A.C. Fuller

In episode 21 of the WRITER 2.0 podcast I spoke with historical fiction author Jefferson Flanders about:

• why novelists often shy away from writing about journalists;
• his Cold War First Trumpet trilogy;
• why we find it harder than ever to care about baseball;
• the best way to research a historical novel;
• his greatest fear and greatest hope for young journalists;
• the recent changes at The New Republic;
• the ten years it takes to write a first novel: 1 year to write the book and 9 to work through the issues of potential rejection;
• why Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party” is a great song for writers.

Plus, on Today in Writing: Happy Birthday Terry Brooks.

About our Guest:

Jefferson Flanders is an author, educator, and independent journalist. During the course of his career, he has been an editor, newspaper columnist, sportswriter, radio commentator, college professor, and publishing executive.

The topics touched upon in Flanders’ writing reflect his broad interests: politics, history, media criticism, education and learning, communications theory, sports, evolutionary biology, and theology, and, in his short fiction, the interior “felt life.”

Flanders has taught most recently in the journalism department of New York University, and at Boston University and Babson College. He is also the president of MindEdge, an educational publisher of online courses, and managing director of MindEdge Press.

A graduate of Harvard College, where he earned a degree in history and literature and studied with the poet Robert Fitzgerald, Flanders continued his education at Columbia University.

He is the author of Café Carolina and Other Stories and of the Cold War First Trumpet trilogy:Herald Square (described as “well-written, action packed and engrossing” in the Washington Times), The North Building, and The Hill of Three Borders.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download