Liz Sower

Liz Sower is the host of Ghosts In The Burbs. Follow her on Twitter here.

Kindly introduce yourself and Ghosts In The Burbs!
I'm Liz Sower, the creator and producer of Ghosts in the Burbs, a podcast and blog about the people of Wellesley, MA and the ghosts (and monsters) who haunt them. I live in that spooky little New England town with my husband, two daughters and four elderly dogs and I am a major fan of cozy mysteries and reality ghost hunting television. 

You started the show before podcasts were hot hot hot. How did you end up embracing the medium? Did you have a hard time explaining what a podcast was? 
I learned to podcast in Library School! Librarians  stay up to date on new technologies so that we can help patrons access and use them - and the best way to do that is to learn how to use the technologies yourself. Ghosts in the Burbs began as a blog, but I found it difficult to stand out in that space so I decided to start reading the stories for the podcast. I didn't think I'd ever get more than a handful of listeners, but the stories spread by word of mouth! At the beginning it was hard to explain podcasts to people - specifically how people could access them. But then Serial took off and it got a lot easier!

I had always thought Ghosts in the Burbs would NEVER come back and was THRILLED when I heard you'd be doing more episodes. What made you return?
I missed it so much! I had to take the time to focus on a book that I'd been working on for far too long. Once that draft was complete and I was ready to begin my search for a literary agent I had way too much time on my hands and haunted neighbors began to pop into my mind once again. I knew I had to start writing their stories down again. 

Do you believe in ghosts?
I do believe! I did have one creepy sighting when I was young, but it could be chalked up to a fear induced hallucination.... I would love to see a ghost and I suppose could always find a ghost hunting group to tag along with but I hesitate for two reasons: 1. Something will actually happen and I'll never be able to sleep again. 2. Nothing will happen and I'll be horribly disappointed and lose faith that spooks are real. So, I choose to simply believe.

If people want to get into Ghosts in the Burbs, where should they start?
People should start with the very first episode of Ghosts in the Burbs. The audio sounds like I am recording from inside a tin can in those early episodes, but the story builds on itself in a fun way. But, if you want to just dip in, my favorites stories are The Mimic and Third Time's a Charm.

Women are constantly being criticized for their voices on podcasts. What is your relationship to yours?
It’s so easy to throw a nasty comment or snarky criticism at someone who is putting themselves out there. If you don’t like a podcaster’s voice, then turn off the * free * podcast and move on. It reeks of the old SNL “women aren’t funny” line. I think it’s a weak attempt to get women to shut up. We won’t And besides, as Theodore Roosevelt said, “it’s not the critic who counts; not the [wo]man who points out how the strong [wo]man stumbles, or where the doer of the deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the [wo]man who is actually in the arena…”

What is the hardest thing about making your show?
Finding the time to get lost in my imagination. Once a character or spook shows up in my thoughts they are wonderful about gelling me their story—just as long as I have enough time to myself to listen to it. Now that everyone is home I’m having a harder time turning off all the worries and lists of daily life to hear what the characters are trying to tell me.

If you were going to start a new podcast, don’t worry about whether or not anyone would like it or any of the logistics, what would it be?
I’ve thought a lot about this. Another project I am working on is a sort of memoire / thought dump about my life long relationship with alcohol (specifically wine.) I’d love to someday start a podcast and invite people on to talk about their relationship with their self-medication of choice. Who knows, maybe someday…

What is your biggest goal for Ghosts In The Burbs? Why did you make it?
My intention and biggest goal for Ghosts In The Burbs is for it to give listeners an escape—if only for a few minutes—from daily life. I am so grateful to the authors who do this for me, I want to pay it forward.

What would you tell someone who wants to start a podcast but is afraid?
The fear you feel over trying something new is a major tell. It’s the little demon assigned to you trying to distract you from what you’re meant to do. Ignore them and do it afraid.

Are there too many podcasts?
Hell no! The more the merrier. I am a huge believer in a seat for every ass, and if there’s anyone out there who wants to make a fictional cozy mystery podcast with a small town librarian protagonist who leaves her job to open a mystery book store and stumbles upon body after body then realizes she has psychic abilities and also owns a bunch of dogs…I’ll take that seat!

Thanks, Liz!