Read and Write with Natasha

Crankiness might be the most honest creative fuel we all share, and Stephen Joseph has built an entire writing life around it. I sat down with Stephen, a first-generation American, practicing attorney, seasoned negotiator, and 53-time marathon finisher, to talk about how irritation can become humor, clarity, and surprisingly practical life lessons for writers and readers. We trace his “cranky” origin story from a travel mishap in Rome to a children’s book idea that snowballs into blogs and m...

What does it take to turn real life into a book readers can’t put down? In this episode, I talk with Dr. Amanda Edgar, award-winning author, ghostwriter, and founder of Page and Podium Press, about the craft and business of memoir and prescriptive nonfiction. Amanda shares how she helped document firsthand stories from the summer of 2020 for a follow-up to her 2018 Black Lives Matter book, and why she measures success not just in sales, but in impact and ongoing conversations. We also g...

Want your book and brand to break past your own audience? I sat down with SEO strategist and author Brandon Leibowitz to map the fastest path: guest podcasting. Brandon lays out how stepping onto trusted shows earns the backlinks and third‑party mentions that search engines crave, while also unlocking new readers who arrive pre‑warmed by the host's credibility. We dig into why backlinks still power rankings, how to turn each interview into an evergreen content engine, and where AI chang...

Richard McColl is a British writer, publisher, and podcaster who built something entirely his own in Colombia, and the lessons he's learned apply wherever you're trying to get your work into the world. In this conversation, we dig into Fuller Vigil, his boutique indie press publishing English-language books about Colombia with tight prose, lived experience, and beautiful design. You can watch the Video Interview here. Richard breaks down the actual business of independent publishi...

A single moment on a New York subway platform can flip a life. That’s where author and coach Deborah Mallow decided to stop living by default and design days that actually felt good. We invited her to share how that choice turned into a practical, design-forward guide: Six Steps to Fewer Days That Suck. We walk through each step with real-world examples. Start with the decision to change, then strip away the habits that feed worry and fear. Feed your mindset with bravery, not dou...