<![CDATA[The Spark]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!F-lq!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3061879-3989-4547-92e0-cd91b46eaf7e_256x256.pngThe Sparkhttps://madelynpostman.substack.comSubstackThu, 03 Sep 2026 15:41:55 GMT<![CDATA[24 Nectar for Writers]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/24-nectar-for-writershttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/24-nectar-for-writersSat, 15 Aug 2026 17:00:56 GMTHello from a very hot UK, in the middle of our fifth heat wave of the year. Yesterday, a national alert came through on everyone’s mobile phones warning of wildfire risk and to not use disposable barbecues or set off fireworks. In these scary times, I’m grateful more than ever to lose myself in fiction—with the exception of this month’s nonfiction reading recommendation, which happens to feature some very cold weather.

📚 Recommendation for ravenous readers

North to the Future: An Offline Adventure Through the Changing Wilds of Alaska by Ben Weissenbach (Grand Central Publishing, 2025)

At the age of twenty, college student Ben Weissenbach went north to Arctic Alaska armed with little more than inspiration from his literary heroes and a growing interest in climate change. What met him there was a world utterly unlike the 21st century Los Angeles in which he grew up—a land of ice, rock, and grizzlies seen by few outside a small contingent of scientists with big personalities.

There’s Roman Dial, the larger-than-life ecologist with whom Ben walks and rafts a thousand miles across Alaska’s Brooks Range. There’s Kenji Yoshikawa, the reindeer-herding permafrost expert who leaves Ben alone for eleven days to care for his off-grid homestead, where temperatures drop to -49 degrees Fahrenheit. And there’s Matt Nolan, the independent glaciologist who flies him to the largest glaciers in the American Arctic.

As these scientists teach Ben to read Alaska’s warming landscape, he confronts the limits of digital life and the complexity of the world beyond his screens. He emerges from each adventure with a new perspective on our modern relationship to technology and a growing wonder for our fast-changing—ever-changing—natural world.

Winner of the 2025 National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA)
One of Smithsonian Magazine's Top Ten Books of 2025

Also mentioned: Looking for a Story: A Complete Guide to the Writings of John McPhee by Noel Rubinton

👣 My moseying

My big update is that I have signed up for The Finished Novel Course with The Novelry. A couple of weeks in and I am absolutely loving it. It starts with The Big Idea, then The Big Write, then The Big Edit. It’s self-paced and I’ve been doing the recommended one lesson per day, which fosters a consistent writing practice. And there are coaching sessions, a ton of live and recorded classes, and a whole community which I haven’t even started interacting with yet.

Though I already had my idea and outline for my novel, and had written about a quarter of it (20,000 words), The Big Idea is already strengthening it.

Also, I’ve offloaded Instagram from my phone, only occasionally checking messages using my laptop browser. I’ll download it once a month to post there when The Spark is published. The amount of time and headspace this has freed up is remarkable.

One other way I’ve freed up time and mental energy is by not checking my work emails on my phone. I’ve gotten a lot better at reviewing them on my work laptop during working hours, which allows me to process them more efficiently too.

These three things—doing The Novelry course, not being on Instagram, and being more focused with my work emails—are already accelerating my progress with my second book. Whoop whoop!

🎙️ Interview with Genevieve Marenghi

I met Genevieve Marenghi at the Alliance of Independent Authors stand at the London Book Fair in March 2026.

With a BA in English and Philosophy, Genevieve worked for eleven years at the Weekend FT, where she helped create and launch How To Spend It magazine.

She volunteered for years as a National Trust guide at Ham House. This became the setting for her debut art heist novel, No Oil Painting. Inspired by a recovered stolen Titian, No Oil Painting was listed for the inaugural Women’s Prize Trust and Curtis Brown Discoveries Award. It’s the first contemporary novel to be set at a National Trust property.

Genevieve’s writing has also been listed for the Writers’ & Artists’ Short Story Competition and has featured several times on the award-winning Failing Writers podcast. In addition, she’s been interviewed on BBC London Radio and more recently, by bestselling author and Founder Director of the Women’s Prize, Kate Mosse, at the 2026 Women’s Prize Live event.

Her writing uses dark humour to probe the difference between our perception of people and their true selves. The gulf between what is said and what is meant. Public transport is a writer’s goldmine and she shamelessly earwigs on juicy conversations. Women aged over fifty are essentially invisible and she views this as a kind of superpower. Unlike her protagonist Maureen, she hasn’t used this to commit art theft. Yet.

Fueled mainly by chocolate, crisps and Prosecco, Genevieve values live music and laughing with friends. She has also developed an alarming fondness for museum shops and fridge magnets.

Books mentioned:

You can find Genevieve at genevievemarenghi.com, on Instagram @genevievemarenghi, Bluesky @stgenevieve, Facebook, and Threads.

Please listen to the audio for the full interview, on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun

🇺🇸 US Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🇬🇧 UK Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🎧 Audiobook on all platforms (produced by Mercury Calling)

“Things My Dad Told Me” in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by Mercury Calling.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[23 A Creative Force]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/23-a-creative-force-aechttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/23-a-creative-force-aecWed, 15 Jul 2026 20:14:48 GMTSorry—sending this again since the podcast show notes were incorrect!

Welcome back to The Spark as you know it, featuring a reading recommendation, updates on my moseying, and an author interview.

📚 Recommendation for ravenous readers

Fallout by Eleanor Anstruther (Empress Editions, 2026)

Bridget is fifteen and already tired of being told how the world works. Her father is building a fallout shelter in the garden. Her mother is holding the family together with routines and silence. And at school, no one is saying anything that feels true. So when Bridget hears about the women camped outside a military base at Greenham Common—protesting nuclear missiles, refusing to leave, she goes. At first, it’s just curiosity.

Then it’s something else.

Because Greenham isn’t what she expected. It’s chaotic, alive, and full of women who don’t ask permission. They argue, organise, clash, and care for each other in ways Bridget has never seen before. Here, the rules feel different. Looser. Sharper.

And the longer she stays, the harder it is to imagine going home.

But nothing at Greenham is simple. Beneath the solidarity, tensions simmer. Voices collide. Loyalties shift. And as Bridget is pulled deeper into this volatile, exhilarating world, she begins to see cracks—not just in the movement, but in everything she thought she understood about family, power, and herself.

👣 My moseying

The pace of life feels very different on the other side of my Staring into the Sun US and UK book tour. I have more creative headspace and am looking forward to getting back to my work in progress, a novel. I’ve already written about a quarter of it (20,000 words) but haven’t worked on it since the end of last year. So I sent it to my Kindle and re-read what I’d written, straight through, no edits or notes. The next step is getting back to the actual writing!

🎙️ Interview with M. Leona Godin

Leona with her portrait by Roy Nachum. Photo by Alabaster Rhumb.

Leona is a classmate of mine from grade school in San Francisco. We recently reconnected through group emails ahead of our 40th (!) reunion, which neither of us was able to attend. But we did meet up in New York at the Museum of Chinese in America, where I had a book event on June 3.

M. Leona Godin is the 2025-26 Jean Strouse Fellow at the New York Public Library Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers and the author of There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness. Her writing on art, technology, and disability culture has appeared in The New York Times, Art in America, ARTnews, Literary Hub, O Magazine, and elsewhere. She’s received support from MacDowell, Yaddo, and the New York Public Library’s Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellowship. She is the founding editor of Aromatica Poetica, an arts and culture laboratory for the advancement of smell and taste. Godin lectures widely on multisensory culture and access, and her experimental performances use scent and touch to explore sensory translation and blindness as a creative force.

Please listen to the audio for the full interview.

Books mentioned:

You can find Leona at drmlgodin.com and on Instagram at @drmlgodin. Aromatica Poetica is currently open for submissions.

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun

🇺🇸 US Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🇬🇧 UK Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🎧 Audiobook on all platforms (produced by Mercury Calling)

“Things My Dad Told Me” in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by Mercury Calling.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[22 Staring into the Sun]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/22-staring-into-the-sunhttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/22-staring-into-the-sunMon, 15 Jun 2026 10:50:42 GMTNews flash: I’m not taking a break from The Spark after all. I am, however, streamlining the format slightly. There will be one reading recommendation every month and I’m dropping the writing tips and resources. Updates on my moseying will continue, as will the mainstay of the podcast: the author interviews.

On my US book tour for Staring into the Sun, a friend from primary school suggested that I be the next interview subject. The first conversation partner I thought of was Jason Buchholz, author of A Paper Son and The Cartographer of Sands, and the co-founder and co-owner of writing consultancy Collaborist. I hope that you enjoy the interview as much as I did!

📚 Recommendation for ravenous readers

Interior Chinatown: A Novel by Charles Yu (Pantheon, 2020)

Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as the protagonist in his own life: he’s merely Generic Asian Man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but always he is relegated to a prop. Yet every day, he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO (single-room occupancy) and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy—the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. Or is it?

After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he’s ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family.

👣 My moseying

As of today, I’ve had nine Staring into the Sun events between the UK and the US. These have been incredible, each one unique and special. I’ve discovered that I can talk endlessly about my book, which is not a surprise to anyone I’ve come across in the last decade.

It’s been fun as the events have progressed to have more and more people attending who have read the book. Their questions are consequently much more specific, either about writing process or particular “characters”.

Huge thanks to the people and organizations who have helped put together these magical events, and to everyone who attended. The next reading is on Saturday, June 20, 11am-12:30pm at my local Amersham Library.

If you would like to get your hands on a copy, see the links below.

🇺🇸 US Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🇬🇧 UK Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🎧 Audiobook on all platforms (produced by Mercury Calling)

🎙️ Interview with Madelyn Postman

In conversation with Jason Buchholz. Please listen to the audio for the full interview.

Books mentioned:

Also mentioned:

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun

🇺🇸 US Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🇬🇧 UK Buy paperback | ebook (published by Ten16 Press)

🎧 Audiobook on all platforms (produced by Mercury Calling)

“Things My Dad Told Me” in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by Mercury Calling.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[May...I take a break?]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/mayi-take-a-breakhttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/mayi-take-a-breakFri, 15 May 2026 19:36:32 GMTStaring into the Sun is out in the wild! The paperback and ebook are published by Ten16 Press. The audiobook, available soon, is read by Kate Hammer, Anthony Postman, and myself and it’s produced by Mercury Calling.

🇺🇸 US Buy paperback | ebook

🇬🇧 UK Buy paperback | ebook

☕️ A break from The Spark

As I had announced in January before giving into the temptation of releasing some audiobook teasers in February, March, and April, I’m going to take a break from The Spark. I may come back to it later in the summer or autumn, or I may not. Working four days a week plus current book stuff and wanting to continue writing my second book doesn’t leave a lot of time for the podcast and newsletter, much as I love it. But (on the other hand—which hand am I on now?) I truly value the community The Spark creates with authors, readers, publishers, bookshop owners, and other “literary citizens.” So watch this space!

🗓️ Book tour dates

I’ve already had three incredible launch events in the UK. Check out Instagram for photos. Next stop: Reno and Carson City, Nevada! Then it’s the San Francisco Bay Area and finally, New York Chinatown.

Back in London, join me at The RSA in June.

  • Fri, June 12 — The Royal Society of Arts, London (free tickets here)

Huge thanks to the people and organizations who have helped put together these magical events. It’s a dream come true for me. See you on the flip side!

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[21 Excerpt of "An Upright Man"]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/21-excerpt-of-an-upright-manhttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/21-excerpt-of-an-upright-manWed, 15 Apr 2026 08:08:57 GMTAhead of the publication of my debut, Staring into the Sun, in May, I hope you enjoy this excerpt from the third chapter, “An Upright Man.” It’s about my great-grandfather, Henri Wu.

Staring into the Sun can be pre-ordered in the US with Ten16 Press and it’s already available for purchase in the UK. The audio book is read by Kate Hammer, Anthony Postman, and myself and it’s produced by Mercury Calling.

🗓️ Book tour dates

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun will be published by Ten16 Press in May 2026 in paperback and ebook. The audio book is read by Kate Hammer, Anthony Postman, and myself and it is produced by Mercury Calling.

The book can be pre-ordered in the US with Ten16 Press and it’s already available for purchase in the UK.

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[20 Excerpt of Staring into the Sun]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/20-excerpt-of-staring-into-the-sunhttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/20-excerpt-of-staring-into-the-sunSun, 15 Mar 2026 10:34:55 GMTHere’s an excerpt from the second chapter of my debut, Staring into the Sun. “Gold Mountain” takes place in 1895, Long Tow Wan village in Canton. Song is my great-grandfather, later known in the US as Joe Shoong. He would go on to found the National Dollar Stores and become one of the first Chinese American millionaires.

Staring into the Sun can be pre-ordered in the US with Ten16 Press and it’s already available for purchase in the UK. The audio book is read by Kate Hammer (including “Gold Mountain”), Anthony Postman, and myself and it’s produced by Mercury Calling.

🗓️ Book tour dates

More details coming soon!

  • TBC — Friday-Sunday, April 17-19 — Outland Publishing Fair, Pekham, London

  • Friday, May 1 — Season’s Cafe, Amersham, UK (let me know if you want an invite)

  • Tuesday, May 5 — Queen’s Park Books, London (let me know if you want an invite)

  • Sun & Mon, May 24 & 25 — Venues TBC, New York

  • Weds, May 27 — Brewery Arts Center, Carson City, NV

  • Thurs, May 28 — The Radical Cat, Reno, NV

  • TBC — Sat, May 30 or Sun, May 31 — The Pearl, Locke, CA

  • Sat-Mon, May 30-June 1 — Venues TBC, San Francisco Bay Area

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun will be published by Ten16 Press in May 2026 in paperback and ebook. The audio book will be produced by Mercury Calling.

👉 Preorder links coming soon! 👈

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[19 First excerpt of Staring into the Sun]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/19-first-excerpt-of-staring-intohttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/19-first-excerpt-of-staring-intoSun, 15 Feb 2026 09:42:56 GMTLast month, I announced that I would stop The Spark newsletter and podcast indefinitely. But then, chatting with a friend, I asked myself: why don’t I use this platform to share an audio excerpt of my debut, Staring into the Sun? So please enjoy the beginning of the first story, “Things My Dad Told Me.” This story was shortlisted in The Hope Prize and published by Simon & Schuster Australia in the anthology, Tomorrow There Will Be Sun.

🗓️ Book tour dates

Here are my planned tour dates. Specific event details coming soon!

  • Sat & Sun, May 23 & 24 — New York

  • Tues-Thurs, May 26-28 — Reno

  • Fri, May 29 — Locke, CA

  • Sat-Sun, May 30-31 — San Francisco Bay Area

Share The Spark

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun will be published by Ten16 Press in May 2026 in paperback and ebook. The audio book will be produced by Mercury Calling.

👉 Preorder links coming soon! 👈

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[18 Comics and Traditional Chinese Painting]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/18-comics-and-traditional-chinesehttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/18-comics-and-traditional-chineseThu, 15 Jan 2026 10:26:31 GMTThis will be the last edition of The Spark podcast and newsletter, maybe for a while, maybe ever. I will be using the time freed up to focus on my short story collection, Staring into the Sun. I do love The Spark as a means to connect to other writers, so we’ll see what happens to it.

For the full interview with Teresa Wong, tune in to The Spark wherever you listen to podcasts.

📚 Recommendations for ravenous readers

Here are the recommended reads for January.

  • Dear Scarlet by Teresa Wong (2019)

    In this intimate and moving graphic memoir, Teresa Wong writes and illustrates the story of her struggle with postpartum depression in the form of a letter to her daughter Scarlet. Equal parts heartbreaking and funny, Dear Scarlet perfectly captures the quiet desperation of those suffering from postpartum depression and the profound feelings of inadequacy and loss. As Teresa grapples with her fears and anxieties and grasps at potential remedies, coping mechanisms, and her mother's Chinese elixirs, we come to understand one woman's battle against the cruel dynamics of postpartum depression.

  • There There by Tommy Orange (2018)

    This novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. They converge and collide on one fateful day at the Big Oakland Powwow and together this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism.

Share The Spark

✏️ Resources for wonderful writers

My Instagram feed shared a couple of upcoming book festivals on both sides of the pond.

👣 My moseying

This is the year that Staring into the Sun will be published. It’s nearly ready to go to print. I finally finished the endnotes and the acknowledgments. Professor emeritus Robert G. Lee of Brown University wrote an afterword that places Joe Shoong’s story in historical context. Ten16 Press is publishing the paperback and ebook in May 2026. Mercury Calling will produce the audio book.

It’s full speed ahead with marketing now!

🎙️ Interview with Teresa Wong

I came across Teresa Wong when fellow 1% for the Planet business member Tinu Mathur of Mathur & Co gave me All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey.

Teresa Wong is the author of the acclaimed graphic memoirs All Our Ordinary Stories and Dear Scarlet, both longlisted for CBC Canada Reads and finalists for the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize. All Our Ordinary Stories received two Alberta Literary Awards and was also a finalist for the 2025 Governor General’s Literary Award in nonfiction. Her comics and writing have appeared in The Believer, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s and The Walrus. She teaches graphic narrative through Gotham Writers Workshop and was also the 2021–22 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary.

Books and authors mentioned:

Teresa can be found on Instagram @by_teresawong and at her website byteresawong.com.

Tune in to the The Spark podcast for the full interview.

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun in May 2026, published by Ten16 Press in paperback and ebook, audio produced by Mercury Calling.

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[SUN 22. Through These Halls ]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-22-through-these-hallshttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-22-through-these-hallsSat, 27 Dec 2025 08:00:34 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: The Outstanding Descendants, Part 3

Read more

]]><![CDATA[SUN 21. The Outstanding Descendants, Part 3]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-21-the-outstanding-descendantshttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-21-the-outstanding-descendantsSat, 20 Dec 2025 08:00:21 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: The Outstanding Descendants, Part 2

Read more

]]><![CDATA[17 From Hybrid to Self-Publishing]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/17-from-hybrid-to-self-publishinghttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/17-from-hybrid-to-self-publishingMon, 15 Dec 2025 11:08:43 GMTFor the full interview with Maggie Smith, tune in to The Spark wherever you listen to podcasts.

📚 Recommendation for ravenous readers

Here is the recommended read for December.

  • All Our Ordinary Stories by Teresa Wong

    Beginning with her mother’s stroke in 2014, Teresa Wong takes us on a moving journey through time and place to locate the beginnings of the disconnection she feels from her parents. Through a series of stories--some epic, like her mother and father’s daring escapes from communes during China’s Cultural Revolution, and some banal, like her quitting Chinese school to watch Saturday morning cartoons--Wong carefully examines the cultural, historical, language, and personality barriers to intimacy in her family, seeking answers to the questions “Where did I come from?” and “Where are we going?” At the same time, she discovers how storytelling can bridge distances and help make sense of a life.


    I’m excited to announce that Teresa will be our guest author in January!

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✏️ Resource for wonderful writers

  • The Outland Publishing Fair spotlights creative publishing practices from Chinese and Sino-diasporic communities in London and worldwide. Bringing together leading practitioners and their works across various regions, the fair aspires to establish a vibrant network that catalyses the translocal and intercultural mobility of Sinophone publications. It is scheduled for 17–19 April 2026 at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham in South London.

👣 My moseying

  • I’m making progress with getting Staring into the Sun ready for ARCs (advance reader copies) and other marketing ahead of its publication by Ten16 Press in May 2026.

🎙️ Interview with Maggie Smith

I first heard Maggie Smith either on the podcast she hosts, Hear Us Roar, or being interviewed on The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast. After getting my deal with Ten16 Press, I got in touch with her to ask how it was working with the publisher and she was very generous with her feedback and sharing resources.

In a career that’s included work as a journalist, a psychologist, and the founder of a national art consulting company, Maggie Smith added novelist to her resume in 2022 with the publication of her debut, Truth and Other Lies. Her second novel, Blindspot, was published in May 2024. Maggie also hosts the weekly podcast Hear Us Roar, where she interviews debut authors about their novel and their path to publication. She blogs monthly on Substack and is a board member of Novel Book Camp and the Chicago Writer’s Association, where she serves as Managing Editor of their Write City Magazine. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband.

Books mentioned:

Maggie can be found on Substack as @maggiesmithwriter, on Instagram as @maggiesmithwrites, and at maggiesmithwriter.com.

Tune in to the The Spark podcast for the full interview.

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun on Substack, weekly through the end of 2025.

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[SUN 20. The Outstanding Descendants, Part 2]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-20-the-outstanding-descendantshttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-20-the-outstanding-descendantsSat, 13 Dec 2025 08:00:37 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: The Outstanding Descendants, Part 1

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]]><![CDATA[SUN 19. The Outstanding Descendants, Part 1]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-19-the-outstanding-descendantshttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-19-the-outstanding-descendantsSat, 06 Dec 2025 08:00:54 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Magic, Part 4

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]]><![CDATA[SUN 18. Magic, Part 4]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-18-magic-part-4https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-18-magic-part-4Sat, 29 Nov 2025 08:01:16 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Magic, Part 3

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]]><![CDATA[SUN 17. Magic, Part 3]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-17-magic-part-3https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-17-magic-part-3Sat, 22 Nov 2025 08:01:20 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Magic, Part 2

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]]><![CDATA[16 Stories Begging to Be Told]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/16-stories-begging-to-be-toldhttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/16-stories-begging-to-be-toldSat, 15 Nov 2025 13:52:42 GMTFor the full interview with publisher Michael T. Braun of Orange Hat Publishing and Ten16 Press, tune in to The Spark wherever you listen to podcasts.

📚 Recommendations for ravenous readers

Here is the recommended read for November.

  • When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016)

    At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

    Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015.

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✏️ Resources for wonderful writers

  • This month, a single suggestion: to find balance between your writing and everything else in your life. My own life is super busy right now, so I’ve streamlined this month’s edition!

👣 My moseying

  • The cover design of Staring into the Sun is pretty much finalized. Can’t wait to share it with everyone, probably early next year. Many thanks to Dana Breunig at Ten16 Press for the design.

  • I’m still working on the end notes of my book.

  • With all this life busy-ness, I’ve dropped my novel-writing group earlier than planned. I was going to see out the year with three more meetings, but stopped it early. I plan to get back to writing my novel in the second half of 2026.

🎙️ Interview with publisher Michael T. Braun

I met Michael after submitting my manuscript to Orange Hat Publishing, one of about twenty submissions I made to independent publishers. His first email to me, which arrived auspiciously on my twentieth wedding anniversary, had the subject line, “Let’s Work Together on Staring Into the Sun.”

Michael T. Braun is the owner and editor-in-chief of Orange Hat Publishing and its imprint Ten16 Press. He holds a BA in English literature and an MA and PhD in communication science, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before purchasing Orange Hat from its founder, he worked in academic research and program evaluation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Medical College of Wisconsin. In addition to his role at Orange Hat, he is an adjunct professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, teaching writing.

Books mentioned:

  • Haven: A Small Cat’s Big Adventure by Megan Wagner Lloyd

  • The Hallmarked Man by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith

  • The Forgotten 500 by Gregory A. Freeman

  • A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

  • The Magicians by Lev Grossman

  • Tailspin by John Armbruster

Michael can be found on Instagram as @brauninthebooks. Orange Hat Publishing is at orangehatpublishing.com, on Instagram, and on Facebook. Ten16 Press is also on Instagram and Facebook.

Tune in to the The Spark podcast for the full interview.

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun on Substack, weekly through the end of 2025.

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.
Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

Thanks for reading The Spark! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Share The Spark

]]><![CDATA[SUN 16. Magic, Part 2]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-16-magic-part-2https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-16-magic-part-2Sat, 15 Nov 2025 08:00:45 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Hearts on Fire, Part 3 / Magic, Part 1

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]]><![CDATA[SUN 15. Hearts on Fire, Part 3 / Magic, Part 1]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-15-hearts-on-fire-part-3-magichttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-15-hearts-on-fire-part-3-magicSat, 08 Nov 2025 08:00:38 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Hearts on Fire, Part 2

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]]><![CDATA[SUN 14. Hearts on Fire, Part 2]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-14-hearts-on-fire-part-2https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-14-hearts-on-fire-part-2Sat, 01 Nov 2025 08:01:06 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Gold Mountain Diggers, Part 3 / Hearts on Fire, Part 1

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]]><![CDATA[SUN 13. Gold Mountain Diggers, Part 3 / Hearts on Fire, Part 1]]>https://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-13-gold-mountain-diggers-parthttps://madelynpostman.substack.com/p/sun-13-gold-mountain-diggers-partSat, 25 Oct 2025 07:01:07 GMTThis is a serialization of short story collection, Staring into the Sun. Start here for more info and the full index.

Previous installment: Gold Mountain Diggers, Part 2

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