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PODCAST

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If you’re an aspiring author and want insights into what’s involved in launching a book into the world, this is the podcast for you. Maggie Smith, author and blogger, interviews debut novelists from the Women’s Fiction Writers Association discussing not only the inspiration behind their book, but also their insights into the writing process, the best advice they ever got, and the joys and sometimes pitfalls they encountered on their path to publication.

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All Episodes

33:47

275: Beth Uznis Johnson- Author of Coming Clean

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2025/05/08

This week’s guest is Beth Uznis Johnson (Coming Clean, Regal House, January 2024). Beth turned her lifelong interest in what people’s belongings say about them into a novel centered on a cleaning lady at a crossroads and how one week with 5 different households helps her make life-altering decisions. We discuss the value of WFWA’s weekly virtual write-ins, how continuing education is a mantra for her, and how writing short stories at the same time she’s writing novels helps her not only flex her

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30:09

274: Kathryn Dodson - Author of Tequila Midnight

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2025/05/01

Our guest this week is Kathryn Dodson (Tequila Midnight, indie published, July 2023). We discuss how being a book coach gave her a leg up when she decided to publish on her own, the tricky parts to writing a series in terms of backstory, and the writing process she uses to produce 3 books a year. Hear about her decision to concentrate on building an online audience vs. personal appearances and her major piece of advice for beginning writers. Resources mentioned during this interview: Story Genius

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25:14

273: Raven West - Author of Vashti's Daughter

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2025/04/24

This week guest is Raven West (Vashti’s Daughter, indie published, July 2023). Before there was Esther in the Bible there was Vashti, whose story provided the impetus for Raven’s women’s fiction novel set in 366 AD. We discuss why sometimes it’s good when a book takes a long time to germinate, the difficulty in finding comps for certain novels, why she went the indie route, and the four best pieces of advice she has for authors just starting out. A seasoned guest on radio shows, podcasts, and

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34:34

272: Marie McCurdy- Author of The Wolf Queen

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2025/04/18

This week’s guest is Marie McCurdy (The Wolf Queen, indie published, November 2023). Marie’s novel, set in the Year 1 AD was five years in the making and involved a deep dive into historical records dating back to the height of the Roman Empire and its attempted invasion of the Germanic territories of Europe. We discuss the challenges of writing an historical women’s fiction about a female character where little is known, how she broke with her first publisher, and the all importance of the right

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34:42

271: Sheila Athens- Author of Neena Lee Is Seeing Things

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2025/04/10

Our podcast guest this week is Sheila Athens (Neena Lee Is Seeing Things, indie published, January 2024). Sheila and I discuss how her book started with a famous person and a setting near her home and grew from there, how she thinks storytelling differs from writing, and how the thing readers love best about her novel is the older protagonist. Hear why she opted to spend her money on a book coach rather than a developmental editor and how an upcoming anniversary was the final push she needed to

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39:49

270: Gayle Brown- Author of A Deadly Game

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2025/03/27

This week’s guest is Gayle Brown (A Deadly Game, Black Rose Writing, December 2023). We why you might want to consider hiring a book coach, how a TV show provided the spark for this suspense book, and how Gayle re-wrote her ending numerous times to make sure it hit the sweet spot between satisfying but also surprising. She gives us her take on publishing with the Big Five vs. a smaller press, the marketing efforts behind her successful launch, and how she’s planning to grow her new career as a

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32:28

269: Olivia Sparrow- Author of Secrets of the Sassafras

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2025/03/20

My guest this week is Olivia Sparrow (Secret of the Sassafras, indie published, October 2023). Olivia’s someone who dived into the writing world with the attitude of “I’ll figure it out” and has done just that, including initially penning a 175,000 word debut (a Beta Reader taught her about word count), turning to Google and the library for Query Tracker and agent contacts, using Fiverr and Reedsy to find book cover designers and editors, and teaching herself Vellum software to format her book. If

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30:55

268: Amy Hagstrom- Author of The Wild Between Us

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2025/03/13

My guest this week is Amy Hagstrom (The Wild Between Us, Lake Union Press, November 2023). If you’ve ever wondered whether to keep working on a manuscript or put it in a drawer, this episode will resonate with you. Amy’s debut was one that got rejected by over a hundred agents, but she kept revising this dual-timeline, dual POV story of lost kids in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and after landing an agent with another book that didn’t get picked up, this one found a home at the Amazon women’s

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37:19

267: Kerry F Freeman- Author of Sedona: A Novel

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2025/03/06

This week’s guest is Kerry F. Freeman (Sedona: A Novel, The Wild Rose Press, November 2023). Kerry’s book, a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz set in present-day Sedona, was written as an antidote to COVID-isolation and has proved a hit with book clubs as they chase down the Easter Eggs Kerry planted from the original source material, including who’s the lion, the tinman, and the scarecrow. We discuss how she started a feature on her website called Books and Bevies which led to a fan base even

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36:05

266: Karen Klink- Author of At What Cost, Silence?

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2025/02/27

Our guest this week is Karen Klink (At What Cost, Silence? She Writes Press, October 2023). Karen’s novel grew out of her desire to explore bi-sexuality but in an historical setting – in this case, pre-Civil War. We discuss how her writing journey began when she contributed to a fan-fiction internet site and subsequently received encouragement from a writing professor. Unable to find an agent and thus closed out of traditional publishing, she received a posthumous monetary gift from a lifelong

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34:04

265: K J Fieler- Author of Shadow Runner

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2025/02/20

Our guest this week is KJ Fieler (Shadow Runner, Black Rose Press, June 2023). Fieler set out to write a short story for an anthology but soon found her tale ballooning past the standard word count, eventually becoming a 3-book series. We discuss where this epic trilogy belongs on the shelf—it straddles historical fantasy, women’s fiction, Victorian adventure and Gaslamp (this last a truly niche genre similar to Steampunk, which focuses more on characters than plot). Learn about what it’s like to

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28:28

264: Janie Emaus- Author of The Advice Columnist

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2025/02/13

This week’s guest is Janie Emaus (The Advice Columnist, Bombay Circle Press, October 2023). The inspiration for Janie’s book was a flip on the “notes to your younger self” trope as she imagined it’s the older protagonist being given life lessons instead. Janie’s childhood dream to become a songwriter faded when she discovered she couldn’t carry a tune but she soon segued into telling stories, gaining a following with the boomer crowd with her humorous essays for AARP. After parting ways with a top

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39:10

263: Cheryl Walsh - Author of Unequal Temperament

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2025/02/06

This week’s guest is Cheryl Walsh (Unequal Temperament, American Buffalo Books, September 2023). We discuss her writing process, which entails months of thinking and writing about what she wants to write about before she starts, and how the concept of unequal temperament in baroque music became the central metaphor for her main character’s situation as well as providing her unique title. Our wide-ranging talk pinged between her research into meteorology and opera to harpsichords, community

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28:53

262: Ann Marie Jackson - Author of The Broken...

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2025/01/30

Our guest this week is Ann Marie Jackson (The Broken Hummingbird, She Writes Press, October 2023). After stints at the US State Department in Southeast Asia and China, Ann Marie and her family immigrated to San Miguel de Allende, a thriving ex-pat town in central Mexico which also became the setting for her debut. Ann Marie has been active in non-profit organizations in the area, first building homes and then co-founding a micro-lending organization and how that desire to give back to her adopted

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33:14

Deborah_King_Podcast_261_January_2025.mp3

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2025/01/16

This week’s guest is Deborah King (Glory Bishop, Red Adept Publishing, June 2019). A prompt in a writing class set the stage for what became Deborah’s trilogy of The Bishop Women, two books that follow the named character and eventually a prequel which narrates the tale of her mother. Hear Deborah describe her creative process, including the voices that “speak” to her, her experience querying a 130,000 word debut novel, and how writing a chapter a week for Vella brought its own unique share of

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40:14

260: Lynne Golodner - Author of Woman of Valor

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2025/01/02

Our guest this week is Lynne Golodner (Woman of Valor, Scotia Road Books, September 2023). Once Lynne decided to stop writing fiction “on the side” and make it her focus, she leaped in with both feet, moving from a pure pantser to a more hybrid plotter, and solidifying her author brand as “creating compelling Jewish characters” which also drives her marketing focus. We discuss how this niche informed her decision to forego traditional publishing and opt instead to form her own publishing company,

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29:58

259: Delise Torres - Author of One Tough Cookie

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2024/12/19

This week’s guest is Delise Torres (One Tough Cookie, Alcove Press, July 2023). Described as a Latina Fleabag, Delise’s novel is both a women’s fiction and a romance and she purposely made choices in both character and venue to make it more appealing in the marketplace before she queried. We discuss the revisions both her agent and later her publisher asked for, the challenges of marketing a book when you live overseas, and how Delise benefitted from several programs WFWA offered including critique

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34:50

Kristin_Kisska_Podcast_258_December_2024.mp3

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2024/12/12

Our guest this week is Kristin Kisska (The Hint of Light, Lake Union Publishing, August 2023). Listen to hear how two revisions at the tail end of the publishing process unlocked deeper meanings in her novel, how the grief in the story had to be toned down, and the thought-provoking question Kristin uses at book clubs to promote discussion. We discuss the pluses and minuses of publishing with an Amazon imprint and how placing short stories in anthologies benefitted not only her networking efforts

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27:08

257: Jude Hopkins - Author of Babe in the Woods

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2024/12/03

This week’s guest is Jude Hopkins (Babe in the Woods, The Wild Rose Press, June 2023). We discuss how women often make poor life decisions when it comes to relationships, how finding the right developmental editor led to rearranging her opening chapters which led to an offer and how challenging it is to market a debut novel. Then we segue into the phenomenon of people “wanting” to write a book but letting life get in the way and the messages Jude uses to avoid that kind of procrastination in her

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39:22

256: Nigar Alam - Author of Under The Tamarind Tree

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2024/11/21

Our guest this week is Nigar Alam (Under The Tamarind Tree, G.P.Putnam & Sons, August 2023). We discuss the ten years she spent educating herself about writing before finding her agent in an unusual way (it involved Twitter). Hear how her first conversation with her editor took place while Nigar was stranded in Turkey during a snowstorm, and how writing a book set in Pakistan had the serendipitous effect of bringing her closer to her parents. If your dream is to sign with a Big Five publishing

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300 results

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