Podcast Summary: The Stacks Ep. 416 – “I Only Wrote By Lava Lamp” with T Kira Madden

Host: Traci Thomas
Guest: T Kira Mahalani Madden (author of Whidbey)
Date: March 18, 2026

Episode Overview

In this richly insightful episode, host Traci Thomas welcomes award-winning author T Kira Madden to discuss her much-anticipated first novel, Whidbey. The conversation spotlights Madden’s transition from memoir to fiction, the complexities of genre-blending, and the process of constructing narratives centered on trauma, aftermath, and unreliable perspectives. They also delve into Madden’s unique writing rituals (including her use of typewriters and lava lamps), interrogating the act of storytelling and the ethics of crafting "unlikable" or unreliable narrators.

Key Discussions & Insights

Introduction to Whidbey and Genre Exploration

• [03:40] Madden summarizes Whidbey as the story of three women bound by the murder of a man who, in life, irreparably marked each of them: two as survivors of his sexual abuse, the third as his mother.
  • “We meet them mostly in the aftermath of his death.” – T Kira Madden
• [04:28] On genre, Madden frames the novel as “literary fiction dressed up as a thriller”:
  • “Straightforward thriller readers would not find exactly what they’re looking for here because it is more of a psychological work. But it does have a whodunit, why-done-it at its core.” – T Kira Madden

Subverting the “Whodunit”

• [05:59] Madden discusses her desire to challenge the whodunit trope, using it as a structural device while focusing on aftermath and trauma.
  • “If we remove the big bad boogeyman from the equation, does it disappear? Does this trauma disappear? Are things solved? Are they healed because he’s gone? … Of course not.” – T Kira Madden
• The conversation touches upon the unreliability of narrators and how genre expectations can create complicity for the reader.

Narrative Style & Structure

• [07:27] Abolishing quotation marks and using shifting perspectives are deliberate choices to immerse readers in uncertainty.
  • “I wanted the book’s style and its structure to do as much of the storytelling and tap on the themes as much as the characters are themselves.” – T Kira Madden
  • The decision to introduce quotation marks only when the perspective shifts to omniscience is meant to invite readers to question what is reliable or “of the record.”

Writing Through Ambivalence and Desire

• [11:40] Madden shares how her own experience in the justice system influenced her interest in “likability” and believability, both as an author and as a survivor.
  • “How do I do my hair or dress or speak or articulate this story for a jury or judge to consider me credible or ... like me … I wanted this book about the system … to really push on … the victim hierarchy.” – T Kira Madden

Character Development & Central Questions

• [22:33] Traci asks if each main character was anchored by a question:

  • Mary Beth: Madden explores the "potency of denial" as a mother to a perpetrator.
  • Birdie: How misdirected can rage be? How ruthless or selfish can suffering make someone?
  • Lindsay: What does deep repression do to someone who does not process trauma?

• Madden confirms writing started broad (“a thousand-plus pages”) before editing down to the book’s final form.

Writing Process & Rituals

• [31:01] Madden explains her ritualistic use of typewriters, contrasting machines for each book to match its energy.

  • “I have a different machine for each of my books … the color, the model, everything about it has to feel like the energy of this book … It’s like caring for myself because the machines are so beautiful.” – T Kira Madden ([35:08])

• Madden prefers writing drafts in the dark, heat cranked high, sometimes only by the glow of a lava lamp. She describes being highly “physical” in her approach, surrounding herself with objects that evoke the book’s setting and mood (e.g., models of slugs and driftwood for Whidbey, lava lamp and Tamagotchis for her memoir).

• Editing:

  • First drafts are written on typewriter and then transcribed, a process that forces her to “challenge every single sentence.”
  • Collaboration with her editor, Jessica Williams, helped her cut vast chunks, including entire storylines and subplots.

Play & Discovery in Writing

• Madden maintains a playful approach through:
  • Sensory rituals (touch, smell, objects on her desk)
  • Creative writing exercises (putting characters in dinners, sex scenes, etc.)
  • “It’s like being a method actor, but as a writer.” – Traci Thomas ([43:17])

Character Names & Tools

• [43:49] Naming is difficult; Birdie, for example, was initially “Corey” and evolved through poetic influences.
• Madden keeps an alphabet above her desk to diversify character initials and word choice for sonic variety.
  • “If I have random words written down … I can look up and say, ‘Let’s lean into F, let’s think about…’ it’s just kind of a game I can play with myself.” ([45:24])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On violence and responsibility:
  • “The book started because of a real proposition… on a ferry boat to Whidbey Island when I told a stranger what had happened … and the stranger said, ‘Would you like me to kill him for you? No one would know we ever met.’ I said no… but what if I said yes?” – T Kira Madden ([16:06])
• On writing as desire and fantasy:
  • “Fiction for me is all about desire. It’s all about fantasy. … I want my characters to be so different from me because that’s what’s fun.” – T Kira Madden ([14:27])
• On ritual & creativity:
  • “I only wrote by lava lamp and had glossy tabloids and Tamagotchis on my desk so the tactile objects ... could bring me into that place.” – T Kira Madden ([42:32])
• On humor in trauma:
  • “Many people who have survived trauma … we tell a story and we can laugh at it, even though everyone in the room might be like, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty dark.’ Because we have to find those moments of humor to survive them.” – T Kira Madden ([59:01])
• On writing across forms:
  • “I think I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller. I was a musician as a kid… then I decided, okay, it’s the written word, but I hope the music, the color, the texture, all of that play is still present.” – T Kira Madden ([47:20])

Books and Writers Mentioned

• Toni Morrison (Paradise, Book Club Pick)
• Namwali Serpell
• Adam Johnson (Fortune Smiles, especially “Dark Meadow”)
• Joy Williams
• Margaret Atwood
• Jane Hirschfeld (Ledger)
• We the Animals by Justin Torres
• Hetty McKinnon, Samin Nosrat (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat), Sola El-Waylly (Start Here), Helen Rosner, Tamar Adler (An Everlasting Meal), Alison Roman
• Linda Berry (Madden’s favorite writer)
• Alejandro Varela

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Book Summary & Genre Discussion: [03:40]-[05:59]
• Subverting the Whodunit / Narrative Unreliability: [05:59]-[11:18]
• Personal Experiences Shaping Fiction: [11:40]-[16:33]
• On Autofiction vs. Memoir: [16:33]-[18:48]
• Character Development & Central Questions: [22:33]-[23:56]
• Editing Downsizing from 1000+ Pages: [25:06]-[27:06]
• Writing Process, Ritual, and Typewriters: [31:01]-[36:11], [42:32]-[43:17]
• Maintaining Play/Fun While Writing Dark Topics: [41:43]-[43:17]
• Naming Characters & Alphabet Trick: [43:49]-[46:35]
• Background as Storyteller, Influence of Other Arts: [46:37]-[48:03]
• Cookbooks and Reading as Creative Rejuvenation: [48:48]-[53:26]
• Humor, Darkness, and Audience Perception: [55:46]-[60:48]

Closing Thoughts

Despite its heavy subject matter, Whidbey emerges in this conversation as a novel alive with play and invention, pushing boundaries in genre, character, and form. Madden’s honesty about her process—rituals, sensory triggers, editing heartbreak, and the sometimes absurd mechanics of creativity—opens a rare window into the craft of writing. There is also an undercurrent of community and collective storytelling, as highlighted in both Madden’s and Thomas’s enthusiasm for cookbooks as both literature and daily art.

Listen for:

• The fascinating overlap of trauma and play in Madden’s process
• The way form, materials, and physical environment shape her sentences
• Thoughtful, raw insights on belief, narrative, and the “victim hierarchy”

“I hope a reader can pick up on [the humor]. … Many people who have survived trauma … we tell a story and can laugh at it, even though everyone in the room might be like, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty dark.’” – T Kira Madden ([59:01])