Episode Details
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The Not-So-Secret Writing Life: Second Careers & Secret Societies with Karen Winn (E193)
Description
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Karen Winn. Karen is the author of two novels: The Society (Dutton, 2026), and Our Little World (Dutton, 2022). She earned her MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. For her undergraduate studies she attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she may or may not have belonged to a secret society.
Writing is her first love and second career; she worked as a nurse for many years. Karen lives in the charming Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston with her husband, two children, and their 100-pound Bernedoodle.
Karen and I chatted about all this things - including switching careers and how her nursing skill set translated into her novel writing. Her book flight includes books about secret society and outsider protagnoists who get access.
Episode Highlights:
- Transitioning from nursing to fiction writing—and navigating a second career.
- How medical training shapes character development and emotional realism.
- Writing as a “secret identity” before stepping fully into the role of author.
- The influence of place and setting, especially Boston’s Beacon Hill, on creativity.
- Exploring secret societies in fiction.
- Outsider protagonists who suddenly gain access to hidden worlds.
Connect with Karen:
Show Notes
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Books and authors mentioned in the episode:
- Lucy Foley books
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
- The Found Object Society by Michelle Maryk
Book Flight
- The Cloisters by Katy Hays
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
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- A few family conversation starters + a simple activity
Three books. One common theme.
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