In the April 21, 2022 episode of The Academic Life podcast on the New Books Network I talk with Dr. Christina Gessler about spatial thinking, grad school, and picture books.
We trace my path from studying archaeology as an undergrad and geography for grad school to how that led to writing picture books, and I reveal how my terrible sense of direction motivated both my research and writing for children. I also discuss 82 rejections and my writing process, with a pep talk at the end for anyone who has been thinking about writing a story but hasn't made the leap into actually doing it.
I've been in a writing critique group with Christina for a number of years, and I was so honored when she asked me to come on the podcast to talk about pursuing a nontraditional career for an academic. And even though we're friends, so it should be easy to have a chat about myself, I have to admit I started out pretty nervous. At one point I completely lost my train of thought -- is that the price of being antisocial for the past two pandemic years?
Whether you're in academia, a parent, a writer, or someone who's interested in the world around you and getting from here to there, I hope you enjoy our conversation, and I hope you check out some of Christina's other guests on The Academic Life. Lots of interesting, insightful authors and I've added so many books to my reading list after hearing them share their story.