Ep 193: Kate Spencer

First Draft Episode #193: Kate Spencer

Kate Spencer, comedian, author of Dead Mom’s Club: A Memoir, and
co-host of fabulous podcast Forever35 talks about the
never-ending quest for confidence, exorcising grief and pain
through writing, and how a podcast about serums became a podcast
about feelings.
Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode



Amy Poehler, comedian, actress, writer, and director, who is
not from the same town Kate is from, but they both grew up
“outside Boston”




Early on in childhood Kate fell for The BabySitter’s Club
books by Ann M. Martin, and the Sweet Valley Twins series by
Francine Pascal, and then she fell for Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate
Douglas Wiggin and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson
Burnett.




Revisiting The Boxcar Children, written by Gertrude Chandler
Warner, with her daughter was a special bonding experience




Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and other “kids surviving intense
circumstances” books are so fascinating, right?!?




Kate’s eight-year-old daughter is plowing through Raina
Telgemeier’s graphic novels, including Smile, Sisters, and
Guts




The Fear Street books by R.L. Stine, It by Stephen King, and
V.C. Andrews’ books like Flowers in the Attic and Petals on
the Wind




The film Grease is not actually appropriate for young kids,
it turns out




When she moved to New York City, Kate signed up for classes
at the UCB Theater and rose through the ranks in the improv
community




I basically demand that Kate read Vacationland: True Stories
From Painful Beaches by John Hodgman because she went to
college in Maine




The two writers I mention who went to Vermont College for
Children’s Writing well into their careers are Ally Condie,
author of Matched, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe, and more
(listen to her First Draft interview here) and Brendan
Reichs, author of Nemesis, Virals, and co-author with Ally
Condie of The Darkdeep




On Grief by C.S. Lewis was one of the only books out there
for people experiencing loss for a long time




The poet Taije Silverman has written about the grief of
caring for her dying mother, and Kate found her work while
grieving for her own loss




Kate and her Forever35 podcast co-host Doree Shafrir’s
conversation on the By the Book podcast, in which Kate
discusses finding Twilight by Stephenie Meyer while grieving
and how it inspired her to write




“How I Finally Let Go of Grief for my Dead Mom,” Kate’s piece
in Buzzfeed about the pain of letting go of grief




Holly Root, founder of Root Literary, is Kate’s literary
agent




Kate’s husband is Anthony King, who has written for TV shows
Silicon Valley, Broad City, Search Party, Playing House and
more, and he co-wrote Beetlejuice: The Musical which has been
nominated for eight Tony Awards, including best musical




Kate is writing in Scrivener, a writing program




Elana K. Arnold, author of Damsel, What Girls Are Made Of,
Infandous, A Boy Called Bat, and more (listen to her First
Draft interviews here and here) said in her interview with me
that she feels like she might be ready to move on from
writing about anger and feminism




A Cup of Jo is the website and newsletter run by Joanna
Goddard that is packed




Kate wants to be up front about the fact that Vinter’s
Daughter sent her their Active Botanicals Serum, she did not
buy it herself




The Call Your Girlfriend episode that walked through an
OB-GYN appointment




Cat Winters, whose recent book, The Raven’s Tale, called for
her to research Poe a ton. In that process she discovered
that Edgar Allen Poe’s #1 hater outlived him, then wrote his
obituary and his first biography, which has shaped how we
think about Poe to this day. (Listen to Cat’s First Draft
episode here)


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