The Make Meaning Podcast

Brenda Meller is an entrepreneur, author and social media coach who helps people maximize their presence on LinkedIn . She is the author of Social Media Pie: How to enjoy a bigger slice of the LinkedIn Pie and host of the Enthusiastically Self-Employed podcast.   In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast , host Lynne Golodner interviews Brenda about her book and the evolution of her career...

Patrick Hicks is an Irish Catholic writer from Minnesota who has a deep fascination with the Holocaust. He has written three Holocaust novels and has conducted extensive research on the subject, visiting twelve different concentration camps and speaking with survivors. Patrick is also a professor at Augustana University in South Dakota, where he teaches writing and literature.   In the latest epis...

Qin Sun Stubis is a Chinese-American author of the book Once Our Lives: A Memoir of Shanghai, Teahouses, and Three Generations of Family , which tells the story of four generations of Chinese women in Shanghai, China during the Great Famine, navigating war and revolution.   In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast , host Lynne Golodner interviews Qin about her early life, China's Cultural...

Elizabeth Conte is an author with a passion for bringing 19th-century literature to the 21st-century reader. She is the author of Finding Jane , a time travel historical novel, and Chosen Mistress , a scintillating story set in Victorian England. Elizabeth is the founder of Jane Writes Press , a hybrid publishing house for writers who don't fit into traditional publishing boxes.   In the latest ep...

Ana Veciana-Suarez is a journalist and author. She has written for various publications and has published several books, including her latest novel, Dulcinea , which was inspired by her reading of Don Quixote in high school. Known for her meticulous research and attention to detail, Anna spent many years digging up the information she needed to focus on the Spanish Inquisition.    In the latest ep...

Jonathan Whitelaw is a Scottish author and journalist now living in Canada who wrote his first novel at the age of 17. He's since published several books in the cozy crime genre, including Morbid Relations and the popular Bingo Hall Detectives series. In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast , host Lynne Golodner interviews Jonathan  about the cozy crime genre, why he's drawn to it and th...

Finding an agent and publisher was easy for  April Davila , an award-winning author who quit her job in 2016 to write  full-time. Her debut novel, 142 Ostriches, won the WILLA Literary Awards for Women Writing the West . In this episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner chats with April, a fourth-generation Californian who studied marine biology before being called to the written wo...

Suzanne Nugent , author of Brunch and Other Obligations and host of the Character Development podcast, uses humor to confront life's darkest moments. She navigates between various storytelling mediums, from novels to screenplays, finding the right narrative platform for each project.   In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast , host Lynne Golodner interviews Suzanne about her creative car...

Blake Kimzey is the founder of writingworkshops.com , a global community offering writing classes taught by experienced instructors, like Make Meaning Podcast host Lynne Golodner . Blake is also an author, screenwriter and hands-on dad of three. In this episode, Blake recalls a pivotal moment in sixth grade when he wrote a King Arthur rip-off. He and  Make Meaning Podcast  host Lynne Golodner also...

While fiction is born from imagination and creativity, many authors explain how they came to the stories they create through lived experiences. This is definitely true for  Blair Fell , author of The Sign for Home , whose work in the deafblind community taught him about nuances, details and issues facing that community. This debut novel takes readers on a journey through a fascinating community an...

Episode 155 - Martha Anne Toll - Finely Crafted, Award-Winning Fiction   Martha Anne Toll is an author and former lawyer who has always been passionate about writing. She grew up in a secular Jewish family and was deeply influenced by the stories of Holocaust survivors. Martha's debut novel, Three Muses , is a beautifully crafted story that combines her love for ballet and her exploration of the i...

Episode 154 - Dawn Chalker - Writing What You Know   Dawn Chalker wrote her first novel in fifth grade, finding inspiration from real life. That curiosity, creativity and imagination has continued throughout her life, drawing stories from journeys in nature. The northern Michigan-based writer based her recent novel, Bear Me in Mind , on a real-life encounter with a bear in Alaska and also her love...

Episode 153 – Jewish Books, Jewish Authors   In a special two-part episode, Lynne Golodner interviews people who curate and promote Jewish books and Jewish authors. The first part features representatives from America's longest-running Jewish Book Fair -- Lauren Johnson, a librarian and consultant at the J-Detroit , and Brenda Brook, the 2023 chair of the Detroit Jewish Book Fair . The second part...

Ami Irmen 's favorite storyteller was her grandfather, who set her on the path to becoming an educator and a writer. Her first traditionally-published novel is coming soon from Scarsdale Publishing , while she self-published another novel, Wherever Would I Be . Her short stories and poems have appeared in Sinister Wisdom , The Copperfield Review , and Glass: A Journal of Poetry . Ami teaches writi...

Rochelle Weinstein is a successful and talented author known for her emotionally charged novels. After leaving a career in the music industry in 2000, she started writing and has produced eight novels, with the latest coming out on Oct. 20th. Rochelle's writing explores topical issues and draws inspiration from her own experiences and emotions. What's more, she is a leading example of generosity,...

As a child in Richmond, Virginia, Lisa Peers was introduced to writing by her mother, who was also a writer who invited her young daughter to play with her typewriter. Still, Lisa began her career in theater and only later pursued writing in a professional capacity. She shares how acting shapes her writing process and helps her build authentic dialogue, which is a strength of Lisa's new novel, Lov...

Lynne Golodner first met Anne-Marie Oomen at Goddard College , where Lynne was beginning her MFA in Writing and Anne-Marie was graduating. A fellow Michigan resident who calls the forests and hills of the Lake Michigan shores her home, Anne-Marie serves on the board of Michigan Writers where Lynne is now in charge of Marketing.  In this episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner chat...

A Super Special Episode: Lynne Golodner discusses her debut novel! Writer, Washtenaw County Commissioner , Nurse and Friend Extraordinaire Katie Scott takes the mic on this episode to interview Make Meaning host Lynne Golodner about the release of her ninth book and debut novel, Woman of Valor. Lynne and Katie met in a writing course in the 1990s and are more like sisters than friends. In this epi...

Diane Gottlieb champions midlife women while telling her own provocative, riveting stories for publications like River Teeth , HuffPost , and SmokeLong Quarterly . Winner of the Tiferet 2021 Writing Contest and a finalist in SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2022 , Diane has three master's degrees and serves as editor of Awakenings: Stories of Body and Consciousness and prose/creative nonfiction edito...

Barbara Stark-Nemon takes her time writing historical fiction, tracing the paths her characters walked and lived. The author of award-winning novels, Barbara turned to writing after retiring from a successful career. In this episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner chats with Barbara about her passion for writing and her experiences speaking at conferences, literary events, librari...

Building an author career depends on writing book after book after book, which is something CL Walters knows well. From her home base in Hawai'i, she writes and publishes through Mixed Plate Press , the venture she runs with her husband. CL writes Young Adult and New Adult titles, and pens Romances under the name Maci Aurora. In this episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner chats w...

Danny Hankner is an electrician by trade and a writer at heart as well as the founder of Story Unlikely . This online literary publication showcases incredible stories, focusing on non-fiction memoiristic pieces. As a publisher, Danny is passionate about discovering great authors and beautiful stories, providing a platform and audience to showcase worthy voices.   In the latest episode of the Make...

Annie Cathryn transitioned from a career in marketing for a Fortune 500 company to her own consulting agency inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert's " Eat Pray Love " to pursue her dream of writing fiction. She recently released her debut book, The Friendship Breakup , and is a self-proclaimed book nerd who has expanded her love for literature by becoming a Bookstagrammer and starting the Soulful Series V...

Welcome to a special episode of the Make Meaning Podcast !    As a full-time author, writing coach, and host of this podcast, Lynne Golodner never thought starting another business would be part of her plan. However, her passion for storytelling and a gap in the marketplace led Lynne to create Scotia Road Books , a new publishing imprint dedicated to providing a platform for women over 40 with str...

The award-winning author of 11 books, Tom Sleigh is the latest author to be a guest on the Make Meaning Podcast . In this episode, Tom talks with host Lynne Golodner about how his love of language traces back to childhood, when his mother, an English teacher, first read Thoreau aloud.    That journey continued through decades when he was a war correspondent on the front lines in Lebanon and Syria...