About C.M. Mayo’s “Conversations with Other Writers”

I am C.M. Mayo, literary journalist and novelist, author of several books on Mexico, host of the podcast series Marfa Mondays, and the long-standing lit-blog, Madam Mayo. On occasion, I also write poetry and translate Mexican fiction and poetry. Through my works, I bring readers avid to learn more about Mexico and the world to richer levels of understanding and an awakened sense of wonder and curiosity. I invite you to visit my website, www.cmmayo.com

In Conversations with Other Writers, I interview other writers I am curious to learn more about, and whose work I admire and celebrate. And I hope, dear writerly listener, that you might share my delight and enthusiasm.

Podcasts ranging from 20 minutes to a little over an hour. Basically, it’s an audio file you can listen to / download online. All my podcasts are free. That may change, but probably not.

Whenever the literary spirits move me and the planets align. When can you listen in? Anytime! For updates, I invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter which includes not only new podcasts but workshop news, news about my books, best from the blogs, and more.

(I plan to resume this series once the Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project concludes in 2020.)

On the Conversations with Other Writers homepage. The hosting service is podomatic.com. An RSS feed goes to iTunes, to which you can subscribe for free.

As for the interviews themselves, some take place via Skype, connecting us wherever we happen to be (Mexico City? Alexandria, Virginia?) while others are recorded in person. The interview with Edward Swift was recorded in his studio in San Miguel de Allende, for example, and another, with Michael K. Schuessler, was recorded in a Mexico City bookstore. In sum, it varies.

Nutshell answer: Because it’s fun.

Medium answer: Journalists interviewing authors about their new books is a conventional form; I want to do something different: talk to literary writers as a fellow artist about their works, whether new or old, and explore their lives and their process.

Yadda yadda answer: I believe that through narrative we become more human; truth is beauty; exploration is infinite. When you listen in to one of my podcasts, you’re coming along for the ride. These podcasts, like all art, to some degree, are a gift,* in this case, from me to you, just as the writers I interview are giving me—and through me to you— the gift of their perceptions, stories, and advice. It is my hope that in this way our community— the community of those who care passionately about good writing— be enriched.

*Read more about this idea in Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World.

I record the conversation using an ecamm Skype recorderon my MacBookPro or, if recording in person, the dictation app on my iPhone. I then load the mp3 file of the interview onto Apple’s Garage Band program, and edit from there. Music is royalty free clips from Garage Band or purchased from sites such as www.uniquetracks.com and www.musicbakery.com, and the voiceovers are from various vendors on www.fiverr.com. When the whole enchilada is out of the oven, I upload it to the hosting service, podomatic.com.

Tip Jar? Not Exactly… But you can buy my books!

Patreon and PayPal are oftentimes used by bloggers and podcasters as a “tip jar,” however, for reasons too lengthy to go into here, I do not use either of these services for Madam Mayo blog or my podcasts.

I write Madam Mayo blog and podcast for whomever might happen to find it of interest, whether they be long-time readers, my workshop students, friends, family, or chance visitors. (For more about the idea of creative work as gift, see Lewis Hyde’s The Gift.)

And of course, I hope the writing and podcasts here may entice you to also read my books. You can always buy my books here. If you buy the book new, I earn royalties. If the book is in-print and you buy a used copy, however, Krampus will fart on you. Either way, if you encounter me in meatspace and ask nicely, I shall be delighted to inscribe it for you!

By the way, you can now also find some of my longform essays not-yet-in-print on Kindle, among them: “Dispatch from the Sister Republic or, Papelito Habla” and “From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion.”

On a tight budget? It is also possible that you can find some of my books in your local or university library. If not, don’t be shy, ask the librarian to consider ordering it for the library. Guess what, sometimes they do!

Official disclosure: Madam Mayo blog is an affiliate seller for amazon.com, which means that if you click on a given link and then purchase that book on amazon, I receive a sliver-thin commission. Dear writerly reader, know that these modest sums go not towards additional polar bear fur upholstery for the narwahl-tusk armchairs in the mahogany-paneled library of my trans-Arctic yacht (where all naughty children may slurp hot chocolate whilst fingering the first editions) but rather, towards covering the costs of this blog and the podcasts.

Any links to amazon.com are for books I sincerely recommend and/or by request of many of the authors who appear here in the monthly by-invitation-only Q & As. (That is to say, many of the authors I interview specifically request that I provide a link to buy their book on amazon.com; as a courtesy to them, I do so.)

I am well aware of the problematic nature of Amazon’s outsize market power. If you wish to make your book purchases directly from independent bookstores and small publishers, I would celebrate your doing so by your going to their webpages, which links I provide on occasion, and when not, dear writerly reader, Google or duckduckgo and ye shall find.