When Film Meets Fiction, with Entertainment Weekly journalist and novelist Maureen Lee Lenker

+ Juggling a day job with writing a novel

My guest today is Maureen Lee Lenker, who is a Senior Writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she reports on books, TV, film, and theatre. She is also the author of two novels: It Happened One Fight and My Girl Hollywood.

Today we take a look at creativity on both sides—writing about books while writing books, and how she taps into her creative energy without burning out on either end.

We also talk about:

  • what it's like to work at an entertainment magazine and how she pitches stories she wants to cover,

  • how to juggle a day job and writing fiction,

  • how the book industry has changed, from her perspective as a journalist,

  • book-to-film production companies,

  • and so much more.

I hope you enjoy the show!

»Watch here, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts! (please leave a rating for me on Apple or Spotify 💛)


🎥 Past episodes of the podcast live here!

»Interviews with New York Times bestselling authors including Alka Joshi, J. Courtney Sullivan, Alison Espach, National Book Award winner Sabaa Tahir, and many more.


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📚 Want more of Maureen?

book covers for Maureen Lenker's novels, showing women with an old-fashioned Hollywood vibe and a mustached gentleman in a tuxedobook covers for Maureen Lenker's novels, showing women with an old-fashioned Hollywood vibe and a mustached gentleman in a tuxedo

Her first novel, It Happened One Fight, is out now, and her next book, My Girl Hollywood, comes out in January and is available for preorder.

You can also find Maureen on her website, as well as writing about books and pop culture at Entertainment Weekly. Her podcast is Hollywood-ography.

CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY with Evelyn Skye
CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY with Evelyn Skye
Interviews with incredibly successful writers about how they rose from obscurity to build fulfilling careers. Learn something new each episode to make you more creative, inspired, and happy. Hosted by New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye.
🟨 Full video podcast available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with $1,000 & $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers, a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, creativity challenges, and more.