Passions & Prologues: A New Literary Podcast
Passions & Prologues: a new literary podcast
For more than a decade, I worked in the literary world promoting books and libraries. A major part of my job was to interview authors about the stories they write. Those interviews always centered around the latest book they were promoting and, while the conversations helped readers understand the stories better, the answers could get repetitive, especially if they’d done several interviews.
When we got one step outside of the plot of the book and into how the story was inspired, that’s where the good stuff happened. Whenever I asked about the author’s interests, they would light up. It made for much more lively interviews.
What comes before the stories?
I’ve always been interested in the process of how a writer conjures an entire world or set of characters out of nothing more than their imagination. Where did those made-up people come from? What inspires these authors when they’re not inspiring others?
And that’s how my new podcast, Passions and Prologues, came to life. Giving authors the opportunity to nerd out about things they love doing on their own time allows listeners to learn more about their favorite writers. Beyond that, it’s been crazy interesting to learn things like: how powerlifting has helped Mallory O’Meara become a better historian, how Phantom of the Opera lives rent free in all of Kalynn Bayron’s books, or how Ryan La Sala’s real life passion for cosplay became a larger than life book, which ended up becoming more fact than fiction after publication.
Introducing Passions and Prologues
Passions & Prologues is a weekly podcast where I will bring on authors of the books you love and ask about their inspirations. Regardless of whether you haven’t read a book in years or you’re a library power user borrowing five titles a week, I promise you’ll hear interesting (and unexpected) stories in each episode. And who knows, you might just find yourself a new passion of your own.
What to expect from the first episodes of Passions and Prologues
The first few episodes will feature some incredible authors including Rachel Harrison (The Return, Cackle), discussing the perfect story structure of The Twilight Zone. We’ll also hear from Kimberly Jones (I’m Not Dying with You Tonight, How We Can Win) on the joy of having weird collections. The first two episodes are out now, and you can listen to them here or subscribe to Passions and Prologues on your favorite podcast app.
On the first episode of Passions & Prologues, Adam brings on his good friend Mallory O'Meara to talk about her passion for powerlifting! Mallory, the James Beard Award-winning author of Girly Drinks and Lady from the Black Lagoon, shares the story of how she fell in love with the world of powerlifting.
Mallory and Adam touch on why working out has become an oasis away from their work lives, how lifting and running has helped change the way they both see their bodies, and the importance of community. They also discuss how working out inspires their writing and Mallory shares some books she's read lately. You can hear Mallory discuss books and book culture every week on the Reading Glasses podcast.
On the second episode Brad Meltzer (The Lincoln Conspiracy, Ordinary People Change the World series) joins the podcast to discuss a passion that he and Adam share - THE MUPPETS! They talk about their first memories of watching Sesame Street, how they bonded over a mutual love of the holiday classic Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and why they both see themselves in Kermit the Frog. Brad then shares a few family memories with The Muppets themselves before transitioning to talking about his research into Dolly Parton for his latest children’s book.
Enjoyed the show?
Be sure to rate and review us on whatever platform you listen to your podcasts and send your feedback to [email protected]. If you email us proof of your review, Adam will send you a personalized book recommendation via email!
