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Allison Larkin

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Books
    • Home of the American Circus
    • The People We Keep
    • Allie Larkin
  • TrueHearts Collective
  • Events
  • Writer Resources
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Book Clubs
    • Press

3 More Ws – Glen Phillips

July 28, 2021 Filed Under: 3 More Ws, 3Ws, music

I made it a goal to write really nice things about all the returning 3Ws interviewees, but I'm already stumped. I have written and rewritten this intro many times, and am not sure I'm any closer to matching words and feelings accurately. I'm not sure it's possible. To say I'm a Glen Phillips fan is a ridiculous understatement. As a teenager in turmoil, Toad the Wet Sprocket gave me context for my feelings. I escaped into those songs and felt like they saved me. Through Toad, a dozen solo albums, and side projects like Mutual Admiration Society, Remote Tree Children, and Works Progress … [Read more...]

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3 More Ws – Mark Erelli

July 19, 2021 Filed Under: 3 More Ws, 3Ws, music

Photo of Mark Erelli

I'm so excited to bring back the 3Ws interview series on this blog! Getting to ask creative people about their creativity is one of my great joys. So, in addition to bringing new artists into the mix with the original three questions, I thought it would be fun to check in with past interviewees and ask three more. I believe when music is truly thoughtful and hits the right place in our soul, it shapes our perspective. Back in 2000, I ordered Mark Erelli's self-titled album from a Signature Sounds catalog (doesn't that seem so quaint now?) and had the pleasure of attending a live show when … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Carolyn Downie

February 12, 2018 Filed Under: 3Ws, music

    What do you create? I create music in assorted flavors, textures, shapes and sizes. Pieces sold separately. May cause side effects such as relaxation or enjoyment. Involuntary mental or physical movements may occur such as thinking, feeling, humming, foot tapping and dancing. Consult with your healthcare provider before consuming in large doses… :-) Ok joking aside for a bit, I write digital music books, make recordings and also music videos. Right now I have three solo piano albums and a music book & video series for kids, “Piano Traveler”. I’m also working on a … [Read more...]

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3Ws- Glen Phillips

January 31, 2017 Filed Under: 3Ws, music

  What do you create? I make songs, mostly. When I was a kid I was in love with the theater, but by a series of fateful twists music became my job. I love writing and performing just about equally, and I love collaboration. Being a singer songwriter is a peculiar relationship with creativity because you keep returning to your work and reinterpreting it. It's not just one and done - you carry your past with you and get to keep re-examining it from your current perspective.      Why do you create? I have a noisy head. There have always been a lot of … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Miriam Speyer

March 4, 2016 Filed Under: 3Ws, music

What do you create? Mainly songs and drawings. I also try to recreate myself on an as-needed basis.   Why do you create? I create because it makes me feel good. It eases my mind and brings me joy. I feel natural and free and close-to-harmless when I’m making music or drawing. It’s great!   What do you consume? You know what it is with consuming things?…. I feel like I’m in this strange kind of obstacle course at all times. The idea is to consume things and ideas that are good for me and lift me up and strengthen me, and NOT consume things and ideas that are … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Nora Jane Struthers

February 5, 2016 Filed Under: 3Ws, music

What do you create? I create compassion.   Why do you create? By seeking to understand my most authentic self, by sharing this process and my findings through my songs, and by performing this experience of discovery at every live show, I hope to inspire others to seek an understanding of their own authentic selves, and value others authentic selves, though they may be formed by very different life experiences.   What do you consume? Grass-fed organic beef and dairy, The Marvel Universe movies and TV shows, books by Amy Tan, Kurt Vonnegut, and Larry McMurtry, … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Forest Sun

February 10, 2015 Filed Under: 3Ws, music

What do you create? I write songs with words, chords, rhythm, and melodies. I sing those songs and make them into records. I paint on paper and canvas. I snap photos and share them. I write poems on scraps of paper and in spiral notebooks. I chop, dice, grill, bake, stir and delight in cooking extravagant feasts (and eating them, see the third W below). I make movies and music videos with my wife Ingrid Serban. See her 3w’s right here on Allie’s blog for more about that. We run our indie label Painted Sun Records together, too. Here’s a video of my tune “Morningbird” we just filmed … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Chris Partellow

January 13, 2015 Filed Under: 3Ws, beautiful things, music, visual art

What do you create? I create... many different things! First and foremost I am an illustrator. Then, I'm also an animator. In addition to that I've recently rediscovered making comics. I write songs and perform them with my band in and around NYC. Basically if I find something interesting I'll probably want to try it out to some degree. I'd go on but I'll just stop here. Why do you create? Amazing question! Being able to create, in general, can be so gratifying! An imagination allows your mind to wander into an idea, which basically wasn't there a minute ago, and from there it … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Mark Erelli

December 16, 2014 Filed Under: 3Ws, music

What do you create? Ostensibly, I'm a songwriter and I create songs. But I've created a lot of seemingly different things over the years. Growing up, I was an avid visual artist and for a long time everyone just assumed I'd go into graphic arts or design of some kind. Then I got really into ecology and started doing a lot of finely detailed pen-and-ink scientific illustration. Then I got a masters degree in evolutionary biology and I had to wield a fair amount of creativity to develop hypotheses and solve problems with experimental design. Though I've been a professional musician for 15 … [Read more...]

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3Ws – Tony DeSare

December 11, 2014 Filed Under: 3Ws, film, Ithaca College, music

What do you create? I’m a singer/songwriter/pianist and have been writing songs since I was 18 years old. I create music, both songs with music and lyrics and improvised solos in the moment when playing piano. These are two very distinct thrills for me. Writing a song is like having one idea that excites me and spending the next hours, days, months or years putting together a complete sonic picture like someone may work on a puzzle. Then with an improvised piano solo, the creation is a free flow of ideas that are born of the moment with no right or wrong. The last few years, I turned a … [Read more...]

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Allison Larkin

allielarkinwrites

Internationally bestselling author of three novels as Allie Larkin and THE PEOPLE WE KEEP. Look for HOME OF THE AMERICAN CIRCUS @gallerybooks May 2025

“Larkin abandons the typical story arc in favor “Larkin abandons the typical story arc in favor of a more naturally flowing up-and-down journey that basks in beautiful moments like a slice-of-life story. Whether it’s banter at the bar Freya’s working or a leaking roof that is simply one more thing than she can possibly handle right now, the characters and their experiences are so real and pure that their joys and sorrows are amplified tenfold.” 

So honored by this AP review of Home of the American Circus! 

https://apnews.com/article/home-american-circus-allison-larkin-book-review-79ea3d1fdb69ef16232a8dfb7d148ad6

#homeoftheamericancircus #booksbooksbooks
I’ve seen a bunch of references to Home of the A I’ve seen a bunch of references to Home of the American Circus as my second novel. It’s actually my 5th! Before The People We Keep, under the name Allie Larkin, I wrote three books: Stay, Why Can’t I Be You, and Swimming for Sunlight. Here they are in their various editions with some of their translations! (And @justjuliawhelan also narrated Stay and Why Can’t I Be You, if you’d like to listen!)

Fun fact: That gorgeous dog on the hardcover of Stay was actually our dog Argo, and I took that photo of him when @duttonbooks couldn’t find the perfect photo of a black German Shepherd. #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram
Pub Day Part One. The thing is, it’s really hard Pub Day Part One. The thing is, it’s really hard to be a creative person in the world, and the blessing, the salvation, the joy of it is the community around art: the writers who will call an emergency novel Zoom meeting when you’re stuck on a draft, the ones who roll up their sleeves and make sure your words are saying what you intend to say, the one who writes an interview to promote your book in the local paper, the reader who captures pictures of the event and makes a reel, the bookstore saints who plan a meal based on the story and serve blue and yellow cupcakes and sing happy birthday to your book on launch day, the readers who show up and get books signed and ask great questions and tell stories about their lives. That’s book magic. And thanks to @townecenterbks (especially Judy and Stacey although I know there are bookstore saints behind the scenes too) and @reneewritesnovels and @woolfmania and @cassandra.a.dunn and @lindalattelessons @aneedleinmybookstack and everyone who showed up to Read it and Eat, I will never ever forget the pub day for Home of the American Circus. You all made it so special. Thank you! I love you. I’m so grateful to be part of the community of writers and readers. ❤️🐘
@deborahblakeauthor RIGHT BACK AT YOU! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be back on Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will be back on the grid tomorrow! I love you all so much and I’m so grateful for your support! 😘😘😘 #homeoftheamericancircus
Well, here we are on the eve of Pub Day for Home o Well, here we are on the eve of Pub Day for Home of the American Circus! 

You know that classic bit of writing advice about how you’re supposed to write the book that scares you? Well, for a long time the thought of actually writing and sharing Home of the American Circus scared the heck out of me. I spent many many years collecting ideas for this book, terrified by the thought of how deep I’d have to dig to tell this story the right way. The book is firmly fiction, and the characters are all my imaginary friends, but the setting and themes are literally and figuratively close to home for me. Freya’s story isn’t mine, we have different life events and demographics, but I understand her sense of grief and loss and floundering and hope on a cellular level. And of all the characters I’ve ever written, the way her mind works is the closest to how I think and feel. It takes place in the town where I grew up. And I think when you read this book, you won’t know my life story, but you will know the tenor of my heart. I grew up as a kid with undiagnosed ADHD in a place where I didn’t fit, frantically trying to look normal, believing it was the only way anyone would love me. Always falling short, terrified of failure. And then in my early twenties, I dropped out of college and worked at a biker bar and made such a huge mess of my life that I was forced to build myself up again brick by brick—this time knowing that failure isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person. That as long as you can find the strength to try again in one way or another, falling flat on your face is not the end of the world. And I learned that the only way to truly feel loved is to be yourself and see who’s up for loving you in your natural form. The people I keep taught me that. And even though it scared me, this was a book I needed to write, it’s the work I’m most proud of, with characters I love the most. So sharing it doesn’t feel like the end of the world at all. Just the end of the world where I have not shared this novel set in ny hometown with a character who has a heart like mine. #misheardlyrics #rem #homeoftheamericancircus #awkwardguitar #itstheendoftheworldasweknowitandifeelfine
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