Josh Parkinson reads a short story he wrote in high school. This absolute banger involves a fly, a car crash, and a response from the local authorities that you won’t see coming. Is it worth an hour of your time? We think so. It did win 3rd place in 1991.

"I became an early bird writer because I had to be, and it hasn't really left my body."

On this episode, we are joined by Gina Welch, award winning Castle Rock screenwriter. We explore Gina's decision to ditch the mullet and reinvent herself in 8th grade, her obsession over Twin Peaks and impressing her English teacher Mr. Gould and the joy of entertaining people with story.

"In this image-text memoir, I create an archive out of a myriad of sources: family photographs, images I’ve made, news clippings, videos, and conversations. "

On this episode we have Ada Zhang in the studio with us to share an early piece of work and discuss her journey to become a writer. We also talk about being a theater kid at Texas football schools, her flight from business major to writer and blogging at its peak.

"Broken Clock is unique in the fact that it focuses on time. This can be as specific or as vague in the submissions as the contributors would like, but all the pieces are centered around a specific topic within time."

"The book opens with stories of new love—crushes, first dates.  There is a longer story tracing a relationship from beginning to end, followed by stories about breaking up and then starting over, finding just the right person to fall in love with again."

"As a parent, you can’t help but wonder if you’re doing it right, where you’re falling behind, is everyone having more fun than you, do these kids even like me??? I think that way as a parent and a Dungeon Master."

"The stories are completely unlinked, and encompass a mix of genres: there’s horror, science fiction, historical fiction, and a ghost story or two, alongside quite a bit of flash fiction."

Lila Byock stops by the studio to talk about her time writing for the acclaimed series Watchmen and her current projects. We discuss growing up in Missoula, Montana, fact-checking at The New Yorker, the magical powers of Cheerios, her transition to TV writing and the collaborative nature of a writers' room.