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An Introduction - Episode 1 - Season One -The Write Way of Life
50 Plays2 months ago
An introductory episode where hosts Karis Rogerson and A.D Jolietta discuss what you can expect from the podcast, their hatred of mediocre white men, plus their thoughts on future seasons, and maybe a hint at the special guests they'll have on the pod.
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Backgrounds
00:00:12
Speaker
Karis, I think we're recording. Amazing. Hey, Addy, how's it going? Oh, you know, it's going good. We're starting a podcast from their site. Oh my God. Okay. So for anyone who's listening to this podcast who has no idea who we are or what the podcast is, they literally just like fell out of the sky yesterday and opened their podcast up because that's what you do when you wake up from a coma.
00:00:33
Speaker
Absolutely. That's what I would do. I'm Caris, full name Caris Rogerson. I am a writer and reader based in Brooklyn. Some fun facts about me include that I was raised in Italy, that I was raised, ah well, that I was schooled in Germany and Kentucky, and that I quickly fled the South and moved to New York City 10 years ago. And I've been here ever since, except for five months when I was not here, when I was in Italy trying to find myself.
00:01:03
Speaker
Who are you, Addie? Oh, hi. I'm Addie, ah or A.D. Gilletta, and the A stands for Addie, as Kerris and I had to have a discussion about, so that I wouldn't be referred to as A.D. during this podcast, because I am not Anno Dominium, and that's all I can think about with A.D.
00:01:22
Speaker
I am a writer and a reader and a playwright and also a theater person based in the Midwest. um Fun facts about me. I love hiking. I used to be a synchronized swimmer what in high school. I know. New facts. That's fucking rough.
00:01:38
Speaker
um That's what I'm known for, is just dropping random little tidbits of information. No, it's so true. The lore that Addie has, ah it's like they've lived a million lives, truly, just as my therapist. um Yeah, I'm really, so that's me. I'm very excited to to do this podcast with Kerris and also to talk to all these really cool authors that we've got on the pod.
00:02:01
Speaker
Karis, do you want to talk a little bit about our roles and who we've got helping
Roles and Support Team
00:02:05
Speaker
us? Absolutely. So I'm Karis. I have dubbed myself coordinator. That means I send the emails and make the schedules. And also I'm a host, which means I do interview our guests. Then we've got Addie, who is our host slash technical manager. Addie does all of the smart shit on the podcast.
00:02:30
Speaker
i I bring to the team and an awareness of how sound works, unfortunately. So I definitely said to mess. Yeah, prior to filming this podcast, a message that I sent Caris was, what is your microphone set up? Because I cannot handle it if we're just relying on your MacBook speakers. I will cry. I did buy a microphone for this podcast, rest assured. um In the background, at least for this season, behind the scenes, we do have the one and only Alex Abraham.
00:02:59
Speaker
They are our moral support artist. artist um That means that I send them panicked texts going, ah! And they just give me moral support. And then hopefully, one day soon, they will also be our host on the podcast. But Alex is a writer and bookseller based on in the Pacific Northwest, and life is a little hectic at the moment.
00:03:26
Speaker
But we hope to have future seasons. like All three of us are very um confident and hopeful in the future of this podcast. So confident. A little bit unreasonably so, but not really, because I do think that it's going to be excellent.
00:03:41
Speaker
I always think that you should move through life like you have the confidence of a mediocre white man. And that's what I think is the energy that we're bringing to this. Absolutely. just I would say maybe like a touch above mediocre, right? Like we are maybe like a competent white man. Absolutely. Absolutely. We're competent. I just, you know, you we've but we've all met those anyways. but Let's bash white men on the podcasts today. I mean, look.
00:04:10
Speaker
ah We got to set the tone. Someone's got to do it. Someone's got to do it, clearly. We can't count on our government to do it anymore. Oh my god. um So real.
Podcast Goals and Themes
00:04:19
Speaker
Anyway, before we get off track within the first four minutes of the podcast, what is this podcast? um The Right Way of Life. That's a pun. If you're listening to this and you haven't read it, it's right, W-R-I-T-E, as in writers.
00:04:34
Speaker
And and this is ah this podcast was born of me waking me up one day and going, I love author interview podcasts and I loved craft talk podcasts. What if I just married the two of them and made a craft focused author interview podcast?
00:04:51
Speaker
Partly because I graduated from the Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in writing a year ago, and I really miss talking to and learning from incredibly talented writers. Partly because I love interviewing authors. It's one of my favorite pastimes. It makes me feel really cool. And I get to talk to really cool authors. And as you will learn when you listen to our first couple of episodes that we have already recorded, our guests Oh, so brilliant. I mean, absolutely phenomenal. ah You will hear me make one singular comment in our very first episode, because as I've stated before, I am the tech support. So maybe I'll come in with some questions later on. But one of my comments was I truly felt ah like I had just received an MFA course in the span of like 40 minutes. It was a top notch conversation and Caris, you were a fantastic interviewer.
00:05:44
Speaker
asking get questions. That is my second favorite compliment to receive. What's my first favorite compliment you ask? Being told that I'm funny. Thank you for laughing. um You couldn't hear the laugh, but I i saw it. It happened. I just didn't want to have to deal with that from the sound perspective. So fair. There will be a lot of silent laughter on this podcast because I can't help myself. um Let's see. What is the ethos of the podcast, Addy? What do you think the ethos of the Kerris is the mastermind of all of this. I am nearly here to support this. And I think that Kerris, you have talked about the the ethos of this, which is we get to talk about craft. We get to interview incredible authors talking about what they see craft is and their so specific, what I see as like superpowers within the crafting world. So we really thought about who we wanted to reach out to and who we really admired within the writing community and how they approached a certain subject within craft.
00:06:54
Speaker
100%. I would add to that that one thing that I hope this podcast does is really provides or sets itself up as a resource for the writing community, both for authors who are further along in their journey and for authors who are just getting started. Because a fun fact, if you write, you're a writer and if you write books, you're an author. It doesn't matter if you're published or not. So what I want this podcast to be is a resource so that people at any stage in the journey can wake up one day and be like, I really want to learn about voice, boom, we got a podcast for you. This first season is back to the basics. We're just, we're talking, what is craft? And we're talking, what is voice? We're talking, what is character? We, when we conceptualize this season, we came up with a 10 episode run where we have eight quote unquote, unquote pillars of craft. We will be interviewing eight authors, each of whom will dive deep into one pillar of craft.
00:07:52
Speaker
We started it with an episode on question, what is craft? Because when I started my MFA, that was my question. You know, I showed up at VCFA and everyone was like, right and up write an essay on craft. And I was like, I don't know what that is. ah Got a great answer and have been chasing that high ever since. And then our final episode is going to be a really fun surprise. So you'll just have to wait. You'll just have to follow along on the journey to figure out what that surprise is.
00:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, you got to listen to all 10 episodes and then you'll get the big reveal at the end. and Yeah. And then keep listening because we do have future seasons that we're already conceptualizing. Addie, what is one future season that you're super excited to dive into?
00:08:35
Speaker
I am really stoked about our romance season because I think that writing a romance, either like just a full romance book or writing a good romance like subplot within your book is something that takes a lot of craft. And I'm just really stoked to dive into that and hopefully get to talk to some authors who are masters at that. Um, oh my God. We should try to get Beverly Jenkins on the podcast.
00:08:59
Speaker
Um, dreams. Let me email her publicist today to set that up. Um, we gotta prep this year's in advance. Yeah, for real. Ms. Bev would be an iconic guest for us to have. Um, and another future season that I am super stoked about. I am looking forward to the How to Write Kidlet season.
00:09:22
Speaker
Obviously, I mean, I do have a whole MFA in Kid Lit. I think that it young adult, middle grade, chapter books, picture books, I think that they are very devalued art form in the mainstream literary world. I think that every single one of those age categories is doing some real heavy lifting for society, but also for the litter literary canon and oeuvre, which is a favorite word
Importance of Literature for Youth
00:09:50
Speaker
of mine. Wait, is that how you pronounce that word? Well, I don't know. I'm not French.
00:09:54
Speaker
Oh, I thought it was like of a ver... ah Anyways, we'll cut this out. No, we won't. um Yeah. And I just, I love kidlet authors. I got my start in YA. I have written eight YA novels to date and only one adult novel. So like you could say that I am primarily a YA author. And I just think it's a really, really rad sector of literature. And I cannot wait to talk about the mechanics of how to craft a good young adult book. We should... Definitely try and talk to Jason Reynolds. I just listened to a podcast with him the other day and I was like, this man is brilliant. I want him on my podcast.
00:10:29
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. Caris and I were just really stoked about just being able to hopefully talk to some of these really cool authors who just know their stuff and then we can learn from it and, you know, get our podcast NFA in writing. When I think of A-list celebrities, most people are like, ah yes, you know, Taylor Swift, Bennifer, et cetera. I don't know. They were the only ones I could think of.
00:10:54
Speaker
Those two there's two examples are incredible. I don't ever change, Karis. Thank you. So that's where my head's at. But when I think of A-list celebrities, I think of authors because I'm obsessed with books and reading and writing. And so honestly, this whole podcast is just a way for me to meet authors and subterfuge them into being friends with me.
00:11:22
Speaker
incredible care. I love this for you. I'm just stoked. I don't even want to be friends with them. i If they can just, ah like the opportunity to talk to some of these people is is enough for me. I just, I am the same. Like my, the the people that I ah am starstruck with are definitely predominantly authors. Yeah. I met Leigh Bardugo once and I'm pretty sure I just babbled.
00:11:50
Speaker
So that was great for me. Really not embarrassing at all. Yeah, I've had a couple of interactions with some authors that I'm not even going to name because I'm still so like traumatized from the way that I acted like a just and not a person. Yeah. Like I didn't know how to human. Fair. The beauty of though of having a unique name on the internet and interacting with a lot of authors on social media is there have been book events where I have been like Oh my god, hi, I love your books. And they've been like, wait, I recognize your name from social media. And I'm like, yeah, that's me, the fangirl. You can write with love and then sign your name. I know you mean it. um Anyways, wow.
Episode Structure and Content
00:12:32
Speaker
This got off track real fast.
00:12:34
Speaker
So we've talked about what the podcast is, we've talked about who we are, and we've talked about what you can look forward to in future seasons. Here's what you can expect from every episode. You can expect about 35 to 50 minutes of interview, where we're just diving deep talking craft.
00:12:51
Speaker
There's a lot of, um, I have a lot of epiphanies while I'm talking to these authors and I do tell them about it and I think it kind of freaks them out a little bit, but that's okay. And we have an outro because we're a podcast, we have to have an outro and then we'll see.
00:13:07
Speaker
We will have an intro section that'll just be me and Addie shooting the shit. Is that a, was that a saying? Shooting the shit? Yeah. Absolutely. Thank God. I got scared for a second. and I was like, am I just making stuff up on a podcast? Um, where we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about who our guest is. We're going to talk about what we chatted about and we're going to talk a little bit about how we're feeling in the present moment of the Recording and I'm bringing this up to prepare you for the fact that it is Saturday February 1st as we record this intro episode this first episode and I'm feeling very angry At a man who one specific mediocre white man. I'm sure you all know who it is. He is the president and As of the year is 2025. Yeah. um I'm really hopeful that someday someone's going to listen to this and be like, February 1st, what year? Yeah. 2025, the year of the tariffs, which is what I'm specifically pissed about right now. Um, on the bright side, I did confirm last night that I am a Canadian citizen. So if anyone out there is like, Hmm, I would like to be a Canadian citizen by marriage. I am gay and I am looking for a wife. This is actually the real reason that Caris wants this podcast.
00:14:19
Speaker
She's just really subtly going, hey, you want some Canadian citizenship? Do you like reading books? Because I'm a writer of books. Hell yeah. All that to say, there might be times on this podcast that we do dive into what's happening in the world around us. um In 2025, a lot of times that means we're angry and things are looking really bleak.
00:14:39
Speaker
And one thing that I do hope this podcast can do is provide both a respite and a encouragement. So this past week has been really tough for me in terms of the news and I have spent every single day as I'm about to spiral and into despair, I've like opened up my Word document and just started writing my book and that's brought me great comfort.
00:15:00
Speaker
And also, talking about what's going on in the world is encouraging me to put more of myself into my books, to be fearless about writing queer representation, about writing mental illness representation. You cannot put me in a camp,
Writing as Resistance and Survival
00:15:14
Speaker
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I will fight to put more of our fearless selves into our stories because that is what's going to help everyone else survive, help all of us survive. Like writing helps me survive and reading helps me survive. So other authors, the ones who've been fearless before me, they are the reason that I keep going every day. Politics. They're on the podcast.
00:15:37
Speaker
Absolutely. Especially in this administration when our very existence seems to be politicized. Yeah. ah It's terrifying and horrifying. But I do hope that... ah like One thing that I hope that this podcast does is ah is maybe 45 minutes of over spite and also 45 minutes of joy. Fuck yeah. like this This should be fun to listen to.
00:16:00
Speaker
I was like, if you're if you're interested into into this topic. 100%. Yeah, it's fun. It's engaging, I like to think, and it's educational. I was trying to think of another E word and I got it. um Also, apparently, this is a podcast where you can swear, as I have done throughout this episode. So if you're a future guest,
00:16:21
Speaker
you can say any words you want on this podcast. Well, maybe not any. You can say any swear words you want. Yeah. Generally speaking, I think we're pretty cool about whatever you want to say, especially in regards to this current political administration. I just, I listened to a lot of author podcasts and I swear every single one, there's a guest and they get really riled up and they like throw out an F bomb or like say shit or whatever. And then they're like, wait, can I do that on this podcast on the right way of life? You can.
00:16:52
Speaker
we are not we arere not ah what is oh what what does that admit Actually, I don't even know if this administration exists anymore. The FCC, oh yeah one they still have standards of content. Anyways, we are not we're not them over we're not them we're not subject to their approval or disapproval. They're just two folks on the internet talking to authors. Two folks on the internet. That's us. Write it down. Karis and Addie. Two folks. All right. Is there anything else that we need to cover?
00:17:21
Speaker
for this introductory episode. Any questions we think people might have?
Availability and Expansion Plans
00:17:25
Speaker
Uh, if anyone's wondering, I say this in the, uh, outro because I'm the one recording it, but we are hoping to get on every single podcast listening service that you could imagine. Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Uh, I guess YouTube apparently has a podcast system that you can listen to things. YouTube music. I didn't know that existed.
00:17:46
Speaker
researched it just now. So we're going to try and and get that squared away. I think we're definitely going to start off with Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Those seem to be the two most popular, and we'll get that RSS feed up and running. So that's how you can listen, share, like, subscribe, all of those lovely words that I'm going to push as our technical individual on those on this pod. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on Blue Sky.
00:18:12
Speaker
Follow us on, it's called Twitter. Follow us wherever you want. Maybe not down the straight though. Unless you're cute and maybe a little bit rich. I'm okay with that. Hell yeah. So to sum up the podcast. Terrace.
00:18:27
Speaker
is looking for a wife who wants Canadian citizenship. Addie is looking for a rich stalker. And that was our show. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Right Way of Life. This show is brought to you by hosts Kerris Rogerson and A.D. Gilletta, and morally supported by Alex Abraham. Find us on socials at The Right Way of Life, and leave us a message or a comment telling us what you thought of today's episode. Stay safe, write great things, and always remember to live life the right way.