their patrons. If you are a short story writer who has tried to make money in this game then you know what a big deal their support is for us! My hope is that other libraries will follow the GPPL's lead and be inspired to buy books by these talented short story writers. I will be contacting many libraries this year to suggest this programming. Please feel free to do the same if you enjoy this podcast.This podcast is also supported by Pages Bookshop in Detroit, and we would be extremely grateful if you purchased any of the books featured here through Pages. Local bookstores won't survive without help from customers like you!"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is available on six platforms. Please listen to the podcast on your preferred platform or on Anchor or Spotify below.I hope you enjoy this episode. Next up on the podcast is Lydia Conklin on August 1st.KellyMaurine Ogbaa is a writer-scholar. Her current project is a short fiction collection which broadly examines intimacy, reconciliation, maturation, and intraracial diversity through stories about Nigerian Americans in Houston, Texas. Stories from this collection have been published in Callaloo, AGNI, and Prairie Schooner, which awarded her the 2020 Glenna Luschei Award. An alumna of the Tin House Summer Workshops, Rivendell Writer’s Colony, and the Pan-African Literary Forum (Ghana), she will be a writer-in-residence at Jentel Arts Residency in summer 2022. Previously, Maurine earned an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Washington University in St. Louis and a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Houston. Currently, she teaches graduate and undergraduate prose workshops and literature seminars at The University of Texas at Dallas.Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection  I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online.  She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a podcast. www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

"Let's Deconstruct a Story" is a podcast where we read and discuss one short story with the author.For this episode please read or listen to the audio recording of "Shape-Ups at Delilah's" in The New Yorker before listening to our discussion.This is part of a series of "Let's Deconstruct a Story" podcasts offered in collaboration with the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan. The GPPL has committed to purchasing ten books by each author this season to give to their patrons! If you are a short story writer who has tried to make money in this game then you know what a big deal their support is for us! My hope is that other libraries will follow the GPPL's lead and be inspired to buy books by these talented short story writers. I will be contacting many libraries this year to suggest this programming. Please feel free to do the same if you enjoy this podcast.This podcast is also supported by Pages Bookshop in Detroit, and we would be extremely grateful if you purchased the book online through Pages here. Local bookstores won't survive without help from customers like you!Rion Amilcar Scott is the author of the story collection, The World Doesn’t Require You (Norton/Liveright, August 2019), a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and winner of the 2020 Towson Prize for Literature. His debut story collection, Insurrections (University Press of Kentucky, 2016), was awarded the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His work has been published in places such as The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, Crab Orchard Review, Best Small Fictions 2020 and The Rumpus, among others. His story, “Shape-ups at Delilah’s” was published in Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020. He was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland and earned an MFA from George Mason University where he won the Mary Roberts Rinehart award, a Completion Fellowship and an Alumni Exemplar Award. He has received fellowships from Bread Loaf Writing Conference, Kimbilio and the Colgate Writing Conference as well as a 2019 Maryland Individual Artist Award. Presently he teaches Creative Writing at the University of Maryland.Find him on twitter and instagram: @ReeAmilcarScottKelly Fordon is the host of this podcast and you can find out more about her at www.kellyfordon.com.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I'm thrilled to welcome Ellen Birkett Morris to the show today. Please read her story, "Inheritance" (available at www.kellyfordon.com) before listening to our discussion.During our talk, Ellen also mentioned a book by Ron Carlson called "Ron Carlson Writes a Story" which is out of print unfortunately but you might find a used copy here.Next month, Rion Amilcar Scott will record his session with me on June 28th at 6 pm at Pages Bookshop in Detroit. If you would like to sign up for the FREE live zoom session with us, please register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqceqqpj4oH90WB1dmqCvRaHNT-DQkmzUU Many thanks to the Grosse Pointe Public Library and Pages Bookshop in Detroit for their support of this podcast. Please let your local schools, libraries, and bookstores know about "Let's Deconstruct a Story," if you find the material valuable. LDAS is a labor of love, but every donation (on our website) helps, and we are deeply grateful for them.Enjoy!Kelly**Content warning: sexual assault and suicide. Ellen Birkett Morris is a native of Louisville. She is the author of LOST GIRLS, a short story collection, and SURRENDER, a poetry chapbook. LOST GIRLS is a finalist for the 2021 Clara Johnson Award for Literature and winner of the Pencraft Award for short stories. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Queens University - Charlotte. Her short stories have appeared in Antioch Review, Shenandoah, South Carolina Review, Upstreet, and elsewhere.Podcast host, Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I HAVE THE ANSWER (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, GARDEN FOR THE BLIND, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, GOODBYE TOOTHLESS HOUSE, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online.  She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she runs LDAS. www.kellyfordon.comPurchase "Lost Girls" from Bookshop or Amazon. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Hi Everyone,I'm excited to share my interview with Sara Majka about the title short story, "Cities I've Never Lived In." Here's a brief description of the collection from the publisher Graywolf Press:"Fearlessly riding the line between imagination and experience, fact and fiction, the linked stories in Sara Majka’s debut collection offer intimate glimpses of a young New England woman whose life must begin afresh after a divorce. Traveling the roads of Maine and the train tracks of Grand Central Station, moving from vast shorelines to the unmade beds of strangers, these fourteen stories circle the dreams of a narrator who finds herself turning to storytelling as a means of working through the world and of understanding herself. A book that upends our ideas of love and belonging, and which asks how much of ourselves we leave behind with each departure we make, Cities I’ve Never Lived In exposes, with great sadness and great humor, the ways in which we are most of all citizens of the places where we cannot stay."Before you listen to our discussion, first please read "Cities I've Never Lived In" here.Thanks,KellyBio:When she was young, Sara Majka's family moved along the New England coast, living in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and small towns in Maine. She received graduate degrees from Umass-Amherst and Bennington College and was awarded a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Her first book, Cities I've Never Lived In, was published by Graywolf Press / A Public Space in 2016. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island where she teaches writing at RISD.Sara Majka's book can be purchased here on Bookshop and here on Amazon as well as directly from the publisher, Graywolf Press.Let's Deconstruct a Story host, Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection  I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. She lives in Detroit. www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Even though I am mostly working on "Let's Deconstruct a Story" these days, every now and then I still like to feature a stellar Michigan poet! Today's post includes a reading by Ken Meisel from his new book, Studies Inside the Consent of a Distance published in January by Kelsay Books.Poems in the recording include "Fatherhood," "Two Portraits of Hunger, South Carolina" and “The Angel of the Wonderful “ all published in the San Pedro River Review. “Studies Inside the Consent of a Distance” was first published in Third Wednesday.His new book is dedicated to another legend in the Michigan poetry world, Joy Gaines-Friedler! They will be reading together on April 17th at 7pm on zoom through the Royal Oak Library. Register here.Kelly This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Lily King discusses the title story from her collection "Five Tuesdays in Winter." The story is available at most local libraries and should be read before listening to the podcast. I apologize--normally I am able to provide a copy of the story on my website but apparently Grove Atlantic does not have serial rights to the individual stories.Lily King is the award-winning author of five novels. Her most recent novel, Writers & Lovers, was published on March 3rd, 2020, and her first collection of short stories, Five Tuesdays in Winter, was released on November 9, 2021. Her 2014 novel Euphoria won the Kirkus Award, The New England Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award. Euphoria was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by The New York Times Book Review. It was included in TIME's Top 10 Fiction Books of 2014, as well as on Amazon, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, and Salon’s Best Books of 2014.Kelly Fordon's (podcast host) latest short story collection  I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online.  This is the second "Let's Deconstruct a Story" podcast offered in collaboration with the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan. The GPPL has committed to purchasing ten books by each author this season to give to their patrons!If you are a short story writer who has tried to make money in this game then you know what a big deal this is! My hope is that other libraries will follow the GPPL's lead and be inspired to buy books by these talented short story writers. I will be contacting many libraries this year to suggest this programming. Please feel free to do the same if you enjoy this podcast. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Caitlin Horrocks discusses her story "On the Oregon Trail" from her short story collection, Life Among the Terranauts.The story is available and should be read before listening to the podcast at www.kellyfordon.com/blog.Caitlin Horrocks is the author of the story collections Life Among the Terranauts and This Is Not Your City, both New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections. Her novel The Vexations was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Her stories and essays appear in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Paris Review, Tin House, and One Story, as well as other journals and anthologies. Her awards include the Plimpton Prize and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the MacDowell Colony. She is on the advisory board of The Kenyon Review, where she formerly served as fiction editor. She teaches at Grand Valley State University and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the writer W. Todd Kaneko and their noisy kids.Kelly Fordon (podcast host) Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection  I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online.  She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog. www.kellyfordon.comThis is the first "Let's Deconstruct a Story" podcast offered in collaboration with the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Michigan. The GPPL has committed to purchasing ten books by each author this season to give to their patrons!If you are a short story writer who has tried to make money in this game then you know what a big deal this is! My hope is that other libraries will follow the GPPL's lead and be inspired to buy books by these talented short story writers. I will be contacting many libraries this year to suggest this programming. Please feel free to do the same if you enjoy this podcast. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

“Let’s Deconstruct a Story” is a podcast for the story nerds--those who know that examining the components of a good story is the key to writing one. In each episode here, I interview a writer about one of their own stories, delving deeply into their choice of POV, plot, setting, and tone. The stories are available for listeners to read (below) before they listen to our discussion at www.kellyfordon.com/blog.Alix Ohlin is the author of six books, including the novel, Dual Citizens, which was short-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, and many other places. Her 2021 short story collection, We Want What We Want, was shortlisted for the 2021 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. She lives in Vancouver, where she is the director of the UBC School of Creative Writing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

**Note use of strong language and adult content.**Please read Natalie's story, "Children are Magic" first at www.kellyfordon.com/blog.Natalie Serber is the author of a memoir about her experience with breast cancer entitled, Community Chest, and a story collection, Shout Her Lovely Name, a New York Times Notable Book, and an O, the Oprah Magazine Summer Read. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her fiction has appeared in One Story, Zyzzyva Magazine, Hunger Mountain, The Bellingham Review, Gulf Coast, and others. Essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, O, the Oprah Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Rumpus, and others. Currently at work on a novel with the working title, Must Be Nice, and a memoir entitled, Go Back to Sleep, you can visit her online at natalieserber.com and subscribe to her popular newsletter, read.write.eat.Host Kelly Fordon: Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection  I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020) was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, (WSUP), was an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House, (Kattywompus Press, 2019) was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist and was adapted into a play, written by Robin Martin, which was published in The Kenyon Review Online.  She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts and The InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, as well as online, where she also runs a monthly poetry and fiction blog. www.kellyfordon.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome!“Let’s Deconstruct a Story” is a podcast for the story nerds!This is a podcast for aspiring writers who know that examining the components of a good story is the key to writing one. In each episode here, I interview a writer about one of their own stories, delving deeply into their choice of POV, plot, setting, and tone. The stories are available at www.kellyfordon.com for listeners to read (below) before they listen to our discussion.Bio: Sejal Shah is a poet who works in prose, writing across genres and disciplines. She is the author of the award-winning debut essay collection, This Is One Way to Dance (University of Georgia Press, 2020). Her stories and essays have appeared in The Guardian, Brevity, Conjunctions, Guernica, the Kenyon Review, Literary Hub, Longreads, and The Rumpus. The recipient of a 2018 New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship in fiction, Sejal recently completed a story collection with images; her newer writing is about friendship, school, and mental health. She lives in Rochester, New York. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome!“Let’s Deconstruct a Story” is a podcast for the story nerds!This is a podcast for aspiring writers who know that examining the components of a good story is the key to writing one. In each episode here, I interview a writer about one of their own stories, delving deeply into their choice of POV, plot, setting, and tone. The stories are available at www.kellyfordon.com for listeners to read (below) before they listen to our discussion. Clifford Garstang is the author of the novels Oliver’s Travels and The Shaman of Turtle Valley, a novel in stories, What the Zhang Boys Know, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction, and two short story collections, In an Uncharted Country and House of the Ancients. He is also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the anthology series Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet. A former international lawyer, he now lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. https://cliffordgarstang.com/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsdeconstructastory.substack.com/subscribe