Emil Wilson – The Nightingales.

Based in San Francisco, Emil Wilson is an advertising art director and illustrator as well as a comic artist. His work has appeared in magazines and newspapers, on websites, the Oscars, even the Super Bowl. You’ve probably seen his work and not known it. The Nightingales is his first book, a graphic novel. He sets it in Oregon and the story he tells is semi-autobiographical. It’s the story of a family, a sick man, a charitable act by one family member and the repercussions that act has for the other members of the family.

Set in 1985, the novel has strong relevance to today—the social phenomenon called othering, how people deal with issues, or don’t, the meaning of an offer of sanctuary.

Emil talks with host William Miller about the themes of the novel, the seeds of the story, how he shaped it and the why’s behind his choices, and his work to illustrate it—spreads rather than panels, for example—that together resulted in the created artifice this novel is.

• The true family story that inspired The Nightingales
• Why the novel is set during the AIDS epidemic of 1985
• Compassion versus fear during times of crisis
• Growing up in small-town Oregon
• Family dynamics under extraordinary circumstances
• The challenges faced by LGBTQ+ communities during the early AIDS crisis
• How volunteering with AIDS patients shaped Wilson's life
• Creating a graphic novel that feels like memory instead of a comic book
• Using sketchbooks and visual language to tell emotional stories
• The lasting impact of kindness and empathy

• Small acts of compassion can have life-changing consequences.
• Fear often grows from misunderstanding and lack of information.
• Kindness sometimes comes with personal sacrifice but can transform everyone involved.
• Graphic novels can tell emotionally rich literary stories equal to traditional novels.
• Memory is imperfect, and visual storytelling can capture its emotional truth.
• Understanding people unlike ourselves begins with empathy rather than judgment.
• Family relationships are rarely simple, but compassion can bridge difficult divides.

This episode is perfect for:

• Readers of literary fiction
• Graphic novel enthusiasts
• Fans of memoir and family stories
• Writers and illustrators
• History enthusiasts interested in the AIDS epidemic
• LGBTQ+ history readers
• Anyone interested in stories about compassion, resilience, and humanity

Find out more about Emil through his website.

Follow Emil on Instagram.

Purchase your own copy of The Nightingales here.

#TheNightingales #MLWilson #GraphicNovel #BookTube #AuthorInterview #LiteraryPodcast #UpstartCrow #WilliamMiller #BookDiscussion #HistoricalFiction #Memoir #VisualStorytelling #LGBTQHistory #AIDSCrisis #BookLovers

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This entire episode is also available for viewing on our YouTube channel.

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Recorded & Produced by Jon D PodCom

Be sure to check out our website for more information about our hosts, guests, and ways you can support the show: UpstartCrow.org

Follow us on Facebook here.

Thank you for listening to Upstart Crow, a part of Watershed Lit Radio.

© 2026 Upstart Crow Podcast – All Rights Reserved

Lina Patton – The Lake Club

A spirited read about the sort of people who spend summer days sitting poolside and playing golf, versus ambitious young adults starting their lives and wanting to right all the wrongs they know of even as they make their own mistakes. Competing goals among a troika of main characters, mysteries, wrongs to be set right—all within a tight-knit community in the land of 10,000 lakes.

Lina Patton is a writer, illustrator, and teacher. She is a native of Maine who spent her teen years in Minnesota. She earned her BA from Elon University and her MFA from George Mason University. Her writing has appeared in Elle, The Cut, Narrative, and Driftwood Press, among other publications. She and her husband lived abroad for seven years and currently live in Washington, DC. The Lake Club is her first novel.

Hosted by William Miller

• Lina Patton discusses how her debut novel The Lake Club evolved from a single character's perspective into a layered story about class, power, ambition, and belonging.
• The conversation explores the realities behind wealth and privilege in exclusive communities and how fiction can reveal hidden social dynamics.
• Patton explains how mystery, romance, and character-driven storytelling work together to create narrative tension.
• A fascinating discussion on writing craft, including lessons learned from acclaimed author and teacher Alan Cheuse at George Mason University.
• The episode examines how character motivation drives plot and why understanding what characters truly want is essential to compelling fiction.
• Patton shares how real-life experiences in Minnesota country clubs, advertising, and international living informed the novel's setting and characters.
• Insights into the difference between literary and commercial fiction—and why great storytelling can successfully blend both.

"Writing is an act of empathy. Reading is an act of empathy."

"When you're young, you think if you just put the puzzle pieces into place, you'll become the version of yourself you want to be." - Lina Patton

Find out more about Lina and purchase your own copy of The Lake Club on her website.

#LinaPatton

#TheLakeClub

#AuthorInterview

#BookPodcast

#LiteraryFiction

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This entire episode is also available for viewing on our YouTube channel.

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Recorded & Produced by Jon D PodCom

Be sure to check out our website for more information about our hosts, guests, and ways you can support the show: UpstartCrow.org

Follow us on Facebook here.

Thank you for listening to Upstart Crow, a part of Watershed Lit Radio.

© 2026 Upstart Crow Podcast – All Rights Reserved

Zach Powers – The Migraine Diaries: A singular, first-person novel.

This story goes into the interior life of a thirty-something man who has just lost the best friend he ever had, a man he has known for ten years, a man he has seen most every day of those ten years as they pursued their separate creative projects and shared a social life, a man who knew to kick the narrator’s butt when it needed kicking and offer the right encouraging words when it was words and not a kick the narrator needed. All of that, suddenly gone. Told in the form of a headache journal, the novel renders the first year of loss starting with the beachside funeral/ash spreading of the friend’s remains, and captures the mix of headache hopelessness with the need to carry on, building to the final resolve. In this way, it is like life itself. Not all bleak. Filled with humor. Even offering moments of weirdness.

Zach Powers is the author of the short story collection Gravity Changes, winner of the BOA Short Fiction Prize; and also a prior novel, First Cosmic Velocity, which combines history and fiction to look at the sham of the Soviet space program in 1964 and earlier. His writing also has appeared in American Short Fiction, Lit Hub, and other publications. He is the executive and artistic director of The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and Poet Lore, the nation’s oldest poetry journal. He is originally from Savannah, Georgia, and now lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Hosted by William Miller

• Zach Powers discusses how The Migraine Diaries functions not just as a grief novel, but also as a chronic illness narrative and, most importantly, a story about friendship and surviving loss together.
• The conversation explores the ethics of writing chronic illness narratives, especially avoiding the traditional “everything gets resolved” story arc that doesn’t reflect real-life experiences with migraines or grief.
• Zach shares deeply personal inspirations behind the novel, including the deaths of close friends and his own struggles with chronic migraines, while emphasizing the book is fiction rather than autobiography.
• A major theme of the interview is how friendship can become the emotional anchor of a story, sometimes even more powerful than romance.
• Zach explains his fascination with experimental storytelling, layered narratives, fragmented structure, and allowing readers to interpret meaning rather than over-explaining themes.
• The discussion dives into the surreal “corgi” sequences in The Migraine Diaries, which blend grief, hallucination, memory, and imagination into symbolic emotional journeys.
• Zach reflects on his earlier novel First Cosmic Velocity and how his writing evolved from more traditional narrative structures into more expansive and unconventional literary forms.
• The episode also explores Zach’s acclaimed short story collection Gravity Changes, including his philosophy that fiction does not need to explain every surreal or impossible element to the reader.

“You don’t have to explain the sheep.” — Zach Powers on discovering the freedom of literary fiction and surreal storytelling.

“The friendship aspect is the actual thing driving everything in the background — how to be a good friend and maintain that in the face of adversity.”

Find out more about Zach Powers on his website.

This entire interview is also available to watch on our YouTube channel.

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Recorded & Produced by Jon D PodCom

Be sure to check out our website for more information about our hosts, guests, and ways you can support the show: UpstartCrow.org

Follow us on Facebook here.

Thank you for listening to Upstart Crow, a part of Watershed Lit Radio.

© 2026 - Upstart Crow Podcast – All Rights Reserved

#LiteraryFiction

#WritingCommunity

#BookPodcast

#AuthorInterview