Why Authors Write

Julie Carrick Dalton joins Kristie Dickinson on  Why Authors Write  to talk about her unforgettable and hopeful climate fiction novel,  The Forest Becomes Her . Set in Concord, Massachusetts, this literary eco-thriller reveals the unexpected human costs of destroying an old-growth forest for a so-called “eco-friendly” development.  Dalton takes us inside the hearts of three women who take action t...

What if the worst thing you ever did to someone you loved could transform into a long journey toward repair and self-forgiveness? That’s one of the questions that Why Authors Write host Kristie Dickinson explores with Benny B. Peterson, author of The Maidenheads.  Their candid conversation in this episode covers the themes in Benny’s breakthrough first novel of queer coming of age, and the journey...

Prepare for a thrill; Invasive Species is the first ever horror novel from mystery author tEllery Adams. It turns out that she story on her own life! In this episode of  Why Authors Write , host  Mary J. Cronin  sits down with Ellery Adams  to dive deep into her chilling, genre-bending novel  Invasive Species —a Long Island sea-monster story that explores mothers, daughters, power, and what happen...

Anthony Tardiff spent over ten years writing The Final System , a thriller in which AI is on the brink of either saving humanity from chaos or dooming us to servitude.  Has today’s AI tech turned his powerful fiction into a real life dilemma? In this mind-expanding episode of  Why Authors Write , host Mary J. Cronin sits down with debut novelist Anthony Tardiff to dig into the origins and implicat...

In this episode of Why Authors Write Emily Franklin, the best-selling author of "Love and Other Monsters," discusses her compelling reimagining of the summer when Shelley Byron, Mary Shelley, and forgotten stepsister Claire Clairmont were together. The conversation delves into the mystery of Frankenstein's origin story the extensive research Franklin did to understand the erasure of Claire Claremo...

Susan Donovan Bernhard joins Why Authors Write host Sara Stanton to reveal the story behind Westerly , her just-published novel, tracing its roots in rural Ireland and the personal and historical currents that shaped it.  Their conversation uncovers the messy realities of writing about family secrets, shifting definitions of identity, and 50 years of misdirection and well-intentioned decisions wit...

In this sparkling, summer-themed episode of  Why Authors Write , host  Kristie Dickinson  sits down with  Kyleigh Leddy , author of the memoir  The Perfect Other  and her debut novel  Worse Than Strangers , for a deeply honest, hopeful conversation about creativity, the healing, almost magical power of writing from the heart, and the challenges of making a living as an author.   Kyleigh shares how...

Why Authors Write host  Mary J. Cronin  welcomes  Jessica Brilliant Keener to discover why emotional betrayal and broken trust were issues that haunted her while writing Evening Begins the Day . Keener shares how her interest in fractured family relationships, marital infidelity, and the complexity of human motives became the emotional core of this book. Rather than lean on clichés about leaving a...

Would you sell your house and spend 18 months living out of your car to make yout road trip story authentic?  That’s what bestselling author M.L Rio did to write her blistering rock‑and‑roll novel "Hot Wax." In this episode of Why Authors Write, host Mary J. Cronin sits down with Rio to unpack the wild, 10‑year journey that brought Hot Wax to readers everywhere. Beyond this novel’s compelling orig...

What convinces a lifelong entrepreneur and venture investor to pivot from business success to become a full time mystery writer? In this episode of Why Authors Write, Christopher Mirabile tells Mary J. Cronin what inspired him to create Silas Lopez as a quirky and deeply decent outsider detective hero in “The Washashore.”  Mirabile opens up about applying his entrepreneur’s mindset to a career piv...

Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of 'Heap Earth Upon It,' discusses drawing her inspiration from the Irish countryside, the process of researching historical settings, crafting multiple character perspectives, and exploring the theme of obsession in her latest book. The conversation delves into the creative process, sibling dynamics, and upcoming projects, offering insights into the author's writing...

Kristie Dickinson welcomes bestselling novelist and book coach Lori Gold to Why Authors Write to unpack the making of her twisty new novel, “Kiss, Marry, Kill.”  Lori shares her struggle to wrangle three POVs, multiple timelines, and parallel realities into a complex but readable story, and why she had to revise the plot again and again.  The episode also dives into the realities of a working writ...

How does it feel when the story you wrote a decade ago anchors your award-winning book and becomes an acclaimed feature film? In this episode of Why Authors Write, host Mary Cronin talks with author and now screenwriter Ben Shattuck about living that dream with The History of Sound. Ben reveals how the carefully paired stories in The History of Sound speak to each other across centuries, linked by...

Why did Julie Dobrow spend decades researching the tragic  love story at the center of her dual biography, Love and Loss After Wounded Knee ?  In this episode of Why Authors Write, Julie reveals her obsession with the forgotten life of New England writer Elaine Goodale, who turned her back on fame as a teen poet, moved west, and married Lakota-born Charles Eastman right after the 1890 Wounded Knee...

In this episode of  Why Authors Write ,  Mary Cronin  talks with historical novelist  Virginia Pye  about why she likes to write about private lives and intimate relationships pressured by public upheaval and change.  Virginia shares her secrets for completing complex storylines, and talks about how she transformed decades of publisher rejection into a series of bestselling books. The conversation...

Why do some stories fit perfectly into 15 pages, while others insist on becoming novels? In this episode of  Why Authors Write , bestselling author  Daphne Kalotay  pulls back the curtain on deciding when an idea demands a novel, and when a short story is the perfect fit. Daphne traces her path from writing early short stories to expansive, multi‑timeline novels like  Russian Winter , and explains...

In this episode of Why Authors Write, Mary J Cronin sits down with best-selling maritime historian Eric Jay Dolin to explore the larger-than-life shipwreck and survival story that inspired “Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery and Survival at the Edge of the World.” Set against the backdrop of the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812, Dolin's book follows Captain Charles Barnard of the American...

What happens when a novel refuses to follow a straight line - and the author asks her readers to meet her halfway? In this episode of Why Authors Write , host Mary J. Cronin talks with award-winning Leah Hager Cohen about the creative journey that inspired To & Fro, a riveting story of parallel worlds and two heroines who cross the time barrier to meet midstream.  Leah describes how she set ou...

In this episode of Why Authors Write , award-winning author Christopher Castellani talks about what happens when he gives up on controlling the story line and simply listens to his characters.  We hear about the mysterious voices that inspired Last Seen , and how Chris mixed fact and fiction to get to the heart of the relationship between Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo in Leading Men . Last Se...

In this fantasy-focused episode of Why Authors Write , host Sara Stanton sits down with scientist, “eldritch monster,” and award‑winning author Premee Mohamed to talk about how she turns visions, dreams, and chronic illness into vivid speculative fiction. From eerie fairy‑tale forests to post‑collapse Alberta, Premee unpacks how she builds worlds where magic, climate disaster, and parasitic fungi...

Bestselling author Annie Hartnett talks about channeling her real-life anxiety during a period of  family disasters into the darkly humorous novel, 'The Road to Tender Hearts.'  She discusses her style of blending magical realism, improbable events, and tragic episodes into a compelling, character-driven story and reveals that in Tender Hearts, the book’s flawed hero is based on her own father.  A...

Evolutionary biologist Jonathan Losos​​ talks about ​his lifelong love affair with cats, and discoveries about the private language ​of meows that t​hey use to communicate with humans. He reflects on the challenges and rewards ​o​f writing popular science books, and how his research for The Cat's Meow actually changed his own perspective the future of feline evolution.​  Takeaways ​Why Jonathan de...

Elizabeth Graver talks about why and how she transformed her family's own history of immigration, abandonment, remarriage, and survival into a gripping, unforgettable novel. She shares the challenges of transforming painful sometimes dark, family episodes into a universal story of family secrets and abiding love. In Elizabeth's own words, learn how Kantika changed her understanding of her immigran...

Launch co-hosts introduce 'Why Authors Write' and share the questions they want to dig into in future episodes about bestselling authors' motivations and writing process. Mary Cronin, Kristie Dickinson, and Becca Cronin delve into the diversity of book backstories, the genres they love, and author favorites. Takeaways Exploring the behind-the-scenes of authors' lives Understanding the process of w...