The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

Bestselling memoirist, chef, and former restaurateur Sarma Melngailis spoke with us about her much-loved restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, reclaiming her narrative post Bad Vegan, and her eight-year journey writing THE GIRL WITH THE DUCK TATTOO.

Sarma Melngailis is the founder of One Lucky Duck and co-creator of the acclaimed New York City restaurant Pure Food and Wine. Her notorious story of scandal and betrayal was the subject of the Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan—a series that left much of her story misrepresented.

Her bestselling memoir, The Girl with the Duck Tattoo, is described as a “reclamation” and “... a raw, unflinching memoir of how one smart, driven woman went from building a dream to being ensnared in a cult of one.”

Sarma is the author of cookbooks Living Raw Food and the co-author of Raw Food/Real World, and is currently in production on a new docuseries while working to re-launch her businesses. She is also graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the French Culinary Institute

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In Part One of this file Sarma Melngailis, Milena, and I discussed:

How she knew she would write the book while serving time at Rikers Island

The Art of Memoir as part of the healing process

When she knew the book would become an investigation and a cautionary tale

How memory plays tricks on us

Why she chose to publish her memoir independently

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for iOS, Android, Web

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/files! #squarepod

sarmaraw.com

linktr.ee/sarmamelngailis

The Girl with the Duck Tattoo: A Memoir by Sarma Melngailis (Amazon)

Sarma Melngailis on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter
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New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Kraus spoke with us about book promotion as an introvert, writing two books a year, his creative process, and his first sci-fi novel, THE SIXTH NIK.

Daniel Kraus is a New York Times bestselling novelist, screenwriter, and 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction for his novel Angel Down. His novel Whalefall received a front-cover review in The New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, and was named a Best Book of Year by NPR, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and more.

His latest novel is The Sixth Nik, “Perfectly aligned for readers of Iain M. Banks’s The Culture series and Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, The Sixth Nik is a galaxy-spanning adventure,” that Booklist called “Strange and intense and impossible to look away from … sf at its most daring.”

Daniel Kraus coauthored The Shape of Water with Guillermo del Toro, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus coauthored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy Award–winning Netflix series.

Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both Rotters and Scowler), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, and more. Kraus’s work has been translated into over 25 languages.

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In this file Daniel Kraus, Milena, and I discussed:

How he overcame the productivity “delays” of winning a Pulitzer Prize

When he sensed the momentum shift in his writing career

The distinctive honor he shares with Cormac McCarthy

Adapting Whalefall for the big screen

His first foray into science fiction

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for iOS, Android, Web

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/files! #squarepod

DanielKraus.com

Angel Down (Pulitzer Prize Winner): A Novel by Daniel Kraus (Amazon)

The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus (Amazon)

Daniel Kraus Amazon Author Page

Daniel Kraus on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter
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New York Times best selling author Dan Heath has a podcast called What It’s Like to Be... where he explores the world of work one profession at a time. It's a fascinating show for all those times when we've met someone with an interesting job and wondered what their day is actually like. We hope you enjoy What It's Like To Be... as much as we do!

New York Times best selling author Dan Heath has a podcast called What It’s Like to Be... where he explores the world of work one profession at a time. It's a fascinating show for all those times when we've met someone with an interesting job and wondered what their day is actually like. We hope you enjoy What It's Like To Be... as much as we do!

New York Times bestselling author, filmmaker, and decorated chef Eddie Huang spoke with us about his origins as a writer, the pivot from memoir to autofiction, and the personal transformation behind his debut novel COME UNDONE.

Eddie Huang is a chef, restaurateur, food personality, filmmaker, and polmath widely recognized for his bestselling memoir, Fresh Off the Boat, which inspired the hit ABC sitcom of the same name. Anthony Bourdain wrote of the book, “Mercilessly funny and provocative, Fresh Off the Boat is also a serious piece of work.”

Eddie recently published his fiction debut, Come Undone: A Novel, described as “a sharp, emotionally raw exploration of love, masculinity, and self-destruction.”

“A subversively funny first novel, the bestselling author of Fresh Off the Boat delivers a portrait of a haunted manchild and his messy search for love…”

Eddie is also a co-owner of BaoHaus, a restaurant in the East Village of Lower Manhattan, and was previously the host of “Huang's World” for Viceland. He wrote and directed the feature film Boogie (2021) and released the documentary Vice Is Broke (2024). He now co-hosts a popular lifestyle podcast alongside his wife, Natashia Perrotti, Canal Street Dreams.

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[If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen]

In this file Eddie Huang, Milena, and I discussed:

Why Good Will Hunting changed his life

The decade of self-doubt that followed runaway hit Fresh Off the Boat

How autofiction allowed him to access an emotional truth without the constraints of memoir

On not being Cormac McCarthy

What Anthony Bourdain's death meant to him personally

His key literary influences

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

ElevenReader is a new, award-winning audio app for iOS, Android, Web

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/files! #squarepod

Eddie Huang on Substack

Canal Street Dreams Podcast

“I Immediately Sh*t My Pants”: Eddie Huang’s Book Tour Confessions

Come Undone: A Novel by Eddie Huang (Amazon)

Eddie Huang Amazon Author Page

Eddie Huang on Instagram

Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer

diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram

Kelton Reid Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices