With me on Writers at Work is Matthew Pearl, author of the novel THE AWARD. And I will say upfront that if you are a writer or want to be a writer or are curious at all about writers, this is a book for you.

Matthew Pearl is the author of many highly regarded and best-selling novels, including the historical fiction works THE DANTE CLUB and THE POE SHADOW, the latter about the death of Edgar Allan Poe. His THE TECHNOLOGISTS is an alternative history about the early days of MIT. In 2021, he published his first work of non-fiction, THE TAKING OF JEMIMA BOONE: COLONIAL SETTLERS, TRIBAL NATIONS, AND THE KIDNAP THAT SHAPED AMERICA – A TRUE STORY OF RESCUE AND REVENGE IN REVOLUTIONARY 1776. His journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Slate.

Which brings us to THE AWARD. The New Yorker said it "revels in its wickedness," and Tom Perrotta called it "addictive" and "propulsive" in comparing it to a Patricia Highsmith thriller. Without giving too much away, in THE AWARD, struggling novelist David Trent moves into a building in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On the floor below lived Silas Hale, a very famous author who, despite his acclaim, is disdainful to many, David perhaps most of all.

But then David wins a major award for his novel. Or does he? And chaos ensues. Who knew writing was such a fraught and deadly occupation. I found THE AWARD to be a lot of fun, its characters all too familiar, yet surprising in their actions.

With me on this first episode of Writers at Work of the new year is Lauren Rothery, author of TELEVISION, her debut novel.

If you visit laurenrothery.net, you'll find links to a number of short films she wrote and directed. As for TELEVISION, it's an intriguing, cleverly told novel about Verity, a famous actor who, after appearing in a hit film he detests, announces he will hold a lottery to give away the $80 million he stands to make from the picture.

Another primary character is Helen, an insightful, often cynical woman on the periphery of the entertainment business, and who Verity wishes were his wife. Then comes Phoebe, an aspiring screenwriter who can't seem to stop fantasizing about writing in order to actually write. The novel has a lived-in feel, in which we, the readers, swim in the characters' thoughts that are often mundane, occasionally astute, and always revealing.

As we approach the end of 2025, a special edition of Writers at Work. I speak with four writers I've known for almost 25 years: Peter Blauner, Reed Farrel Coleman, S.J. Rozan, and Peter Spiegelman. They are much-admired authors of mystery and crime fiction, with whom I've consulted and commiserated, and who have consulted and commiserated with each other as our careers as novelists careen like cars on a roller coaster.

If Writers at Work is about the joys, heartaches, challenges, and satisfaction of the creative writing process, they can discuss those outcomes in great and intimate detail. Peter, Reed, S.J., and Peter have experienced the highs the life of a novelist can bring. Publication by admirable houses, rave reviews, awards, the attention of Hollywood, and most importantly, the loyalty of readers.

They've also experienced the lows of the writer's life. Being dropped by those admirable houses, an absence of review, no nominations for awards, and silence from the film community. Thank goodness for those readers who remain true. To be a novelist is to be a solitary figure beset by uncertainty and doubt. To paraphrase Nietzsche, when you stare into a blank screen, the blank screen stares into you.

Peter, Reed, S.J., and Peter possess what I consider to be the most essential traits of a successful novelist, willfulness, courage, and a belief in their work regardless of whatever obstacles they may face. Let's find out how they do what they do and what they've learned from their experiences.

My guest on this episode of Writers at Work is Grammy winning music scholar, Rob Bowman, whose new book is LAND OF A THOUSAND SESSIONS: THE COMPLETE MUSCLE SHOALS STORY 1951-1985. If the role of Muscle Shoals, a town in Northwest Alabama, in modern music history doesn't immediately pop to mind, allow me to mention a few of the landmark tracks recorded there.

When A Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge, Land of a Thousand Dances by Wilson Pickett, You Better Move On by Arthur Alexander, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin, I'll Take You There by the Staple Singers, I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James, If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right by Luther Ingram.

And then came the 1970s. In pursuit of the earthy funk sound captured in those studios, the rock and pop world invaded and the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Jimmy Cliff, Paul Simon, and Bob Seger cut major hits there with members of the fame house band sitting in.

Then country came calling. Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Mac Davis, Jerry Reed, and so on. To say Rob captures it all doesn't quite get it. Clocking in at 762 pages, including essential indices and with its fluid narrative style, LAND OF A THOUSAND SESSIONS at times feels like a minute-by-minute history.

Fortified with a generous supply of photography and printed on beautiful stock, the book is as appealing as it is essential. As a fan of the music made in Muscle Shoals, and as a music journalist, I loved it. In addition to his Grammy nominated liner notes that are worthy of independent publication, Rob is also the author of SOULSVILLE USA: THE STORY OF STAX RECORDS and THE LAST SOUL COMPANY: THE MALACO RECORDS STORY.

With me today on Writers at Work is Marilyn Fu, screenwriter, whose ROSEMEAD starring Lucy Liu will open in New York on December 5. Directed by Eric Lynn, ROSEMEAD had its premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival and has been nominated for a slew of awards at such festivals worldwide. I've seen ROSEMEAD and found it deeply affecting and disturbing. I want to tread lightly because it is a finely woven tale I don't want to spoil. I'll ask Marilyn how we should proceed in discussing it.

Marilyn Fu is a graduate of Columbia University School of the Arts where she became the first recipient of the William Goldman Screenwriting Fellowship. As a reporter, she wrote for many Time Inc. publications. She wrote the screenplays for the 2014 thriller THE SISTERHOOD OF THE NIGHT, based on a Stephen Mullhauser short story, and the 2018 film THE HONOR LIST in which fourteen girls cope with the death of a friend. Moving forward, Marilyn wrote for the TV series THE BAXTERS and is a writer for THE COPENHAGEN TEST, a spy thriller to premiere in late December on Peacock.

As for ROSEMEAD, Marilyn received a 2025 Golden Horse Award nomination for best adapted screenplay, one of Asia's highest honors in cinema. Rosemead is the story of a Chinese American mother and son in Los Angeles whose lives are unraveling, mostly in secret from each other. It is based on a series that appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

With me on this episode of Writers at Work is Zorana Pringle, author of THE CREATIVE CHOICE: THE SCIENCE OF MAKING DECISIONS TO TURN IDEAS INTO ACTION. Zorana is a senior research scientist at the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence, where she currently serves as the director of the Creativity and Emotions Lab.

She recently joined me at a live Writers at Work event in New Haven, and I wanted you to have an opportunity to hear her views on writing and creativity, and had a few questions for her that I didn't get to ask her on that night. As a writer, Zorana is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and Creativity Post. With more than 25 years as a scientist studying creativity, she brings insight into the nature of the creative process, from the first decision to engage with new ideas, to its culmination in creative performance and product.

Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Artnet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, and other publications. Of The Creativity Choice, one reviewer wrote, "I've never read a clearer, more thoroughly researched, or more thoughtful framework for how we can all nurture creativity as a skill set. In the age of AI, when the last thing that will set humanity apart from machines is our creativity, I cannot think of a timelier moment for this book."

With me on this episode of Writers at Work is Todd Goddard, author of Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life, the first biography of the protean American novelist, poet and screenwriter, Jim Harrison. Harrison's output indicates the magnitude of the task that confronted Todd, 21 novels and novellas, 20 volumes of poetry, essays, memoirs and other non-fiction works, and contributions to screenplays including the adaptation of his novella, Legends of the Fall.

As Todd reveals, Harrison forged a unique, a uniquely American form of storytelling through his connection to the land, to spiritual matters, by a voracious appetite for reading that began in early childhood, and by friendships with many of his contemporaries in the arts. Perhaps fittingly, Harrison died at his writing desk, pen in hand, in 2016 at age 78.

Todd Goddard earned his PhD in Literary Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his JD at the University of Connecticut Law School. He is an associate professor of Literary Studies at Utah Valley University. In Devouring Time, the scholarship is obvious and deftly distributed, but what's most wonderful about it is how Todd brings Harrison to such vivid life.

As Carl Hiaasen, who was a friend of Harrison said, "The biography is raw and revealing, yet with a sensitive eye for both the pain and the talent that made Jim one of modern America's most intriguing poets and novelists."

With me on this episode of Writers at Work is Robbie Arnott, whose latest novel is DUSK, the hypnotic tale of adult twins, Iris and Floyd, who are in pursuit of a deadly puma across the Tasmanian wilderness. That desperate pursuit is also an attempt to escape from the reputation of their outlaw parents and perhaps find a place where they can belong.

DUSK is Robbie's fourth novel. His previous works have been acknowledged by nominations from many literary awards in Australia and beyond, including the Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers. His earlier novels, FLAMES, THE RAIN HERON, and LIMBERLOST are all available in the States. Last week, it was announced that Robbie was the winner of the ARA Historical Novel Prize, one of the richest literary awards in Australia, for DUSK. Of that novel, The Economist said, "This is a propulsive novel of survival and betrayal enriched by arresting depictions of nature." The Guardian added, "Arnott has an astonishing facility with language, and his prose imbues the Tasmanian wilderness with an extraordinary beauty."

I fully agree with those assessments.