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About This Podcast
Join writers and parents Krisserin Canary and Kelton Wright as they navigate the journey of publishing their first novels. From California to Colorado, these friends share their experiences with first drafts, revisions, query letters, and the rollercoaster of rejection. Each episode offers an honest look at balancing creative ambitions with daily life, featuring candid conversations about writing craft, time management, and staying motivated. Whether you're a fellow writer or just love a good behind-the-scenes story, Pen Pals proves that every creative journey is better with a friend.
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Recent Episodes
S2E35 The Untold Women Who Shaped the American Outdoors with Heather Hansman
Kelton brings on one of her favorite outdoor writers: Heather Hansman, award-winning journalist, contributing editor at Outside Magazine, and author of Downriver and Powder Days. Heather's newest…
S2E34 The Case for Abandoning Your Book (For Now)
📋 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Pen Pals has a listener survey and we need your feedback to make the show even better. Fill it out at: https://form.typeform.com/to/kIosWT3L — it takes just a few minutes…
S2E33 What Breathwork Unlocks for Writers with Amanda Fletcher
Krisserin and Kelton are running on fumes — sleep-deprived, burned out, and staring down a summer deadline that feels impossible. Enter Amanda Fletcher: writer, breathwork practitioner, PEN Center…
S2E32 ER Visits, Cozy Reads, and the Grace of Not Writing
Krisserin checks in from a Kansas City hotel room fresh off an unexpected ER visit in St. Louis — chest pains, a CT scan, and a lot of unanswered questions — while Kelton battles a household plague…
S2E31 Alli Hoff Kosik on Writing Christian Influencers with Heart in Too Blessed to Stress
This week on Pen Pals, Krisserin and Kelton sit down with debut novelist Alli Hoff Kosik to discuss her buzzy new novel, Too Blessed to Stress — a sharp, funny, and unexpectedly tender story about…
S2E30 The Compulsive Liar at Your Desk: A Conversation About AI and Reading
Krisserin and Kelton are running on fumes—and they're honest about it. Both hosts arrive at this week's accountability check-in feeling ragged: Krisserin is limping toward summer with a fried brain…
S2E29 Rachael Maddux on Self-Publishing a Book You Can't Let Go
Krisserin and Kelton sit down with writer Rachael Maddux (Life Expectancy: A Memoir, The Void, Third Person) to talk about what happens when a book you’ve spent 14 years writing never sells through…
S2E28 Who Are We Writing For—And Who Are We Reading?
Krisserin and Kelton barely make it to record — 15 minutes late despite trying to be 30 minutes early — and that kind of week sets the tone. Kelton's survived two weeks of Colorado spring break…
S2E27 Ramona Ausubel on Getting Unstuck
Kelton is on a record-breaking week — 5,563 words across three chapters — after ditching Scrivener for the freedom of a Google Doc. Krisserin finished two short stories and sent them to beta readers,…
S2E26 Our First-Draft Summer Pact
Spring break writing wins, a faux lip ring verdict, and the announcement of a big summer challenge: both hosts commit to finishing their first drafts by Labor Day. Krisserin wrote three times this…
S2E25 "No Agent Is Better Than a Bad Agent": Lauren Khan on Finding the Right Fit
Krisserin attended Rachel Hochhauser's birthday book signing in Studio City and wrote 3,300 words on her middle grade love story. Kelton got a rejection with feedback from her dream agent — a…
S2E24 Art Witch, Money B*tch: Courtney Maum on Writing Across Genres and Getting Paid
Kelton's launching the Rewilding Spring Almanac and kicking off the first night of the murmuration, while Krisserin just landed back from Ohio—sick kid and 90-degree weather whiplash. Both hosts hit…
S2E23 Bad News at 5AM, Good News from New Mexico, and the Minimum Viable Writing Week
Krisserin opens with a rollercoaster week: a 5 AM email from her agent pushing book submission to late spring, followed by the joyful news that she's been accepted to IAIA's MFA program in New…
S2E22 The Co-Host Lore Episode
Krisserin and Kelton finally answer the question listeners keep asking: who ARE these people? This week it's just the two of them — no guest, just origin stories, childhood chaos, and big three…
S2E21 From Dramatically Quitting Writing to a Major Two-Book Deal: Rachel Hochhauser on Lady Tremaine
Kelton wraps up her Rewilding winter class and launches something new—a free monthly writing practice called the Murmuration—while Krisserin confesses she's started a secret new project (2,400 words…
S2E20 Cait Flanders: From Blog Experiment to Bestseller (and Back Again)
Kelton gets her first agent rejection and refuses to sugarcoat it—while Krisserin shares what she learned about advances, deal structures, and editor wish lists from her meeting with agent Kima…
S2E19 Bonus Episode: Inside the Debut Author Survey with Emily Zipps
We couldn't just talk about Emily Zipps' debut author survey — we had to talk to her. Krisserin and Kelton sit down with Emily herself — author of Alice Rue Evades the Truth and the forthcoming The…
S2E18 What Debut Authors Actually Get Paid (And Why We're Mad About It)
What does a debut author actually get paid? Krisserin and Kelton dig into Emily Zips' survey data and don't love what they find—average two-book deals for $50K, most authors working day jobs, and…
S2E17 Mark Sarvas on Writing Novels That Can't Be Ignored
Krisserin panics her way through a grad school application (wrong link, wrong deadline, wrong page numbers), while Kelton enters the querying trenches—19 Google Docs open, three agents contacted, and…
S2E16 When a Miracle Slides Into Your DMs: On Agents, Advances, and Anxiety
Kelton's inbox delivers a dream: an agent from a respected agency slid into her DMs after discovering her writing on Substack. The excitement is real—but so is the anxiety of navigating what comes…
Frequently Asked Questions
Pen Pals has published 54 episodes since February 2025, covering topics in Arts.
Pen Pals is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 58m.
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