# Midlife Freedom w/ Susanna Daniel

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/heart-of-the-story-1377112/midlife-freedom-w-susanna-daniel
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/heart-of-the-story-1377112/midlife-freedom-w-susanna-daniel.md
Podcast: [Heart of the Story](https://stenobird.com/podcast/heart-of-the-story-1377112)
Published: 2026-03-15T04:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://nadinekenneyjohnstone.com/podcast
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/0c0efb97-f920-461c-a28f-92650c141d8c.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/heart-of-the-story-1377112/episodes/midlife-freedom-w-susanna-daniel
Duration seconds: 2968

## Resource

239 Author Susanna Daniel joins Nadine to talk about her new novel Girlfriending —a deeply personal work of autofiction inspired by heartbreak, midlife reinvention, and the messy joy of dating again. Susanna shares how a breakup and a suggestion from a writer friend led her to begin writing from life for the first time. Together Nadine and Susanna explore the creative process behind autofiction, the complexities of writing about real people, and how courage in life often leads to courage on the page. They also discuss midlife freedom, coming out later in life, co-parenting after divorce, and the surprising joys that come with starting over. This conversation is an honest, funny, and thoughtful look at creativity, identity, and the power of telling the truth—even when the truth is still unfolding. Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat . Oct 26-Nov 2, Spain About Susanna: Susanna Daniel is the author of three novels. Girlfriending , a spinoff of her award-winning short story, "The Goddess of Illicit Choices," is a “a novel to read in a passionate rush, immediately start again in a more savoring way, and then press into the hands of everyone you know,” according to author Amy Shearn and “sexy, page-turning fiction” according to author Catherine Newman. Her debut novel, Stiltsville , was awarded the PEN/Bingham prize, and her second novel, Sea Creatures , was a Target Book Club pick. Susanna co-founded the Madison Writers’ Studio with author Michelle Wildgen in 2013. She’s won lots of fellowships and has been published lots of places, but she’s mostly concerned with building clear and engaging stories and helping new writers develop their voices. Susanna lives in Madis…

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