Ep 171: [Interview] Shawn Smucker on Cowriting, Ghostwriting, and Prioritizing Your Own Work

At a writing conference held October 12 and 13, 2018, I interviewed three authors who served on the speaking team. We discussed all things writing, like their writing challenges, their writing process, and their advice for writers. All for you! I’m going to share these conversations with you, mixing them in with my standard short solo episodes; in other words, you won’t be getting all three interviews in a row. But you’ll know an interview from a solo show because I’ll include “interview” in the subject line—that way you can set aside a longer chunk of time to listen. Today, I bring you the first of the three: a conversation with Shawn Smucker. We discussed his work as a cowriter, ghostwriter, and novelist, and our discussion took place just before release day for his nonfiction book Once We Were Strangers. Shawn Smucker is the author of the novels Light from Distant Stars, The Day the Angels Fell and The Edge of Over There, as well as the memoir, Once We Were Strangers. He lives with his wife and six children in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You can find him online at www.shawnsmucker.com. Resources: * Light from Distant Stars, Shawn’s 2019 novel * Building a Life Out of Words, Shawn's free e-book chronicling his first year trying to make a living cowriting * Shawn's website: shawnsmucker.com * Shawn on Twitter: @shawnsmucker * Shawn on Instagram: @shawnsmucker * The Day the Angels Fell [affiliate link, which means I will receive a small compensation at no charge to you if you click through to check it out and purchase] * The Edge of Over There [affiliate link] * Once, We Were Strangers [affiliate link] * Favorite books Shawn has re-read to analyze and learn (all affiliate links): * All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr [paperback] * Home, by Marilynne Robinson [Kindle ebook] * Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson [paperback] * Lila, by Marilynne Robinson [Kindle ebook] *