Chalk + Ink: Episode 92; Hermit Crab Essays and More with Nancy McCabe

Wow! Spring is here and I’m finally getting around to updating last spring’s episodes to this page. The good news is the episodes are evergreen—there’s tons of information for you to take away.

I loved learning from Nancy McCabe about how the structure of a hermit crab essay protects the vulnerable information it entails. It made me think about how writing is a protective shell for writers because we’re leaving a part of our heart within a book’s structure—if we’re doing our job right.

At the end of this episode, Nancy recommends several authors such as Sharon Draper, Jacqueline Woodson, and Andrea Chang.

She also talked about the controversy around Laura Ingalls Wilder’s work and recommended these titles to always be used alongside her novels:

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
Cabby Potts, Duchess of Dirt by Kathleen Wilford

Finally, we both agreed that Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me is a masterpiece.
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When you write, I hope that you find the perfect shell to house your vulnerable heart. In the meantime, have fun listening!