{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"A Saga of Bad Choices and Big Hearts: Lis Blanchard\u2019s Sutton\u2019s Home","description":"In this warm and engaging episode, Jed welcomes debut novelist Lis Blanchard to celebrate her first book, \u201cSutton\u2019s Home.\u201d Lis introduces listeners to Sutton, a deeply flawed but lovable young woman who seems destined to make every wrong choice\u2014and yet, readers can\u2019t help but root for her as tragedy follows tragedy. Lis shares how she came to writing just five years ago, not through a lifelong dream of being an author, but as a way to cope with the emotional weight she carries from the people around her. After losing a dear friend to suicide during the pandemic, Lis discovered that transforming her feelings into fiction helped her heal, even though Sutton\u2019s Home is not based on her friend\u2019s life. Jed and Lis talk about the therapeutic power of storytelling\u2014for both writers and readers\u2014and Lis describes her \u201cpantser\u201d process: getting all the words out first, then shaping the story later with the help of a trusted critique group. She also opens up about her work in adult education, helping immigrants learn English and adults earn their high school diplomas. Listeners will also enjoy a lighter side of Lis: her tongue-in-cheek burger blog, born from serious food allergies and a dislike of burgers, and yet she reviews them everywhere she goes. The episode closes with where to find Lis online, how to get a copy of Sutton\u2019s Home, and a hint of her next, more uplifting \u201croad trip romance,\u201d \u201cThe Penny Ride.\u201d ","author_name":"Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/558800","html":"