In this edition of Madison Book Beat, host Lisa Malawski talks with prolific author Jacquelyn Mitchard. Mitchard is now a frequent lecturer and professor of fiction and creative nonfiction at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpellier.

She once worked as a journalist at several Wisconsin newspapers, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Capital Times, where her husband also worked before his sudden death - a tragedy that prompted her to write her first book.

Lisa interviewed Jacquelyn for her book, A Very Inconvenient Scandal, published by MIRA/Harper Collins in November 2023. It's a title Jacquelyn says she hates and was forced to change.

Lisa and Jacquelyn sit down for a conversation about the importance of titling, dreaming through your characters, and how Jacquelyn prompted Oprah to start her infamous Book Club.

Jacquelyn loves telling stories. She tells Lisa she can't imagine a life without it, saying: "They say the history of humankind is shards of pottery, but it isn't. It's stories."

You can find more about Jacquelyn Mitchard at her website, jacquelynmitchard.com, where you can also sign up for her newsletter. You can also follow her Substack accounts, Everything Explained.