Shows / Hear us Roar
Hear us Roar
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.
Episodes
Hear us Roar45: Barbara Linn Probst: Author of Queen of the Owls
Hear how Barbara came up with the idea to frame her story of Elizabeth, wife, mother, and Ph.D. candidate desperate to find her true self, around the life of…
Hear us Roar44: Joanne Easley- Author of Sweet Jane
Learn why Joanne decided to use dual timelines to tell her story, how critique groups have proved invaluable to her throughout her career, and how she wrote…
Hear us Roar43: Linda Rosen- Author of The Disharmony of Silence
Linda talks about her experiences working with a small press, her quirky habit of "collecting" bookstores, and how one chance remark on a beach sparked the…
Hear us Roar42: Michelle Davis- Author of Learning to Bend
Hear how two Amys (Impellizzeri and Nathan) inspired her to begin writing, how her weekly blog frees up her creative juices, and the story behind her book…
Hear us Roar41: Kimmery Martin- Author of The Queen of Hearts
A practicing cardiologist when she wrote this first novel, Kimmery went through 100 rejections before landing a top agent and then once her book sold, was…
Hear us Roar40: Sarah Robinson- Author of Every Last Drop
Sarah is a prolific writer of romance novels (22 books and counting) but this is her first work in the women's fiction genre. Find out what inspired her story…
Hear us Roar39: Jennifer Gold- Author of The Ingredients of Us
Listen to find out why Jennifer is using a pen name for her women's fiction, how she found her agent through very unconventional means, and how she thinks it's…
Hear us Roar39: Sarah Jones- Author of Summer Squall
Sarah grew up in the south, a fan of writers like Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor. Her novel began as a short story based on a Hemingway vignette and that…
Hear us Roar38: Lorelei Brush- Author of Uncovering
Lorelei spent two years in Pakistan as part of a US funded project to train local teachers (even receiving a death threat from the Taliban), then turned her…
Hear us Roar37: Ellen LaCorte- Author of The Perfect Fraud
After a successful career in higher-education administration, Ellen moved to writing. Her first two novels, both of which caught the attention of agents…
Hear us Roar36: Leanne Treese- Author of The Language of Divorce
An ex-lawyer who specialized in divorce cases, Leanne took her years of knowledge and turned it into a novel, (write what you know, right?) complete with…
Hear us Roar35: Kathleen Barber- Author of Truth Be Told
Kathleen's novel (first released as Are You Sleeping) grew out of her fascination with the true-crime podcast Serial which she juxtaposed with a NaNoWiMo story…
Hear us Roar34: Judy Kundert- Author of Sky Queen
Judy Kundert, a recipient of the Marquis Who's Who Excellence in Authorship award, loves storytelling, from folk and fairy tales to classics for elementary…
Hear us Roar33: Leslie Rollins- Author of Good-Time Girl
Leslie's definitely a pantser ("I let my character do the driving") and had an epiphany a year ago – chasing agents and publishers wasn't working for her…
Hear us Roar32: Marlene Adelstein- Author of Sophie Last Seen
Marlene is a big believer in plotting and also works as a developmental editor, so she has lots of great tips for how beginning writers can improve their…
Hear us Roar31: Jess Woods- Author of The Process of Fraying
Here how Jess' great-grandmother's struggles in the late 1930's were the springboard for her first novel which follows a farm wife and mother of a large family…
Hear us Roar30: Kimberly Lynne- Author of A Pocket Watch, Spray Paint & Morphine
Kimberly Lynne writes speculative women's fiction that explores the inexplicable curiosities of being human. She writes from a sunny corner room in a…
Hear us Roar29: Amber Cowie- Author of Rapid Falls
Amber describes how, for her, writing feels like the kids' game Choose Your Own Adventure, how she got signed with Lake Union even without an agent, and what…
Hear us Roar28: Kaela Coble- Author of Friends & Other Liars
Listen to our interview with Kaela Coble and learn about the differences in sales outlets in the UK versus the US, what to consider when writing characters…
Hear us Roar27: Suanne Schafer- Author of A Different Kind of Fire
Suanne's debut novel explores the life of a nineteenth century artist who escapes, then returns to West Texas. Hear about her life-long love affair with…
Hear us Roar26: Leah Decesare- Author of Forks, Knives and Spoons
Listen to how early on Leah struggled to find the magic formula for writing, how a chance encounter at Muse and the Marketplace switched her book's focus, and…
Hear us Roar25: Erin Bartels- Author of We Hope for Better Things
Hear Erin discuss her use of sensitivity readers, how important studying our country's history is to our understanding of current race relations, and why you…
Hear us Roar24: Romalyn Tilghman- Author of To the Stars with Difficulties
Romalyn's debut novel was inspired by the fifty-nine Carnegie libraries built in Kansas early in the twentieth century. Here about the research she accumulated…
Hear us Roar23: Jennifer Klepper- Author of Unbroken Threads
Jennifer describes how she did research for her novel about an American lawyer helping a Syrian woman who seeks asylum, how her best marketing pay-off has come…
Hear us Roar22: Leslie Schweitzer Miller- Author of Discovery
Listen to Leslie talk about writing in two different time-lines, the fascinating research she did about early Christianity in the south of France, her good…
Hear us Roar21: Sarahlyn Bruck- Author of Designer You
Give a listen and learn how a home remodeling project provided the idea for Sarahlyn's her debut novel, how doing improv has helped her writing, and how being…
Hear us Roar20: Heather Frimmer- Author Bedside Manners
Heather's first book, among other things, features a mother dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis, which played to her knowledge as a radiologist in real life…
Hear us Roar19: Reyna Gentin- Author of Unreasonable Doubts
Reyna worked for many years as an appellate attorney in New York and brings that knowledge to bear in a legal thriller/coming of age/romance story that follows…
Hear us Roar18: Megan Clancy- Author of A Burden of a Daughter
Megan's debut novel is set in Nepal, and features a mother who wants nothing more than to be accepted and loved and a daughter who longs for the freedom the…
Hear us Roar17: Ann Griffin- Author of Another Ocean to Cross
Ann talks about the extensive research she did for this WWII novel (including reading the seven volumes of Winston Churchill's series TWICE), how her best…
Hear us Roar16: Julie Maloney- Author of A Matter of Chance
Ever wonder what the term hybrid publishing means and whether it might be right for you? No, it's light years away from the old vanity presses but yes, it…
Hear us Roar15: Johanne Levesque- Author of Trouble & Strife
Johanne's debut novel takes place during The Great Depression in Canada. Here how she loves reading the classics because of the beautiful language, how a kind…
Hear us Roar14: Sally Crosiar- Author of Come Back
Sally shares how her non-fiction books led her to discover the joys of fiction , how a writing group prompt inspired this first novel, and her advice for…
Hear us Roar07: Irene Olson- Author of Requiem for the Status Quo
Irene talks about why she choose the novel format rather than writing a memoir, how the stigma of Alzheimer's disease compares to cancer, and how a horoscope…
Hear us Roar13: Rachel Dacus- Author of The Renaissance Club
Listen to Rachel discuss the life-changing trip to Italy that inspired this debut novel, the experiences that led her to finally publish through a small press…
Hear us Roar12: Denitta Ward- Author of Somewhere Still
Denitta describes how setting her first novel in Kansas City during the Roaring '20's was an historical goldmine, why she thinks you should write at least two…
Hear us Roar11: Elena Mikalsen- Author of Wrapped In the Stars
Elena talks about the challenges of writing in two historical periods, how her WFWA critique group helps her by being tough, and how she uses writing instead…
Hear us Roar10: Marianne Hansen- Author of The Unscripted Life of Lizzy Dillinger
Hear how humor writer Marianne Hansen had to overcome self-doubt before she could write her book, what made her decide to self-publish, the differences between…
Hear us Roar09: Eldonna Edwards- Author of This I Know
Eldonna tells us why she set her book in the 1960's, how she can still remember what it was like to be eleven, why she chose a children's Sunday school song…
Hear us Roar08: Carrie Mumford- Author of All But What's Left
Hear Carrie's story of how she utilized everything from InstaFreebies to Book Funnel to Book Bub to publicize her novel, how in her thirties she finally…
Hear us Roar06: Barbara Josselsohn- Author of The Last Dreamer
Barbara talks to us about coming to terms with how your life turned out, teen-age rock idols, and how to judge the quality of a mattress. Barbara's articles…
Hear us Roar05: Julie Clark- Author of The Ones We Choose
Julie, now a NYT's best-selling author for The Last Flight, talked to us right after the debut of her first novel about Pitch Wars, writing at 3:45 a.m. in the…
Hear us Roar04: Anna Quinn- Author of The Night Child
Anna Quinn is a writer, teacher, and the owner of The Writers' Workshoppe and Imprint Bookstore in Port Townsend, WA. She has thirty years of experience…
Hear us Roar03: Jennifer Irwin- Author of A Dress the Color of the Sky
A native New Yorker and captivating storyteller with a flair for embellishment, Jennifer Irwin currently resides in Los Angeles with two cats, a dog, and her…
Hear us Roar02: Lori Hendriksen- Author of The Winter Loon
Hear how Lori's debut novel was inspired by her mother's life. It is a LGBTQ-themed historical novel set in the 1930s and 40s about a young woman who struggles…
Hear us Roar01: Sweta Vikram- Author of Louisiana Catch
Sweta talks about her debut novel, a story of a grieving daughter and abuse survivor who must summon the courage to run a feminist conference, trust a man she…