From Irish Ghosts to Door County (Hour 3)

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And now, a guy who believes a penny saved is in jack sh**.

Pete Schwabba.

It's true.

It's nothing.

They might discontinue the penny anyway, and that was a great...

lead in con because we're talking about sweat.

Exactly.

Yeah, thank you.

Welcome back to a nightlight, ladies and gentlemen.

Act three is officially underway.

If you missed the first two hours, head to civicmedia.us and you can catch those in podcast form.

In hour number one, I talked to Ryan Albers, who is the event chairperson for a new top dog.

Go to newtopdog.com.

It's a great event that raises money for pet rescues and kids.

You can't beat it.

And in the second hour, we made the popcorn pick of the week.

My pal, Hannah Lopez, was here and talked and picked birdcage.

Yeah.

That's a great one.

In fact, we got a text.

John Murray in the 608 says, that's the wrong one.

He says, great popcorn pick.

Going to rewatch tomorrow during the lockdown.

See, in my opinion.

During the lockdown,

you guys are so lucky.

You should get a taste of the profits on that, because someone's going to rent birdcage.

That's going to be amazing.

And the studio won't go.

They'll be like,

who's doing?

Yeah.

Get on that.

You're a journalist.

You could put the fear of God into them.

So that is also available at civicmedia.us.

Conn, I think it's time we reintroduce our question of the night.

Let's talk about the question.

OK, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

OK, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Question.

Questions.

Pregunta.

How do you feel about swearing?

Do you let your kids swear?

I've really mellowed out about this folks.

I have to say when I was a kid, I did not swear in front of my parents.

They were kind of more proper and they just did not stand for it.

And especially since I was the oldest, I couldn't do anything.

Yeah, I'm with you there.

Are you the oldest?

I am.

And there's a great comedian, Mike Dugan, who used to say I was the youngest of seven when my brothers were older.

They couldn't do anything by the time I got to high school.

It was pretty much no heroin in the living room.

It's true like my younger siblings got away with stuff.

I never I

was just talking to my mom about that on the way over here

Yeah,

my youngest sister.

She were like constantly my mom didn't let us go out on school nights

same my parents were

like Friday Saturday, maybe Sunday if you're lucky right my sister's like I'm going to Starbucks my mom's like, okay like

It's one of

those things.

She's like, oh, can I go to the mall?

But it's also because she's the only one at home.

So my parents are like, she's not going to be here all the time.

You know, we feel bad that she's the only one here.

And I'm like, guys, what?

Where are we doing this?

It doesn't sound like you've gotten over it.

No, I'm not.

I'm not over it.

I don't even like when I was a kid in Chicago, in our hood, basically, my parents would say I was the oldest.

It was be home by dark.

That was

my mom.

That was my mom.

So if other kids, they were running all over, they were in different neighborhoods, younger than me, I'm like, what is going on in that house?

So I would try to get the party back to our yard, but when it didn't work, I just have to go.

You're

like,

all right, I guess.

I'm tired, I'm going to turn in.

Well, my sister, so I took the bus and the train.

My mom's like, no, my sister, that's the one thing she can't do is bus or train.

I love a good public transportation system.

I'm one of those people Controversial I miss the CTA like a lot of people have thoughts on that but I do I miss public transportation.

I miss you know Being around people even though my headphones on it's just like nice being like all they're probably Hating their morning to that they're cold on this train, but my sister's just no they my mom's like no

I'm totally with you.

I'm kind of like an inside guy, and I'm a proud inside guy.

I'm not I don't

hunt or fish.

I have fished, but I don't, it's not my thing.

I don't snowmobile, but, and I, I like being around, and we talked about this during the break.

I like being around people.

I like living in a city.

I feel safer there rather than, like you said, out with the children of the corn or the in cold blood.

That's my fear

in cold blood.

We'll never get over that.

I read that in high school.

I think about that constantly.

I'm like, there's something wrong with me or there's an episode of that.

So Raven where there's like a scarecrow that's like haunted.

Think about that constantly and my siblings make fun of me for it.

They're like, why do you remember that?

That's such like a

It's weird like you were talking about public transportation and I remember like in college and when I was an adult and doing stand-up and stuff riding the the bus and the owl and all that kind of stuff and When you go back when you've been gone for a while like I live in Wisconsin now in a pretty remote area, which is very

Easy to live in so when I go back to the city I think I I should pick it up and I would take my kids there when they were younger I'm like well just jump on the Elk come on I got to and then you go there and it's like they totally changed everything you're

like Oh No before I left and that was like the I don't I shouldn't say the best thing ever because there were like less seats but it then I had like this little like iPad thing being like Jefferson Park is next you know like Fullerton or Obviously they announced your stops and everything it would be like Clark and Lake

But it would say it on like this iPad and I was like, this is

awesome.

Technology is great here.

You do have to do it often though because you get like, I'm in a bubble now.

My little world is Marinette and Green Bay.

I come here every day and sometimes I go to Madison for my other gig and I do the show from there.

But it's all about familiarity.

Like how long have you been in Northeast Wisconsin now?

Year and a half?

Almost a

year and a half.

Okay.

And do you feel at home here?

Yes, no in the winter.

I'm like, this is there's no one here.

This is not like I feel like if I yell I'm like, there's no one here to hear me.

Why would you have to yell,

huh?

Exactly.

But if I do, I'm gonna be like, no one's here.

But in the summertime, it definitely with the amount of people that come in.

I'm not saying the people that are there right now.

Yeah,

they're great.

But I'm just like, I need more people

here.

I love

seeing.

five cars on the street versus my car on the street.

Like that makes me feel great.

All right, that makes sense.

So you cover this area, you live in Sturgeon Bay or the Door County area.

What's happening up there these days?

What do we need to know about?

A lot of ice fishing is going to start happening.

Ice fishing.

Shout out to them.

I mean, I could never do that just thinking about that, sitting.

Some of these people stay like overnight too.

And I'm

like,

good for you.

Yeah.

Good

for you.

Just don't invite me.

I was wearing snow pants yesterday I'm like we're going back

to that

tomorrow like it's not

even

cuz it was cold It was just like the wind and being outside and filming and stuff.

I'm like this is not pairs of pants only I have to wear like nine

So I've seen your work.

You're very good at what you do Do you have to like tomorrow?

Will you go out and try to find a story or have one assigned to you even though it's so

cold?

Normally I pitch things but

There are times where my bosses will be like, okay, we're gonna, you know, shift gears might have you cover this instead, which I'm totally fine with, but

I'm just

like, tomorrow's one of those days that I'm not sure how that's gonna go, especially because it's supposed to be so cold.

We were already getting text like, if you don't have emergency kits in your car, like put them in tonight.

So I'm like, I don't know what tomorrow's gonna look like.

Do you do that?

Do you put like a blanket in your car or?

I should.

I did at one point, but then I took it out because I was just like, I'm just cleaning out the car.

I had like V8 cans in there, Starbucks cups.

I'm like, this is awesome.

So then I was just like, I'm just going to clean it out all at once.

And I took everything out and I was like, this is so nice having a clean car.

All right.

So you seem like a pretty positive person.

So I consider myself that as well.

I've lived in

two huge metropolitan areas, and I've lived in a small town, and I have enjoyed everywhere I've lived.

I truly have found beautiful people everywhere, and I've enjoyed everywhere.

It doesn't mean I don't get bored in a small town or overwhelmed in a city sometimes, but what's the best thing about living?

Have you found things here to really enjoy?

The people are very responsive to things.

Like, I didn't realize...

How many like that sounds bad, but I didn't realize how many people like still watch the news So I'll get like Facebook messages or comments and people are like out there being like this is awesome like thank you so much for focusing on this And I oh my gosh a couple of days ago We were at Walmart getting some things for dinner and there was this woman I'm in my boyfriend's car heart jacket some sweatpants hairs You know crazy and this woman stops she goes are you on a Lopez and I was like yeah, and she's like oh my god like

I love you.

I watch you every day.

Can I get a picture?

And so it was like super sweet.

And I just like stood there and I was like, they're so like, these people are awesome.

Well, you can't go wrong saying the people are the best thing about an area.

But do you do do anything winter wise that you can embrace a cross country skiing or anything?

Absolutely not.

I'm

not a winter.

That's this is where my boyfriend and I are different.

And that's so beautiful for a couple to be different people.

I don't

Being born and raised in Chicago, coming up here, winter's never been my forte.

I don't like having 100 layers.

I feel like the inside of a launch box, I look like your Christmas story.

He loves the snow, he loves the cold.

If he could, he'd have our balcony door open like every day.

And I'm like, you're a little insane,

but

you know, whatever.

When it was cold last year, we had the window open, we were sleeping, we'd wake up, it'd be like.

60 degrees in our apartment.

I'm like, what is your deal?

He's like, it's so beautiful outside.

I can't.

I

would rather be like in the heat or an area where there are seasons, but they're not that crazy, but...

Well, you said you were in Key West recently.

That must have been... And Conrad's parents lived there, you know.

Good for them.

Maybe you could do a time share together.

Time share.

Key West is like... I said this a couple days ago.

I was like, Key West is just...

This might just be me thing, but I feel like Key West is the Door County of Florida.

There are like 30,000 people that live there.

Total Door County of 30,000.

Yeah.

Wow, really?

That's

what I said.

I was like, there are only 30,000 people in Key West.

Oh, no kidding.

We went kayaking and I was like, this is awesome.

And then I found a jellyfish.

I thought it was like a seashell.

And my boyfriend's like, put that down because it was on my

little

thing.

He was like, it was

on the thing.

like the little paddle or or whatever it's called.

He's like, that's smoothing.

That is breathing.

And so I put it down and I was like, I later that night, I got like tiktoks of like the groves and marshes out there.

And it was like, there's potentially an alligator.

And I was like, that's just awesome guys.

I was over there earlier.

So

you're not a total inside person.

I was

I like doing outside stuff when it's not like 45 below

or

like, you know, the wind so cold, I can't feel my eyelashes.

That's just

all right.

So you love you liked Key West a lot and you called it the door County of flora love that What is your favorite thing about door County?

Probably I don't know.

I really do like the nature up there Before it started getting cold like we went to cave point and it was amazing to just like go hiking go explore that I want to go more up north.

I know like

were in Surgeon Bay, there's Pottawatomie and I've been there many times.

We went hiking there in November.

Like it's beautiful.

I'd love to do more of that.

I think the nature, like I know that's like a very big thing.

People are like, the nature is beautiful.

Yeah.

It's kind of weird.

You sound like me when I was your age.

I just didn't care about nature.

Now I appreciate it and I look for ways I can appreciate it.

I just am not an outside guy.

I've tried.

Well, during the

pandemic or even before that, like when we started going into COVID, I was a huge fan of outside tanning, sitting in the sun.

That was my favorite thing to do.

And I learned to like appreciate that more like fresh sunlight, putting myself outside with a book, eating ice cream, coloring something that got me like outside, not being in the house.

And I kind of like adapted that into my daily routine of like, okay, like shades go open as soon as I wake up.

Is it the best thing that, you know, my boyfriend is not working that day?

And he's like, great.

Thank you so much.

Like, I just like doing that.

I like

listen, I, I'm first of all, I'm envious.

Am I supposed to start dancing now?

Was it you're trying to get us to start a dance party over?

Are you opposed to a dance off?

I can't really.

I'm wearing too many pairs

of

socks for

that.

I envy anyone who can get a tan.

I can't go outside.

I do work on my pinkness.

I'll get more of a pinkish hue.

That's my mom.

She doesn't tan.

I tan pretty well all my siblings.

We all tan pretty well.

So that was just...

That's my favorite thing

to do.

You are awesome.

Thank you so much for coming in tonight.

Of course.

Thank you for inviting me back.

Great pick.

The birdcage.

Always, fellow blue demon.

Hannah Lopez.

Check out her work at NBC26 here in Green Bay.

She does outstanding work.

We are coming back to read more of your texts about swearing.

And then Molly Aitken is here at 735.

This is Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.

Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get

started.

One Night Light with Pete Schwabba.

We have, after the news, sports and weather, we've got pre-recorded content with Irish author Molly Aitken.

She will be here.

We talked to her earlier.

She is wonderful, and she's a very good guest, and she talks about her books and all the stuff she has going on.

She'll be joining us over the stream, pre-recorded from the UK.

Molly ended up being just a great guest, so stick around for that.

That's at 7.35, and we will close the show with Molly.

Right now we have some time to read some more text.

And you can leave that open, Conn.

I can barely see as it is.

Yeah, turn a lot.

Ah, look at Conn right at turning the lights on.

I gotta read text.

Here we go.

Our question of the night was about swearing.

And I was very curious as to how people respond to it, because I swear, I try not to, I try to, I guess kind of read the room for what it's worth.

But I also don't freak out about it.

I grew up one way, and then I became a stand-up comedian.

Most of my friends swear, some of them onstage, some of them offstage, but, you know, Conrad, what's your swearing capacity these days as a young

adult?

I'd say it's in every other word when I'm not in it.

Every other word?

Okay, that's impressive.

No, actually, I'd say just when I'm with my friends, probably.

Yeah.

It's like, I don't even realize I'm saying it

sometimes.

Yeah, that's kind of how I am I guess sometimes it just kind of comes out like that But we've had a lot of fun tonight.

I would like to thank my guests.

We've had a lot of fun with Ryan Albers who is part of the new top dog contest that's happening in Northeast, Wisconsin here then Honolopez from NBC 26 made the popcorn pick of the week.

It was the bird cage

a really solid movie that I have not seen in years.

I'll have to give it a rewatch, but Hannah's a lot of fun.

She and I are from the same hood in Chicago too, both making our home now in Northeast Wisconsin.

So it was fun to reconnect with Hannah, check out her work on NBC 26, and then we've got some more texts here to get to.

This is great.

John Murray in the 608 says, I hope y'all are gonna hunker down tomorrow.

Try to imagine standing on the side of the road in 50 below windshield after a neighbor bends your fender.

What?

He says, yikes, not gonna risk it.

Oh, that's a hypothetical, I think.

What in life is scarier than being stuck outside when it's 50 below?

Being stuck outside naked?

How would that ever happen, though?

Yeah, being stuck outside in 50 degree other with a bear right in front of you.

A bear right in front of you, correct.

A naked bear.

A naked bear.

So no fur.

John says, Pete, do you find that your kids use the cuss words less than you?

and pick the best moments or is it all over the place?

It is not all over the place.

That would bother me.

Like if they just swore non-stop willy-nilly, there's no need for that.

But if they're mad and they drop one of the bombs, I'm okay with that.

Well, you know when Joe sometimes calls for the movie picks, he's just wearing like a sailor.

Does he

really?

Yeah.

He's talking to me.

I don't even think he likes me because he just keeps swearing at me.

I think it's he just what he needs is a I think they call it a weapon these youngsters They need a good weapon So there you go.

That's those are our text John says I'm he says my daughter is like a sniper and only swears when it counts and makes sense.

That's impressive Because they say swearing can be a sign of You know intelligence, I mean it takes a skill to know when to say it

To no one to say it right, and my wife is a good swearer, but she picks her spot.

She was never like one of those that would just go crazy, and I think, I like what John said there, that she picks the right moments, because then you can appreciate a good swear word.

John also says, I'm sloppy at times.

I get that.

We

got

some social media text too.

Oh my god.

I forgot all about the social media text Yes, JB Thompson the guy behind the guy

behind

the guy although there are zones where it isn't allowed I still prefer creative alternatives as they just sound more more hilarious in conversation You think he's thinking like oh fiddle sticks That's a good one see I can't that doesn't get it done for me

Some of those imitation swear words But he's right.

They are hilarious based on the conversation Our pal from chicken or the egg photography great place check it out folks He says took me till my late 30s to say it on a regular basis in front of my parents He means swearing there was one time in my 20s I did when I was in the hospital ER and they screwed up the IV and had to redo it And we all know how horrible that skin tape is

pretty much rips any skin you have off.

So I told my mother, cover your ears.

And as they were ripping and putting a needle in the other arm, he dropped the M.F.R.

Oh, the grand, that's the one I don't

like.

The granddaddy of

them all.

But he says, ha ha.

It's not actually the granddaddy of them all.

But it's the one, I just don't like it.

But thank you, Chris, for the text.

Eric Rathsack from Ask Your Mother.

Outstanding band here in Green Bay says, depends how old they are.

When they're really little and use it in the right context, I can never not laugh at it.

That's a great

one.

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

It's so

funny.

Totally agree.

Great one.

Amanda Nimmer from WGBW fame says, mine are allowed to at home, nowhere else, and only as an adjective.

We'll call them out if they're being mean with it.

Now that's interesting.

And I kind of agree with everything she said, but aren't her kids like two?

She's got that little guy that won the walrus, that won the costume contest.

He was like six years old.

It

was a bleeping good walrus.

Jody on social media says, not at home, most definitely not in public with their friends.

However, their choice.

Jody's a good mom.

Tim Baker on social media says, there is a time and a place.

That's kind of how I am, Tim.

Thank you.

Richard Vargas on social media says, not a fan, but times they are a change in the effort has lost its impact.

That's interesting.

Kind of agree.

Austin Galante says, F,

yeah.

Yeah, I still haven't seen his movie.

He was on, he came into the studio in Madison when I was down there last summer.

I want to check out his vampire movie.

Bill Modi, Modi or Modi says, sent a meme that says bend over and I'll show you.

That's the Clark Griswold.

Oh

no, is

that?

No, that's Christmas vacation.

Christmas

occasion.

Yeah, yeah.

My mom added too.

This wasn't printed when she says, I really don't like it when the boys say the F word.

Oh, I did see

that.

I'm glad you

read that.

Uh, yes.

I,

you know, when we're golfing, sometimes I'll say it around her.

Oh, that's a big swear.

Then I regret it.

It's a big time to swear.

Uh, folks, we are out of here for now.

Pre-recorded content coming up.

Check it out.

It's great.

Molly is a great interview.

Tomorrow night, uh, we will have the lead singer of Toto Joseph Williams, critic Rob Thomas and Terry Barnbar in Friday night.

Good night,

Wisconsin.

Bob of this is nightlife.

It is great to have you here on this frigid evening, folks.

Stay warm out there.

Tomorrow, the high, at least in Northeast Wisconsin is gonna be like negative 10.

I don't even think I've ever experienced cold like this in my life.

So bundle up and I know it's gonna be not much better around the state.

So let's warm up this show right now if we could and talk about something that can help us escape and take us away.

And that of course is great.

books and literature and joining me now it is my pleasure to welcome tonight light for the first time she is the winner of the alice hoffman prize for fiction in 2023 and she joins us all the way from ireland author molly aidkin hi molly hi

thank you so much for having me

please tell me it's warmer there than it is here

uh way warmer

yeah

okay you don't you don't

i

don't think

i

I was

gonna say,

I've never been as cold as you, I don't

think, in

my whole life.

I literally have a space heater right at my hip, and we'll get through this though.

And you don't equate Ireland with being a tropical place, but I'm sure it's much warmer where you are then.

Where are you, by the way?

I'm actually not in Ireland.

I don't live in Ireland anymore.

I grew up in West Cork, which I know your family is from, or part of

your family.

Yeah.

But no, I live in, I live in the UK now.

I live in England.

Oh, nice.

Okay.

So that's really interesting.

And we did talk about that off the air a little bit.

I have roots in Cork and my, here's what I find interesting.

Like you look Irish.

I asked you if I looked Irish and you said, yeah, kind of.

My mom is a black Irish.

She like gets tan.

And you mentioned that most people think of Irish as gingers, but there are a lot of Irish people that get tan.

tan.

I am not one of them and it really makes me mad, to be honest with you.

I'm so mad about it as well.

I just turned into a lobster.

It's very depressing.

Well, the good thing is you're a writer and you probably spend a lot of time indoors in front of your computer, which I find just so great and romantic and outstanding.

And I also have to say, before we get into some of your works, you said in your email, you were glad we told you it was live radio so you could stop yourself from cursing.

Is that a chore for you?

Yes, yes.

In Ireland, we swear in every other sentence, so I'm holding myself back.

Although I have to say, living in England, I've had to train myself not to curse

so

much anymore.

A

little more proper over there, huh?

Yeah, they're more proper than

us for sure.

Our question of the day is how do you feel about your, like do you let your kids swear?

How do you feel about swearing?

And I kind of, I'm the same way.

Like I was brought up in a house where we didn't really swear, but I do.

I was a standup comic and I, my kids, I didn't really want them swearing in the house, but my wife kind of let that cat out of the bag and now my kids swear freely and I have to accept it.

So there you go.

Were you able to swear when you were a kid?

No, absolutely not.

But my parents did all the time.

And I have a son, and my stance is that he can swear.

But I do say, like, don't do this at school.

That's good

advice.

I don't know if that's worked,

though.

You'll hear about it, I'm sure, if it doesn't.

Yeah, I'll be getting a

letter.

Okay, so you've got these these two books that are very well received.

You write historical fiction.

Tell us for those of us who still read and I struggle.

I was an English major.

I still want to read.

I need some motivation, though.

What can you tell me about Bright I Burn, your book that was released just about a year ago?

Yeah, so this is about the first woman ever accused of witchcraft in Ireland in 1324 and she was one of the first women who was ever accused of witchcraft formally and her case was quite different to any other.

And I'd heard about her as a kid growing up in school and she was like presented as the type of woman as good Catholic girls should never become.

And

I

was kind of afraid of her.

But then as I grew up, I kind of started to think about her in a different way.

I had a really weird experience as well.

Like I was telling my mom that I was thinking about writing about her, but I was afraid to do it because she's also famous for having killed her four husbands.

And I was like, I don't know if I want

to

go there.

Yeah.

She got a fourth husband.

She killed the first three and found some son.

I know.

Whoa, that's

crazy.

Well, part of what was really incredible about her is she was also a banker and like incredibly independently wealthy.

So that's why they kept

coming.

They

just left the money.

But yeah, I said to my mom, I was like, I think I'm going to write about her.

My mom was like, you should sit down and talk to her.

And I had this sensation.

I did everything that you're supposed to do when you're welcoming a ghost.

I lit a candle.

I closed my eyes.

I invited her into the room.

And I felt this presence leaning over my shoulder.

And I heard her whispering, are you afraid of me?

And

I was like, yes.

Wow.

Yes, I am.

And then I had this sensation of her like walking to stand in front of me.

And as she did, she turned into a child and she said, I'm afraid of myself too.

And that was the moment where I was like, I think I can write about you.

Oh,

my gosh.

It was a very strange experience.

So when was that, Molly?

That was during the pandemic, which I was, it was like a lockdown in the UK.

So everyone was a bit crazy, including

myself.

So I think that might be part of the explanation.

But I

just went with it.

And in a way, I feel like she wrote the book.

She had this like, she's known in Ireland for being like a very negative, aggressive character.

And she's really seen through the eyes of the church still within history.

And they did not, the church did not like her.

And I felt like she had this rage that she wanted to tell her story in her way.

So.

Where do you go with that?

After that experience where you were probably like, did I just see that or did I not?

So you've got this great experience, a launch point.

How do you create a book around that?

Yes, that's how she could crush it.

So first off, I wrote it all by hand, which I don't think people do very often now.

But that just felt right to me, given that she lived in the medieval period in Ireland.

In a sense, I just felt that would connect me to her more.

And I'm possibly like, this might be something that you're familiar with, because I know that you've written for screen.

like that internal critic.

I wanted to switch off my internal critic and just write and see what happened.

So that's what I did and I had like a weird ritual as well.

I would like light a candle, invite her into the room and then when I was done I would like shoe her out the door because even though like she wasn't literally there but I felt like I needed something to not kind of carry the weight of her around with me and also

Like I was mad I was newly married writing about this woman who supposedly kills I don't think I need this energy all the

time.

I'll just I'll just have it while while I'm writing and in a way I felt like it wasn't it wasn't wholly me who wrote it was it was her and I am a bit weird in that way like I do feel that about a lot of

the characters that I write about, I write in the first person pretty often.

And so I kind of give it over to the character to tell their story.

I don't know if that's just like an easier way to do it so that it doesn't feel like so much pressure on myself.

I'm like, they're handling it.

They know what the story is, they'll do it.

Wow.

Yeah.

That is really interesting.

I'm always fascinated by how authors

work and their process and what like for you do you like a book like that did you write that quickly did you sit down and pull like a Jack Kerouac and not leave your typewriter keyboard whatever for like three days or did it take a year how long does it typically take you

It's so different depending on the book and this one was weirdly specific as well because I wrote it in the first year of my son's life.

So I was writing it when he was napping and that meant that every chapter was really short.

He didn't nap for

long.

um but now readers have said to me that like the the pace of it is really fast because it's just these like

really

really short chapters um so i think it's different for every book that book it's so that first big write-up of it took one year um but then i had to like i had to rewrite a lot of it because i was like slightly sleep deprived

yeah

Maybe that helped though on some level, right?

Like it kind of opened your brain a little bit or stream of consciousness.

I don't know.

Yeah.

And I think I was just like, I care.

I was about to swear there.

I cared less.

I cared less because yeah, I just didn't have time to care.

So I just like wrote whatever and some of it was good and some of it wasn't, but it didn't really matter.

Yeah.

That's great.

You can swear, by the way, because this is pre-recorded.

So it just gives Conrad a little extra work.

But if you've

got

to let one fly, go for it.

I've been there.

Thank you.

So are you a fan of, who are your, you write historical fiction, who are your influences?

Are you a fan of like Leon Euras?

I have no idea.

I think the authors that we read are probably very different because there's a lot of US authors who aren't published here and vice versa.

The big ones for me are probably Hillary Mantell, who you might have heard of, I'm not sure.

She worked Wolf Hall and won the Booker Prize twice.

which is unusual.

Oh, wow.

And another author I love who's getting a lot of attention right now, actually, is Maggie O'Farrell, who wrote Hamnet.

Oh, yeah, right, sure.

Right?

Wow.

Yeah.

Would you, are you, would you love to see your, your books, like you've seen them performed or things you've written?

Oh, what is that like?

And would you ever like to see one of your books adapted into a screenplay for the big screen?

I think that's everyone's dream.

I mean, if it's done well, because I do have author friends that it has not been done well for.

I would adore that.

I do know that right now it's not happening that much for historical because it's so expensive to make

a

historical piece.

Although maybe Hamlet will change that.

Who knows?

But I would adore that.

Jesse Buckley, call me.

I'm available.

Well, I know they're big listeners.

They're probably tuning in right now.

So you also write strong female characters.

That's kind of what you're known for.

Who are they based on?

Well, I think it comes from myself, honestly, with

Alice, who is the main character in Bright Eye Burn, the first so-called witch in Ireland.

The book was really fueled by rage and like this huge anger.

And I've always been someone who like would say that I'm not an angry person.

I would say that, oh, I didn't get angry.

And I think that had just like built up inside me for so long that I like

needed to release it

and

actually I think like getting Emotions out on a page especially Maybe an emotion like anger is quite like is a constructive use of

it.

Yeah, totally

We have to do a very short break.

My guest is Molly Aitken.

She is the author behind such great books as Bright I Burn and The Island Child.

We'll have a few more minutes with Molly when we return.

This is Nightlight with Peach Waba on the Civic Media Radio Network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website,

civicmedia.us.

Go, let's effing go.

I would say the full F word, like my guest, Molly, who swears like a sailor and has had to control herself because she's on live radio tonight.

I really appreciate that.

She is the author of such books as Bright I Burn from 2024 and The Island Child from 2020, an award-winning author who was based in Ireland and is joining us tonight from the UK, Molly Etkin.

It is so great to have you here.

How do you think it's going so far?

Are you having

fun?

It's been

so much fun.

Thank you so much.

This is nice to be around a person who is truly Irish.

I've been faking it my whole life as a half Irishman.

Well, I have a confession.

I'm half Scottish.

Oh, dear.

That's trouble.

I

know.

I know.

And now you're in London, right?

Or in England?

I know.

They've

all disowned me.

They've all disowned me.

You can't make everybody happy, right?

No.

Can you tell me about that moment, Molly, when you decided

I'm gonna do this.

I can do this.

I know I can be a writer.

If there was a moment like that, what was the moment and when was it?

Okay, I have two answers for you.

When I was about nine, I wrote a novel in air quotes for a family member as a Christmas present.

And it was about an orphan who finds out that Santa's her dad, obviously.

Oh,

fun.

And that relative then gave me back that book in like bound as a real book.

She got it printed by like this like beautiful print maker and it was a proper book.

And that was the moment where I was like, oh my God, like something that I write can be turned into a real book.

And I still have it and it's so bad.

Oh, come on, really?

Yeah, it's cute.

It's very cute.

But yeah, we all have to start somewhere.

But then I suppose as a teenager, I didn't write as much or in my early 20s, I was having too much fun, I suppose.

Um, and then when I was like 24, I was like, I think I should start taking this seriously.

Um, and I did, I did that thing, which I think a lot of writers do and it's, it's somewhat boring in a way, but I was like, if I want to do this, I have to commit and pay for it.

And so I did an MFA in creative writing and that was, that opened the doors really.

Um, I, I needed that like structure and people telling me to write things every week in order to actually do it.

It does help, doesn't it, to be around other writers.

You just get a motivation or you get like infused with creativity, I find.

And that always motivates me to wanna sit down and write.

Is it like that for you?

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, now I have like a few trusted other writers who I will share with.

And it's very motivating because I like try and get things really good.

Yeah.

Because...

They're also like such great writers.

I'm like too embarrassed to share something bad with them.

So it is very motivating.

That's so great.

So you said, you did something recently called Soho.

Where is that?

I had that right in front of me.

Soho radio.

Soho radio, but that's not out yet.

Can you tell us when we can see that or where we can tell us what it is?

Is it a podcast or a performance?

I didn't know what this was, but they invited me on.

It's a very cool hip radio show down in London.

Kind of

like this

one.

Yeah, absolutely.

And when I came in, I was like, I'm not supposed to be in this building.

It's full of very young, cool people.

and it was two artists like painters and myself and another writer just talking about our processes and also like how art is similar to writing but then also how it's different.

It was fascinating.

The artists are so fascinating and the way they work is really interesting.

I was quite jealous because they can just like spend a day and then they're done.

They've

not

finished a thing.

And it's so different for someone like you.

So what is your process?

Do you sit down every day for a certain amount of time?

Do you write when you're inspired or in a certain area that you like to write physically?

What's your process like?

I don't do it every day.

And I almost feel guilty saying that because I think lots of people think that you should but it just doesn't work for me.

Like what I do is not good when I write every day but I will have like

times where it's extremely intense.

Yeah.

Like say three months where I'm riding almost constantly.

Nice.

And then I'll take a break and do other jobs.

In terms of like where I ride, basically anywhere, anywhere.

I love, there's like a cemetery.

I don't know if you have this in the US, but

Um, across Europe, there's like old graveyards that are like super old and beautiful and full of trees and like foxes and things.

Um, and maybe, maybe it suits me because I write historical fiction and I was just telling you that like a ghost helped me write.

Whatever works, you know, and we have graveyards here in America.

They're just not as old, right?

Yeah, probably not.

Um, but yeah.

So I go to this Victorian graveyard and I were right there.

um and just like in my notebook but in the past like I used to live in the city of Manchester in the UK and I worked in advertising and I would like commute every day on this like tram and I would just write on my phone and

like squash

between businessmen um

and they have no idea that you're churning out your next novel that is so great um

Molly, thank you so much for your time tonight.

It's been great getting to know you.

You'll have to come back when you have this other thing that's really cool that you can't talk about, you told me earlier.

So when you find out something about that, come back and please tell us all about it.

And it was just great getting to know you.

Thank you so much.

You're very welcome.

All right.

That's Molly Aitken author.

Check out her stuff.

Just Google her folks.

That's what I did and all of her works come up and she's outstanding on social media.

So give her a follow.

I'd like to thank my other guest, Hanna Lopez, who made the popcorn pick of the week.

Ryan Albers, thank you for all your texts and calls.

On behalf of the lovable producer Conrad, I'm Pete Schwabba saying good night, Wisconsin, and stay warm.

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