What Were You Thinking?

No one thinks they'll ever go to prison, and that was certainly the case for Phyllis Taylor, author of The Prison Lady. When she was fired from her job at a law firm, Phyllis was stunned. Her 30-year career had come to a complete stop. But a friend forced her to come to an Oprah event, an action that would lead Phyllis to a new career behind bars: helping prisoners develop important life skill...

S.M. Freedman's author journey has been anything but typical. She self-published her first book, then was approached by a publisher who wanted to publish that book. She went back to the drawing board for rewrites and revisions. After she wrote the sequel, she self-published again. Her next novels were traditionally published, but S.M. learned so many lessons - about writing, publishing, and pe...

Ali Bryan's words are everywhere: in her 5 novels, in anthologies, magazines, newspapers...pretty much anywhere the printed words can appear. She chased the dream of being a full-time writer and crossed the finish line. But just because you win one marathon, doesn't mean you'll win them all. Ali shares her writer journey candidly and with transparency in this episode. Visit Ali's w...

TINYabc stands for This Is Not Your average book club, and it most certainly isn't. Karen Sokoloff decided to create a paid-membership book club, a risk she wasn't entirely comfortable with, but took anyways. The result is a vibrant club that meets 4 TIMES PER MONTH, to meet authors, discuss books, and build camaraderie around the printed word. Join the Facebook group. Follow Karen on Inst...

Nora Nickum, author of Superpod, wasn't always interested in writing non-fiction for kids. Her day job requires a lot of non-fiction writing - she is the senior ocean policy manager at the Seattle Aquarium. But don't let that dry title fool you. Superpod is a fasctianting narrative that will make you want to jump in, get your feet wet, and help the whales in our oceans. Listen to the orcas: www. O...

In November of 2021, Travis Baldree set out to try NANOWRIMO again. He was not new to National Novel Writing Month, but in 2021, he was focussed on finishing this time. He did, and he self-published his first novel, Legends and Lattes in February of 2022. By November, that little project was on the New York Times bestseller list. From self-published, to agented, then traditionally published, Travi...

Chelsea Wakelyn's debut novel, What Remains of Elsie Jane is not your typical story about loss. When Elsie Jane's husband Sam dies unexpectedly, Elsie does not pretend to be okay. She doesn't acquiesce to the needs of others. She completely falls apart, turning to Craigslist to find a way back to the life she once knew.

There is no way I could possibly land on one book to discuss with Eric Walters, since he's penned more than 130 of them. In this episode, we talk about building a career as an author, some of the keys to success and the process required to keep going. Learn more about Creation of Hope .

Jennifer Savran Kelly's debut novel, Endpapers, explores the journey of a genderqueer book binder who is trying to navigate through her relationships while following the trail of a secret love note she finds tucked into the endpapers of a book. While classified as literary fiction, this book engaged me so thoroughly, I didn't even realize it was literary. A must read for 2023. Watch Jennifer in he...

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Genalea Barker has three novels in the queue for publishing over the next two years. She managed to find publishers WITHOUT AN AGENT, WHILE RAISING FOUR KIDS! A unicorn? For sure. An extremely talented writer? Unarguably. Follow Genalea on Twitter . Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.

Last year, I was interviewed by Joelle Tamraz for her YouTube channel, Elevating Voices in Memoir and Fiction . It was a candid conversation about my own journey as a hybrid author (both independently published and traditionally published). Listen in as I share my experiences, the planning (or lack thereof), the ups and downs and why I chose the self-publishing route for my memoirs. Visit my Subst...

Jennie Ogilvie always knew there was something different about her. She has a deep connection with spirit and has catapulted to the top as Alberta's favourite medium. Her debut book, Inside my Head, is a combination of memoir and Chicken Soup for the Soul. Within its pages, readers are taken on a journey to recover from grief, move through death with ease and grace, and carve out a better life for...

I asked past guests to share the best book they read over the past year. I have a few of my own that I added to the list, so get busy with your Goodreads list. Links to the podcast episodes for each guest: Clare Pooley Marci Warhaft Christina Kilbourne Danna Staaf Mary Boone Bev Katz Rosenbaum Connect with me on Goodreads.

Kirsten Miller has written for Middle Grade and Young Adult, but her latest novel, The Change, pushed her out of her comfort zone and into the adult market, specifically, the older, menopausal one.

James Fell is the author of his own rules. He does everything writers are told not to, and it works beautifully every single time. Does he have the Midas touch? Maybe. Can he turn a dying career into syndicated fitness column? For sure. Can he make history interesting? Fuck yes. Follow James (and buy a MF'ing book) on Substack . Read about his recent ADHD diagnosis. Read his most popular post on F...

I had a fantastic and fun interview with Cass and Meredith from The Clopen Effect: A Retail Podcast. They interviewed me by phone to chat about my latest memoir, Spent: My Accidental Career in Retail. We giggled over the ridiculousness that happens in the retail world. We conspired over the tricks we use to get through the day. It was a nice opportunity for me to talk with people who are still in...

Ask anyone who has ever read a book by Jeff Zentner and they will tell you how the book broke them, or made their lives better, or put them on a different course. It's not just young adults who connect with his novels. Adults (myself included) really respond to his stories as well. In every book, Jeff says he ensures his characters have someone to love and someone who loves them. That is the core...

Jenny L Howe's debut novel is one you'll fall in love with, literally. Her main character, Allison, mirrors some of the challenges Jenny faced in her own life - professionally, but not necessarily romantically. Allison, who is, as Jenny would say, unapologetically fat, finds herself entangled with an on-again, off-again lover. Let the games begin! In this episode, we talk about her agent and publi...

Real Bad Things will leave with some real bad dreams. At least it did for me. To say I LOVED this book is a gross misrepresentation of just how deep I fell. It was my first 5-star read of 2022 and I knew before I was halfway done that I wanted to interview the author, Kelly J Ford. We cover a lot of topics in this episode: the agent journey, GritLit/Southern Gothic/Southern Noir, LGBTQ+ genre, her...

If this was an episode of Who Would Win: Dinosaurs or Cephalopods, the squids would come out on top. While dinosaurs fossils get all the glory, it's the cephalopod fossils who have been doing all the work of telling the story of survival. After already surviving five (5!!!) mass extinctions, the cephalopods are likely the ocean creatures that will survive the next one. They are truly the Monarchs...

This debut novel is a crazy ride. From the very first page, I was hooked, wanting to know why a priest murdered a parishioner with a candlestick. If that feels reminiscent of a game of Clue (Colonel Mustard, in the library, with a knife), you're not wrong. There are enough twists and turns and unexpected, laugh out loud moments in All is Well to give you literary whiplash. Buy All is Well . To lea...

Brittney Morris performed what most writers would consider an impossible feat: she wrote an entire novel in 12 days. After being inspired by the Black Panther movie, Brittney decided to write a story about a 17-year-old high schooler who developed a game played by the global black community. Brittney wanted to participate in Pitch Wars, a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors,...

Both of Clare Pooley's novels do a fantastic job of capturing what it is to be authentically human. It's ironic, given that she wrote a blog about her alcoholism anonymously for years. She is a master at multiple character narratives; The Authenticity Project and Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting are heartwarming, with characters you hate and love and back again. In this episode, Clare shares wha...

The love Beth Duke holds for her home state of Alabama is abundantly clear in her novels. Through It All Comes Back to You and Tapestry, she brings the south to life through her characters, their dialogue and the way they live. She charmed me through her novels and through this conversation. She shares her experiences with book clubs, agents and the traditional publishing world and is candid about...

Kelly DeVos is the author of 5 young adult novels. She has a remarkable gift for tapping into the fears and insecurities of teenagers, but it's the dark side of her characters that really shines. The young women who are her main characters are determined, saucy and smart- mouthed. It's hard not to see your younger self in the pages of her novels. In this episode, we talk about strong YA characters...