Read And Write With Natasha

Thirty seconds sounds too small to matter until you notice how many you throw away each day. I sit down with Dr. Gerald Robison , a pastor and longtime Bible teacher turned prolific author, to talk about the mindset behind his book 30 Seconds That Can Change Your Life —and the moment that made him take time seriously.  Facing tongue cancer and the possibility that his time was short, he stopped ch...

Marijuana is getting easier to buy, easier to brand, and easier to shrug off. That's exactly why I wanted a grounded conversation with Dr. Raymond Wiggins, a licensed physician with decades on the front lines and author of Weeding Out the Myths About Marijuana . For him, cannabis isn't abstract.  He shares personal family losses and a disturbing case of sudden psychosis after early use t...

In this episode, I sat down with John DeDakis, a journalist with 45 years in the newsroom and 25 years at CNN, to get  honest about the upsides and downsides of artificial intelligence in writing, publishing, and education, and where he draws the line.  John walked me through his pivot from journalism to mystery and suspense fiction, including what reporters have to unlearn when they move from “ju...

In this episode, I'm joined by Alisa Kriegel , a Manhattan psychologist with a thriving private practice and the author of From Sexless Marriage to Sex Goddess .   Together, we unpack what researchers actually mean by “sexless marriage," why shame and lack of communication keep couples stuck, and how complicated the real causes can be.  Alisa shares personal, unfiltered insights on sexua...

Jessica Danel built a thriving preschool business, scaling from a home daycare to a 140-student facility. But when the 2008 recession hit at the same time her newborn faced serious medical challenges, she was forced to make difficult decisions that changed her life and business. In this episode, Jessica shares the lessons she learned from growing, selling, and rebuilding—and how those experiences...

Quitting a stable job to write full-time sounds bold, until you hear what it actually takes.  Autho r Carla Vergot , a former special education teacher and the voice behind the Lily Barlow series, joins us to talk about the moment a planned sabbatical became a life pivot, including her husband's cancer diagnosis, which arrived just as she left teaching. She shares how writing became both an e...

In this episode I sit down with author and speaker Douglas Schmi dt to discuss his upcoming book,   The Power of Self-Leadership: The Path to Unleash Your Talents, Strengths, and Superpowers . We talk about the connection between learning and leadership, why habits matter more than motivation, and how small daily decisions can shape your future. Douglas shares insights from books like Atomic Habit...

A head-on crash took author Laura Van Wormer o ut of the writing life she knew and forced her to rebuild from scratch, including her voice.  What she did, though, was that she didn’t just return to storytelling; she invented a new lane for herself through a serialized fiction podcast.  Laura, a best-selling novelist and former Doubleday editor, joined me to explain how The Class of 74 became a nar...

Thirty-one children's books. Written in a creative sprint. Published within months. When Kelly Anne Manuel tells that story, the most surprising part isn't the speed; it's the clarity of purpose behind it.  Her mission is to give kids a steady stream of comfort, confidence, and language that feels fun to live in. In this episode, I sit down with Kelly Anne Manuel, a children's...

He started writing at 16 during lockdown, finishing a massive first draft he’ll never publish, but instead of stopping there, he kept going. That persistence turned into real momentum for Harrison Stockland, a rising crime-thriller author known for his “twisted originality” and willingness to embrace the gritty choices that traditional gatekeepers often want softened.  His debut novel, Watch It Bu...

You've probably been told to "just let it go." Dr. Angela Longo says that's the wrong instruction and offers an alternative: replace it. I'm joined by Dr. Longo, a UC Berkeley–trained biochemist with decades of experience spanning stress biochemistry, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, and holistic healing — and the author of Relationshifting: Tools for Living Quan...

He calls himself Virus the Poet, and the name is the point: take something with a negative meaning and flip it into art that spreads in a better way.  I sat down with Viral Gore to talk about what it looks like to build a modern poetry career that lives both online and on real stages, with real people, and real stakes. We got into why poetry became his most natural channel for expression, how spok...

Crankiness might be the most honest creative fuel we all share, and Stephen Joseph has built an entire writing life around it. I sat down with Stephen, a first-generation American, practicing attorney, seasoned negotiator, and 53-time marathon finisher, to talk about how irritation can become humor, clarity, and surprisingly practical life lessons for writers and readers. We trace his “cranky” ori...

What does it take to turn real life into a book readers can’t put down? In this episode, I talk with Dr. Amanda Edgar, award-winning author, ghostwriter, and founder of Page and Podium Press, about the craft and business of memoir and prescriptive nonfiction.  Amanda shares how she helped document firsthand stories from the summer of 2020 for a follow-up to her 2018 Black Lives Matter book, and wh...

Want your book and brand to break past your own audience?  I sat down with SEO strategist and author Brandon Leibowitz to map the fastest path: guest podcasting. Brandon lays out how stepping onto trusted shows earns the backlinks and third‑party mentions that search engines crave, while also unlocking new readers who arrive pre‑warmed by the host's credibility. We dig into why backlinks stil...

Richard McColl is a British writer, publisher, and podcaster who built something entirely his own in Colombia, and the lessons he's learned apply wherever you're trying to get your work into the world. In this conversation, we dig into Fuller Vigil, his boutique indie press publishing English-language books about Colombia with tight prose, lived experience, and beautiful design.  You can...

A single moment on a New York subway platform can flip a life.  That’s where author and coach Deborah Mallow decided to stop living by default and design days that actually felt good. We invited her to share how that choice turned into a practical, design-forward guide: Six Steps to Fewer Days That Suck. We walk through each step with real-world examples. Start with the decision to change, then st...

A late-night encounter with a fantasy novel lit the fuse, and Richie Billing walked away from law to chase the kind of storytelling that steals your sleep.  We sit down with Richie to unpack the leap, the grind, and the systems that make a modern writing life possible without the smoke and mirrors. If you’ve wondered how authors really pay the bills, this candid, generous conversation gives you th...

In this episode, W G William s takes us inside the moment he stopped chasing agents, embraced a hybrid publisher, and brought 20 Years of Internet Humor and Other Interesting Things to life without losing the warmth that kept readers coming back for decades. We explore the nuts and bolts: sourcing stories from readers, editing for clarity and broad appeal, and verifying originality rather than rec...

A skeptic sits down to dinner with Jesus at a quiet Italian restaurant, and a half-million readers later, David Gregory finds himself at the center of Christian fiction’s unlikely boom.  I invited David to unpack how a self-published novella became a national bestseller, why some faith-forward stories cross into the mainstream, and what it really takes to write novels that don’t preach yet still c...

Christopher Lee Maher   is the author of Free for Life , a book born not from theory but from a personal reckoning. After years as a Navy SEAL, Christopher looked physically elite yet struggled with insomnia, chronic pain, and nervous system overload. His book documents the system he built to understand why strong bodies break down—and how to restore them. In this episode, Christopher unpacks the...

Ready to turn your book into a voice that moves people—and moves your business forward? In this episode, I sit down with audiobook coach and produce r Robert Lane to unpack how nonfiction authors can confidently narrate their own audiobooks from a simple home setup and publish professionally on major platforms. If you’ve ever thought, “I hate how my voice sounds,” or worried that your accent might...

What happens when Hollywood decides smart, fearless women don’t sell?  We sit down with Kay A. Oliver , award-winning author and former industry insider, to explore how she turned that “no” into twelve page-turning novels, a loyal readership, and growing momentum toward the screen. Kay shares a writing process built for consistency and flow: visualizing the opening and ending, stopping mid-scene t...

If you’ve ever worried your story sounds “too foreign,” this conversation is for you. I sit down with Brussels-based writer and coach Dr. Anne Randerson (pen name Mickey Brent) to discuss writing stories that cross borders and languages without losing the reader. We discuss setting, voice, intentional use of foreign words, and navigating a publishing world that often favors the familiar. Anne shar...

Romance fiction is dominating the chart. It's also redefining how stories are told and sold. In this episode, I sit down with author and industry veteran   Noel  Stark to talk about why happy endings aren’t clichés.  They’re promises. We dig into how a genre once brushed off as “women’s fiction” built one of publishing’s most loyal and profitable audiences. Noelle takes us from the secret pap...