Heart of the Story

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal. She has been featured in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Natural Awakenings, Chicago Magazine, and more. She writes a weekly column ab...

254 What happens when you stay on Madeline Island, WI for a week-long writing retreat? Nadine shares the inside scoop in this 2-part series.

Sign up for the next MISA retreat: Tiny True Stories & Sketches June 21-25, 2027.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the ye...

Author and writing coach Nadine Kenney Johnstone shares interviews with today's top women writers, including Jen Hatmaker, Catherine Newman, Maggie Smith, Molly Wizenberg, Abigail Thomas, Dr. Hillary McBride, Emily P. Freeman, Laura Tremaine, Sari Botton, Francesca Royster, Susan Piver, Jane Friedman, Mae Yoshikawa, and more. Nadine also shares her own stories of healing, hope, and following her heart.

Best of 2025

Catherine Newman on Midlife, Motherhood, and Anxiety

Jen Hatmaker on The Book That Kept Her AWAKE

Life in the Ellipsis with Maggie Smith

Best of 2024

Best of 2023...

Nadine continues her recurring theme of midlife, perimenopause and hormones with a new "adventure" — Frozen Shoulder. For anyone not familiar with the three stages of Frozen Shoulder (first, Freezing, the painful one; second Frozen, less pain but less mobility; third Thawing, gradual return of mobility) this is the episode for you. What are some of the causes and the big question, can I please fix it, right now? Nadine shares her experiences as well as a dose of realism in the answers.

Publish the Personal starts Oct 14 and is almost full.

About Nadine:

Na...

What does it mean to build a meaningful life when the story you thought you were writing doesn’t turn out the way you expected?

Bestselling author Laura McKowen joins Nadine for a deeply honest conversation about sobriety, emotional sobriety, relationships, writing, longing, and the messy work of becoming more fully ourselves.

Laura shares the questions she now uses to recognize when she’s hiding from herself and how sobriety has taught her to trust her own intuition. They talk about the breakup that forced Laura to choose the clean pain of leaving over the slow...

251 In 2021, what was supposed to be an epic cross-country road trip suddenly became something entirely different. Just before the journey began, Nadine's father passed away, turning miles of open road into a landscape of grief, phone calls, paperwork, and trying to carry on when life has other plans. Five years later, the same route offered an unexpected second chance. This time, the road trip was filled with good friends, laughter, new memories—and the unforgettable experience of officiating her friend’s daughter’s wedding. Along the way, this solo episode explores something most of us know all too well: someti...

250 Nadine shares her summer break plans for the podcast. Use the time to catch up on episodes you've missed!

If you’d like a highlight reel of the last 5 yrs, we’ve released a “Best of” Heart of the Story compilation almost every year.

Join Nadine at an upcoming retreat:

Let Go Retreat

Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft

About Na...

249 Nadine reflects on an essay she wrote in a time of deep despair.

Join Nadine at an upcoming retreat:

Let Go Retreat

Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of...

248 Nadine reflects on an essay she wrote about her favorite place to be in the summertime.

Join Nadine at an upcoming retreat:

Let Go Retreat

Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, He...

247 Nadine reflects on an essay she wrote about a friend swooping in just when she needed it and how it inspired her to pay it forward.

Join Nadine at an upcoming retreat:

Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft

Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro Memoir Retreat

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for...

246 Nadine reflects on an essay she wrote about anxiety and safety.

Join Nadine at an upcoming retreat:

Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft

Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro Memoir Retreat

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of...

245 What is it like to be a midlife mom raising a middle schooler—when time seems to speed up just as you wish you could slow it down? When your child is reaching for independence, but every part of you wants to keep them close?

As her son approaches his 13th birthday, Nadine reflects on the emotional tug-of-war of this stage of motherhood. She revisits an early moment that first sparked the pang of nostalgia—and explores the bittersweet milestones that come with raising an almost-teen.

This episode is a heartfelt look at growing up and...

244 Ten years ago, during a particularly stressful and uncertain time, Nadine started a practice of of gathering good moments as reminder notes she could read when anxious. She compiled them into an essay that she shares in this episode. Now, Nadine looks back on that time and reflects on all that has evolved (and stayed the same) in the decade since.

Join Nadine, Molly Wizenberg, and Hallie Bateman in Spain from Oct 26-Nov 2 for Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just wanting to preserve impactful memories on the pa...

243 Five years ago, Nadine's father passed away at the age of 57. Nadine looks back on the spring of '21 and the years since, reflecting on all that has evolved. She explores important questions like: How to we go on in the wake of deep loss? How do we overcome the fear of our own mortality?

In this deeply vulnerable episode, Nadine shares a personal essay that is an excerpt from her book, Come Home to Your Heart, and was featured in Good Grit Magazine. She also discusses the life event that prompted her to write the essay...

242 Nadine revisits an Easter-themed essay she originally wrote in 2021 and reflects on what's changed in the 5 yrs since. She also shares the writing process behind the essay and gives some writing tips for how to express emotional depth in a narrative.

Join Nadine, Molly Wizenberg, and Hallie Bateman in Spain from Oct 26-Nov 2 for Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just wanting to preserve impactful memories on the page, remember that every story—no matter how small—is worth capturing.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnst...

241 What if a gap year wasn't only reserved for high school grads trying to find themselves? In this encore episode, writer, hiker, and anti-capitalist tiny biz owner, Nic Antoinette, discusses the inspiration behind their grown up gap year, and Nadine opens up about the moment of jealousy that led to her "apprentice year." This is not a new-year-new-you, live-your-best-life episode. Instead, Nic and Nadine talk openly about how they are trying to be real with their plans and expectations. Nic also discusses the other ways they have curated a values-aligned life and career. In this inspiring and permission-granting conversation...

240 Nadine gives a personal update by sharing her recently written essay, Sometimes It's Just Hard, in which she opens up about her upcoming move, the state of her marriage, and the past events that impact her present day choices. She shares a recent conversation with her husband that inspired the essay and the writerly techniques she used to craft it. If difficult moments have prevented you from feeling hopeful and assured, you're not alone. This episode is for you.

Revision Retreat: Craft Your Best Draft Aug 2026, Madeline Island School of the Arts, WI

Tiny True...

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 su...

238 This encore chat w/ bestselling memoirist Molly Wizenberg covers it all: partnership, parenting, writing, teaching, navigating midlife, and taking brave action. At its heart though, it's a chat about following our desire, even when it disturbs the status quo.

Join Nadine, Molly, and Hallie in Spain from Oct 26-Nov 2 for Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat (just a few spots left). Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just wanting to preserve impactful memories on the page, remember that every story—no matter how small—is worth capturing.

Covered in this episode:

237 Nadine shares an essay about a couple’s painting night that went awry and how she went about writing the piece.

Join Nadine, Molly Wizenberg, and Hallie Bateman in Spain from Oct 26-Nov 2 for Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just wanting to preserve impactful memories on the page, remember that every story—no matter how small—is worth capturing.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshop...

236 What if the secret to a sustainable creative life isn’t thinking bigger — but thinking smaller?

In this heartfelt and wide-ranging conversation, Illustrator Hallie Bateman, memoirist Molly Wizenberg, and host Nadine Kenney Johnstone explore the power of tiny containers: daily journal comics, glimmers, four-panel sketches, letters, lists, and small true stories.

They talk about:

235 Creativity often feels elusive, especially when life gets busy. How can we prioritize our writing when there's not a minute to spare? In this episode, Nadine shares how you can harness the beauty of small moments through micro memoirs and sketches to enrich your creative journey. Need a pattern interrupt to jumpstart this creative practice? Join Nadine and bestselling authors Molly Wizenberg and Hallie Bateman in Spain from Oct 26-Nov 2 for Tiny True Stories and Sketches: A Micro-Memoir Retreat. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just wanting to preserve impactful memories on the page, remember that every story—no m...

234 What happens when the opposite traits that attracted you to your partner become the very things that frustrate you?

Nadine revisits an essay she first wrote in 2018 and originally shared on episode 3 in 2021—an essay about her husband and the moments that have exposed their differences, for better and for worse.

Nadine also reflects on what it's like to listen back, now that her kindergartener is a middle schooler and her home address has changed from Chicago to Florida. Yet some things have remained the same: life is as challenging and uncertain as ever.

...

Five years ago—amid the uncertainty of a global pandemic—Heart of the Story was born. In this special anniversary episode, Nadine reflects on the journey that began in isolation and grew into a deeply resonant creative practice and community.

Looking back at the episode that started it all, Nadine explores how revisiting our own work can reveal surprising truths about growth, desire, and inner wisdom. She pulls back the curtain on what has changed in the last several years and what lessons she's still re-learning. She also shares the inspiration behind the first episode, including a trip...

232 Five days. No talking. No technology. Just awareness.

Nadine shares her powerful experience from a five-day silent Vipassana retreat—and what emerged when there was nowhere left to escape. From boredom and resistance to unexpected joy, grief, and clarity, Nadine opens up about the emotional and spiritual breakthroughs that unfolded in stillness.

She reflects on self-compassion, non-reactivity, and the freedom that comes from releasing expectations and the constant desire for things to be different. A moving loving-kindness meditation becomes the catalyst for deep emotional release and insight, revealing a simple but radical truth: happiness doesn’t li...

What happens when you don’t fully step away — but you stop rushing forward?

Nadine reflects on the key takeaways from her semi-sabbatical: a year of working part time, studying deeply, and intentionally becoming a beginner again. Instead of chasing output, she followed curiosity. Instead of mastering, she practiced.

This episode explores what a slower, experimental year taught her about identity, learning, rest, and growth — and why becoming a beginner might be one of the most transformative choices we can make.

If you’ve been craving space to learn, try something new, or rethink...

On the next episode of Heart of the Story, Nadine shares takeaways and surprises from her Sabbatical Year, 2025.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided jo...

229 While the show is on a holiday break, catch up on any episodes you missed!

Reclaim your writing time with the following offerings in 2026:

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on he...

228 In 2025, Nadine interviewed bestselling authors Catherine Newman, Jen Hatmaker, Molly Wizenberg, and many more! Now, Nadine chats with her producer about their 12 favorite episodes and which bits of guest wisdom impacted them the most. Learn how their personal and creative lives have changed as a result these impactful conversations.

While the show is on a holiday break, catch up on any episodes you missed!

Reclaim your writing time with the following offerings in 2026:

227 Nadine is taking a semi-sabbatical this year to study, try new things, & travel, and she's sharing her adventures with you in a podcast series that airs monthly throughout 2025. In this 11th episode, she shares the highlights, challenges, and takeaways from November, which was a month of tackling things she's been avoiding. She breaks down the major reasons for avoidance and her strategies for taking baby steps towards the very things we ignore.

Join Nadine in her next round of Publish the Personal and at her next retreat:

226: How do you turn a daydream into a life? Tricia Leach has been doing exactly that for the past decade. What began as a bold leap into full-time RV living became a family adventure that took Trish, her husband, and their kids through all 50 states and beyond—stories they’ve shared with a worldwide following through their beloved YouTube channel, Keep Your Daydream.

But the journey didn’t stop at the state lines. Along the way, Trish launched her own line of spice blends and published two cookbooks (including her newest, Tastes of the States). Now, she and he...

225 Want to see your words in print but don't know where to begin? Or maybe the rejections are racking up and you don't know why. The world of publishing can feel illusive at best and cutthroat at worst, but once you know the unspoken rules, you can get published in no time.

Learn how Nadine has gotten her writing in top mags and how she's helped hundreds of writers get published in places like The New York Times, Vogue, The Sun, Brevity, Boston Globe Connections, the Chicago Tribune, Hippocampus, Longreads, Writer's Digest, and more (and how they’ve...

224 If you want to feel more vibrant and inspired, this encore conversation is for you. Artist and retreat leader, Flora Bowley, joins Nadine for a conversation about their favorite creative practices and Flora's book, The Art of Aliveness.

Join Nadine at her Revision Retreat on Madeline Island Aug 24-28, 2026.

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fifteen years as a writing professor, she founded WriteWELL workshops and retreats for women writers. She interviews today’s top female authors on her podcast, Heart of the Story. He...

223 As we prep for the holidays and turn our attention to food, we're revisiting our chat w/ cookbook author, registered dietician, and culinary school grad Nisha Melvani.

Covered in this episode:

-how living in many places (Jamaica, England, Canada, NY) has impacted her cooking

-how food affects our bodies

-how to eat more plants even if you're not vegan

-how to welcome a career change even while raising kids

-how sharing her recipes led to unexpected writing opportunities

-how to have a healthy relationship with...

222 Nadine is taking a semi-sabbatical this year to study, try new things, & travel, and she's sharing her adventures with you in a podcast series that airs monthly throughout the year. In this 10th episode, she shares the highlights, challenges, and takeaways from October, which was a month of trying new things and being in community. She shares her recent experiences at a retreat in upstate New York and in a women's entrepreneur group. She also shares her most recent hormone roller coaster.

Join Nadine at her next retreat:

221 In this hilarious episode, bestselling author Catherine Newman discusses the beauty and torture of parenting and perimenopause. They discuss the balance of humor and fear in Catherine's latest novels, Sandwich and Wreck, in which Catherine gets real about the complexities of everything from family vacations to "reproductive mayhem." Catherine shares her writing process and the personal experiences that've informed her novels. Ultimately. this episode is about how we hold love and terror at once.

Covered in this episode:

220 Writer’s block. How do we overcome it? Nadine shares the 8 tried and true ways to not only break the block, but avoid it altogether. Hear the wisdom she’s gained from her decades of professional writing, magazine editing, university teaching, and manuscript coaching.

Here are the links for her 2025/2026 workshops and retreats:

About Nadine:

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is an award-winning author, podcast host, and writing coach. After fiftee...

219 Nadine is taking a semi-sabbatical this year to study, try new things, & travel, and she's sharing her adventures with you in a podcast series that airs monthly throughout the year. In this 9th episode, she shares the highlights, challenges, and takeaways from September, which was a month of giving and receiving help. She shares her personal experiences and reflections on the importance of showing up for oneself and others, particularly during significant life transitions, such as new motherhood. She recounts stories of support she received during her own journey and emphasizes the need for community and kindness in times...

218 To celebrate Sari's 60th bday, we're bringing back this beloved chat, and listeners access to the full-length conversation! Oldster magazine creator, Sari Botton, joins Nadine to talk about the highlights and hardships of “traveling through time in a human body at every phase of life.” As a collector of stories, Sari also shares what she has learned about aging and new beginnings from others. Ultimately, Nadine and Sari explore how to embrace life’s contradictions and feel less alone in the process. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Am I the only one who feels this way?” this episode is for you!<...

217 Bestselling author Jen Hatmaker joins Nadine to discuss her latest book, Awake, which recounts the shocking loss of her 26-yr marriage. Jen reveals all the things she was ignoring (her finances, her codependent behaviors, even her own knowing) and the steps she took to reclaim her agency. She confesses why this book has cost her more sleep than her 13 other books, what it's like to write the whole truth for a public audience, and the rules she follows when writing about real-life characters.

If you've ever looked at your life and wondered, "How did I get here?"...