Living Writers 2026-04-08

The episode begins with host Tia Hetzel welcoming Laura Helfen-Thomas back to Living Writers, noting their previous conversation about her short story collection 'States of Motion'. Laura reveals that her debut novel 'The Meaning of Fear' originated from two stories in that collection about characters who later became Leah and Paul. She describes a key moment at a bounce house where a friend's comment—'people in pain tend to find each other'—inspired her to merge these characters into a novel. Laura discusses the novel's structure, which revolves around Leah's research on the fear response, including fear conditioning and extinction. She explains the challenging subject matter, including childhood sexual assault and trauma, and how she wrote from a composite of women's experiences. The novel is set in a Michigan township during the 2008 recession, with Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan as backdrops. Laura reads an excerpt where Leah encounters a deer cull and first sees Paul, a cop whose family farm was sold for development. She talks about the messy, non-linear writing process, emphasizing that not knowing the ending allowed the characters to drive the story authentically. Laura shares details about the novel's cover, which features a distressed buck and eerily mirrored a real-life car accident she had with a deer. She also mentions the book trailer and launches at local bookstores. The conversation touches on themes like moral ambiguity in animal research, female friendship with the character Dinah, and the role of music in the novel and Laura's teaching. The episode concludes with thanks to the engineering team and listeners.

As heard by us

Laura Helfen-Thomas traces The Meaning of Fear back to ants, science, guilt, and the shape of a novel.

Laura Helfen-Thomas returns to Living Writers with The Meaning of Fear, and Tia traces the novel back to States of Motion, the short story collection that preceded it.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get the novel's origin story, a Talking Heads cue, and a conversation that stays concrete throughout.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify