How Award-Winning True Crime Writer Kali White VanBaale Writes

#PodcastersForJustice

Award-winning novelist and creative writing professor, Kali White VanBaale, chatted with me about the transition from literary fiction to true crime, her work with the PEN America Prison & Justice Writing program, and taking chances.

Kali is an award-winning, Iowa-based author of novels, short stories, and essays. Her novel The Space Between (penned as Kali VanBaale), won an American Book Award, an Independent Publisher’s silver medal for fiction, and was winner of the Fred Bonnie First Novel Award.

Her latest is The Monsters We Make (as Kali White), a mystery loosely based on the real-life unsolved "Des Moines paperboy abductions" of the early ‘80s. Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Martin, author of The Bright Forever, said, “[The Monsters We Make] ... kept me on the edge of my seat. I truly did read this remarkable new novel in one sitting.”

Kali is a regular contributor to the A&E Network Real Crime blog series, and her short stories and essays have appeared in The Coachella Review, The Chaffey Review, Midwestern Gothic, Nowhere Magazine, Poets&Writers, The Writers’ Chronicle and others.

If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. In this file Kali White VanBaale and I discussed:

• The challenges writers had to overcome in 2020
• Her advocacy for social justice through writing
• How to cut yourself off from the rabbit hole of research
• On writing what scares you
• Why writers need to lean on revision
• And more!

At the break I've got a special segment with an inspiring young non-fiction writer you won't want to miss. Hint: She is an influencer, author, artist, and tech-savvy 10-year-old.

Stay calm and write on …

Show Notes:

• KaliWhite.com
• The Monsters We Make: A Novel by Kali White (Amazon)
• Past Ten
• PEN America Prison & Justice Writing
• The Paperboy Abduction Cases: The Legacy of Two Des Moines Boys Who Are Still Missing
• Kali White VanBaale on Facebook
• Kali White VanBaale on Instagram
• Kali White VanBaale on Twitter
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

_____

Prisha Hedau is a 10-year-old from Louisville, KY, and the author of PANDEMIC 2020: A 9 Year Old's Perspective.

Prisha is an elementary student who holds USA state and USA national level ranking in Chess and Math Kangaroo competitions.

She's also a budding philanthropist with a big heart!

In this file Prisha Hedau and I talked about:

• The importance of note taking
• Staying positive through tough times
• Her favorite book
• And how she helps the less fortunate

I know the audio is little rough, but it's an inspiring story.

Show Notes:

• PrishaHedau.com
• PANDEMIC 2020: A 9 Year Old's Perspective by Prisha Hedau

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices