Shelved Books Podcast

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, multiple-award-winning YA author L.E. DeLano joins us with the story that highlights how, sometimes, editor and writer can see a book differently. After she and her editor decided on her next book, about the richness and intrigue of Irish mythology, L.E. began the writing process, which was then followed by a lengthy and challenging round of edits. And just as...

Hey Shelvies! On this week’s episode, we are joined by the award-winning author of “The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary” and “Beauty Woke,” Nonieqa Ramos. In sharing their shelved book story, Nonieqa leads us into a discussion about the different pathways to a career in publishing and how each writer’s story is unique. Case in point, their own story: from having three “definitely” shelved books early...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we meet Victoria Gilbert, author of the very successful Blue Ridge Library and Booklover’s B&B cozy mystery series. With a unique background in performing arts and library sciences, Victoria began her writing career penning stories in the science fiction and fantasy genres. And although her books found her an agent, it wasn’t until switched to a new genre,...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we meet Brian D. Anderson, the O.G. indie-bestselling fantasy author of The Godling Chronicles and Dragonvein. As we soon discover, Brian is a born teacher, able to take on the hardest writing topics and simplify them into bite-sized facts, all with incomparable humor. We discuss how to query, how to avoid info dumps, how to read your favorite authors as a stu...

Hey Shelvies! Happy New Year! In this first episode of 2023, we have the honor of interviewing the Emmy Award-winning, #1 New York Times and International bestselling author, Jennifer Niven. As the daughter of a biographer, Jennifer describes how she began writing at a very early age, alongside her mother. With her mother’s guidance, and a master’s degree from the American Film Institute, Jennifer...

Hey Shelvies! It’s almost time to sing Auld Lang Syne and say goodbye to 2022. But before we do, the hosts of the Shelved Book Podcast wanted to remember a fantastic inaugural year with a Top Ten Moments episode. These are the times our guests made us laugh so hard we nearly cried, or the ‘a-ha’ moments that made a concept come alive. Trust us, it was hard to choose with so many amazing guests and...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we meet Erin Hahn, YA and Adult Romance author of titles such as “You’d Be Mine” and “Never Saw You Coming.” But before being published, Erin wrote a book whose story was near and dear to her heart—the book she thought would be her breakthrough. It had both social and personal meaning and was requested by many agents who eventually sent her rejections. Erin di...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we welcome Jennifer Probst, New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Steet Journal best-selling author of romance and women’s fiction. Although Jennifer has published over 50 books in her writing career, she has also shelved three, each for a different reason. Whether it was a book full of passion and raw writing meant to learn the craft, or that intimidating book...

a Rafflecopter giveaway Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we are joined by New York Times bestselling author of historical romance--under the pen name Eloisa James—as well as Shakespeare scholar and Chair of the English Department at Fordham University, Mary Bly. In sharing her wonderfully entertaining shelved book story, Mary leads us into a discussion about how family expectations can shape...

Hey Shelvies! Are you ready for part 2 of Gail Villanueva’s interview? In this week’s episode, award-winning, Filipino writer, Gail Villanueva, reveals how she writes her stories by finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, how growing as a person made her a stronger writer, and the importance of writing from your heart. Oh, and we learn what Gail would do with a $1mil (hint: it involves pamperin...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we are joined by Gail Villanueva, an award-winning, Filipino writer of middle-grade fiction. As we listened to Gail’s story, we came across so many delightful insights that we deemed it worthy of a double podcast! And so, in part 1 of her interview, Gail shares how she dealt with the rejection inherent to being a writer, how she chose her genre and which stori...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we are joined by Terri Bruce, author of fantasy and adventure books, including The Afterlife series. In listening to her shelved book stories, it’s clear that Terri has seen it all in her writing career. Be it cover art or book title setbacks, publisher contract disputes, plotting struggles, bad timing and story relevance, or even reader sensitivity issues, Te...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we meet author, educator, comic book expert, superhero specialist, and overall avid reader, Richard B. Knight. In sharing his shelved book story, Rich reveals how he likens his books to relationships, and how sometimes, as much as you want it to work, and as painful as it might be, a relationship must end. We discuss the growth authors experience which each ne...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we are joined by USA Today best-selling authors Taryn Elliott and Cari Quinn, who also write under the pen name Taryn Quinn. There is no question that this prolific and hilarious writing duo was brought together by fate. After meeting on a romance critiquing website, they hit it off over their love of music, and never looked back. With Cari’s talents as an edi...

Hey Shelvies! On this week’s Halloween Special, we are joined by NYT bestselling, multiple award-winning, Latino-American author, Aiden Thomas. In recounting their shelved book story, Aiden details how they re-used scenes from the shelved book in their other published novels, leading to a Zombied Novel. Aiden also acknowledges that writing, at any level, can be hard and how looking for a connectio...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we meet award-winning screenwriter and author, Mike Lera. As we soon discover, Mike is a creative thinker who has shelved multiple books and scripts through the years, for very different reasons. This leads to a discussion about how “life’s journey” can take you away from writing at times, how writing a novel from a screenplay can complement each other, and ho...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, USA Today Best-Selling author, Bonne Brux, joins us to talk about the hilarious story surrounding her shelved book. It all started with a great idea for a historical fiction: a nanny, lots of children to look after, their difficult widower father to deal with, immigration issues… Boone poured her heart into this story, until she sat down to watch a movie one n...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, author and college professor, Jenny L. Howe, joins us with the hilarious story of her “shelved forever” book which she wrote as two separate halves and could never quite realign properly. We also discuss the joy of finding an agent, followed by the year-long heartbreak of being on submission, which was only made worse by publishers’ contradictory editing comme...

Hey Shelvies! On this week’s podcast, we meet Rebecca Podos, an award-winning young adult author, as well as an agent with the Rees Literary Agency. Rebecca’s shelved book idea took flight as a result of a real event called the “aflockalypse,” where hundreds of dead birds fell from the sky. After much research and hard work, however, she realized that although her “tail” had good bones, the plumag...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, Young Adult author Kim Karalius joins us with her shelved book about magic, friendship, and bees. We discuss the research involved in writing a book, the time it takes to polish it, and that even when it feels like the perfect time for a story to be published, it might not “bee.” Sometimes, however, as your shelved book sits on its shelf and matures, what migh...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, #1 International Best Selling author, Ann B. Harrison, recounts the stories of her two shelved books. First, a romantic tale that Ann loved, but her editor couldn’t connect with, and second, a thriller that her editor loved, but Ann wasn’t confident enough to publish. We discuss author confidence, how it affects writers at every level of their careers, and the...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we meet with Danika Stone, an educator, an artist, and the author of many Young Adult and Adult books. Her shelved book story begins with a manuscript she loved, that even her editor and agent loved, but the timing wasn’t meant to be. We talk about the creative versus the commercial side of writing, and how a writer must learn to appreciate both. And helped by...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we are joined by Rin Chupeco, a Filipino writer of young adult speculative fiction. As we chat with Rin about how their most recent shelved book was transformed into a published book, we discover that it’s one of many shelved books they wrote over the years. And Rin shares their recipe for success: your work in the present will pay off in the future, because R...

Hey Shelvies! In this week’s episode, we are joined by New York Times, USA Today, and #1 International Bestselling author, Gina L. Maxwell. In sharing her shelved book story, Gina leads us into a discussion about the power of words and the attachment authors have for their characters over many years, sometimes as long as 14 years! We chat about how letting go of these beloved characters can be har...

Hey Shelvies! In this weeks’ episode, we meet author, singer, songwriter, radio DJ, voice actor, and overall renaissance man, CJ “Caz” Edmunds. His shelved book about a “chosen” boy who learns to use his magic eventually developed into a world full of maps, notebooks, and worldbuilding that seemed too much to handle so early in his writing career. But not before he carefully chose the font, paper,...