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Kimberly Lynne writes speculative women's fiction that explores the inexplicable curiosities of being human. She writes from a sunny corner room in a minimalized house she shares with her husband of 35 years and a blind Havanese named Hope. She's a slush reader and judge for various writing competitions, a volunteer for WFWA, a member of the South Carolina Writers' Association, and a Wild Acres Wr...

Amber describes how, for her, writing feels like the kids' game Choose Your Own Adventure, how she got signed with Lake Union even without an agent, and what she learned by reading P.D.James' entire series of Adam Dagliesh mysteries start to finish. Amber Cowie is a graduate of the University of Victoria and was short-listed for the 2017 Whistler Book Award. She is a mother of two, wife of one, an...

Listen to our interview with Kaela Coble and learn about the differences in sales outlets in the UK versus the US, what to consider when writing characters loosely based on your friends, and how she used the feedback she got from 189 rejection letters to make her manuscript better. One of Kaela's passions is helping people develop professionally, whether as a writer or in another career, which led...

Suanne's debut novel explores the life of a nineteenth century artist who escapes, then returns to West Texas. Hear about her life-long love affair with Tarzan, her role as a prolific book reviewer as well as author, and discover out how she sleeps until noon every day but still fits in eight hours of writing.  Born in West Texas at the height of the Cold War, Suanne finds it ironic that grade sch...

Listen to how early on Leah struggled to find the magic formula for writing, how a chance encounter at Muse and the Marketplace switched her book's focus, and how she believes her most effective marketing efforts involve not fancy Facebook ads or BookBub offers but very personalized & cultivated relationships with influencers like Bookstagrammers. Leah's writing has been featured in The Huffington...

Hear Erin discuss her use of sensitivity readers, how important studying our country's history is to our understanding of current race relations, and why you should keep writing your second book while you're finding a home for your first. Erin's a copywriter and freelance editor by day, a novelist by night, and a painter, poet, and photographer in between. Her second book, The Words between Us , t...

Romalyn's debut novel was inspired by the fifty-nine Carnegie libraries built in Kansas early in the twentieth century. Here about the research she accumulated for years before writing this book and the rich history she uncovered. For over twenty years, she's worked as a free-lance consultant in the arts – conducting strategic planning, initiating audience engagement projects, and assessing grant...

Jennifer describes how she did research for her novel about an American lawyer helping a Syrian woman who seeks asylum, how her best marketing pay-off has come through Facebook Reader's groups and networking efforts like Authors18, and learn what a Noogler is. (You're have to listen to find out) A Midwest native, Jennifer made stops in Dallas, Charlottesville, and Boston before settling for good i...

Listen to Leslie talk about writing in two different time-lines, the fascinating research she did about early Christianity in the south of France, her good (and not so good) experiences with developmental editors, and how she found the perfect image for her book cover (hint: it's her own painting!) Much of what Leslie has done in life hasn't proceeded in the usual, expected way: she got married an...

Give a listen and learn how a home remodeling project provided the idea for Sarahlyn's her debut novel, how doing improv has helped her writing, and how being an book coach continues to feed her creative spirit. Sarahlyn grew up in the Bay Area and spent a great deal of time in Southern California, where she attended college before moving to West Hollywood. The years of living and working in L.A....

Heather's first book, among other things, features a mother dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis, which played to her knowledge as a radiologist in real life and she's loved hearing from survivors that she "got it right." But that's not all Heather's up to – she writes book reviews, including a "Book Pairings" feature on her website and sings the praises of critique groups for keeping writers fo...

Reyna worked for many years as an appellate attorney in New York and brings that knowledge to bear in a legal thriller/coming of age/romance story that follows a young female public defender as she navigates not only a case involving a possible miscarriage of justice but also personal challenges as she struggles to decide what kind of person she really wants to be. Reyna wrote her first draft in s...

Megan's debut novel is set in Nepal, and features a mother who wants nothing more than to be accepted and loved and a daughter who longs for the freedom the world outside her isolated rural village can offer. 2018 saw Megan produce not only her first full-length novel but also her first child.  She's an award-winning writer of literary fiction. She has a BA in English from Colorado College, a Mast...

Ann talks about the extensive research she did for this WWII novel (including reading the seven volumes of Winston Churchill's series TWICE), how her best marketing successes have been old-fashioned face-to-face contacts and using super-fans to spread the word, and how she's working on a two-part video series to share what she learned about self-publishing with others considering this route. Ann c...

Ever wonder what the term hybrid publishing means and whether it might be right for you? No, it's light years away from the old vanity presses but yes, it offers you the chance, for a fee, to be intimately involved in your book's title, cover art, back blurb, and publicity. Listen to our interview with Julie Maloney and her experience with one of the most respected hybrid publishers in America tod...

Johanne's debut novel takes place during The Great Depression in Canada. Here how she loves reading the classics because of the beautiful language, how a kind godmother brought her out of her shell as a child, and how she spent eleven months being GI Joe in the Canadian military reserves. She's worked in sales and management most of her career.  In 2017 she did a complete flip and now works in a g...

Sally shares how her non-fiction books led her to discover the joys of fiction , how a writing group prompt inspired this first novel, and her advice for anyone considering the self-publishing route. Although Come Back is Sally's first novel, she's no stranger to writing. Shortly after losing her first husband, Sally published Find the Love of Your Life to share how she and Dave found each other....

Irene talks about why she choose the novel format rather than writing a memoir, how the stigma of Alzheimer's disease compares to cancer, and how a horoscope in her local paper galvanized her to finally start writing her story. Much of Irene's early non-fiction pieces focus on a family caregiver's journey, especially as that journey relates to taking care of a family member with a terminal illness...

Listen to Rachel discuss the life-changing trip to Italy that inspired this debut novel, the experiences that led her to finally publish through a small press, and how a piece of her is up in space orbiting the planet for the next few thousand years. Rachel enjoys reading and writing, preferably set in exotic places. She has traveled to Italy and India and plans to expand her journeys beyond count...

Denitta describes how setting her first novel in Kansas City during the Roaring '20's was an historical goldmine, why she thinks you should write at least two books before publishing, and how she learned everything she needed to know about self-publishing from one on-line course. Denitta Ward writes historical and contemporary fiction from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. After decades of wri...

Elena talks about the challenges of writing in two historical periods, how her WFWA critique group helps her by being tough, and how she uses writing instead of television for stress relief. Elena was born in Ukraine and came to New York City as a refugee with her family at age 17. She is somewhat obsessive about travel, but, when at home in San Antonio, can be found browsing through bookstores or...

Hear how humor writer Marianne Hansen had to overcome self-doubt before she could write her book, what made her decide to self-publish, the differences between NYC and Montana, and how she thinks meals that come in a box are the best thing going. writer, wife, mother of 3 and purchaser of shoes.  I live in Montana with my family and dog princess Ginny.  I spent the first half of my life in Connect...

Eldonna tells us why she set her book in the 1960's, how she can still remember what it was like to be eleven, why she chose a children's Sunday school song for her title, and how her decision to donate a kidney to a stranger became an award-winning PBS documentary. She grew up in a large family nestled between cornfields and churches in the provincial Midwest. She eventually escaped the harsh win...

Hear Carrie's story of how she utilized everything from InstaFreebies to Book Funnel to Book Bub to publicize her novel, how in her thirties she finally realized books by contemporary women could actually be considered literature, and why Calgary's city-wide Zombie Days scares her to death. Carrie Mumford has lived on both the East and West coasts of Canada, and many places in between. She complet...

Barbara talks to us about coming to terms with how your life turned out, teen-age rock idols, and how to judge the quality of a mattress. Barbara's articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times ,  Consumers Digest, Parents Magazine, American Baby,   Westchester Magazine,  and  Writer's Digest,  and online at BrainChildMag.com, GrownandFlown.com, WorkingMother.com, NextAvenue.com, TheMani...