The Fresh Fiction Podcast

Four award-winning authors — Nina Crespo, Misty Urban, Carrie Schaffer, and Debra Parmley — join host Samantha Tennant to pick their best summer reads, talk travel tropes, and reveal what makes their characters impossible to put down.

USA Today bestselling author Sheila Roberts joins Fresh Fiction's Samantha Tennant to talk about her latest novel, Love on the Shelf — a bookshop-set enemies-to-lovers story that's anything but your typical rom-com. Sheila opens up about the real cultural moment that inspired Parker Black (yes, the man everyone loves to hate), why she believes love always wins, and how the romance genre is finally...

Samantha Tennant sits down with Andrea Hairston — novelist, playwright, Afrofuturist, and self-described "scientist, artiste, and hoodoo conjurer" — to talk about her latest novel, THE REDEMPTION CENTER IS CLOSED ON SUNDAYS, a genre-defying extra-dimensional murder mystery anchored by a Saint Bernardoodle dog detective named Una. Andrea draws on her decades in theater — as director, playwright, an...

Samantha Tennant sits down with New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary Ellen Taylor to talk about her newest women's fiction novel, The Sky Beneath Her. Set on North Carolina's Outer Banks — nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic — the book weaves between 1942, when a ship full of desperate passengers crosses U-boat-patrolled waters knowing they may not survive, and the present day,...

Bestselling Regency and Victorian romance author Kathleen Ayers joins Samantha Tennant to talk about leaving a 30-year career in media sales to follow a dare from her best friend — and ending up with a romance career she never saw coming. Kathleen shares how classic gateway novels like SWEET SAVAGE LOVE and THIS LOVING TORMENT shaped her love of historical fiction, why morally gray men are still t...

Ivy Cassidy — national bestselling author of more than 40 novels — joins Samantha Tennant to talk about her most ambitious book yet: House of Spells and Secrets, a sweeping historical fantasy rooted in the real legend of Biddy Early, the last woman tried for witchcraft in Ireland. Ivy shares how she balanced research with storytelling, why she set the book in 1971, and what it finally felt like to...

The line that launched the entire Orphan X series — and Gregg Hurwitz joined us on the Fresh Fiction Video Book Club to talk about what it means, 12 books in. From mind control cult research to his debut novella The Delivery, this is a conversation you don't want to miss. Link in bio.

Janna MacGregor joins Samantha Tennant to discuss her story in the Busty Bodice Club anthology, The Curves for the Secret Duke — a Regency romance with fake marriage, friends to lovers, and a secret-duke twist she rewrote from the ground up. They also talk about the anthology's collaborative process, writing full-figured heroines in the Regency era, and how Janna's legal training shaped her approa...

200: 14 Readers, 40+ Books, and One Missing CIA Novelist Episode 200 of the Fresh Fiction Podcast is here.  200 episodes. Evolving from chat, to film and television, to books and authors. Hundreds of author conversations. Thousands of book recommendations. And one community that shows up, week after week, for the love of reading.  Thank you for being part of this. Here’s to the next 200.  → freshf...

Julianne MacLean has been writing heartbreak and hope for 25 years — and she's just getting started. Host Samantha Tennant sits down with the USA Today bestselling author of What Tomorrow Will Be to talk about first loves, falling down and getting back up, and a brand-new chapter she wasn't supposed to announce yet. Plus Jane Eyre, Skittles, and a rescue dog named Rosie.

What happens when three celebrities land in the same ultra-exclusive rehab — and someone ends up dead? That's the opening of Such Sheltered Lives, the electric adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Sheinmel. Host Samantha Tennant sits down with Alyssa for a wide-ranging conversation about the leap from YA to adult fiction, the joys and challenges of writing multiple narrators,...

Romance author Annabelle Anders joins Samantha Tennant to talk about her unlikely path to publishing, the Regency series that almost never was, and why she finally wrote the curvy heroine she had long avoided — and what that choice taught her about herself.

Candace Lynn Talmadge didn’t just imagine the Stone Slayer series — she believes she lived it. A former business journalist turned dark high fantasy author, Candace joins Samantha Tennant on the Fresh Fiction Video Book Club to talk about the obsession that’s driven her since childhood, the literal demon she had to add to her nine-book-and-counting series, and why the fictional society of Asgard f...

USA Today bestselling author Naima Simone joins Samantha Tennant to talk about her journey from writing New Edition fan fiction in seventh grade to crafting some of the most emotionally layered romance series in the genre today. From the beloved Rose Bend small-town series to her boldly dark Huntsman fairytale reimaginings, Naima shares what drives her to write complex, unforgettable characters —...

Bestselling author Kirsten Pursell joins Samantha Tennant to talk about THE UNABRIDGED LIFE OF MISSY KINCAID — an emotionally raw, ultimately uplifting novel about a woman who rises from her lowest point. Kirsten opens up about the real heartbreak and grief that shaped Missy's story, why she writes imperfect women who refuse to quit, and what's coming next in the Scarlet's Harlots trilogy.

In this episode of the Fresh Fiction Video Book Club, host Samantha Tennant sits down with award-winning bestselling historical romance author Eliana Piers to talk all things steamy Regency romance—and the bold multi-author series she dreamed up from scratch.

Emmy Award–winning investigative journalist turned thriller novelist Hank Phillippi Ryan joins Fresh Fiction to talk about her USA Today bestselling novel All This Could Be Yours — a spine-tingling thriller set on a book tour from hell. Hank reveals her unique 'discovery writing' process, what it's like to write 20 novels without an outline, and why she considers every reader a partner in bringing...

Carolyn Dasher joins Fresh Fiction to discuss AMERICAN SKY, her debut historical novel inspired by the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II. In this episode, she shares the real history behind these groundbreaking female pilots, the emotional cost of their post-war dismissal, and how she crafted a multi-generational story spanning WWII and Vietnam. A must-listen for fans of histori...

Author Liz Alterman on psychological thrillers, writing across genres, surviving rejection, and why your neighbor might be scarier than any monster.

Audible Hall of Fame narrator Andi Arndt joins Fresh Fiction to discuss audiobook narration, dual vs duet recording, romance audiobook performance, pseudonyms, union contracts (SAG-AFTRA), and what really happens inside the recording booth. With over 700 audiobooks narrated, Andi shares how she physically embodies characters and why listeners trust her voice.

In this episode of the Fresh Fiction Podcast, historical romance authors Cathy Maxwell and Eliana Piers discuss the creation of the Busty Bodice Club—a collaborative Regency romance series celebrating body-positive heroines, creative freedom, and sisterhood. From writing one shared story chapter-by-chapter to publishing independently, this conversation explores how romance authors are reimagining...

What makes a story unforgettable? Sometimes, it’s the place. In this episode of the Fresh Fiction Podcast, bestselling author Heather Graham joins us for a warm, wide-ranging conversation about haunted cities, real history, and the stories that stay with readers long after the book is finished. From Salem and New Orleans to castles, legends, and mysteries, Heather shares how real locations inspire...

Award-winning authors Julie Buxbaum and Adele Griffin—writing together as Taylor Hutton—talk dark romance, creative freedom, and how collaboration brought the fun back to writing.

Bestselling author Abigail Owen joins Fresh Fiction to talk Greek gods, epic trials, cliffhangers, and the series that changed her career.

Brisa Carleton joins Fresh Fiction to talk about LAST CALL AT THE SAVOY, forgotten women in history, and how a Broadway producer became a debut novelist.