# How NY Times Bestselling Author John Kenney Writes

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-writer-files-writing-productivity-creativity-and-neuroscience-467925/how-ny-times-bestselling-author-john-kenney-writes
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-writer-files-writing-productivity-creativity-and-neuroscience-467925/how-ny-times-bestselling-author-john-kenney-writes.md
Podcast: [The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-writer-files-writing-productivity-creativity-and-neuroscience-467925)
Published: 2026-05-29T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/tcQd6Q6C0RUUlOHq1Ytj/mgln.ai/e/51/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TPG1652704498.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/tcQd6Q6C0RUUlOHq1Ytj/mgln.ai/e/51/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TPG1652704498.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-writer-files-writing-productivity-creativity-and-neuroscience-467925/episodes/how-ny-times-bestselling-author-john-kenney-writes
Duration seconds: 3192

## Resource

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author John Kenney spoke with us about life as an ad-man, writing humor for The New Yorker, and the paperback release of his latest novel I SEE YOU’VE CALLED IN DEAD. John Kenney is the bestselling author of three novels and four books of poetry, including Love Poems (For Married People), a New York Times bestseller. His first novel, Truth In Advertising, won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He is a longtime contributor to The New Yorker magazine’s Shouts & Murmurs column. His most recent novel, I See You’ve Called In Dead (available in paperback June 2nd), is described as “The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy” and was an instant bestseller. The book follows Bud Stanley, an obituary writer who accidentally publishes his own obituary and begins attending strangers' funerals to find meaning of life. In a starred review Booklist said of the book, “I See You’ve Called in Dead is a witty and heartwarming reminder of the bottomless despair, limitless absurdity, and undeniable joy of the human experience.” John Kenney has worked as a copywriter for more than 25 years at Ogilvy, McGarry Bowen, and Publicis. He has created campaigns for American Express, Citi, Chevron, Heineken, and Cadillac, to name a few. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file John Kenney, Milena, and I discussed: His past life as a high profile copywriter 10 years of rejections from the New Yorker Why he still has impostor syndrome The personal inspiration behind his latest novel Writing self-deprecating poetry…

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