Book Talk with Cara Putman

Today it is such fun to introduce you to my friend Sara Brunsvold . She is an award-winning author of gripping stories that I'd call contemporary women's fiction or saga. They bend genres in the best possible way, and readers agree wholeheartedly. Her first novel The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip is finaling and winning all sorts of awards, and today we're talking about her second T...

It is a delight to have my friend Lynette Eason back to talk about her latest novel Double Take . I loved this novel. It's a bit of a departure for Lynette because it's more of a psychological suspense than her other books. It's all about the mind games. But that made it a fun, twisty read in a fresh way. Double Take does a beautiful job highlighting that we don't need to let the p...

In this episode of Book Talk with Cara, I wanted to do something fun and different. I thought I'd show you some of my favorite authors. These are the ones whose books I preorder so that going to my mailbox feels like Christmas year-round. These authors are from a variety of genres and I always enjoy their books. If you're looking for a book recommendation, these authors are a great place t...

Do you ever wonder why an author writes the story they do? Some books are a favorite, even though I really do hate to admit that. There's just something about them that makes them special and unique. Stars in the Night is one of those for me. This was the first full-length novel I got to write and it blended my love of WWII and suspense. I call this my 1942 Hollywood collides with Murder on th...

Do you ever wonder why an author writes the story they do? Caroline's story was a long time coming. Originally I thought, her book would be book 3 in the Hidden Justice series. Then book four. Then it ended up being this novel, Lethal Intent . It was well worth the wait. I had so much fun telling this friends-to-more love story between Caroline and Brandon. But like all of my romantic legal su...

Do you ever wonder why an author writes the story they do? Every once in a while as an author, you get to write a book that you know is going to be special. Flight Risk was one of those books. I knew that before it finaled in two major awards. Today I'm taking you behind the scenes of Flight Risk from the moment my editor told me that Savannah needed her own book to me figuring out what that c...

Do you ever wonder why an author writes the story they do? Today I want to take you behind the scenes of my book Delayed Justice. It's the only book that comes with a trigger warning. In fact, I wrote the prologue the way I did to quickly let readers know that this book deals with a sensitive issue that isn't for every reader. It was very important to me to deal with it in a careful way th...

Do you ever wonder why an author writes the story they do? Today I'm taking you behind the scenes of my story Imperfect Justice. In many ways, this is a very personal story for me. I had worked with domestic violence clients and walked friends through situations. Then I saw articles that put a spin on the story. Twist it up and I had so many layers coming together in my mind for this novel. It...

Do you ever wonder why an author writes the story they do? Today I'm taking you behind the scenes of my story Beyond Justice . There were so many layers coming together in my mind for this story. I love it in so many ways. It's an important one and not just because it's my first official legal suspense. Add in DC, a great hero, and so much of my early career, and it was a fun one to wr...

Do you ever wonder where authors get their ideas? Today I share the story behind the story for my novella Love Along the Shores in the Across the Shores collection that was released in April 2023. The authors for this collection were on the show earlier this summer, which was such fun, but now I wanted to give you more about why I wanted to dive into this particular story from WWII. This was a sto...

Do you ever wonder where authors get their ideas? Today I share the story behind the story for my novel The Art of Deception in the Come What May collection that was released in August 2023. It's a story that's unique for me because it's part of an indie collection, meaning I didn't have a contract with a traditional publisher but came together with many of my writer friends for th...

Do you ever wonder where authors get their ideas? Today I share the story behind the story for my novella Beauty Bright in the We Three Kings collection that releases in September 2023. It's a story that's near to my heart because it's set in the days after WWII in Germany and involves the Monuments Men. It also ties to my contemporary series that launches in April 2024. I loved writin...

It was so much fun to write a novella in this collection, and it was just as much fun to bring you this episode where we talk about our stories and how they connect. Across the Shores is a novella collection that has a cross necklace that connects four women across generations and continents. It was such a delight to write with Carolyn Miller , Angela Crouch , and Kelly Goshorn . In this episode w...

Y'all, I never thought we'd get here. When I started Book Talk, I didn't have a vision for a podcast that would become this. Today to mix it up, my good friend Pepper Basham is interviewing me. It was so fun to share some of my writing journey, my passion for helping authors, and why I write the kinds of books that I do. We also talked about story, how she writes, and how we love teach...

Life doesn't always go the way we want it to. If you've lived any amount of time, then you know that. What I love about Toni Shiloh 's novels with Bethany House is that they are spiritual or Hollywood fairy tales. They capture that idea of finding a prince or a star who thinks we're beautiful and worthwhile. They see the value in us that we can't quite find. I love this chance...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to write in a novella collection when the authors intentionally connect the stories closely? That's exactly what Crystal Caudill , Angela Strong , and I did for our collection We Three Kings which releases in September 2023. In this episode of Book Talk, we talk about how we got the ideas for our novellas, how they are connected, and what we incorporat...

Today it is a pleasure to introduce you to my writing friend Kathleen Denly . Her historical fiction is set in 1850s San Diego County California, and you'll enjoy getting to learn more about her passion for discovering little-known aspects of California's history and transforming it into a story. We also enjoyed talking about her family's adoption journey and how that found its way int...

It is my absolute delight to introduce you to my writing friend DiAnn Mills . I met DiAnn at my very first ACFW in 2005 when I attended one of the workshops on plotting and brainstorming. I have loved her and her books ever since. In this episode, we talk about her upcoming book Facing the Enemy, and how it's a healing book for her because it touches on a tragic experience in her life. More th...

Connecting with my friend Rachel Hauck is always a joy, and it's always a delight to have her on Book Talk. This episode is no different. When we hit record, you get to eavesdrop on our conversation about stories as art and characters as joy. Rachel starts with a theme but not necessarily a spiritual thread, that will come later. Then the story idea will hit her later. In the process, the big...

In many episodes, I've introduced you to my writing friends that I've known for a long time. In this episode, I have the privilege of introducing you to a new friend Kristen Parnell . It was such fun to talk about books and writing with this author who highlights that while we don't get to choose the situations of our lives, we do get to choose our response to situations in her books....

Y'all, I had so much fun connecting with my friends Misty Beller , Gabrielle Meyer , & Roseanna White . They each write historical fiction set in different time periods. Gabrielle Meyer's latest In This Moment is set during the beginnings of the Civil War, WWII, and the days leading up to 9/11. Roseanna White's A Beautiful Disguise is set in 1909 with an acrobatic set of aristocrat...

Sometimes you want a book that is richly layered with the best of stories. Author TI Lowe's next novel Indigo Isle is that. Inspired by the Prodigal Son and Beauty and the Beast, this story gripped my heart and didn't let go. I really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with TI and learn more about her journey to publication and how she finds her stories. We talked about the importance of r...

Y'all, it was such fun to reconnect with my writing friend Jaime Jo Wright . Since the last time she was on Book Talk, she's released two books: The Vanishing at Castle Moreau and Premonition at Withers Farm . We talked all about her inspiration for Castle Moreau — Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, the Hungarian countess who was the inspiration for her villain, and why she writes gothic novels. W...

Have you ever wondered what it was like to write Biblical fiction? Wondered how authors got their ideas? Then I'm so glad you can join us for this book talk with Angie Hunt and Connilyn Cossette. In this episode, we discuss many aspects of writing from how they find ideas to how they plot to how they use Scrivener (both are huge fans!). It was such a fun conversation, and I hope you enjoy it!...

It's always fun to introduce you to new authors, and Crystal Caudill is an author whose second and third books release this spring. She's also a coauthor with me on a novella collection that releases later this fall. It's been such fun to get to know her through writing together, and it was fun to talk with her about her books Counterfeit Hope and Counterfeit Love . Crystal writes deep...