As writers, we are always bringing so much into the work that is not just that time that you're sitting at your desk, or wherever it is that you work.

Join us as Kaitlin talks with Vanessa Hua, an award-winning columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, and the author of the national bestseller A River of Stars (https://www.amazon.com/River-Stars-Novel-Vanessa-Hua/dp/0399178783). She wrote, and most recently published a novel Forbidden City (http://www.vanessahua.com/forbidden-city ).

Vanessa and Kaitlin met in 2009 at the Breadloaf Writers conference in Middlebury, Vermont, and continued their writerly friendship in LA, where they were both living at the time.

You can expect to hear all about the new novel, Forbidden City, the inspiration behind it, and Vanessa’s tips on how to write a successful novel while juggling motherhood and other care responsibilities.

Vanessa and Kaitlin talk about:

• The mental shifts and practical processes Vanessa puts in place to help her be more centred & intentional about her writing while juggling the many competing demands and distractions in her life as a mother, wife, daughter, columnist, teacher, sister, friend, etc.
• The significant impact that our lived experiences have on our practice as writers and creatives; seeing the work we do through this lens helps us reframe our interaction with the world as valid, valuable, and ‘productive’.
• How Vanessa navigates the private and public in her work, especially when she's both a novelist and a journalist, which require different hats and different sets of writing tools.
• …and of course, what postpartum and productivity mean to Vanessa.

Visit our website at postpartumproduction.com for the full show notes.

Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.

You can find Vanessa at her:

Website: http://www.vanessahua.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mononoke97/

And check out her new book, Forbidden City: http://www.vanessahua.com/forbidden-city

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