Contemporary Fiction Episodes

In this interview, Elyssa and I discuss The Most Likely Club, her inspiration for this book, incorporating 90s nostalgia, how she tackled drafting four distinct women, the highlight of writing this book, which character she identifies with the most, and much more.

In this interview, Angie and I discuss How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, how humor can help a difficult situation, the importance of storytelling, how she decided on the book's unique format, visiting a psychic as part of her research, and much more.

In this interview, Chris and I discuss A Gracious Neighbor, the short story that inspired her novel, how we never really know what goes on behind closed doors, why she created her own definition of gracious for the book, her writing process, mean girls and how some never grow out of that phase, and much more.

In this interview, Leigh and I discuss Nobody gets Out Alive, her focus in these short stories on the real Alaska, the isolation and loneliness experienced when living some place so remote, baring her soul in this collection, her personal connection to the title, and much more.

In this interview, Carley and I discuss Every Summer After, setting a book in Canada, choosing Barry's Bay as the book's locale and the response by residents, what surprised her the most writing this book, tackling her sophomore novel, why this book is resonating with so many people, and much more.

In this interview, Jamie and I discuss Gilt, the way guilt permeates the story, the inspiration for this book and for Pavlin and Company, the hardest character for her to write, the relevance of the green cover, how book covers mark a particular moment in time, and much more.

In this interview, Jane and I discuss A Shoe Story, her writing process, choosing the shoes for each chapter of this novel, how her book was selected by Elin Hilderbrand for her July Literati Book Club selection, getting thrown out of an Upper East Side Mom's group, looking forward versus focusing on the past, leaning into the shoe angle for marketing this book, and much more.

In this interview, Eleanor and I discuss Any Other Family, writing a book centered around adoption and the issues the process raises, crafting character-driven stories focused on why people act the way they do, using the Enneagram types to help flesh out characters, weaving humor into her novels, why she is not on social media, and much more.

In this interview, Margarita and I discuss Acts of Violet, melding her love of stories about unresolved disappearances and those set in the showbiz world, exploring why the world of magic is so male-dominated, writing in a multi-media format and helping design the interior of the book, how the title and cover came about, and much more.

In this interview, Alison, Bradeigh and I discuss The Beach Trap, how they came up with the name Ali Brady and why they chose to write under a pen name versus their own names, creating their own take on The Parent Trap, the way they approach writing together, their great cover, what's next for them, and much more.

In this interview, Annabel and I discuss Nora Goes Off Script, how Nora is resonating with so many readers, the great reception the book is getting on Bookstagram, how titles send signals to readers about a book's genre, the difference in writing YA and nonfiction verses adult fiction, and much more.

In this interview, Clare and I discuss Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting, the inspiration for the story and Iona, her fascination with intergenerational relationships, designing the plot around the train stops on the Waterloo/Hampton Court line, how both the cover and title are different for the U.S. and the U.K. editions, and much more.

In this interview, Marie and I discuss The Evening Hero, humanizing her main character, her trip to North Korea that rounded out details for the book, what surprised her the most when writing this book, the complicated process of finding a title,, and much more.

In this interview, Amy and I discuss The Honeybee Emeralds, the inspiration for the fictional necklace in the book, avoiding information dumps, the unique situation of living as an expat in a foreign country, her favorite and least favorite characters to write, and much more.

In this interview, Michelle and I discuss Search, her inspiration for the story, the format for telling the tale, the characters that were the easiest and hardest to write, how her cover came about, the way her characters developed as she wrote them, and much more.