Ep 126 - Thomas Maltman on Making Stories Real

About this episode

Thomas Maltman discusses his writing process and the inspiration behind his novel 'Ashes to Ashes'.

What do you do when you have no ashes the night before Ash Wednesday? You burn something, of course. And then twenty years later, you write a novel about it. That's exactly what happened to novelist Thomas Maltman, who teaches at Normandale Community College, is married to a Lutheran pastor, and has four novels under his belt, including Ashes to Ashes (currently in Minnesota Book Award contention). The real-life Ash Wednesday mishap became the premise for his latest book: What if the ashes wouldn't wash away? What if this happened in a small town? How would people react? That's how you turn an awkward church moment into compelling fiction. Dawn and Ruth also dive into Thomas's writing process. He shares his morning routine, drafting by hand with full permission to "write badly," then revising through typing, printing, and reading everything aloud. He talks about the value of writing community, headphones, and why you should always start new projects during those long publishing waits. This episode is for writers, obviously, but also for anyone who's ever wondered how real life becomes story. Because sometimes the best fiction starts with the moments that make you think "you can't…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ruth Hetland, Dawn Trautman

Guest: Thomas Maltman

Topics covered

• writing process
• fiction
• real life stories
• novel writing
• community
• Ash Wednesday

Keywords

• Thomas Maltman
• writing process
• Ash Wednesday
• fiction
• novel
• community

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Normandale Community College

Books & works: Ashes to Ashes

Places: Minnesota

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