Today’s guest is Louis Bayard, the critically beloved and ever popular novelist, whose novel The Pale Blue Eye was adapted into the global #1 Netflix release starring Christian Bale. I’m honored to call Lou a friend, but I’ve been a fan since long before I met him, and it was a true pleasure to name him 1455’s Storyteller of the Year in 2022. The New York Times has written that Lou “reinvigorates historical fiction,” rendering the past “as if he’d witnessed it firsthand.” Anyone familiar with his work knows Lou combines brilliant storytelling with deep research, and his titles include like Courting Mr. Lincoln, Roosevelt’s Beast, The Black Tower, and Jackie & Me (ranked by the Washington Post as one of the top novels of 2022). A former instructor at George Washington University, his reviews and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Salon, and Lo is also a contributing writer to the Washington Post Book World. Lou is, quite simply, one of the most productive, respected, and erudite writers of our times, and to top it off, he’s also one of the nicest human beings, in the literary or wider world. We connected to discuss his latest novel, The Wildes, which Joyce Carole Oates praises as “a boldly audacious re-visioning of the martyrdom of Oscar Wilde, one which would have astonished Wilde himself.” We talk about his painstaking research (which fuels all his work), his indefatigable imagination, the routines and habits of any successful writer, and what it’s like to see famous actors playing roles he created. An hour is never enough with Lou, but this conversation is a continuation of an ongoing dialogue I look forward to continuing soon.

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ABOUT GUEST LOUIS BAYARD

Learn more about Lou's work at https://www.louisbayard.com

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ABOUT SOME THINGS CONSIDERED

Award-winning author Sean Murphy in conversation with creative thinkers, spanning the literary, music, art, politics, and tech industries. As a cultural critic, professor, founder of a literary non-profit, Sean is always looking to explore and celebrate the ways Story is integral to how we define ourselves, as artists and human beings. This Substack newsletter and weekly podcast peels back the layers of how creativity works, why it matters, how our most brilliant minds achieve mastery. Join us to explore how our most successful and inspired storytellers engage by discussing craft, routines, brand, and mostly through authentic and honest expression.

Tune in and subscribe at seanmurphy.live

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ABOUT HOST SEAN MURPHY

Website: seanmurphy.net

Substack: seanmurphy.live

Twitter: @bullmurph

Instagram: @bullmurph

Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorSeanMurphy

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sean-murphy-4986b41