Author Stories - Author Interviews, Writing Advice, Book Reviews: Recent Episodes
Hank Garner
TERRY BROOKS was born in Illinois in 1944. He spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same setting for Running with the Demon. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and went on to earn his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.
A writer since high school and heavily influenced by William Faulkner, it took him seven years to finish writing The Sword of Shannara, which published in 1977. It became the first work of fiction to ever appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.
He published The Elfstones of Shannara in 1982 and The Wishsong of Shannara in 1985, both bestsellers.
Since that time, he has written numerous novels in the Shannara, Landover, Word/Void, and Viridian Deep series, including being hand-selected by George Lucas to write the novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Terry Brooks lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and on the road meeting his fans.
SOMETIMES THE MAGIC WORKS
To read an autobiography of Terry Brooks, please discover his memoir and writing guide, Sometimes the Magic Works.
This book is a hands-on manual for crafting your story, and we hope you enjoy working through it.
This book has been split into two distinct parts to help you in your writing journey. Part One is all about the things you should be doing before you even get started on a draft or an outline. In this first part, I’m going to be covering the foundational knowledge of a book: what a book is, figuring out your genre and subgenre, and more. I’ll also be talking about the mindset of a writer, what you need to write your book, and where you’ll be writing. Finally, I’ll wrap up Part One with the basics of plotting and planning. Just the idea of planning might make some of you groan, so chill out for a second, because I have ways of outlining and structuring for those who love to plan and those who absolutely hate it.
Part Two is where we get to the good stuff: writing your first draft. I’ll go over the key elements of a kickass book, as well as the more technical stuff like point of view, active and passive voice, and more. Together we’ll do a deep dive into what it takes to make the perfect plot, compelling characters, and tantalizing themes. And I’ll even help you out with ways to actually get your book written (again, it’s a long, sometimes difficult journey) and what to do when you encounter setbacks like the dreaded writer’s block. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds.
This book is a hands-on manual for crafting your story, and we hope you enjoy working through it.
This book has been split into two distinct parts to help you in your writing journey. Part One is all about the things you should be doing before you even get started on a draft or an outline. In this first part, I’m going to be covering the foundational knowledge of a book: what a book is, figuring out your genre and subgenre, and more. I’ll also be talking about the mindset of a writer, what you need to write your book, and where you’ll be writing. Finally, I’ll wrap up Part One with the basics of plotting and planning. Just the idea of planning might make some of you groan, so chill out for a second, because I have ways of outlining and structuring for those who love to plan and those who absolutely hate it.
Part Two is where we get to the good stuff: writing your first draft. I’ll go over the key elements of a kickass book, as well as the more technical stuff like point of view, active and passive voice, and more. Together we’ll do a deep dive into what it takes to make the perfect plot, compelling characters, and tantalizing themes. And I’ll even help you out with ways to actually get your book written (again, it’s a long, sometimes difficult journey) and what to do when you encounter setbacks like the dreaded writer’s block. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds.
This book is a hands-on manual for crafting your story, and we hope you enjoy working through it. This book has been split into two distinct parts to help you in your writing journey. Part One is all about the things you should be doing before you even get started on a draft or an outline. In this first part, I’m going to be covering the foundational knowledge of a book: what a book is, figuring out your genre and subgenre, and more. I’ll also be talking about the mindset of a writer, what you need to write your book, and where you’ll be writing. Finally, I’ll wrap up Part One with the basics of plotting and planning. Just the idea of planning might make some of you groan, so chill out for a second, because I have ways of outlining and structuring for those who love to plan and those who absolutely hate it. Part Two is where we get to the good stuff: writing your first draft. I’ll go over the key elements of a kickass book, as well as the more technical stuff like point of view, active and passive voice, and more. Together we’ll do a deep dive into what it takes to make the perfect plot, compelling characters, and tantalizing themes. And I’ll even help you out with ways to actually get your book written (again, it’s a long, sometimes difficult journey) and what to do when you encounter setbacks like the dreaded writer’s block. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds.
The Golden Spoon: A Novel“This delicious combination of Clue and The Great British Bakeoff kept me turning the pages all night!” —Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Only Murders in the Building meets The Maid in this darkly beguiling locked-room mystery where someone turns up dead on the set of TV’s hottest baking competition—perfect for fans of Nita Prose, Richard Osman, and Anthony Horowitz.
Every summer for the past ten years, six awe-struck bakers have descended on the grounds of Grafton, the leafy and imposing Vermont estate that is not only the filming site for “Bake Week” but also the childhood home of the show’s famous host, celebrated baker Betsy Martin.
The author of numerous bestselling cookbooks and hailed as “America’s Grandmother,” Betsy Martin isn’t as warm off-screen as on, though no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection, and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. As the baking competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it’s merely sabotage—sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high—but when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.
A sharp and suspenseful thriller for mystery buffs and avid bakers alike, The Golden Spoon is a brilliant puzzle filled with shocking twists and turns that will keep you reading late into the night until you turn the very last page of this incredible debut.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Peggy Townsend is longtime newspaper reporter who has won multiple state and national awards for her work. She has chased a serial killer through a graveyard at midnight, panhandled with street kids, and sat on a mountaintop with woman who counted her riches in each morning's sunrise. She has rafted rivers, come face-to-face with a grizzly bear and, twice, lived in her van for seven weeks while traveling across the country. She divides her time between the Central Coast of California and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Robyn Carr was a young mother of two in the mid-1970s when she started writing fiction, an Air Force wife, educated as a nurse, whose husband’s frequent assignment changes made it difficult for her to work in her profession. Originally from Minnesota, they lived in all four corners of Texas, Alabama, Florida, California, Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Little did the aspiring novelist know then, as she wrote with babies on her lap, that she would become one of the world’s most popular authors of romance and women’s fiction, that 11 of her novels would earn the #1 berth on the New York Times bestselling books list.
Robyn’s A Virgin River Christmas scored her first New York Times success in 2008 and since then, the Las Vegas author’s novels have spent nearly 250 weeks on that prestigious list. Amazingly, sales of her books in digital and print have risen with each successive novel. Her 20-book Virgin River series alone has netted more than 13 million copies. That series’ sixteenth title, Bring Me Home for Christmas, scored the #1 slot not only on the New York Times list but on two others as well—Publishers Weekly and Barnes and Noble.
Proof of Robyn’s international popularity is also in the numbers. Robyn Carr titles have collectively sold over 27 million copies and have been translated into 19 languages in 30 countries.
As a sign of the significant contributions Robyn has made to the genre, the Romance Writers of America, the trade association representing 10,200 members who write romance and live in 35 countries, awarded Robyn the 2016 Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I discovered romance novels when doctors instructed me to stay down and keep my feet up during a complicated pregnancy,” Robyn said. “A neighbor brought me ten paperbacks a week to read. And I was hooked. I started to write them, but it wasn’t an easy ride. After critiquing my third manuscript at a writers’ conference, one novelist suggested I find something to do for which I had talent. Fortunately, I ignored her and persevered. I was first published in 1978, with an historical titled Chelynne, but it took me 30 years to score that first New York Times placement.”
In April 2016, What We Find debuted in hardcover for MIRA Books and launched Robyn’s new bestselling Sullivan’s Crossing series. Set in the heart of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, What We Find explores the healing powers of rural Colorado in a story of fresh starts, budding relationships and one woman’s journey to finding the happiness she’s long been missing. Any Day Now, Sullivan’s Crossing book #2, was a New York Times bestseller and reached #1 on the Publisher’s Weekly bestseller list. The Family Gathering, book #3, was a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Robyn’s women’s fiction novels also rank on bestseller lists. The New York Times and USA Today bestseller, The Life She Wants, October 2016, finds a woman humbly cleaning up after herself, paying her dues and rediscovering herself after poor decisions she made earlier in life. The Publisher’s Weekly bestseller, The Summer That Made Us, is a beautifully woven story about the complexities of family dynamics and the value of strong female relationships. All of Robyn’s books are about strong women
Next up for Robyn: Robyn is now living her dream of writing one stand-alone women’s fiction and one contemporary romance per year. The fourth Sullivan’s Crossing novel, The Best of Us debuted on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists in Jan. 2019. The View from Alameda Island, Robyn’s 2019 women’s fiction novel is about a woman, on her twenty-fourth wedding anniversary, who decides to leave her perfect-on-the-outside-life.
Robyn has fallen in love with the beautiful Nevada desert and unrivaled spectacle of Las Vegas where she resides. Her children are grown—her son is an orthopedic surgeon; her daughter, a police captain. Robyn says that, in addition to reading her novels and making snide remarks about how she’s used family scenarios to her advantage, they have made her a happy grandmother.
A.N. Sage is a bestselling, award-winning author of mystery and fantasy novels. She has spent most of her life waiting to meet a witch, vampire, or at least get haunted by a ghost. In between failed seances and many questionable outfit choices, she has developed a keen eye for the extra-ordinary.
A.N. spends her free time reading and binge-watching television shows in her pajamas. Currently, she resides in Toronto, Canada with her husband who is not a creature of the night and their daughter who just might be.
A.N. Sage is a Scorpio and a massive advocate of leggings for pants.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Join us on our YouTube channel!
In this video we explore how writers can use Claude.AI to explore the prewriting process. We go from simple idea to fully fleshed out outline. By the time we're finished, we will be ready to start drafting a mystery novel, with the confidence of a writer with a plan.
Here's the document with our prompts and responses. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PD_Kt6X4yTgaHGwCRlnaKSWNkM2cSZ7i/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115873910777981292642&rtpof=true&sd=true
The Christmas Guest: A NovellaPETER SWANSON is the New York Times bestselling author of nine previous novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and Eight Perfect Murders, a New York Times bestseller and Kirkus Reviews book of the year. His books have been translated into thirty languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian (UK), The Strand Magazine, and Yankee magazine. He lives outside of Boston, where he is at work on his next novel.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
If you’ve been hiding from the robot apocalypse and haven’t yet heard of ChatGPT, or Claude, or any of the other AI tools that have appeared on the market lately, then I have some bad news for you. The robots are here.
But the good news is that this robot (for the time being) isn’t currently taking over the world and is actually quite helpful for writing fiction.
In this first video we’re going to look at ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a powerful language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text when provided with a prompt. It can be used for just about anything writing-related. Some artists, including writers, are worried about AI replacing human storytelling and creativity. Luckily, we aren’t there yet.
But today, we will talk about how fiction writers can harness this power for the good of storytelling.
Join us on our Dabble YouTube channel for more content to help you craft your best story.
Sweeten the DealKatie Shepard is, in no particular order, a fangirl, a gamer, a bankruptcy lawyer, and a romance author. Born and raised in Texas, she frequently escapes to Montana to commune with the trees and woodland creatures, resembling a Disney princess in all ways except age, appearance, and musical ability. When not writing or making white-collar criminals cry at their depositions, she enjoys playing video games in her soft pants and watching sci-fi shows with her husband, two children, and very devoted cat.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Christmas at Corgi Cove: A NovelAnnie England Noblin lives with her son, husband, and three dogs in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated with an M.A. in creative writing from Missouri State University and currently teaches English and communications for Arkansas State University in Mountain Home, Arkansas. She spends her free time playing make-believe, feeding stray cats, and working with animal shelters across the country to save homeless dogs.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Join us at YouTube for our Preptober series of videos.
AqueousFrom debut young adult novelist Jade Shyback comes the first in the Aqueous series. On the eve of Earth’s collapse, young Marisol Blaise is taken to live on an underwater mersation known as Aqueous with parents not her own. There, she must compete in the trials, grueling tests designed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each trainee, hoping to be assigned to the all-male elite diving team known as the Cuviers. Desperate to prove to herself, the residents, and all of her parents, dead and alive, that she is worthy of this prestigious placement, she works tirelessly to shatter misogynistic beliefs, only to discover that it was not only the men who constrained her. A much uglier untruth exists. When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones) Kate Golden lives in Los Angeles where she works full time in the film industry developing stories with screenwriters and filmmakers. A Dawn of Onyx is her debut novel, and the first in the Sacred Stones trilogy. In her free time she is an avid book reader, movie fanatic, and functioning puzzle addict. An embarrassing LA cliché, she likes to hike, brunch, and go to the flea market with her fiancé and her puppy.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
The TakedownCarlie Walker attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she first majored in Peace, War and Defense, a feeder program for intelligence services—before realizing that she is way too anxious to be a spy. Having gone on to study at Oxford University and at City, University of London, she worked briefly in publishing before becoming the bestselling author of seven books for children and young adults. She has a registered 250-pound dead lift, volunteers in a cat shelter, and used to spend her Saturdays practicing Krav Maga. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and their American dingo.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
The September HouseCarissa Orlando has a doctorate in clinical-community psychology and specializes in work with children and adolescents. In her “day job,” Carissa works to improve the quality of and access to mental health care for children and their families. Prior to her career in psychology, Carissa studied creative writing in college and has written creatively in some form since she was a child. It was only a matter of time before Carissa, an avid horror fan for much of her life, merged her understanding of the human psyche and deep love for storytelling into a piece of fiction.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
With over 10 years of experience as a co-founder and CEO of Juxtabook, Zach helps current and aspiring authors learn the habits to successfully write, launch, and market their books and author brands. He has a passion for creating and sharing impactful stories that can influence and change our culture.
As a Columbia-certified Professional Executive Coach and a Master's degree holder in Social-Organizational Psychology, Zach has worked with thought leaders and authors from FranklinCovey and other organizations, producing and launching industry-leading books in various fields. He has also guided individuals through career transitions and facilitated coaching skills groups, using my expertise in organizational effectiveness, qualitative analysis, and workshop facilitation.
Beyond the Book Podcast webpage: https://www.juxtabook.com/beyondthebook
Book proposal template: https://www.juxtabook.com/book-proposal
Redemption (Eva "Lightning Dance" Duran Book 1) DEBORAH J LEDFORD is the award-winning author of the upcoming Eva "Lightning Dance" Duran thriller REDEMPTION from Thomas & Mercer Amazon Publishing, set in Northern New Mexico.
Her first series, the Smoky Mountain Intrigue Native American police procedural series, includes the titles, CAUSING CHAOS, CRESCENDO, STACCATO, and The Hillerman Sky Award Finalist SNARE. CAUSING CHAOS and CRESCENDO, are Anthony Award Finalists for Best Audiobook. The recordings are produced by the media production company IOF Productions Ltd, available from Audible.
Edgar Award winner, and three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, she is a former adjunct professor for Arizona State University's Piper Writer Center for Creative Writing, and past-president of Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths (AZ chapter).
Part Eastern Band Cherokee, Deborah spent her summers growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains region of North Carolina, where her Smoky Mountain Inquest novels are set. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and an awesome Ausky. DeborahJLedford.com
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Enchanted to Meet You: A Witches of West Harbor NovelThe Princess DiariesMeg Cabot is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of books for both adults and tweens/teens. Born in the year of the Fire Horse (a notoriously unlucky astrological sign) and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, Meg also lived in Grenoble, France and Carmel, California (the setting for her bestselling Mediator series) before moving to New York City after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Indiana University.
After working for ten years as an assistant residence hall director at New York University (an experience from which she occasionally draws inspiration for her best-selling Heather Wells mystery series), Meg wrote the Princess Diaries series, which was made into two hit movies by Disney. While over 25 million copies of Meg’s nearly 80 published books have been sold in 38 countries, Meg’s most proud of the letters she’s received from fans thanking her for helping them to overcome their “dislike of reading.”
Some of Meg’s fan favorites include the 1-800-Where-R-You? series (which has been reprinted under the title Vanished and was made into the Lifetime series called Missing), as well as All-American Girl and Avalon High (on which an original Disney Channel movie was based), and several books told entirely in emails and text messages (Boy Next Door/Boy Meets Girl/Every Boy’s Got One). A fourth book told in this format, The Boy is Back, was published by HarperCollins in 2017.
Meg’s first ever adult book in the Princess Diaries series, Royal Wedding, was published in 2015, along with a new Princess Diaries series for younger readers, From the Notebook of a Middle School Princess, which Meg also illustrated. The 4th book in the Middle School Princess Series, Royal Crown, was published in August of 2018, as well as paperback editions of the 2nd and 3rd editions series.
Remembrance, the 7th and first adult book in the Mediator series, became available in 2016, along with a novella titled Proposal. In 2020, Meg signed a franchise deal with Netflix for screen rights to The Mediator series, along with writer/director Sarah Spillane and media powerhouse Debra Martin Chase.
In 2019, Meg authored a Black Canary graphic novel for DC Zoom for middle-grade readers with illustrator Cara McGee, and also launched a new adult contemporary series set on the fictional Little Bridge Island in the Florida Keys. While each book in the series focuses on a different couple and their sometimes humorous, sometimes serious struggles, all guarantee a Happily Ever After (with plenty of sunshine and margaritas). The latest, No Words, debuted in September 2021.
And finally, Meg has written Quarantine Princess Diaries, a new novel for adults in The Princess Diaries series, was released in March of 2023! 10% of Meg’s proceeds from the sale of this book will go to real life royal Princess Mabel van Oranje of the Netherlands’ charity to end child marriage www.vowforgirls.org.
Meg Cabot (her last name rhymes with habit, as in “her books can be habit forming”) currently lives in Key West, Florida with her husband and various cats. If you see her husband, please do not tell him that he married a fire horse, as he has not figured it out yet.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Salthouse Place: A Novel Jamie Lee Sogn is a Filipina American author of adult thriller novels. She grew up in Olympia, Washington, studied Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Washington and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon School of Law.
She is a "recovering attorney" who writes contracts by day and (much more exciting) fiction by night. While she has lived in Los Angeles, New York City, and even Eugene, Oregon, she now lives in Seattle with her husband, son, and Boston Terrier.
Learn more about her debut novel, Salthouse Place, on her website at www.jamieleesogn.com.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Joe Bunting is a bestselling writer, novelist, and dad. He has written nine books, is the host of the podcast Character Test, and his organization, The Write Practice, has helped over 10 million people become better writers. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Talia and their three children. You can follow Joe on Instagram (@jhbunting), Facebook, or on his website, joebunting.com.
https://thewritepractice.com/https://thewritepractice.com/joinhttps://thewritepractice.com/the-write-structure/https://thewritepractice.com/book-coach-certification/ When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick Nina Simon has worn many hats: NASA engineer, slam poet, game designer, museum director, and nonprofit CEO. Her work on community participation in museums, libraries, parks, and theaters has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NPR, and the TEDx stage.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night is Nina’s first novel. She wrote it as a love letter to her mother, as a way to entertain, comfort, and connect with her during a major health crisis. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nina now lives off-the-grid in the Santa Cruz Mountains. More information can be found on her website, ninaksimon.com.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
One Blood: A NovelNew York Times best-selling author DENENE MILLNER is a highly respected and sought after award-winning journalist whose captivating books, columns and essays have secured her foothold in the entertainment, parenting, book publishing and social media industries. The veteran author has written and collaborated on 31 critically acclaimed and bestselling books, penning tomes with Taraji P. Henson, Will Smith, Charlie Wilson and Jessye Norman, among other celebrities, and co-authoring “The Vow,” the novel on which the hit Lifetime movie, “With This Ring” was based. She also has been a frequent contributing entertainment, parenting and relationships writer for some of the nation’s most well-read and respected magazines, penning high-profile cover stories on everyone from hit filmmaker Tyler Perry and Scandal’s Kerry Washington to super star George Clooney and The Walking Dead’s Lauren Cohan, for Essence, Women’s Health, Ebony and other top publications.
Denene also is vice president and publisher of Denene Millner Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint that publishes books featuring African American children. In its debut year, "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut," won Newbery and Caldecott honors and the Kirkus Prize for Children's Literature. She has since gone on to publish a plethora of critically-acclaimed picture books and young adult novels, all with a singular focus: to celebrate the everyday humanity of Black children. As the sole African American woman with her own children’s book imprint at a Big 5 publishing house, Denene acquires, conceives and edits books for the imprint, oversees their artistic development, and helps conceptualize and execute all aspects of the publishing process, including marketing, publicity and sales, with a focus on creating opportunities for marginalized writers, artists and their stories.
In addition to running her imprint and penning books and magazine cover stories, Millner spent a decade working as a columnist, contributing editor, and blogger for Parenting, a national magazine for which she provided witty, engaging, mom-to-mom advice on everything from childrearing and marriage to work and friendship. Denene is also the founder and editor of MyBrownBaby.com, an oft celebrated, award-winning website that examines parenting and motherhood through a distinctive multicultural lens. Her work as a parenting and relationships expert has been covered extensively on national television, earning Millner regular appearances on the Today show, The Meredith Vieira Show and HLN, and guest appearances on CBS’s The Early Show, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, VH-1, The Nate Berkus Show and The Rachel Ray Show. In 2018, she became a founding co-host on Georgia Public Broadcasting's "A Seat at the Table," a talk show about black women, which led to her founding of the critically-acclaimed NPR podcast "Speakeasy with Denene," a celebration of the beauty of the African American experience.
Denene's upcoming novel, "One Blood," an epic triptych on Black motherhood, publishes on September 5, 2023 from Forge Books.
Denene lives is a graduate of Hofstra University and lives in Atlanta with her two daughters and their adorable Goldendoodle, Franklin.
www.denenemillner.com
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
One Blood: A NovelNew York Times best-selling author DENENE MILLNER is a highly respected and sought after award-winning journalist whose captivating books, columns and essays have secured her foothold in the entertainment, parenting, book publishing and social media industries. The veteran author has written and collaborated on 31 critically acclaimed and bestselling books, penning tomes with Taraji P. Henson, Will Smith, Charlie Wilson and Jessye Norman, among other celebrities, and co-authoring “The Vow,” the novel on which the hit Lifetime movie, “With This Ring” was based. She also has been a frequent contributing entertainment, parenting and relationships writer for some of the nation’s most well-read and respected magazines, penning high-profile cover stories on everyone from hit filmmaker Tyler Perry and Scandal’s Kerry Washington to super star George Clooney and The Walking Dead’s Lauren Cohan, for Essence, Women’s Health, Ebony and other top publications.
Denene also is vice president and publisher of Denene Millner Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint that publishes books featuring African American children. In its debut year, "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut," won Newbery and Caldecott honors and the Kirkus Prize for Children's Literature. She has since gone on to publish a plethora of critically-acclaimed picture books and young adult novels, all with a singular focus: to celebrate the everyday humanity of Black children. As the sole African American woman with her own children’s book imprint at a Big 5 publishing house, Denene acquires, conceives and edits books for the imprint, oversees their artistic development, and helps conceptualize and execute all aspects of the publishing process, including marketing, publicity and sales, with a focus on creating opportunities for marginalized writers, artists and their stories.
In addition to running her imprint and penning books and magazine cover stories, Millner spent a decade working as a columnist, contributing editor, and blogger for Parenting, a national magazine for which she provided witty, engaging, mom-to-mom advice on everything from childrearing and marriage to work and friendship. Denene is also the founder and editor of MyBrownBaby.com, an oft celebrated, award-winning website that examines parenting and motherhood through a distinctive multicultural lens. Her work as a parenting and relationships expert has been covered extensively on national television, earning Millner regular appearances on the Today show, The Meredith Vieira Show and HLN, and guest appearances on CBS’s The Early Show, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, VH-1, The Nate Berkus Show and The Rachel Ray Show. In 2018, she became a founding co-host on Georgia Public Broadcasting's "A Seat at the Table," a talk show about black women, which led to her founding of the critically-acclaimed NPR podcast "Speakeasy with Denene," a celebration of the beauty of the African American experience.
Denene's upcoming novel, "One Blood," an epic triptych on Black motherhood, publishes on September 5, 2023 from Forge Books.
Denene lives is a graduate of Hofstra University and lives in Atlanta with her two daughters and their adorable Goldendoodle, Franklin.
www.denenemillner.com
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An Improper Courtship: A Regency Romance (Lords & Ladies of Mayfair Book 3)Laura Beers is an award-winning author. She attended Brigham Young University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management. She can't sing, doesn't dance and loves naps.
Laura lives in Utah with her husband, three kids, and her dysfunctional dog. When not writing regency romance, she loves waterskiing, hiking, and drinking Dr Pepper.
You can connect with Laura on Facebook, Instagram, or on her site at www.authorlaurabeers.com.
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The Longmire Defense: A Longmire Mystery Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction and the Mountain & Plains Independent Booksellers Association's Reading the West Book Award for fiction. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 26.
Walt Longmire faces one of his most challenging crime scenes as he tries to reckon with the revelations of his last case where he confronted the ghosts of his past and questioned the very nature of justice and mercy in the hard country of the West.
Deep in the heart of the Wyoming countryside, Sheriff of Absaroka County, Walt Longmire, is called to a crime scene like few others that he has seen. This crime brings up issues that go back to Walt’s grandfather’s time in Wyoming, as the revelations he learns about his grandfather come back to offer clues and motives for Walt’s investigation. Filled with back-country action, and with the great cast of characters that readers have come to love with the Longmire series, this new book will be sure to satisfy both long-time readers and those new to the series.
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Code Red: A Mitch Rapp Novel by Kyle MillsKyle Mills is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three political thrillers, including Code Red, Total Power, Lethal Agent, and Red War for Vince Flynn and The Patriot Attack for Robert Ludlum. He initially found inspiration from his father, the former director of Interpol, and still draws on his contacts in the intelligence community to give his books such realism. Avid outdoor athletes, he and his wife split their time between Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Granada, Spain. Visit his website at KyleMills.com or connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @KyleMillsAuthor.
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Forgotten War (A Matt Drake Novel Book 4)
Don Bentley is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Matt Drake thriller series including Hostile Intent, The Outside Man, and Without Sanction as well as one forthcoming title. Don also writes in the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. universe with Zero Hour, Target Acquired, and one forthcoming title.
Don spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot during which time he was stationed in South Korea, Germany, and Texas. While deployed to Afghanistan as a Troop Commander in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VI, Don was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal with “V” device for valor. Following his time in the military Don worked as an FBI Special Agent and was a member of the Dallas Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
After leaving the FBI, Don worked for companies that developed technology for the U.S. Special Operations Community. He holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Ohio State University, and an M.F.A in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.
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The Olympian Affair (The Cinder Spires Book 2) Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in the mountains outside Denver, Colorado.
Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990’s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.
All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.
The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel) Mark Helprin belongs to no literary school, movement, tendency, or trend. As many have observed, and as Time Magazine has phrased it, “He lights his own way.” His three collections of short stories (A Dove of the East and Other Stories, Ellis Island and Other Stories, and The Pacific and Other Stories), seven novels (Refiner’s Fire, Winter’s Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir From Antproof Case, Freddy and Fredericka, In Sunlight and In Shadow, and Paris in the Present Tense), and three children’s books (Swan Lake, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows, all illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg), speak eloquently for themselves and are remarkable throughout, for the sustained beauty and power of their language. Helprin’s academic training, military service, decades of journalism, and involvement in politics and statesmanship as an obligation of citizenship, although secondary at best, have gained some attention nonetheless.
Translated into a score of languages, his books include A Dove of the East & Other Stories, Refiner’s Fire, Ellis Island & Other Stories, Winter’s Tale, Swan Lake (with illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg), A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir from Antproof Case, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows (both with illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg), The Pacific & Other Stories, Freddy and Fredericka, Digital Barbarism, In Sunlight and in Shadow, A Kingdom Far and Clear, and Paris in the Present Tense.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
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Thirty-four years ago, R. A. Salvatore created the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf who has withstood the test of time to stand today as an icon in the fantasy genre. With his work in the Forgotten Realms, the Crimson Shadow, the DemonWars Saga, and other series, Salvatore has sold more than thirty million books worldwide and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than two dozen times. He considers writing to be his personal journey, but still, he’s quite pleased that so many are walking the road beside him! R.A. lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their two dogs, Dexter and Pikel. He still plays softball for his team, Clan Battlehammer, and enjoys his weekly DemonWars: Reformation RPG and Dungeons & Dragons 5e games. Salvatore can be found at RASalvaStore.com
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Lisa Jewell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels, including The Family Upstairs and Then She Was Gone, as well as Invisible Girl and Watching You. Her novels have sold over 10 million copies internationally, and her work has also been translated into twenty-nine languages. Connect with her on Twitter @LisaJewellUK, on Instagram @LisaJewellUK, and on Facebook @LisaJewellOfficial.
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Ben Purkert is the author of the poetry collection For the Love of Endings. His work appears in The New Yorker, the Nation, and the Kenyon Review, among others. He is the founder of Back Draft, a Guernica interview series focused on revision and the creative process. He holds degrees from Harvard and New York University, and he currently teaches at Rutgers.
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Gillian McAllister is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of the following novels:
Everything But The Truth (2017)
Anything You Do Say (2018) called The Choice in America
No Further Questions (2018) called The Good Sister in America
The Evidence Against You (2019)
How To Disappear (2020)
That Night (2021)
Wrong Place Wrong Time (2022)
All are standalone and can be read in any order.
Her latest release is Wrong Place Wrong Time, available now and selected for the Radio 2 book club and was the Reese's Book Club August '22 pick. It debuted at number 4 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List and number 2 on the New York Times Bestseller List. She has been selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club, the Radio 2 Book Club and is published in over 25 languages.
You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @gillianmauthor and at http://www.gillianmcallister.com.
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Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He’s been married for fifty years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.
Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last eleven novels were all New York Times bestsellers.
Ordinary Grace, his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. The companion novel, This Tender Land, was published in September 2019 and spent nearly six months on the New York Times bestseller list.
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Mariana Zapatalives in a small town in Colorado with her husbandand two oversized children—her beloved Great Danes, Dorian andKaiser. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, spendingtime outside,forcing kisses on her boys, or pretending to write.
https://youtube.com/live/ET522mLtHQQ
BRAD THOR is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two thrillers, including RISING TIGER, BLACK ICE (ThrillerFix Best Thriller of the Year), NEAR DARK (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), BACKLASH (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), SPYMASTER (“One of the all-time best thriller novels” —The Washington Times), THE LAST PATRIOT (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association), and BLOWBACK (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” —NPR).
MEDIA CONTRIBUTOR Brad has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Channel, CNN, CNN Headline News, and MSNBC (among others) to discuss terrorism, as well as how closely his novels of international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today.
BACKGROUND Brad has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Analytic Red Cell Unit. He has also lectured to law enforcement organizations on over-the-horizon/future threats, and has been a keynote speaker for the National Tactical Officers Association annual conference.
In 2008, Brad shadowed a Black Ops team in Afghanistan to research his thriller, The Apostle.
Brad graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California where he studied creative writing, film, and television production. Prior to becoming a novelist, Brad was the award-winning creator, producer, writer and host of the critically acclaimed national public television series, Traveling Lite.
A desperate young publicist tries to save her career by turning the charismatic leader of a grungy retreat center into the hot new self-care brand in this “wildly funny, laser-eyed” (Michael Cunningham) debut novel.
Jane Dorner has two modes: PR Jane, twenty-five, chummy, and eager to sell you a feminist vibrator or a self-care/bereavement subscription box; and Actual Jane, twenty-nine, drifting through mediocre workdays and lackluster dates while paralyzed by her crushing mountain of overdue medical bills. When her job performance is called into question, Jane’s last-ditch effort to preserve her livelihood and pay off her debt is to land a white whale of a client.
Enter the impossibly gorgeous Cass—whom Jane discovers scrolling through Instagram—and her unassuming husband, Tom—proprietors of a “wellness retreat” based out of a ramshackle country house that may or may not be giving off cult vibes. Suddenly Jane realizes she might have found the one ladder she can climb—if she can convince them that transforming Cass herself into a high-end wellness brand is the key to all three of their futures. Magnetic yet mysterious, Cass is primed to be an influencer: She speaks in a mix of inspirational quotes and Zen koans, eats only zucchini (the most spiritually nourishing vegetable), and has baby-perfect skin. Despite Tom’s reticence about selling out, Jane sets out to mold Cass into the kind of guru who can offer inner peace and make your skin glow—all at a hefty price, of course. As Jane reckons with her own long-dormant ambitions, she wonders: Can a person really “do good” for others while profiting off them? And what parts of our selves do we lose when we trade power, influence, and beauty?
Sparklingly plotted, deliciously deadpan, and irresistibly entertaining, THE GLOW is a razor-sharp sendup of an industry built on the peculiar intersection of money and wellness, where health is a commodity and self-care a luxury. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jessie Gaynor’s work has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The New Yorker, WSJ Magazine, and elsewhere. She is a senior editor at Literary Hub and she has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Rona Jaffe fellow. Jessie Gaynor lives in Richmond, Virginia with her family.
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The inspiring autobiography of video game designer and DOOM cocreator John Romero
Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty.
Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career—from his early days submitting Apple II code to computer magazines and sneaking computers out of the back door of his day job to do programming projects at night in his garage to a high-profile falling out with his id Software cofounder John Carmack, as well as his continued role in the gaming industry today as the managing director of Romero Games Ltd.
His story is truly one of a self-made man, founding multiple companies after a childhood filled with violence and abuse drove him to video game design where he could create new worlds and places to escape to. An alcoholic father, a racist grandfather who did not approve of Romero’s parents’ mixed-race coupling, and a grandmother who once ran a brothel in Mexico combine for an illuminating story of his youth—a story that has never before been revealed.
After years in the gaming spotlight, Romero is now telling his story—the whole story—in his own words.
Josh Winning is a nostalgia nut, book/film lover and author of The Shadow Glass, The Times’s Book of the Month, which is perfect for fans of Henson Company puppet classics Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, and The NeverEnding Story.
He is senior film writer at Radio Times, has written for Total Film magazine for over a decade, and is the co-host of movie podcast Torn Stubs. He has been on set with Kermit the Frog (and Miss Piggy), devoured breakfast with zombies on The Walking Dead, and sat on the Iron Throne on the Dublin set of Game of Thrones.
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Dwyer Murphy is the author of An Honest Living, a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection, and the editor-in-chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub’s crime fiction vertical and the world’s most popular destination for thriller readers. He practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City, where he was a litigator, and served as editor of the Columbia Law Review. He was previously an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction.
https://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Coast-Novel-Dwyer-Murphy-ebook/dp/B0BJNXCJT7?ref_=ast_author_mpb
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Elle Cosimano is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, an International Thriller Award winner, a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and an Edgar® Award nominee. Her acclaimed young adult novels include Nearly Gone, Holding Smoke, The Suffering Tree, and Seasons of the Storm. Elle’s debut novel for adults, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, kicked off a witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series, which was a PEOPLE Magazine Pick and was named one of New York Public Library's Best Books of 2021. In addition to writing novels for teens and adults, her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives with her husband and two sons in Virginia.
https://www.ellecosimano.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ellecosimano/
https://www.instagram.com/ellecosimano/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00E6M2074/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=af52645a-8f97-4777-a5d9-526f9b3f82b5
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David Bell burst onto the scene in 2011 with his first (now beloved) novel Cemetery Girl, which won the Prix Polar International de Cognac, a prestigious award for crime writing and has continued to publish some of the most well-received thrillers in the genre. His 2021 novel Kill Your Darlings was nominated for the illustrious Edgar Award. Praised by fellow thriller authors such as May Cobb, Liv Constantine, and Samantha Downing, David Bell is the go-to thriller writer for gripping domestic suspense.
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A young woman trapped in a deeply dysfunctional family in the seedy wilds of 1990s South Florida has to make a choice—save her family, or save herself—in this larger-than-life debut novel from the acclaimed author of Lay the Favorite (a memoir about Raymer’s years in Las Vegas and her work in the sports betting industry, which was made into a feature film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis).
In Beth Raymer’s FIREWORKS EVERY NIGHT (Random House, on-sale 6/27) we meet twelve-year-old CC (named after her father’s beloved Canadian Club whiskey), an unforgettable protagonist who narrates her life story with dark comedy and compassion for her family, even as her parents “opt out of parenthood” as well as society.
CC’s father is a born grifter, a used-car salesman who burns down his dealership in southern Ohio for enough insurance money to set up a life for himself, his wife, and his two young daughters in a place he picks largely at random, because the living seems easy. CC’s mother is thirty-five going on seventeen, a housewife who just wants to drive a Mustang and hang out at the mall. CC’s big sister Lorraine goes from loving Debbie Gibson and jelly shoes to having a full-on drug addiction and listening only to heavy metal, after enduring forms of abuse within her family. In the midst of this dysfunction, CC is trying to stay afloat and make it out—to achieve some semblance of a stable life while coming up against the structural and cultural challenges of growing up in poverty.
While a work of fiction, Raymer’s novel is very much drawn from real life. Hers is a unique voice telling a story with a lot of darkness, but also with incredibly comedy, compassion, and heart. For even as CC is a young woman failed by most of those around her, she still is a character determined to succeed, and one who refuses to disavow the place and people she came from. And while her story is harrowing, I think you will also find it surprisingly poignant.
CLÉMENCE MICHALLON was born and raised near Paris. She studied journalism at City University of London, received a master's in Journalism from Columbia University, and has written for The Independent since 2018. Her essays and features have covered true-crime, celebrity culture, and literature. She moved to New York City in 2014 and recently became a US citizen. She now divides her time between New York City and Rhinebeck, NY.
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Holly Smale is the Number One bestselling, multi-award winning author of the GEEK GIRL series.
She fell in love with writing at five years old, when she realised that books didn't grow on trees like apples. A passion for travel, adventure and wearing no shoes has since led her all over the world: she has visited 27 countries, spent two years working as an English teacher in Japan, volunteered in Nepal, been bartered for in Jamaica and had a number of ear-plugs stolen in Australia, Indonesia and India.
Holly has a BA in English Literature, an MA in Shakespeare, and currently lives in London or at @holsmale.
The GEEK GIRL series has been an internationally bestselling no1. smash-hit. It won the Waterstones Teen Prize of the Year and the Leeds book award, was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Branford Boase award, and was long-listed for the Carnegie.
Alex Marwood is the pseudonym of a former journalist who has worked extensively in the British press. She is the author of the word-of-mouth sensation The Wicked Girls, which won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original; The Killer Next Door, which won a Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel; The Darkest Secret; and The Poison Garden. Her novels have been shortlisted for numerous crime writing awards and been optioned for the screen. She lives in south London.
Matthew Quick is the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook—which was made into an Oscar-winning film—and eight other novels, including We Are the Light, a #1 Indie Next Pick and a Book of the Month selection. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, was an LA Times Book Prize finalist, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a #1 bestseller in Brazil, a Deutscher Jugendliteratur Preis 2016 (German Youth Literature Prize) nominee, and selected by Nancy Pearl as one of Summer’s Best Books for NPR. The Hollywood Reporter has named him one of Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors. Matthew lives with his wife, the novelist Alicia Bessette, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
https://matthewquickwriter.com/
https://matthewquick.substack.com/
https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Light-Matthew-Quick-ebook/dp/B09RX3X5KN/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1W14PEWVHYKKW&keywords=matthew+quick&qid=1687266416&s=digital-text&sprefix=matthew+quick%2Cdigital-text%2C126&sr=1-2
T.A. Willberg grew up on a small-holding in South Africa. At 27, she moved to Malta and wrote her debut novel, MARION LANE AND THE MIDNIGHT MURDER which was named one of Amazon's "100 Best Books of 2021" as well as a Strand "Book of the Month", a LibraryReads pick and many more. It has also been translated into multiple languages. The sequel, MARION LANE AND THE DEADLY ROSE, was published around the world in February, 2022 and was featured in The New York Times Book Review. T.A. now lives between Europe and South Africa, chasing summers and adventures.
MY MAGNOLIA SUMMER is full of humor, fun, romance, and recipes guaranteed to make your mouth water. Most importantly, it’s a story about the bond of family and the strength of women. Everyone knows that when the three generations of South Carolina women join forces—the family pillar Gran, troubled Lily, impulsive Violet, and redoubtable Maggie—anything is possible.
Victoria Benton Frank makes her home just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. A graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute, married to a chef, and mother of two little hurricanes, her book is alive with lived experience and love for the land of her ancestors.
Deepa Varadarajan lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children. She is a legal academic and a graduate of Yale Law School. She grew up in Texas and received her BA from the University of Texas at Austin. Her short fiction has appeared in The Georgia Review and Colorado Review, and her legal scholarship has appeared in The Yale Law Journal and many other publications. Late Bloomers is her first novel.
In our second segment we welcome Christina Dodd
Readers become writers, and Christina Dodd has always been a reader. She reads everything, but because she loves humor, she likes romance best.
A woman wants things like world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants things like a Craftsman router with attachments, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will miraculously make his bald spot disappear. So when Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to quit work and write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before her first novel, CANDLE IN THE WINDOW, was published. In the thirty-two years since, her novels have been translated into 25 languages, won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year’s best by Library Journal and Booklist. Christina Dodd herself has been a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Her mother was thrilled! With more than 15 million of her books in print, Booklist praises her, “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd.”
Stephen Aryan was born in Iran in 1977 and raised in Whitley Bay, on the north east coast of the UK. He has been reading fantasy since a very young age. It started with books by David Eddings, Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Terry Brooks, Ursula le Guin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and later David Gemmell, who had a huge influence on his work.
After graduating university in 1999 he started working in marketing. Around this time he also started submitting his first fantasy novel to agents.
In 2013, he submitted his latest novel, Battlemage, to Juliet Mushens. It took Stephen a long time and many struggles to get this far. You can read the full story on a two part blog he wrote called How I Found an Agent Part 1, and How I Found an Agent Part 2.
In 2014, Battlemage, was snatched up by Orbit books and subsequently published in 2015. It went on to be published in France, Germany and Russia and was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy novel. Battlemage went on to win the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award in France after a public vote. The sequels, Bloodmage, and Chaosmage were both published in 2016, completing the Age of Darkness trilogy.
In 2017 he published Mageborn, the first in a new trilogy, the Age of Dread, with Orbit books. This followed on from his first trilogy, with the return of fan-favourite characters and many new faces. The sequels, Magefall and Magebane were published in 2018 and 2019 respectively, wrapping up his second trilogy.
In 2018 he also published Of Gods and Men with Orbit, a digital and audio novella which served as a prequel to Battlemage.
In 2020 Stephen was picked up for a new duology by Angry Robot Books. The story is set in a brand new world. The first novel, The Coward, was published in June 2021 and it received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly. The sequel, The Warrior, was published in August 2022.
In 2022, Angry Robot signed The Judas Blossom, the first instalment in a Persian inspired fantasy trilogy, from Stephen. The first book will be published on 11th July 2023. The Judas Blossom has been described as an “imaginative and sprawling reimagining of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia” following the lives of four characters at the centre of the war. It is an examination of Persian culture, family and war in a stunning, immersive world.
Stephen lives in the West Midlands with his partner and two cats. When he’s not writing novels or podcasting, he can be found drinking real ale, reading books or watching TV.
Stephen is represented by Juliet Mushens of the Mushens Entertainment agency.
You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
https://twitter.com/SteveAryan
Caroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence and You Love Me. Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up in Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles.
https://youtube.com/live/sRyVLrq1iJY
Nisha J. Tuli is a Canadian fantasy romance author, whose books feature kick ass heroines, swoony love interests, and slow burns with plenty of heat. Fans of The Princess Bride and A Court of Thorns and Roses will find themselves at home in her worlds.
She loves to draw upon her Indian heritage to bring her stories to life, weaving together vibrant and compelling characters, settings, and plotlines. Her first novella Wicked is the Reaper became a BookTok hit, which she followed up with two more novels, including her latest, Trial of the Sun Queen, the first in a new series.
Nisha wants to leave her readers breathless and begging for more and enjoys making her characters suffer before giving them a much-deserved happily ever after. When she's not writing or exploring, Nisha can be found enjoying travel, food, and camping with her partner, two kids, and their fluffy Samoyed.
Liv Constantine is the pen name of sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine. Lynne and Valerie are Wall St. Journal and USA Today international bestselling authors with over one million copies sold worldwide. They are Library Reads Hall of Fame authors. Their books have been translated into 28 languages, are available in 33 countries, and are in development for both television and film. Their books have been praised by USA Today, The Sunday Times, People Magazine, and Good Morning America, among many others. Their debut novel, THE LAST MRS. PARRISH, is a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection.
Before authoring the Outer Banks Bookshop Mysteries, Alicia Bessette worked as a reporter in her home state of Massachusetts, where her writing won a first-place award from the New England Newspaper & Press Association. A pianist, published poet, and enthusiastic bird-watcher, she now loves living in coastal North Carolina with her husband, novelist Matthew Quick. Learn more at aliciabessette.com.
Christopher Paolini drops by the Story Craft Cafe again to talk about his new releases this year, a sci fi thriller follow up called Fractal Noise, as well as his return this fall to the world of Eragon.
Christopher was homeschooled by his parents. As a child, he often wrote short stories and poems, made frequent trips to the library, and read widely. Some of his favorite books were Bruce Coville’s Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Raymond E. Feist’s Magician (now available in volumes one and two), as well as books by Anne McCaffrey, Jane Yolen, Brian Jacques, E.R. Eddison, David Eddings, and Ursula K. Le Guin.
The idea of Eragon began as the daydreams of a teen. Christopher’s love for the magic of stories led him to craft a novel that he would enjoy reading. The project began as a hobby, a personal challenge; he never intended it to be published. Before he began writing Eragon, he plotted out the entire adventure. He found that doing some of the same things as his characters allowed him to better understand their world, as well as to think of descriptions that otherwise would not have occured to him. To this end he forged his own knives and swords, made chain mail, spun wool, camped in the Beartooth Mountains, made his own bow, built survival shelters, learned to track game, fletched arrows, felled trees, hiked, and camped. In short, the books embody a great deal of his experience of living in Montana.
His work also combined elements gathered from research and from his imagination. He read a huge amount of folklore while growing up, ranging from the Brothers Grimm to Beowulf, Nordic sagas, and the Aeneid, along with contemporary fantasy and science fiction. In addition, he learned about weaponry, food, clothing, and customs from the Middle Ages, which is roughly the era he envisioned Eragon living in. Armed with that information, he daydreamed the scenes with his characters. Then he took pen to paper and tried to recreate those images with words.
Christopher was fifteen when he wrote the first draft of Eragon. He took a second year to revise the book, and then gave it to his parents to read. The family decided to self-publish the book and spent a third year preparing the manuscript for publication: copyediting, proofreading, designing a cover, typesetting the manuscript, and creating marketing materials. During this time Christopher drew the map for Eragon, as well as the dragon eye for the book cover (which now appears inside the Knopf hardcover edition). The manuscript was sent to press and the first books arrived in November 2001. The Paolini family spent the next year promoting the book at libraries, bookstores, and schools in 2002 and early 2003.
In summer 2002, author Carl Hiaasen, whose stepson had read a copy of the self-published book while on vacation in Montana, brought Eragon to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. Michelle Frey, executive editor at Knopf, contacted Christopher and his family to ask if they might be interested in having Knopf publish Eragon. The answer was yes, and after another round of editing, Knopf published Eragon in August 2003. The book immediately became a New York Times Best Seller.
https://youtube.com/live/qzyaqkPntK0
In a small-town Montana school at age 12, Brent Weeks met the two great loves of his life. Edgar Allan Poe introduced him to the power of literature to transcend time and death and loneliness. Fate introduced him to The Girl, Kristi Barnes. He began his pursuit of each immediately.
The novel was a failure. The Girl shot him down.
Since then–skipping the boring parts–Brent has written eight best-selling novels with the Night Angel Trilogy and the Lightbringer Series, won several industry awards, and sold a few million books.
Brent and his wife Kristi live in Oregon with their two daughters. (Yeah, he married The Girl.)
You can contact Brent at brent(at)brentweeks(dot)com or fill out the comment form under the contact tab.
He does read all of his emails (the good ones, he’ll read two or three times, the little narcissist), and he does reply… sometimes. (If you have questions other people MAY have asked, maybe even frequently, you can live dangerously and check out the FAQ.)
https://youtube.com/live/z_ICXu4g5Sc
On today's show we have a special treat for you, a double header of interviews with two of the most creative thriller writers in publishing, Don Winslow and Taylor Adams. Be sure to join us at storycraft.cafe to stay informed about all upcoming shows!
You’ve finished your manuscript and now what? In 2023 writers have more options than ever to get their stories out to the world. Trad pub, indie, hybrid… they’re all legitimate ways to publish, and our panel is going to talk about those, and attempt to shed some light on the realities of publishing in 2023.
https://youtube.com/live/45kjrRtVD9U
When editing your book, how do you know when It’s “finished”? In the writer’s eyes, is a story ever truly finished? How do you lovingly close this project and how do you start thinking about what you’ll follow it up with? We’ll talk about all of it this week.
DON WINSLOW is the author of twenty-three acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including six New York Times bestsellers (Savages, The Kings of Cool, The Cartel, The Force, The Border and City on Fire). Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar- winning writer-director Oliver Stone and a screenplay by Shane Salerno, Winslow and Stone. Winslow’s epic Cartel trilogy has been adapted for TV and will appear as a weekly series on FX in 2023. The Force is soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Studios starring Matt Damon with James Mangold directing from a Scott Frank screenplay. Additional Winslow books are currently in development at Netflix, Warner Brothers, Sony and Working Title and he has recently written a series of acclaimed short stories for Audible narrated by four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris.
Read any how-to book on writing and you’ll get that author’s ideas about what makes the perfect story. Pick up another guide and you might find information that contradicts what the first author told you. Who’s right? Aren’t the rules of storytelling set in stone? The answer is a firm “sometimes”. On this week’s episode we’re going to talk about the rules of story telling and knowing when and how to break them if necessary.
Amazon All Star Author Tonya Kappes has written more than 175 southern cozy mysteries, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and Woman’s World Book Club pick twice . Best known for stories charged with southern charm, emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband in northern Kentucky. Now that her four boys have flown out of the nest, Tonya writes full-time in her camper!
You can find her all over social media and at Tonyakappes.com.
When reading back over that first draft what happens when you encounter that dreaded plot hole. Pin sized plot holes are one thing, and hopefully easily resolved, but what happens when you could fly a 747 through the center of your plot?
Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. He has published two books on writing, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo, and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide. He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton’s New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and Best Small Fictions. His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Lit Hub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. He serves on the National Writing Project’s Writer’s Council, Lit Camp’s Advisory Council, and Aspen Words’ Creative Council. He’s also the co-host of the podcast Write-minded.
https://youtube.com/live/H355TSHkgb0
We’ve talked about characters, and we’ve plumbed the depths of plot, but what if the story you’re telling is actually one piece of a bigger puzzle, a series? How does editing in light of a series differ from sanding off the rough edges of a standalone story? When is it appropriate to start building a series bible? How do you keep characters consistent, yet growing from one part of the series to the next? We’ll debate the finer points this week with special guest Richard Fox.
https://youtube.com/live/0LpFZHTYF9Y
Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for the Gray Man novels, including Sierra Six, Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, he traveled to more than thirty-five countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. With Marine LtCol Rip Rawlings, he wrote the New York Times bestseller, Red Metal. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.
In our second week of exploring plot, we look at how to ensure that the action rises and falls in a way that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats. Does your plot serve the story in a meaningful way? Let’s talk about it.
We’ve talked characters for the last couple of weeks, but do you characters actually do anything? Plot is where we tell the story of what happened, and what that happening does to our characters. This week we talk about determining if your characters’ journey is a good one.
The Levee
Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He’s been married for nearly fifty years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.
Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last nine novels were all New York Times bestsellers.
Ordinary Grace, his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. The companion novel, This Tender Land, was published in September 2019 and spent nearly six months on the New York Times bestseller list.
So your protagonist has you feeling good, and you feel like their journey is solid, but what about the rest of the cast? No journey is a solitary one, and your protagonist is no different. How can he or she reach their potential without the help (or antics) of the folks around them? Join us this week as we look at the characters we choose to surround our protagonist with.
In our second week of rewriting we are going to take a hard look at the characters that we’ve invited into our stories. Are these characters all we had hoped they could be? Do they move the plot forward and add emotional depth to our tale? Are we as writers giving our characters the best shot at success that we can? We’re going to dig into it this week as we stand back and take an objective look at the characters we have created.
It’s time to take that novel that you’ve first-drafted and whip it into shape! Our panel of writers will work through the process–along with you, the audience–and hear from special guests along the way.
Rhett is a USA Today bestselling and Nebula-nominated hybrid author who has been writing Sci-Fi & Fantasy since before he can remember. On the editing side, he has collected works for numerous anthologies through Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bridge, and served as the lead editor of the bestselling Bridge Across the Stars Anthology. He also served for a period as a consulting editor for ASIM magazine and as a 34freelance editor on Upwork, and has earned a Certificate in Screenwriting / Storytelling from the New School in NYC.
Rhett is passionate about science fiction and its role in our fast-moving society. He wants stories that focus on characters but also present the kind of concepts that keep readers up at night, dreaming of potential futures.
Deborah Crombie was born in Dallas and grew up in Richardson, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, the second child of Charlie and Mary Darden. Her maternal grandmother, Lillian Dozier, a retired teacher, taught her to read at the tender age of four. After a rather checkered educational career, which included dropping out of high school at sixteen, she graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, with a degree in biology.
She then worked in advertising and newspapers and attended the Rice University Publishing Program. A post-university trip to England, however, cemented a life-long passion for Britain, and she later immigrated to the UK with her first husband, Peter Crombie, a Scot, living first in Edinburgh, Scotland, and then in Chester, England.
After returning to live in Dallas, a trip to Yorkshire inspired her first Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid/Sergeant Gemma James novel. A Share in Death [Scribner, 1993], was subsequently given Agatha and Macavity nominations for Best First Novel of 1993. The fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones (Scribner 1997), a New York Times Notable Book for 1997, was short-listed by Mystery Writers of America for the 1997 Edgar Award for Best Novel, won the Macavity Award for Best Novel, and was voted by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association as one of the hundred best mysteries of the century. Her subsequent novels have been received with critical acclaim and are widely read internationally, particularly in Germany.
In 2009, Where Memories Lie won the Macavity Award for Best Novel. In 2010, Necessary as Blood received a Macavity nomination for Best Novel.
Crombie’s novels are published in North America, Japan, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Romania, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and numerous other countries. The latest novel in the series, A Killing of Innocents, is available in February 2023 from William Morrow.
Although she travels to England several times a year, Crombie lives in McKinney, Texas, a historic town north of Dallas, sharing a circa 1905 Texas Craftsman bungalow with her husband, Rick Wilson, two German shepherds (Dax and Jasmine), and two cats. She is an aficionado of tea and cocktails, enjoys cooking and admiring her garden, reading, birdwatching, and playing with her dogs.
She is currently working on her twentieth Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James novel.
Audrey Burges writes novels, humor, short fiction, and essays in Richmond, Virginia. Her presence is tolerated by her two rambunctious children and very patient husband, all of whom have become practiced at making supportive faces when she shouts, “listen to this sentence!” She is a frequent contributor to numerous humor outlets, including McSweeney’s, and her stories and essays have appeared in Pithead Chapel, Cease, Cows, and lengthy diatribes in the Notes app on her phone. Audrey was born and raised in Arizona by her linguist parents, which is a lot like being raised by wolves, but with better grammar. She moved to Virginia as an adult but still carries mountains and canyons in her heart, and sometimes, when she closes her eyes, she can still smell ponderosa pines in the sun.
Brad Taylor was born on Okinawa, Japan, but grew up on 40-acres in rural Texas. Graduating from the University of Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry. Brad served for more than 21 years, retiring as a Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel. During that time he held numerous Infantry and Special Forces positions, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta where he commanded multiple troops and a squadron. He has conducted operations in support of US national interests in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other classified locations.
His final assignment was as the Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He holds a Master’s of Science in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, with a concentration in Irregular Warfare. In 2011, Brad published his debut novel, One Rough Man, which was an immediate success and launched the Pike Logan series. Now with more than 15 installments and more than 3 million copies sold, the series has consistently hit the New York Times bestseller list. When not writing, he serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies. He lives in Charleston, SC with his wife and two daughters.
AI is certainly one of the buzziest topics as we start off 2023, and lots of writers are exploring what these tools might be able to offer to their personal creative process. Today we hear from a writer and publisher about his thoughts on where we stand with this emerging technology.
There’s a lot of talk in the writing community about AI and the tools that AI are now affording writers. Today we hear from an author who is using this new technology to further her craft and career.
Leanne Leeds is a humorously acerbic, good-natured, contemporary paranormal/fantasy cozy mystery author who writes fun, lighthearted, and optimistic adventures where characters and events intersect in magically unexpected ways. With a cast of quirky characters inhabiting her fictional world, Leanne provides a unique blend of comedy, clues, and twisty action—all with a touch of magic that keeps readers turning pages.
Leanne is a proud member of Novelists, Inc., The Alliance of Independent Authors, The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.
For information on Leanne Leeds visit: https://leanneleeds.com
Wow, what a year! In this calendar year not only did we kick off the number one site for writers The Story Craft Cafe, but we also started this podcast as an offshoot of that very special place. We had some fantastic guests that stopped by to share their stories and to drop some hard earned wisdom on us as well. In this episode we look back at a few of those highlights as we get ready to spend some special moments with family and friends and reflect on all of the good that 2022 brought us. We hope you take this time to rest and recharge your creative batteries and come back ready to tackle your stories with renewed hope and vigor. From all of us at Dabble and the Story Craft Cafe, Happy Holidays!
In this episode we hear from:
Sally Britton
Richard Fox
Christopher Paolini
Liv Constantine
James Rollins
Sarah Pinborough
Beverly Jenkins
J. T. Ellison
Brian McClellan
Jenna Moreci
R. A. Salvatore
Jasinda and Jack Wilder
Today’s author interview guest is Sharon Cooper, author of In It to Win It.
Two entrepreneurs compete for a property but secure the biggest win of all—each other—in this second chance romantic comedy by USA Today bestselling author Sharon C. Cooper.
Spoiled, fickle, and prissy are only a few of the adjectives that have been used to describe Morgan Redford. Though she’s never had to worry about money, she’s determined to make a name for herself on her own terms. Her new venture won’t be an epic fail like her former professional cuddling service or the short-lived pet hotel. This time, through the nonprofit she cofounded, Morgan is doing something meaningful—helping teens who are aging out of foster care—and she’s got her eye on a property that could house these kids. But the competition is steep, and one of the bidders is someone she never expected. . . .
When real estate developer Drake Faulkner learns that his ex—the one who ghosted him years ago—is a potential buyer for the property his eccentric mentor is selling, his competitive streak amps up. No way is he letting her win the property he wants. Bitter? Yes. Petty? Probably. But his mentor has a stipulation: potential buyers must participate in an Ironman competition of sorts for the property. Drake refuses to play along with this ridiculous demand, until he discovers Morgan has signed up. If Little Miss Can’t Run a Block Without Gasping for Air is doing it, he will too. But as the gauntlet of games heats up and forces them to face the past, they are met with a pull that feels all too familiar.
Now, if only they could keep their eyes on the prize instead of on each other—but who’s to say they can’t do both?
USA Today bestselling author Sharon C. Cooper loves anything involving romance with a happily-ever-after, whether in books, movies, or real life. She writes contemporary romance, as well as romantic suspense and enjoys rainy days, carpet picnics, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Her stories have won numerous awards over the years, and when Sharon isn’t writing, she’s hanging out with her amazing husband, doing volunteer work, or reading a good book (a romance of course). To read more about Sharon and her novels, visit www.sharoncooper.net
On today’s show we have an interview with Henriette Lazaridis, author of Terra Nova.
A haunting story of love, art, and betrayal, set against the heart-pounding backdrop of Antarctic exploration—from the Boston Globe-bestselling author of The Clover House.
The year is 1910, and two Antarctic explorers, Watts and Heywoud, are racing to the South Pole. Back in London, Viola, a photo-journalist, harbors love for them both. In Terra Nova, Henriette Lazaridis seamlessly ushers the reader back and forth between the austere, forbidding, yet intoxicating polar landscape of Antarctica to the bustle of early twentieth century London.
Though anxious for both men, Viola has little time to pine. She is photographing hunger strikers in the suffrage movement, capturing the female nude in challenging and politically powerful ways. As she comes into her own as an artist, she’s eager for recognition and to fulfill her ambitions. And then the men return, eager to share news of their triumph.
But in her darkroom, Viola discovers a lie. Watts and Heywoud have doctored their photos of the Pole to fake their success. Viola must now decide whether to betray her husband and her lover, or keep their secret and use their fame to help her pursue her artistic ambitions.
Rich and moving, Terra Nova is a novel that challenges us to consider how love and lies, adventure and art, can intersect.
Henriette Lazaridis is the author ofThe Clover House, which was a Boston Globe bestseller. Her short work has appeared in ELLE, The New York Times, New England Review, The Millions, Pangyrus, and more, and she has earned a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Grant. She is a graduate of Middlebury College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and the University of Pennsylvania. Having taught English at Harvard, she now teaches at GrubStreet in Boston. She founded The Drum Literary Magazine and currently runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece. She writes the Substack newsletter The Entropy Hotel, at henriettelazaridis.substack.com. For more, visit henriettelazaridis.com.
Today’s author interview guest is Avery Flynn, author of Witcha Gonna Do?
One of Amazon’s Best Romances of December
A December LibraryReads Pick
An unlucky witch and her know-it-all nemesis must team up in the first of a new, spicy romantic comedy series from USA Today bestselling author Avery Flynn.
Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you’re a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I’d say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can’t stand him. Even if I also can’t stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him) but we’re going to pretend I never told you that part.
So yeah, my life isn’t the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister’s spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.
Now we have to work together to save my family and outmaneuver some evil-minded nefarious forces bent on world domination. Oh yeah, and we have to do all that while fighting against the attraction building between us because I may not be magical, but what’s happening between Gil and I sure feels like it.
USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling romance author Avery Flynn has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip. She lives outside of Washington DC with her family, Dwight the cat, and a pack of five dogs all named after food. If she’s not reading romance or binging reality TV, she’s most definitely plotting to take over the world so she can banish Crocs from existence.
It’s been a wild and memorable 60 days, and we have learned a lot about the art and science of writing, and a lot about ourselves. How did we do? Did we hit our wordcount target? Did we form new habits? Most importantly, do we feel like we are better writers now than when we started? We’ll recap the challenge and look forward to the future.
Today’s author interview guest is Yaffa Santos, author of A Touch of Moonlight.
“A delicious culinary romance.” —Booklist
From the author of A Taste of Sage comes another charming and engrossing novel in which a young woman must navigate her family’s expectations, the demands of her job, a new love, and a secret about her magical identity.
Larimar Cintrón works hard at three things: her job as brand manager for Beacon Café, a New York based corporate bakery chain; taking care of her parents and her abuela; and hiding that she’s a ciguapa—a mythical creature of Dominican folklore with long, straight hair and backwards-facing feet. Larimar may only be a ciguapa on full moons, but she feels like an outsider in her family the rest of the month too. Her love of ’90s punk rock music and style further sets her apart. But when her best friend introduces her to Ray, a bakery owner and fellow punk rock lover, Larimar thinks she may have finally found someone with whom she can be her true self.
As Beacon’s brand manager, Larimar oversees all new location openings, including its newest store in New Jersey, which could be the project that finally lands her a coveted promotion. But when she discovers the location is right across from Ray’s bakery, Borrachitos, Larimar is torn between impressing her boss and saving Ray’s business.
As Larimar continues to grow closer to Ray and the new store’s opening looms, she struggles to hide the truth about herself and her job. But embracing her magical nature may be the only way Larimar can have everything she wants. Witty and poignant, A Touch of Moonlight is a celebration of heritage, culture, and identity—of embracing yourself and finding your place in the world.
Yaffa S. Santos was born and raised in New Jersey. She is the author of A Taste of Sage, which won an International Latino Book Award andwas named an Indie Next List Pick and an Amazon Editor’s Pick, and the forthcoming A Touch of Moonlight. Yaffa is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied writing and visual art. She enjoys books, coffee, and the beach, and lives in Central Florida with her family.
Today’s author interview guest is Lynne Reeves, author of Dark Rivers to Cross. For fans of Hannah Mary McKinnon and Kimberley Belle, this emotionally charged thriller explores long-buried family secrets and the deadly reckoning that often follows their explosive reveal. For two decades, Lena Blackwell has kept her sons at her side, teaching them everything […]
Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you’re just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going […]
Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you’re just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going […]
Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you’re just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going […]
Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you’re just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going […]
On today’s show we welcome Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman to talk about their new book The Thread Collectors. “An unforgettable story of female strength, hope and friendship. This collaborative work is magnificent—a true revelation!” —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star “A brilliant story brimming with unexpected friendships and family […]
Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you’re just joining us for the first time, we...
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https://storycraftcafe.podbean.com/e/why-writing-with-a-plan-makes-a-difference-with-jean-kwok-story-craft-cafe-episode-47/ Welcome to the Story Craft Café podcast. Today we get to spend some time with Jean...
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Author Stories is commercial free. If you get value from this podcast, consider leaving a tip at...
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Today’s author interview guest is Helene Wecker, author of The Hidden Palace: A Novel of the Golem...
Today I am excited to welcome back one of my all time favorite thriller authors Brad Thor...
Today’s author interview guest is Brian McClellan, author of In The Shadow Of Lightning: Glass Immortals, Book...
Today’s author interview guest is Elly Griffiths, author of The Locked Room. Pandemic lockdowns have Ruth Galloway...
Today’s author interview guest is John Searles, author of Her Last Affair. “A winner: tense and terrifying...
Today’s author interview guest is Juliet Blackwell, author of The Paris Showroom. In Nazi-occupied Paris, a talented...
Today Fiona Barton returns to talk about her new book Local Gone Missing. Detective Elise King investigates...
Today’s author interview guest is Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp who drops by the show to talk...
Today’s author interview guest is Hannah Mary McKinnon, author of Never Coming Home. “[A] highly entertaining, bone-chilling...
Today’s author interview guest is Linwood Barclay, author of Take Your Breath Away. A missing woman. A...
Today’s author interview guest is Christopher Moore, author of Razzmatazz. Repeat New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore returns...
Today’s author interview guest is Dervla McTiernan, author of The Murder Rule. For fans of the compulsive...
Today’s author interview guest is Sara Paretsky, author of Overboard: A Novel (V.I. Warshawski Novels Book 22)....
Today’s author interview guest is Camille Pagán, author of Everything Must Go. A warm, wry novel about...
Today’s author interview guest is Stefanie London, author of The Dachshund Wears Prada: Paws in the City,...
Today’s author interview guest is the writing duo of Julia Fierro and Caeli Wolfson Widger who write...
Today’s author interview guest is Don Winslow, author of City On Fire. From the #1 internationally bestselling...
Friend of the show James Rollins returns today to talk about his brand new book Kingdom of...
On today’s episode I welcome Sara Blaedel, author of A Harmless Lie. USA TODAY “5 Books Not To...
Today I welcome one of my favorite guests back to the show. Peter Swanson’s Nine Lives is...
On today’s show I am happy to welcome Crispin Boyer back to talk about his new book...
Today’s author interview guest is Susan Carruthers, author of Dear John: Love and Loyalty in Wartime America....
Today’s author interview guest is Elena Gorokhova, author of A Train to Moscow. In post–World War II...
Today’s author interview guest is Joe Stillman, author of The Man Who Came and Went. The Man...
On today’s show J. A. Jance joins us again to talk about her new book Nothing To...
Today’s author interview guest is Michael Mammay, author of The Misfit Soldier. Ocean’s Eleven meets John Scalzi in...
Today’s author interview guest is Kristin Bird, author of The Night She Went Missing. “A great new...
Today’s author interview guest is Kathleen West, author of Home or Away. “A gloriously entertaining plunge into...
I am happy to welcome Wendy Corsi Staub back to the show to talk about her new...
Today we are happy to welcome back Jillian Cantor to talk about her new book Beautiful Little...
On today’s episode Tim Dorsey stops by to talk about the 25th Serge Storm novel Mermaid Confidential....
Today I am happy to welcome back friend of the show Fiona Davis to talk about her...
On today’s show we welcome Shauna Robinson to talk about her new book Must Love Books. “A...
On today’s show we welcome Nick Petrie back to talk about his new book The Runaway. “Petrie...
Today I am happy to welcome Kaira Rouda back to the show to talk about her brand...
Today’s author interview guest is Peter Mann, author of The Torqued Man. “A damn good read.”—Alan Furst...
Today’s author interview guest is Brad Taylor who stops by to talk all about the new Pike...
On today’s show, I welcome Allison Brennan back to the show to talk about her new book...
Today’s author interview guest is Lucy Score, author of Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet....
Today I am happy to welcome back friend of the show Jeffery Deaver to talk about his...
Welcome to Episode 1200 of Author Stories! These last eight years have been fantastic for us and...
Today’s author interview guest is the one and only Patricia Cornwell who drops by to talk about...
Today’s author interview guest is Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Do I Know You? “A fabulous read packed...
Today’s author interview guest is Flora Collins, author of Nanny Dearest. “A well-crafted debut…horrifying…. Psychological thrillers fans...
Today’s author interview guest is Dirk Cussler, who drops by the show to talk about his brand...
On today’s show, Nicola Cornick stops by to talk about her new book The Last Daughter of...
Today’s author interview guest is Mackenzi Lee, author of The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks (Montague...
Today’s author interview guest is Sophie Cousens, author of Just Haven’t Met You Yet. From the New York...
Today’s author interview guest is Meredith Jaeger, author of The Pilot’s Daughter. The glitzy days of 1920s...
Today I am happy to welcome Kimmery Martin back to the show to chat about Doctors and...
Today’s author interview guest is Paul Bradley Carr, author of 1414º. The billionaire predators of Silicon Valley...
On this special edition of Author Stories I welcome Evan Gow, founder of StoryOrigin. StoryOrigin is a...
Today’s author interview guest is Ivan Maisel, author of I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye: A...
Today I am excited to welcome back Scott Carson to talk about his new book Where They...
Today’s author interview guest is Wanda M. Morris, author of All Her Little Secrets. “All Her Little...
In today’s episode I welcome Sara Gay Forden to talk all about The House Of Gucci. SOON...
Happy Halloween! Come celebrate with us as I welcome Richard Gleaves back to the show to talk...
Today’s author interview guest is Suzanne Feldman, author of Sisters Of The Great War. Inspired by real...
Today I am excited to welcome Lee Child and his co-author brother Andrew Child to talk about...
Today Otto Penzler drops back by the show to talk about his newest book The Big Book...
Today’s author interview guest is Samantha Verant, author of Sophie Valroux’s Paris Stars. In this delectable novel,...
On today’s show, Gabriella Saab joins me to talk about her new book The Last Checkmate. Readers...
Today’s author interview guest is Tara Laskowski, author of The Mother Next Door: A Novel of Suspense....
On today’s show we welcome Gregory Maguire to chat about his return to the enchanted land of...
Today’s author interview guest is Jamie Beck, author of The Happy Accidents. Three women wake up to...
Today’s author interview guest is Matthew Pearl, author of The Taking Of Jemima Boone. “A rousing tale...
Today’s author interview guest is Susanna Kearsley, author of The Vanished Days. “I’ve loved every one of...
Today’s author interview guest is lisa Unger, author of Last Girl Ghosted. “You won’t be able to...
Today’s author interview guest is Georgina Cross, author of Nanny Needed. A young woman takes a job...
Today’s author interview guest is Amber Garza, author of Where I Left Her. “In this high-tension domestic...
On today’s show, Wendy Holden returns to talk about her new book The Duchess. It was a...
Today’s author interview guest is Lecia Cornwall, author of The Woman at the Front. A daring young...
Today’s author interview guest is Jean Meltzer, author of The Matzah Ball. A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK SELECTED...
Today’s author interview guest is Lucy Adlington, author of The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of...
On today’s show, author Robert Dugoni returns to the show to talk all about his new book...
Today’s author interview guest is Tabitha Forney, author of Paper Airplanes. It’s the end of summer, 2001....
Today’s author interview guest is Kerry Anne King, author of Other People’s Things. From the Amazon Charts...
Today’s author interview guest is Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the new book A Terrible Fall of...
Today we have a “best of” episode of Author Stories. As we work back to normal after...
Today’s author interview guest is Vince Passaro, author of Crazy Sorrow. A lyrical novel, spanning four decades...
Today’s author interview guest is Johanna Mo, author of The Night Singer. The scars from a family...
Today’s author interview guest is Vera Kurian, author of Never Saw Me Coming. “Fresh, fast-paced and fiendishly...
Today’s author interview guest is Robyn Lucas, author of Paper Doll Lina. One rip is all it...
Today’s author interview guest is Leora Krygier, author of Do Not Disclose: A Memoir Of Family Secrets...
Today’s author interview guest is Lexie Elliott, author of How to Kill Your Best Friend. If you...
Today’s author interview guest is Nicola Harrison, author of The Show Girl. Nicola Harrison’s The Show Girl gives a...
Today’s author interview guest is Scott Shepherd, author of The Last Commandment. A Scotland Yard detective tracks...
Today’s author interview guest is Claire Douglas, author of Then She Vanishes. “Then She Vanishes lifts the stone...
Today’s author interview guest is Nickolas Butler, author of Godspeed. In this riveting new novel by the...
Today’s author interview guest is Jeffrey Kluger, author of Holdout. When evil forces are going unchecked on...
Today’s author interview guest is Taylor Moore, author of Down Range. “A riveting thriller with a family...
Today’s author interview guest is Suzanne Park, author of So We Meet Again. “A cinematic, charming heart-squeeze-of-a-book...
Today’s author interview guest is Lindsay Cameron, author of Just One Look. A young woman’s escalating obsession...
Today Brad Parks,one of my favorite authors, returns to the show to talk about his brand new...
Today I am excited to welcome back friend of the show Glen Erik Hamilton to talk about...
Today Sara Ackerman returns to the show to talk about her new historical novel Radar Girls. “A...
Today’s author interview guest is Samantha Downing, author of For Your Own Good. SOON TO BE A...
Her Last BreathToday’s author interview guest is Hilary Davidson, author of Her Last Breath. From the bestselling...
Karin Slaughter returns to the show today to talk about her latest thriller False Witness. “It’s Slaughter’s...
Today’s author interview guest is Vanessa Riley, author of Island Queen. “Riveting and transformative, evocative and immersive…by...
Today’s author interview guest is Karin Tanabe, author of A Woman of Intelligence. “Captivating.” ––The Washington Post...
Today I am excited to welcome fellow Mississippian Michael Farris Smith to the show to talk about...
Today’s author interview guest is Connor Sullivan, author of Sleeping Bear. “Sleeping Bear is one of the...
Today’s author interview guest is Katie Crouch, author of Embassy Wife. “A smart, sparkling novel that is...
Today’s author interview guest is Kristin Contino, author of A House Full of Windsor. Spanning from 1980s...
Today’s author interview guest is Jessica Chiarella, author of The Lost Girls. When her true-crime podcast becomes...
Today’s author interview guest is Serena Valentino, author of Cold Hearted. This was supposed to be her...
Today’s author interview guest is Christina Baker Kline, author of The Exiles. AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER OPTIONED...
On today’s show, Matthew Farrell returns to talk about his new book Tell Me the Truth (Adler...
Today’s author interview guest is Catherine Raven, author of Fox & I. New York Times Book Review...
Today I am excited to welcome back two of my favorite authors, Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine,...
Today’s author interview guest is Matt Dunn, author of Pug Actually. POPSUGAR’S BEST BOOKS OF JUNE PARADE’S...
Today’s author interview guest is Emilie Richards, author of The House Guests. “A compelling page-turner one won’t want...
Today’s author interview guest is Emma Brodie, author of Songs in Ursa Major. A Bustle Must-Read Book • A transporting love...
Today’s author interview guest is Caitlin Wahrer, author of The Damage. “[One of the] buzziest new books...
Today’s author interview guest is Laura Lippman, author of Dream Girl. “My dream novel. I devoured this...
Today’s author interview guest is Kelly Rimmer, author of The Warsaw Orphan. Instant New York Times bestseller! Inspired by...
Taylor Adams returns to the show today to talk about his new book Hairpin Bridge. From the...
Today’s author interview guest is Jesse Thistle, author of From the Ashes: My Story of Being Indigenous,...
Today’s author interview guest is Don Bentley, author of Tom Clancy Target Acquired (A Jack Ryan Jr....
Today’s author interview guest is Jill Shalvis, author of Love for Beginners. What would you change if...
Today’s author interview guest is Ava Reid, author of The Wolf and the Woodsman. In the vein...
Today’s author interview guest is Marianne Cronin, author of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot....
Today’s author interview guest is Kate Bromley, author of Talk Bookish to Me. Inspiration can come from...
Today I am happy to welcome back Hannah Mary McKinnon to talk about her new novel You...
Today’s author interview guest is May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives. “[A] sharply observed thriller.”—Pop Sugar...
Elyssa Friedland drops by today to talk about her new book Last Summer At The Golden Hotel....
Today’s author interview guest is Lara Bazelon, author of A Good Mother. “A high-stakes legal thriller packed...
On today’s show, Jeffery Deaver returns to talk about his newest Colter Shaw thriller The Final Twist....
Today’s author interview guest is Lissa Evans, author of V for Victory. In this witty, charming follow-up...
On today’s show, I am joined by Jeff Arch, author of Sleepless in Seattle and the new...
It’s episode 1100 and today I welcome Mhairi McFarlane to the show to talk about her new...
Today’s author interview guest is Julie Metz, author of Eva and Eve: A Search for My Mother’s...
On today’s show, Mark Sullivan returns to talk about his new book The Last Green Valley. “Mark...
Today’s author interview guest is Kaira Rouda, author of The Next Wife. There is no limit to...
Today my good friends Sean French and Nicci Gerard, who write collectively as Nicci French, return to...
Today’s author interview guest is Leslie Cohen, author of My Ride or Die. A timely and hilarious...
Today’s author interview guest is Bryan Christy, author of In the Company of Killers. In this intricate...
Today’s author interview guest is Amy Reichert, author of The Kindred Spirits Supper Club. “A charming rom-com...
Flynn Berry returns to Author Stories today to talk about her new book Northern Spy. INSTANT NEW YORK...
Today’s author interview guest is Barbara Linn Probst, author of The Sound Between The Notes. The highly...
My author interview guest today is Alison Hammer. Alison returns to the show to talk about her...
Today’s author interview guest is Wendy Francis, author of Summertime Guests. As featured in Bustle‘s “Best New Books...
Today I am happy to welcome back Joshilyn Jackson to talk about her new book Mother May...
Today’s author interview guest is Patry Francis, author of All the Children Are Home. A sweeping saga...
Today’s author interview guest is Brenda Novak, author of The Bookstore On The Beach. “A page-turner with...
Today’s author interview guest is Leslie A. Rasmussen, author of After Happily Ever After. Maggie Dolin is...
Today’s author interview guest is Kris Clink, author of Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy. Lark’s lost her husband, and...
Today’s author interview guest is Adele Parks, author of Just My Luck. Over four million Adele Parks...
Today’s author interview guest is Judy Batalion, author of The Light of Days: The Untold Story of...
Today my author interview guest is Jane Healey, author of The Secret Stealers. A female American spy...
Today’s author interview guest is RaeAnne Thayne, author of The Path to Sunshine Cove. With the emotional...
Today’s author interview guest is Peter Swanson, author of Every Vow You Break. A bride’s dream honeymoon...
On today’s episode Kate Quinn returns to talk about her new book The Rose Code. “The reigning...
Today Peter Robinson returns to the show to talk about his newest DCI Banks book Not Dark...
Today’s author interview guest is Laurence Bergreen, author of In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth...
Today’s author interview guest is Nadine Matheson, author of The Jigsaw Man: A Novel (An Inspector Anjelica...
Today’s author interview guest is Dr. Gabby Wild, author of Wild Vet Adventures: Saving Animals Around the...
Tracy Wolff, author of the wildly popular Crave series returns to the show with her new release...
Our friend J. T. Ellison returns to the show today to talk all about writing thrillers and...
Today’s author interview guest is Patti Callahan, author of Surviving Savannah. It was called “The Titanic of the South.”...
Today’s author interview guest is Jess Montgomery, author of The Stills: A Novel (The Kinship Series Book...
Today’s author interview guest is Carol Edgarian, author of VERA. New York Times bestselling author Carol Edgarian delivers an...
Today’s author interview guest is Tammy Euliano, author of Fatal Intent. End-of-life care—or assisted death When her...
Today’s guest is Marcia Butler who returns to the show to talk about her new book Oslo,...
Today’s author interview guest is Marie Bostwick, author of The Restoration of Celia Fairchild. Evvie Drake Starts...
Today’s author interview guest is Julia Fine, author of The Upstairs House. A Good Morning America Book of the...
J. A. Jance returns to the show today to talk about her new Joanna Brady novel Missing...
Today’s author interview guest is Serena Burdick, author of Find Me in Havana. From the best-selling author...
Today’s author interview guest is Sarah Pearse, author of The Sanatorium. REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK “An eerie,...
On today’s show author Will Dean stops by to talk about his upcoming release The Last Thing...
Today’s author interview guest is Madeleine Henry, author of The Love Proof. “Fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife will be...
On today’s show, writing duo Rucker Moses (Craig S. Phillips and Harold Hayes Jr.) join me to...
Today’s author interview guest is Christina McDonald, author of Do No Harm. From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Behind...
Today Michael Ledwidge returns to talk about his new book Run For Cover. “I’ve said this before,...
Today’s author interview guest is Alison Wisdom, author of We Can Only Save Ourselves. “Alison Wisdom’s addictive,...
Today’s author interview guest is Maria E. Andreu, author of Love In English. A fresh, breakout YA...
Today’s author interview guest is Janet Stilson, author of The Juice. When charisma is a superpower, it’s...
Today’s author interview guest is Beverly Jenkins, the nation’s premier writer of African American historical romance fiction...
Today’s author interview guest is Lauren Fox, author of Send for Me. An achingly beautiful work of...
Today’s author interview guest is Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors. Named by Goodreads as One of the Most...
Today’s author interview guest is Paul Vidich, author of The Mercenary. From acclaimed spy novelist Paul Vidich...
Today’s author interview guest is Jenny Lecoat, author of The Girl from the Channel Islands: A WWII...
Today’s author interview guest is Larry Brill, author of The Printer and The Strumpet (The Misadventures of...
Today’s author interview guest is Gillian Harvey, author of Everything Is Fine. Jessica Bradley has it all:...
Today’s author interview guest is Eliza Jane Brazier, author of If I Disappear. “Blending the true crime...
Today’s author interview guest is Natalie Haynes, author of A Thousand Ships. “With her trademark passion, wit,...
Today our author interview guest is Sophie Hannah. Sophie stops back by the show today to talk...
Today’s author interview guest is Reyna Marder Gentin, author of My Name Is Layla. “Layla’s struggles at...
Today’s author interview guest is Cecilia Ekback, author of The Historians. “The Historians blends a fascinating historical intrigue...
Today’s author interview guest is Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box and A House at the Bottom...
Today’s podcast interview guest is Nola Nash, author of Crescent City Sin: Crescent City Series Book 2....
Nick Petrie returns to the show today to talk about his new book The Breaker, the latest...
Today’s author interview guest is Fiona King Foster, author of The Captive. A rural noir about a...
Today’s author interview guest is John Burley, author of Surrender the Dead. “John Burley is a fearless...
Today’s author interview guest is Faye Kellerman, author of Lost Boys: Book 26 in the Decker/Lazarus Novel...
Today’s author interview guest is Alexandra Bracken, author of LORE. From the #1 New York Times best-selling...
Chris Hauty returns today to talk about his new book Savage Road. Hayley Chill descends even deeper...
James Grippando drops by the show today to talk about his new Jack Swyteck thriller Twenty. Jack...
Jennifer Robson returns to the show today to talk all about her new book Our Darkest Night....
Brad Taylor joins me again today to talk about his new Pike Logan Thriller American Traitor. “Few...
Today’s author interview guest is Stacy Wise, author of Lie, Lie Again. For three women with so...
Today’s author interview guest is Tara Moss, author of The War Widow. The war may be officially...
Today’s author interview guest is Judithe Little, author of The Chanel Sisters. A novel of survival, love,...
Today’s author interview guest is T. A. Willberg, author of Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder. “This...
Today we bring you another best of from our archives with a fantastic interview with Margaret Weis...
Today we have a best of classic episode with Nicci French talking about their book The Lying...
Today’s author interview guest is Courtney Evan Tate, author of The Last to See Her. An Amazon Best Book...
On today’s show writing duo Lars Kepler returns with their latest thriller Lazarus. “One of the best...
Today’s author interview guest is Jean Kwok, author of Searching for Sylvie Lee. An Instant New York Times Bestseller!...
Today’s author interview guest is Joy Jordan-Lake, author of Under a Gilded Moon. “Crawdads meets the Crawleys…Threaded through...
Today’s author interview guest is Evie Green, author of We Hear Voices. An eerie horror debut about...
Today’s author interview guest is Walter Jon Williams, author of Fleet Elements (Praxis Book 2). “Space opera...
Today’s author interview guest is Leslie Brody, author of Sometimes You Have To Lie. In this inspiring...
On today’s show Jeff Lindsay returns to chat about his new heist thriller Fool Me Twice, and...
Today Melissa de la Cruz joins me to talk about her new series The Chronicles of Never...
Today’s author interview guest is Jerome Preisler, author of Net Force: Attack Protocol. The cutting-edge Net Force...
Today’s author interview guest is A. R. Torre, author of Every Last Secret. Welcome to the neighborhood....
Today’s author interview guest is Halley Sutton, author of The Lady Upstairs. A modern-day noir featuring a...
On today’s episode of Author Stories Bernard Cornwell drops by to talk about the finale of the...
Happy Thanksgiving week! One of the authors we are most thankful for is friend of the show...
Today’s author interview guest is Otto Penzler, editor of The Big Book Of Espionage. Edgar Award-winning editor...
Today’s author interview guest is Rebecca Warner, author of My Dad My Dog. When she moves her...
Today on Author Stories The original MindHunter John Douglas joins us to talk about his new book...
Today’s author interview guest is Michelle Adams, author of Little Wishes. “A story of love long postponed...
Today’s author interview guest is Karen Brooks, author of The Lady Brewer Of London. An unforgettable historical...
Today’s author interview guest is Kermit Pattison, author of Fossil Men. “A rip-roaring tale, Fossil Men is one of...
Thank you for helping us to reach this epic milestone of 1000 episodes! Today I welcome back...
Today’s author interview guest is Emily Schultz, author of Little Threats. Enter the Episode 1000 giveaway! Both...
Today’s author interview guest is Jenna Evans Welch, author of Love & Olives. From the New York Times bestselling...
On today’s show, author and publisher Steve Beaulieu of Aethon Books returns to talk about the state...
Today’s author interview guest is Daniel Carson aka Daniel Kenney who returns to the show to talk...
Today’s author interview guest is Alice Henderson, author of A Solitude Of Wolverines. The first book in...
Today’s author interview guest is Derek McFadden, author of What Death Taught Terrence. The kindle version is...
Today I welcome Richard Fox and Jonathan Brazee to the show to talk about their unique collaboration...
Today Christopher Paolini once again joins me on Author Stories. Christopher stops by to talk about his...
On today’s show, Cory Doctorow returns to talk about his new book Attack Surface. Cory Doctorow’s Attack Surface is...
Today’s author interview guest is Allison Brennan, author of Cold As Ice. In New York Times bestseller Allison Brennan’s Cold...
Today I am joined by two of my favorite authors, Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, the duo...
On today’s episode of Author Stories, we are joined again by Eoin Colfer as we talk all...
Today’s author interview guest is Lynn Mclaughlin, author of Jackson. Jackson’s battle to take control over his...
Today’s author interview guest is Simone St. James, author of The Sun Down Motel. AN INSTANT NEW YORK...
Today I am excited to bring you an interview with songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Michael Sweet of...
Today I am joined by Lou Diamond Phillips and Yvonne Phillips talking about the new book The...
Today’s author interview guest is Oliver Jeffers, author of What We’ll Build. “[Has] the offbeat, sweet style...
On today’s episode, Adam Leeb, product designer and mechanical engineer, joins me to talk about distraction free...
Today I am pleased to welcome Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series as well as...
Today’s author interview guest is Julie C. Dao, author of The Mirror: Broken Wish. Sixteen-year-old Elva has...
On today’s show Aimee Molloy returns to talk about her new book Goodnight Beautiful. A Most Anticipated...
Today’s author interview guest is Gabrielle Robinson, author of Api’s Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My...
Today’s author interview guest is Michael Cannell, author of A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise...
Today’s author interview guest is Sandie Jones, author of The Half Sister. From Sandie Jones, the New York...
Today’s author interview guest is Eileen Moskowitz-Palma who returns to talk about her new book The Popularity...
Today’s author interview guest is C. J. Tudor, author of The Other People. A gripping thriller about...
Today’s author interview guest is Richard Osman, author of The Thursday Murder Club. “A little beacon of...
On today’s show I welcome Elizabeth Elkins and Vanessa Olivarez of the group Granville Automatic to talk...
On today’s show Matt Haig returns to talk about his new book The Midnight Library. A GOOD...
Today’s author interview guest is Valerie Tripp, author of Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero....
Today one of my favorite authors returns to the show. James Rollins joins me today to talk...
Today’s author interview guest is Renee Nickell, author of the powerful memoir Always My Hero: The Road...
Today’s author interview guest is John Bishop. John returns to talk about his book Act of Revenge....
Today we have a great double-header of an episode. First we talk with Harry Wallett of Relay...
Today’s author interview guest is Gilly Macmillan, author of To Tell You the Truth. “A spellbinding book...
On today’s show Smith Henderson & Jon Marc Smith join me to talk about their new book...
Today’s author interview guest is Claire McHugh, author of A Most English Princess: A Novel of Queen...
Today’s author interview guests are Lan Cao and Harlan Margaret Van Cao, authors of Family in Six...
Today’s author interview guest is Bruce Van Dusen, author of 60 Stories About 30 Seconds: How I...
On today’s show, Kyle Mills returns once more to talk about the newest Mitch Rapp book Total...
Sophie Hannah returns to the show today with The Killings at Kingfisher Hill: The New Hercule Poirot...
Today’s author interview guest is Signe Pike, author of The Forgotten Kingdom: A Novel (The Lost Queen...
Today’s author interview guest is Vanessa Lillie, author of For the Best. Suspected of a murder she...
Today’s guest is Robert Bathurst, actor and audiobook narrator of All the Devils Are Here: A Novel:...
Today’s author interview guest is Polly Crosby, author of The Book of Hidden Wonders. A charming, deeply...
Today’s author interview guest is J. C. Cervantes, author of Shadow Crosser, The (Volume 3) (Storm Runner)....
Today’s author interview guest is Laura Morelli, author of The Night Portrait: A Novel of World War...
Today’s author interview guest is Alexandra Joel, author of The Paris Model. A lush debut novel in...
Today I am joined by Brad Parks to talk about his phenomenal new book Interference. “Readers will...
Today’s author interview guest is Wendy Holden, author of The Royal Governess: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth...
Today’s author interview guest is T. J. Wall, author of FAILSAFE. Local boy Puck ran away from...
Today’s author interview guest is Bryn Turnbull, author of The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel of Windsors,...
Today’s author interview guest is Jacqueline Friedland, author of That’s Not A Thing. Meredith Altman’s engagement to...
Today’s author interview guest is Sandra Brown, author of seventy-one New York Times bestsellers, and the new book...
Today’s Author Stories Podcast features Martha Hunt Handler, author of Winter of the Wolf. A tragic mystery...
Today’s author interview guest is Liza Nash Taylor, author of Etiquette for Runaways. A sweeping Jazz Age...
Today I am joined by Gill Paul again to talk about her new historical fiction novel Jackie...
Today’s author interview guest is Pamela Crane, author of Little Deadly Secrets. A Karin Slaughter Killer Reads...
T. Jefferson Parker returns to the show today with his new release Then She Vanished. What if...
Today’s author interview guest is Karin Slaughter, author of the new release The Silent Wife. “If you’re...
On today’s show Hank Phillippi Ryan drops back by the show to talk about her new book...
Today’s author interview guests are Elizabeth Keenan and Greg Wands, who write collectively as E. G. Scott,...
On today’s show, Allison Winn Scotch stops back by to talk about her new book Cleo McDougal...
Friend of the show Fiona Davis has a brand new book titled The Lions of Fifth Avenue...
Today’s author interview guest is Erica Katz, author of The Boys’ Club. Sweetbitter meets The Firm in this buzzy, page-turning...
Today’s author interview guest is Poppy Gee, author of Vanishing Falls. One of CrimeReads Most Anticipated Books...
My guest today is Brian Freeman who returns to the show to talk about Robert Ludlum’s The...
Today’s author interview guest is Jake Brown, author of Behind the Boards: Nashville: The Studio Stories Behind...
Today’s author interview guest is Seraphina Nova Glass, author of Someone’s Listening. She wrote the book on...
On today’s show, New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore returns to talk about Drizzt’s latest...
Today’s author interview guest is Ellen Marie Wiseman, author of The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of...
Today’s author interview guest is Amy Poeppel, author of Musical Chairs. “Poeppel has created a story that...
Today’s guest is Brad Thor, returning to the show for a wide ranging chat including his new...
Today’s author interview guests are mother and daughter team P. C. and Kristin Cast, authors of Found...
Today’s author interview guest is Shawn Cosby, author of Blacktop Wasteland. A husband, a father, a son,...
On today’s show, Ace Atkins returns to Author Stories to talk about his new release The Revelators...
Today’s author interview guest is Glen Erik Hamilton, longtime friend of the show who returns with his...
Authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke return to Author Stories today to talk about their new book...
Today’s author interview guest is R. L. Maizes, author of Other People’s Pets. R.L. Maizes’s Other People’s Pets examines...
Today’s author interview guest is Tom Abrahams, author of The Bar at the End of the World...
Today’s author interview guest is Kit Frick, author of I Killed Zoe Spanos. “The YA thriller of the...
Today’s author interview guest is Catherine McKenzie, author of You Can’t Catch Me. When the game is...
Today’s author interview guest is A. G. Riddle, author of the The Long Winter Trilogy. From Book...
Today’s author interview guest is Riley Sager, author of Home Before Dark. In the latest thriller from New...
Today’s author interview guest is Sara Paretsky, author of Love & Other Crimes: Stories. “Sara Paretsky is...
Today’s author interview guest is David Bell, who returns with The Request. When a man agrees to...