Finding Voice and Author Identity with Anne Abel

·51 min·3 clips

Anne Abel says she went to Australia for structure, then came home with "a story about me that I was proud of."

Episode 202 starts in familiar WriterCraft territory. Valerie Isan and Eric Mertz introduce themselves, the show, the free story rubric, and the useful promise underneath it all: helping authors stay motivated long enough to finish their books. Then Ann Abel comes back on. Valerie sounds happy to have her there, and the planned topic is finding voice and identity through social media, though nobody seems desperate to keep the conversation on rails. Ann starts with persistence. She talks about not giving up if life has not turned into what you hoped for at 20, 30, or even 40. That thought keeps stretching. For Ann, the change that began when she went to Australia 12 years ago is still happening, still unfinished, and still tangled up with mental health. Perseverance needs company. She names hope as the thing that makes continuing feel possible, especially when courage is just getting through the day. Openness matters too. Ann remembers staying open at a concert when part of her would rather have been home in bed at 9 o'clock. Comfort is not really the point. She says almost everything she does sits outside her comfort zone, including social media and medical treatment she found terrifying but was told might help. The author talk stays close to the skin. Social media does not come off as a glossy platform hack. It is another uncomfortable thing she tried because maybe it would help. Then the business side slips in. Ann connects viral videos with people saying they were buying her memoir, Maddie Milo and Me, and with visible movement in Amazon ranking afterward. She sounds almost surprised by the whole thing. The episode lands as a warm, loose author identity conversation where craft, mental health, platform, memoir, and momentum all end up at the same table.

As heard by us

A warm, circuitous writer talk that ties voice, perseverance, and platform to real author work.

Valerie Isan and Eric Mertz keep the discussion centered on Ann Abel's search for voice and identity, and the episode is at its best when that thread is tied to social media, mental health, perseverance, and the way a memoir reaches readers.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want writer talk about voice, identity, and keeping going when the work feels uncomfortable.

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