The How The Why is a half-hour podcast documenting the creative process and the creative purpose. This free weekly series is an educational resource provided to discuss the evolution of literary arts with industry innovators.

Amy E. Wallen is Associate Director at the New York State Writers Institute and teaches creative writing at the University of California, San Diego Extension. Her first novel, Moon Pies and Movie Stars, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. When We Were Ghouls, releases in Spring 2018. Her essays have been published in The Gettysburg Review, The Normal School, Country Living and other national magazines and anthologies.

Samantha Dunn is an editor at Coast Magazine. Her debut novel, Failing Paris, was a finalist for the PEN Center Fiction Award. Her memoir, Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life rose to bestseller lists in Los Angeles and San Francisco and her second memoir, Faith in Carlos Gomez, has been in production at  Lifetime Television. Sam’s work is widely anthologized, including the short story collection, Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles, which she co-edited. Her essays have appeared in numerous national publications such as O (Oprah) Magazine, Ms., and Salon. She teaches in the UCLA Extension Writers Program and at the Idyllwild Arts Academy.