In the spotlight is Tom Zoellner, the author of nine nonfiction books, including Island on Fire: The Revolt that Ended Slavery in the British Empire, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best nonfiction book of 2020 and a finalist for the Bancroft Prize and the California Book Award. He works as a professor at Chapman University and Dartmouth College, and as an editor-at-large for the Los Angeles Review of Books.  We discuss:  >> The three questions every author should ask while deciding on a subject >> The mistakes aspiring writers tend to make >> Teaching creative nonfiction >> What AI does well >> Arizona >> Train travel >> Etc.  Learn more about Tom Zoellner and his books here: https://tomzoellner.com Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no   Write to Mike Consol at [email protected]