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Off The Shelf with Morgann Book

#41: The 10-Year Journey to Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson

4/2/202638 min

This week on Off The Shelf, Morgann sits down with Leanne Toshiko Simpson to talk about her novel Never Been Better and the deeply personal journey behind it. From living with bipolar disorder to navigating creativity, teaching, and storytelling, Leanne shares what it really looks like to build a life and career while managing mental health.

CHAPTERS: 

0:00 - Introduction

2:15 - Teaching Creative Writing at U of T

6:00 - What Leanne Does Day to Day

10:25 - Being Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder

11:55 - What D...

Clips

Why Some Can't Be 'Honest'
Outwaiting Your Mental Illness
From Memoir To Rom-Com
Redefining Work With Bipolar
Failing Out, Teaching There
Try Everything, Keep Trying
A Card For Grief
Pitch: My Best Friend’s Ward
On Crip Time And Pace
From Infinite Snails To Truth

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 10:00

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  2. Morgann Book· Host0:24

    What did the 10-year journey of writing this book look like?

  3. Leanne Toshiko Simpson· Guest0:30

    Step one, be hospitalized. [laughs] That is the first step. And I- when I was in there, I was not like, "Yeah, I'm totally gonna write a book about this." I was like, "I'm gonna tell no one that this happened to me." Um, I did not have a phone. I did not have a laptop. They take all of your stuff. Um, although I hear nowadays they take less of your stuff, which I'm happy- Oh ... happy for people.

  4. Morgann Book· Host0:50

    [instrumental music plays] Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Off the Shelf. If you love a story that gives you romance but also makes you think a little bit deeper about life and healing, you are absolutely going to love today's guest. I am joined by Leanne Toshiko Simpson, the author of Never Been Better, a debut that is equal parts funny and heartfelt and unfiltered when it comes to mental health and relationships. Leanne, welcome to Off the Shelf.

  5. Leanne Toshiko Simpson· Guest1:19

    Thanks so much for having me.

  6. Morgann Book· Host1:20

    Of course. Now, I read this on your website. I absolutely loved it. It says you write joyful, messy, laugh-out-loud stories about living with mental illness and

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