Ep. 91: Caitlin Wahrer (Author of The Damage) + Book Recommendations

Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Sarah Dickinson

Bookrecommendations, Bookpodcasts, Sarahsbookshelvespodcast, Sarahsbookshelveslivepodcast, Sarahsbookshelveslive, Bookpodcast, Literarypodcast, Whatshouldiread, Arts, Bookreviewpodcast, Reading, Readingpodcast, Books, Sarahsbookshelves

4.9 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 91, Caitlin Wahrer (author of The Damage) shares how she decided to tackle sexual assault of a man by a man, how she felt about writing a gay male protagonist as a straight woman, and how the U.S. legal system is re-traumatizing for sexual assault victims.

This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

Highlights

Why Caitlin doesn’t use cases she actually worked on as inspiration for her fiction writing.
How Caitlin decided to tackle sexual assault of a man by a man.
How Caitlin felt about writing a story about a gay, male protagonist as a straight woman (and what the discussions with her publisher looked like).
What it was like to work with a sensitivity reader.
What it means to her when gay men and sexual assault survivors tell her The Damage had an impact on them. (rephrase).
The biggest difference she discovered in the impact of sexual assault of a female vs. of a male.
How the U.S. legal system is re-traumatizing for sexual assault victims, Caitlin’s view of the legal system’s biggest problems, and how she thinks it could be improved.
The restorative justice process.
Why attorneys make such great fiction writers.

Caitlin’s Book Recommendations [31:19]

Two OLD Books She Loves

Know My Name by Chanel Miller | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [31:34]
Wild Seedby Octavia Butler | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [34:31]

Two NEW Books She Loves

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [37:28]
Bath Haus by PJ Vernon | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [39:35]

One Book She DIDN’T LOVE

Cujo by Stephen King | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [44:12]

One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About

Dog Park by Sofi Oksanen (September 21, 2021) | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [42:13]

Last 5 Star Book(s) Caitlin Read [49:03]

That Night by Gillian McAllister | Buy from Amazon [46:40]

Other Books Mentioned

Kindred by Octavia Butler [34:49]
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King [46:13]

About Caitlin

Instagram

Caitlin is a Maine girl through and through. She was born to two hippies who raised her in a small town in central-southern Maine without a single stoplight in it. Caitlin left the state for four years to study criminal justice and marriage and family studies at a college in Pennsylvania. She returned to Maine after graduation to attend law school and practice law. She and her husband live in southern Maine with their dog.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of the blog Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week I'm
0:15.5	talking with one bookish guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they don't love, and one new
0:22.7	release they're excited about. We're going to get real and sometimes a bit snarky about all things
0:28.3	books. If you like the show, I'd really love your support. Spread the word to your reader friends,
0:33.8	subscribe to the show, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts, or get bonus podcast episodes by
0:41.2	supporting the podcast on Patreon. There's a link in the show notes and in my Instagram bio to my
0:47.5	Patreon page. Let's get rolling. Hey everyone, before we get to our guest today, I wanted to apologize
0:53.1	for my scratchy voice,
0:55.2	just like I did in the previous episode with Megan Abbott. I actually recorded this episode
1:00.8	and that one on back-to-back days, and I am on day three of a terrible head cold, but I did not
1:08.0	want to reschedule these interviews. Summer scheduling is really tough. So I wanted to go
1:12.1	ahead and get them done. But it is what it is. The voice sounds like what it sounds like. I'm sorry.
1:18.2	All right. Let's get to our guest. My guest today is Caitlin Ware. She's the author of the debut
1:23.9	legal crime drama The Damage, which came out on June 15th.
1:28.7	Caitlin was born to two hippies who raised her in a small town in South Central Maine.
1:33.4	She left the state for four years to study criminal justice and marriage and family studies
1:37.8	at a college in Pennsylvania.
1:40.2	Following graduation, she returned to Maine to attend law school and practice law.
1:44.0	She and her husband live in southern Maine with their dog.
1:47.4	The damage is a story about the bonds of family and what family will do to protect one of their own.
1:52.9	It's a story about sexual assault of a man by a man.
1:58.2	And Caitlin did a fantastic job illuminating how navigating the U.S. legal system can be
	...

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