Podcast Summary: Totally Booked with Zibby

Episode: Tracy Dobmeier & Wendy Katzman, TEN THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS FROM OKAY

Date: January 15, 2026
Host: Zibby Owens
Guests: Tracy Dobmeier & Wendy Katzman

Episode Overview

This episode features Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman, best friends and co-authors of Ten Thousand Light Years from Okay. Zibby hosts a cozy, insightful live conversation—recorded at Zibby’s Bookshop pop-up in New York—about the pair’s writing partnership, their new novel’s emotional depth, the power of coincidence, and the messy, resilient process of both grief and creativity. Listeners also get a behind-the-scenes view of co-authorship, the unexpected sources of inspiration, and candid advice for aspiring writers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. About the Book: Premise and Themes

[04:48–06:39]

• Tracy Dobmeier:
  • “Ten Thousand Light Years from Okay is about a young, grieving, widowed writer who starts to fear that what she writes comes true after her husband dies in a way that mirrors a plot line from her debut novel.”
  • The main character, Thea, faces a tragic, sudden loss when her husband Sam, a tennis pro, is killed in an accident right after they learn positive news.
• Wendy Katzman:
  • The novel covers "heavier themes like grief and family and connection and resilience, but also sprinkled in with romance and whimsy."
  • Explores how “coincidence and superstition impact our lives.”
• Memorable banter:
  • “Do not go for a run!” (re: the protagonist’s husband’s fate)
    – [05:23]

2. Why Tennis? Integrating Life Experience into Fiction

[07:06–08:06]

• Wendy's background as a nationally ranked junior and collegiate tennis player directly influenced choosing tennis for Sam’s profession:
  • "We needed a sport where parental overinvestment and family entanglement made sense."
• The guest house/living arrangement became a key plot device, inspired by the world of elite sports families.

3. Writing Origins & Collaboration

[08:47–11:18; 21:19–24:07]

• The pair met in Seattle and became friends 25 years ago.
• They originally aimed to write a nonfiction book about friendship during crisis, before Tracy suggested, “What if we just made the whole thing up?”—leading to their fiction partnership.
  • “We literally Googled ‘how do you write a novel?’” (Tracy, [09:50])
• Their complementary working styles: Tracy brings “what if” energy and creative brainstorming; Wendy structures, organizes, and distills ideas.
• They plot extensively, using detailed outlines (up to 70 pages), then each writes assigned chapters and edits together.

Teamwork Dynamics Highlights

• “We check our egos at the door and really almost never fight...we try to get to an all caps YES on everything that we do.”
  – Tracy Dobmeier, [23:00]
• Wendy on Tracy’s creative spark: “My favorite words are ‘what if?’...they just keep pushing us to be better.”
  – [21:55]

4. Art Imitating Life: From ‘Seers of Upmarket Fiction’ to Novel Idea

[11:21–12:44]

• Coincidences in publishing: their early manuscript pre-dated the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, and a second project anticipated a real medical incident in pro sports.
• “Our agent said ‘you two are the seers of upmarket fiction.’” (Tracy)
• The premise of Ten Thousand Light Years from Okay—a novelist fearing her fiction predicts reality—grew out of these eerie coincidences and the authors' own superstitious tendencies.

5. On Writing Grief and Healing

[12:48–14:47]

• Tracy drew on personal experience with loss: “I lost my mom while I was pregnant...I spent five years in what I would consider almost like a delayed grief process.”
• The novel intentionally depicts varied approaches to grief—Thea’s intense mourning contrasted with her mother-in-law’s avoidance—showing, “there’s no one right way to grieve.”
• “You need to have grace towards yourself and your loved ones.”

6. The ‘Meta’ of Writing, Publishing & Authenticity

[15:50–17:17]

• The book contains insider looks at publishing, including writerly neuroses about tempting fate by writing certain plots.
• Tracy highlights the pressure on authors to do their own marketing:
  • “Her publisher is asking her to do all of this work to publicize and promote her own novel...can’t someone else do that for me?”
    – [20:17]
• Social media and rejection remain challenging, but the authors are candid about both struggles and joys.

7. On Aspiring Writers: Mindset & Courage

[29:16–31:40]

• Wendy and Tracy recommend the book Mindset by Carol Dweck:
  • “You want to have a growth mindset...it's about effort and attitude and working hard to recognize your potential.”
• They emphasize commitment, accepting vulnerability, and re-framing failure:
  • “It’s better to try and fail than to not try.” (Tracy, [31:17])

8. Book Talk & Inspiration

[27:37–28:58]

• Books they studied as aspiring authors:
  • Before the Fall (Noah Hawley), for structure and the hero’s journey
  • The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), for pacing and short, propulsive chapters
  • Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty), for handling multiple voices and domestic suspense
• “Every book I read, I’m like, I wish I’d written that! There are so many great books, but those were just three we actually studied.” (Tracy)

9. Why Read This Book?

[26:00–27:13]

• Wendy’s pitch:
  • “There are heavier themes of grief and connection and resilience…but also elements of whimsy and romance…and a lot of coincidence that really gets you thinking, how do you explain these things?”
  • “This book offers connection and thoughts about making those connections, and I think right now people want connection.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "What if we just made the whole thing up?"
  — Tracy Dobmeier, [09:50], on starting their fiction-writing adventure.

• “She does these, at first blush, harebrained ideas…but they're amazing because they just keep pushing us to be better.”
  — Wendy Katzman on Tracy, [21:55]

• “We check our egos at the door and we really almost never fight...We try and get to like the thing we’re super-excited about with exclamation points.”
  — Tracy Dobmeier, [23:00]

• “There’s no one right way to grieve, and that grief isn’t linear.”
  — Wendy Katzman, [14:38]

• “You want to have a growth mindset…when we started this journey, we didn’t really tell anyone what we were doing because we were worried, what if we were bad at this?...We realized we needed to embrace this growth mindset.”
  — Wendy Katzman, [29:24]

• "It's better to try and fail than to not try."
  — Tracy Dobmeier, [31:17]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:48] — Book premise and introduction of main character
• [07:06] — Tennis in the book & personal connection
• [08:47] — How Tracy and Wendy started writing together
• [11:21] — Real-life coincidences influencing novel premise
• [12:48] — Writing about different experiences of grief
• [15:50] — Meta-literary aspects & publishing realities
• [20:07] — Authors reflect on modern publishing and marketing challenges
• [21:19] — Teamwork and the “what if” question
• [24:13] — Writing process: outlines, drafting, and co-editing
• [25:50] — On pitching the book to new readers
• [27:37] — The books that inspired their craft
• [29:16] — Mindset advice for aspiring authors
• [31:44] — Lighthearted closer: best tennis stroke

Final Takeaways

• Ten Thousand Light Years from Okay is a novel born from lived experience, superstitious coincidence, and the deep bond of friendship and writing partnership.
• Dobmeier and Katzman’s collaborative process—anchored in trust, curiosity, and a growth mindset—offers inspiration both for readers and aspiring writers.
• The episode blends laughter, vulnerability, and practical wisdom, with an emphasis on embracing life's unpredictable connections and having the courage to create.

Recommended for fans of emotionally authentic fiction, writing-process nerds, tennis lovers, and anyone who appreciates the serendipity (and resilience) of creative friendship.