Episode 141 - Kat Rosenfield - Memories of Murder

Two for Tea Podcast

General: Kat’s latest novel, You Must Remember This, from Harper Collins. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/you-must-remember-this-kat-rosenfield?variant=40371773407266 The novel will be released in the UK on the 2 March 2023 and can be pre-ordered here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/you-must-remember-this/kat-rosenfield/9780063207394 Kat’s website https://katrosenfield.com/ Kat’s novels available here https://katrosenfield.com/books/ Kat’s writing from Unherd https://unherd.com/author/kat-rosenfield/ and for Spectator World https://thespectator.com/author/kat-rosenfield/ Feminine Chaos podcast https://femchaospod.substack.com/ Follow Kat: Twitter https://twitter.com/katrosenfield?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Instagram https://www.instagram.com/katrosenfield/?hl=en References: Iona’s guest appearance on Feminine Chaos https://femchaospod.substack.com/p/mad-about-the-boys#details Kat’s previous appearances on Two For Tea: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/106-kat-rosenfield-mistress-of-murder https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/68-kat-rosenfield-dating-in-the-digital-age The writer Rebeca Christiansen at Areo https://areomagazine.com/author/rachristiansen/ and her appearance on the podcast: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/86-rebecca-christiansen-making-mayhem Timestamps: 00:00 Opening and introductions. 03.24 Iona reads a passage from Kat’s new novel. 15.14 Kat and Iona discuss what made Kat pivot to adult novels from her previous Young Adult titles. How Kat’s characters got older and their stories developed darker, more adult themes. 17.18 What led Kat to write for teenagers. Her work as a journalist for MTV and writing at the time of huge successes such as Twilight and The Hunger Games. She and Iona discuss what was available to younger readers in their own teens. The coming-of-age novels that felt more advisory than instructive, such as Judy Blume titles. Iona’s enjoyment of Austen, Tolkien, memoirs and diaries. 26.50 Iona and Kat talk about how women are drawn to reading and writing true crime and murder mystery. How murder mystery novels require the reader’s attention and allow us to experience danger at a safe distance. 36.00 The blandness and anachronism of some modern romance writing and screen writing. 38.00 The two timelines in Kat’s new novel; Miriam’s last Christmas, set in the present, and the other in her youth. 39.59 Iona reads a passage in which young Miriam plays hide and seek. 47.18 How Kat got into writing, 15 years ago. 49.08 Iona asks if the YA fiction scene became too restrictive in terms of social justice and the “own voices” movement. How YA publishing lends itself to moral panic. The way in which that can be misused for reasons of professional jealousy and how the phenomenon is hopefully on its way out. 55.00 Can reading be harmful? Kat relays a story of her own unpleasant experience reading Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. How conflating discomfort with harm shuts off the chance for growth and resilience. 1.03.24 Maine as a setting for Kat’s books. Her influences including Stephen King, Daphne Du Maurier and Shirley Jackson. 1.06.45 Thanks and outro. Sound engineering by Justin Ward Shownotes by Nicola Muir