The Writing Table with Kris Clink

What does it take to publish seventy-five books? RaeAnne Thayne breaks it down. From her days as a journalist to navigating writing around raising a family and caring for a child with special needs, RaeAnne shares her process and responds to one listener's question about locking down the right point-of-view.  New York Times , USA Today , Wall Street Journal and #1 Publishers Weekly bestsellin...

Rose Carlyle is a lawyer and an adventurer with first class honours degrees in law and creative writing. Rose has crewed on scientific yachting expeditions to subantarctic islands and has sailed her own yacht from Thailand to South Africa. She currently lives in New Zealand with her three children. Her debut novel, The Girl in the Mirror, was an instant number-one bestseller in New Zealand, was tr...

Appellate judge and Edgar-award-winning author of ten novels of crime fiction, David Ellis dishes on writing independently and coauthoring eight bestselling books with James Patterson. He discusses what he's learned about pacing and plotting from Patterson.  David's novels have been translated into more than ten languages worldwide. In December 2014, Dave was sworn in as the youngest-ser...

Gill Paul has written thirteen historical novels, many of them re-evaluating extraordinary 20th-century women whom she thinks have been marginalized or misjudged by historians. Her books have reached the top of the US, Canadian, and UK charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages. Gill was born and raised in Scotland, apart from an eventful year at school in the US when she was ten...

Hadley Leggett writes layered book club fiction exploring truth in shades of gray. Before becoming a novelist, her winding career path included degrees in medicine, biochemistry, Spanish, and science journalism, as well as a ten-year stint as a stay-at-home mom. She began writing fiction — her secret lifelong dream — when her youngest child started preschool and she finally got a moment to herself...

Sara Goodman Confino dishes about her path to publishing, her mad love for everything Springsteen, researching her latest novel, and the story behind the cover of Behind Every Good Man.  Confino teaches high school English and journalism in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and miniature schnauzer, Sandy. When she’s not writing or working out, she can be foun...

Jaclyn Goldis is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and NYU Law. She practiced trust and estate law at a large Chicago firm for seven years before leaving her job to travel the world and write novels. She is the author of When We Were Young, The Chateau, and her latest, The Main Character.  For more information visit jaclyngoldis.com Intro reel, Writing Table Podcast 2024 Outro R...

Moon Unit Zappa was born in 1967 to legendary musician Frank Vincent Zappa and his second wife, Gail Zappa. At the age of fourteen, Moon Zappa appeared in Frank Zappa’s career defining music video, “Valley Girl,” which later helped jump-start Moon’s own career. Since then, Moon has worked as an actress, writer, comedian, artist, businesswoman, and podcaster. Moon has written a memoir of growing up...

Melissa Payne is the bestselling author of four novels, including A Light in the Forest and The Night of Many Endings. After an early career raising money for nonprofit organizations, Melissa began dreaming about becoming a published author and wrote her first novel. Her stories feature small mountain towns with characters searching for redemption, love, and second chances. They have been three-ti...

A native of Long Island, New York, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer of television shows (ARROW, DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, TROLLHUNTERS, CARNIVAL ROW), movies (GREEN LANTERN, PERCY JACKSON - SEA OF MONSTERS), comic books (X-MEN GOLD, BLADE), video games (CALL OF DUTY 3, SINGULARITY), and novels (OVERWATCH).In addition, his work includes projects for popular franchises su...

Tara Sim offers a glimpse into writing YA fantasy novels steeped in established mythologies and the "Write to Your Heart Trash" theory she sticks by.  Tara is the author of The Dark Gods trilogy , the Scavenge the Stars duology, and the Timekeeper trilogy who can typically be found wandering the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not chasing cats or lurking in bookstores, she...

Born and raised in North London, Caves is the internationally bestselling author of A Killer Came Knocking and I Know Where She Is , which The Sun described as 'sinister, unsettling and gripping'. SB now lives in South London with his wife and two sons. His latest novel is the high concept locked-room thriller, Honeycomb.  Learn more at sbcaves.com Intro reel, Writing Table Podcast 2024...

Yasmin Angoe is the Anthony-nominated author of the critically acclaimed thriller Her Name Is Knight of the Nena Knight series. She is a first-generation Ghanaian American and, in 2020, received the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color from Sisters in Crime. Yasmin’s books were an Amazon Best Book of the Month for Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, and an Editor’s Pick. Her work...

A New York Times bestselling author, professor and Shakespeare scholar (with degrees from Harvard University, Oxford University and Yale University), Eloisa has published more than 30 historical romances, as well as a bestselling memoir, Paris in Love , and a contemporary novel, Lizzie and Dante . Her books are published in 28 languages and 30 countries, from Slovakia to Sweden. Worldwide, she has...

Michael Callahan shares a few of his lucky breaks: the magazine article that brought him to the threshold of writing his first novel, Searching for Grace Kelly, and the invitation to Anna Wintour's house where he met the editor of Vanity Fair.  Michael is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of the critically acclaimed novels SEARCHING FOR GRACE KELLY (2015), THE NIGHT SHE WON...

Lori Brand is a lifting enthusiast, group fitness instructor, yoga teacher, and software quality engineer. In past lives, she’s been a gymnast, dancer, Playboy model, and bodybuilder. Her time in the body wars trenches led to her realization that getting strong, rather than shrinking, is the way out. In an effort to spread the word, she’s had articles published in STRONG Fitness Magazine, T-Nation...

New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes i...

Namrata Patel is an Indian-American author who lives in Boston. Her writing examines diaspora, dual-cultural identity among Indian-Americans and explores this dynamic while also touching on both—the family’s we’re born with and those we choose. Namrata has lived in India, Spokane, London, and New York City. Namrata has been writing for most of her adult life and loves creating characters who are r...

Lauren Thoman writes speculative fiction for teens and adults. Her debut novel, I'll Stop the World, was selected for publication in 2023 by six-time Emmy nominee Mindy Kaling through her eponymous imprint, Mindy's Book Studio. Lauren's pop culture writing has also appeared in numerous online outlets including Parade and Vulture. Lauren lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with he...

JJ McAvoy has written numerous independently published novels that have been translated into six languages and are bestsellers in Turkey, Israel, and France. Her historical romance series featuring the Du Bells includes Aphrodite and the Duke, Verity and the Forbidden Suitor, and Hathor and the Prince .  Learn more about JJ at: jjmcavoy.com Intro reel, Writing Table Podcast 2024 Outro Recording Fo...

Gina DeMillo Wagner is an award-winning journalist and author. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times , The Washington Post , Memoir Magazine , Modern Loss, Self , Outside , CRAFT Literary, and other publications. She is a winner of the CRAFT Creative Nonfiction Award, and her memoir was longlisted for the 2022 SFWP Literary prize. Gina has a master’s degree in journalism and is cofou...

Victoria Helen Stone, author of the runaway best seller Jane Doe , writes critically acclaimed novels of dark intrigue and emotional suspense. Aside from At The Quiet Edge , The Last One Home, Problem Child, Half Past, and the chart-topping False Step and Evelyn, After, she also published twenty-nine books as USA Today bestselling author Victoria Dahl and won the prestigious American Library Assoc...

Jenna Bush Hager has included Kirsten Miller's latest novel, Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books, in her list of 5 Books to Read this Summer.  Kirsten stops by the Writing Table for a fun chat about small towns, book bans, and what has inspired her favorite characters.   Kirsten Miller grew up in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. At seventeen, she left for college i...

Elle Marr is the author of thrillers THE MISSING SISTER (2020), LIES WE BURY (2021), STRANGERS WE KNOW (2022), THE FAMILY BONES (2023), and THE ALONE TIME (2024). She is (evidently) a fan of coffee. Her work has been featured in PopSugar, Woman’s World Magazine, CBS affiliate KOIN-TV, ABC affiliate KATU-TV, and Audible. THE MISSING SISTER was a #1 Amazon bestseller and an Amazon Charts bestseller,...

In this episode, Jaclyn and Kris introduce their rescue pups, Bogey and Indy, discuss Jaclyn's journey into writing, and the story behind her debut, Dear Dotty.  Jaclyn Westlake is an alumna of the Stanford Continuing Studies Novel Writing Program. A former recruiter turned career advice columnist, her work has appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, and Inc. She lives in California with her hu...