Episode 193: #WriterDreamsComeTrue

She writes Emmy-winning television comedy, bestselling children’s books, plays, and sentences for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Is there nothing Jill Twiss can’t do?

Musical theater actress and stand-up comic Jill Twiss dreamed of writing for television but did not know how to break in to the world of late-night comedy shows. The stars aligned when a few supportive women called some chits on her behalf, and lo, she landed a spot in the writing room of the Emmy-award winning show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Her work on Last Week Tonight has earned her multiple Emmys, WGA and Peabody Awards, and led to a series of bestselling children’s books as well as the opportunity to write humorous “Can I have that word in a sentence, please?” hints for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This week, Jill and Jess talk about how Jill got her start in television, her love of Vice President Mike Pence’s pet rabbit Marlon Bundo, how her children’s books came to be, their shared need for pressing deadlines, and Jill’s play-in-progress about the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention.

Episode links and a transcript follow—but first, you know we dropped the Top Five Ways to Find the Right Agent to pitch into everyone’s inbox last Monday. What will our supporters find there this Monday? It’s SO FRESH WE DON’T EVEN KNOW. But if you become a supporter, you will. Support the podcast you love AND get weekly #WriterTopFives with actionable advice you can use for just $7 a month.

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LINKS FROM THE PODCAST

#AmReading (Watching, Listening)

Jess: Good Luck with That by Kristan Higgins

Jill: The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois

Our guest for this episode is Jill Twiss.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo

The Someone New

Everyone Gets a Say

The Marlon Bundo episode of Last Week Tonight (full episode):

Just the excerpt about A Day in The Life of Marlon Bundo with a clip of the animated all-star cast audiobook:

This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwritingfor details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s Inside-Outline template.

Find more about Jess here, Sarina here and about KJ here.

If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship.

The image in our podcast illustration is by Kate DeCarvalho.

The music in our podcast is by Max Cohen.

Transcript (We use an AI service for transcription, and while we do clean it up a bit, some errors are the price of admission here. We hope it’s still helpful.)

KJ: 00:01 Hello fellow writers. The beginning of the year is a great time to think about what you really want from your writing life and if one of the things that's filled you with joy in the past is time spent encouraging, editing, and helping another writer you might want to consider becoming a book coach yourself. Our sponsor, Author Accelerator provides book coaching to authors like me, but also needs and trains book coaches. And they'll be hosting a free book coaching summit in January for anyone who wants to learn more. If that's got your ears perked up, head to authoraccelerator.com/summit. Is it recording?

Jess: 00:39 Now it's recording.

KJ: 00:40 Yay.

Jess: 00:40 Go ahead.

KJ: 00:41 This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone and try to remember what I was supposed to be doing.

Jess: 00:45 Alright, let's start over.

KJ: 00:47 Awkward pause and I'm going to rustle some papers.

Jess: 00:50 Okay.

KJ: 00:50 Now one, two, three.

Jess: