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 the reset button on goals this week: Kelton powered through a low mental health stretch by focusing on necessary work, and Krisserin squeezed in 400 words of writing between travel chaos.

This week's guest is Courtney Maum, author of six books including the Vanity Fair-recognized publishing guide Before and After the Book Deal, the Today Show-selected memoir The Year of the Horses, and her upcoming novel Alan Opts Out (May 2026). Courtney brings twenty years of advertising experience, a trend forecaster's instinct for being "ten years early," and a take-no-prisoners approach to the writing life. She talks about deliberately going against her agent's advice to stay in one lane, why she thinks of herself as split between "art witch and money bitch," and how code-switching across genres is a professional joy, not a liability.

Courtney gets candid about Substack strategy—who it works for, who should take a beat, and her prediction that old-school quarterly author newsletters are making a comeback. She breaks down her "anti-workshop workshop" Turning Points, a week-long retreat on a remote New Mexico ranch that combines MFA-level craft work with MBA-level industry strategy, and explains why the traditional fifteen-page workshop model fails writers.

Plus: Kelton's goal for the week is to dive back into her novel's plot (inspired by Courtney's declaration that she knew Alan Opts Out was a Big Five book because "it had a plot"), Krisserin steals the same goal, and both hosts commit to sharing their plot structures with each other as accountability homework.

Books Courtney is reading right now:
• Hemlock by Melissa Eno
• Monster of a Land: On the Road in Search of Modern America by Lauren Hough
• Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour Ph.D.

Books mentioned by hosts:
• Wired for Story by Lisa Cron
• The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
• Magic Maker by Pam Grossman
• Wonderbook by Jeff Vandemeer

Learn more about Courtney Maum:
Website: https://www.courtneymaum.com/
Substack: Before and After the Book Deal
Turning Points retreat applications close April 30th
Pre-order Alan Opts Out from Oblong Books for a signed copy with lobster stickers

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Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com

Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios