How Bestselling Author & Pulitzer-Winner Geraldine Brooks Writes

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

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Bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Geraldine Brooks, spoke to me about why "truth is stranger than fiction," letting story drive narrative, and the overheard conversation that led to her latest, "Horse."

Geraldine Brooks is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel March and the international bestsellers The Secret Chord, Caleb’s Crossing, People of the Book, and Year of Wonders (recently optioned by Olivia Colman).

Her latest novel, Horse, is described as "... a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history." TIME magazine said of the book, "Horse isn’t just an animal story—it’s a moving narrative about race and art."

Geraldine has also written acclaimed nonfiction works including Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. She started out as a reporter in her hometown, Sydney, and went on to cover conflicts as a Wall Street Journal correspondent in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East.

Stay calm and write on ...

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In this file Geraldine Brooks and I discussed:

• Her early years as a war correspondent
• Why she chose to write a braided narrative based on an overheard conversation
• Reading history to find verisimilitude
• Empathy in fiction
• Writing through a pandemic
• And a lot more!

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Show Notes:

GeraldineBrooks.com

Horse: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks (Amazon Affiliate)

Geraldine Brooks Amazon Author Page (Amazon Affiliate)

Geraldine Brooks on Facebook

Geraldine Brooks on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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