March 19, 2024

The Leap! (New Bookspo!)

The third episode of BOOKSPO is up, and it’s particularly special to me because…it was also the first interview I did for this project, at the end of January. Back when I knew absolutely nothing about how to make a podcast, back when my self-esteem and confidence were at remarkable lows, and I knew that making the podcast would help me find my way out of that low. But making the leap to doing that was scary. There was something paralyzing about where I was at that point, creatively, and making any leap seemed terrifying and impossible. I felt really intimidated about approaching authors for interviews because I didn’t know what I was doing, and performing that vulnerability just seemed too much to ask of myself. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible, if I’d be able to pull off the podcast at all. My first interview would be a kind of trial run, and I needed a safe place to land for that, and a kind person to work with, and Shawna was the only one. The person I trusted enough to be vulnerable with, to have faith in the thing I was trying to make, to bright thoughtfulness and beauty to the process.

I am so grateful to her now, and can honestly say that none of this very neat thing I have made would have been possible without her. And I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation as much as I did.