Kristin Hannah, author of “The Women”
Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale. She also authored the NYT bestsellers The Great Alone, The Four Winds and, most recently, The Women, which shares the largely untold tales of women in the Vietnam War who served in the nursing corp. Warner Brothers already acquired the film rights even before the book’s release. (An interview with Kristin regarding The Great Alone can be found here.)
Kristin joins Marrie Stone to talk about The Women and why it took more than 20 years before she felt ready to tackle this topic. She talks about her approach to writing trauma and war without overwhelming the reader, and why writing about Vietnam was so different from writing about WWII. She also discusses what goes into researching a book like this and how she knows when she’s done enough. In addition to other writing advice, Kristin shares how Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones impacted her writing, why she writes in longhand, and much more.
For more information on Writers on Writing and extra writing perks, visit our Patreon page. To listen to past interviews, visit our website. You can also support the show by buying books at our new bookstore on bookshop.org. We’ve stocked it with titles from our guests, as well as some of our own personal favorites. By purchasing through the store, you’ll support both independent bookstores and our show. Finally, on Spotify you can listen to an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners.
(Recorded on January 18, 2024)
Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music and sound editing: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)