Exploring the Mind of Brad Meltzer: Writing, Heroes, and the Power of Curiosity
photo credit Donna Newman
In this episode of Health Gig, we speak with bestselling author Brad Meltzer who delves into his creative process, his passion for historical figures, and the value of curiosity. Brad reveals how his fascination with everyday heroes and historical mysteries has fueled his diverse body of work, from thrilling novels to inspiring children's books.
Sharing heartwarming anecdotes, he recalls his interactions with former First Lady Barbara Bush and discusses his unique approach to research, storytelling, and staying healthy while balancing a busy life. Discover the insights that have made Brad Meltzer a literary force, touching hearts and minds through his captivating tales and empowering narratives.
More on brad meltzer
Website: https://bradmeltzer.com/Discover.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BradMeltzer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradmeltzer/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bradmeltzer
Quotes:
”The “writing life” is like any other job. It's work. You have to just do it every day. You have to work and sit your butt in the seat and write.” - Brad Meltzer
“Whether it's talking to George H.W. Bush or a Secret Service agent or someone in the FBI or any other acronym agency, I always just will give them the book and say, “Tell me what I got wrong. Tell me what I got right”. And it always makes it turn for the better.” - Brad Meltzer
“I came to one of the Barbara Bush Foundation’s literacy events to do my very first books. I did them because I wanted my own kids to have better heroes to look up to. I was tired of them looking at people who were famous for being famous and thinking, ‘That's a hero.’ I wanted to give them heroes of kindness and compassion, heroes of confidence, humility, and perseverance. And so we started with I am Amelia Earhart, and I am Abraham Lincoln.” - Brad Meltzer
Show Notes:
Brad Meltzer: The craziest and best fan letter I ever got in my life, which came from your dad. And he wrote me a letter from out of the blue and it said, Barbara, and I love your books and would you sign a copy for us? We would love to have a signed copy. And Doro, my first thought was this has to be a practical joke. I did not think it was real. And the reason I thought that is my first job when I was 18 years old was as an intern for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Brad Meltzer: To show you his kindness, he said to me, Why don't you come to Houston and spend a week with Barbara and I. I spent nearly a week in Houston with them, in their house, in the car. The Secret Service is like, Who is this guy? What was I doing there? They were like, You're not riding with the service. You're riding with us. We went to dinners and we just wound up hitting it off and having a great time together. And that's really what started everything after that.
Brad Meltzer: They were bringing in some of his favorite authors to read to him on basically what was becoming his deathbed. And I got the call and I was in Kennebunkport, and they said, We'd love you to come in and read to the president. And I said, Oh, of course I'd be honored to be there.
Brad Meltzer: One of the books on the stack is my book called The First Conspiracy, about the secret plot to Kill George Washington. And he and President Clinton had both given me blurbs on the book.
Brad Meltzer: The section that I brought to read to him was a section from the book where George Washington presents the Declaration of Independence and has it read to his troops for the very first time. And your dad's sleeping. And then I get to those words. Those words we all know we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. And in that moment, your dad's eyes pop open and he is wide awake. It's like the Declaration of Independence is an infusion for him.
Brad Meltzer: my life got changed because my ninth grade English teacher was a woman named Sheila Spicer. Brad Meltzer: And Miss Spicer changed my life with three words. She said to me, You can write. I was like, Well, everyone can write. She said, Nope, nope. You know what you're doing? She tried to put me in the honors class and I had some sort of conflict. So she said, Here's what we're going to do. You're going to sit in the corner for the entire year. Ignore everything I do on the blackboard, ignore every homework assignment I give. You're going to do the honors work instead.
Brad Meltzer: The week after I got my 23rd and 24th rejection letter is the week I started my next novel, which became the 10th Justice. That was my first published work and that was my start.
Brad Meltzer: The writing life is like is like any other job. It's work. It's work every single day. The writing life and being a writer, to me, building a book is like building a sandcastle, one grain of sand at a time. And on the first day, you know, I always say if you write a page a day, you'll have a book in a year.
Brad Meltzer: I walked into a Secret Service agent's office and I thought, he's never going to help me. It's called the Secret Service. The word secret is in the title, right? They're never going to help me. And I sat down in his office I'll never forget. And he said to me, Brad, I read your first book. I liked it a lot. I like what you do and I want to help you. And he became one of my closest friends. And it was through him that I met other people at the White House.
Brad Meltzer: I usually write better at night, truthfully, but I have kids. I have three kids. And I want to be a good dad. I want to be there so I don't write at night anymore. Once the kids were born, I stopped. I now treat it like a job.
Brad Meltzer: We did the Lincoln conspiracy about the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln, the true plot at the start of his presidency, not John Wilkes Booth.
Brad Meltzer: I came to the Barbara Bush, one of the literacy events, to do the very first books. I remember we were doing Abraham Lincoln. And so we've done I am Abraham Lincoln. I am Amelia Earhart. I am Rosa Parks, I am Dr. King, you name it. And I did them because I wanted my own kids to have better heroes to look up to. I was tired of them looking at people who were famous for being famous and thinking, That's a hero. I said, I want to give them heroes of kindness and compassion, heroes of confidence and humility, perseverance. And so we started with Amelia Earhart, and I am Abraham Lincoln.
Brad Meltzer: When the 2016 election happened, two of our books started selling more than any others, and they were I am George Washington and I am Martin Luther King Jr. And it was at a time where Hillary and Donald Trump were yelling at each other every day on television and fighting with each other every day on TV.
Brad Meltzer: Sadly, especially these days, that there's a huge difference between a politician and a leader. And I love the fact that people use our books to fight back against the cynicism we see today in politics. They use our books to build libraries of real heroes for their kids and their grandkids and their nieces and their nephews. And we broke the Guinness Book of World Records in Texas. We did a book called I Am Texas with the Right Charity, and we did it all for charity. And Kids Could Submit in Texas. It was the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's physically biggest book. The best part of it was we had to put famous Texans on the cover and put your mom on the cover and put Barbara Bush on the cover of that one.
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