Meet the LITERARY LOOKBOOK, a comprehensive but not exhaustive collection of 182 upcoming 2024 releases curated by Kelly Hooker and me. The Lookbook includes titles from January-May 2024 from a variety of genres and features cover designs organized by publication date. Buy it here: Literary Lookbook

Contemporary Fiction Episodes

July 25, 2022

Interview with Jamie Brenner - GILT

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 …

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July 18, 2022

Interview with Jane Rosen - A SHOE STORY

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 …

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July 12, 2022

Interview with Eleanor Brown - ANY OTHER FAMILY

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 …

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July 5, 2022

Interview with Margarita Montimore - ACTS OF VIOLET

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 …

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June 14, 2022

Interview with Ali Brady - THE BEACH TRAP

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 …

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June 10, 2022

Interview with Annabel Monaghan - NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT

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 …

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June 8, 2022

Interview with Clare Pooley - IONA IVERSON'S RULES FOR COMMUTING

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 …

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May 31, 2022

Interview with Marie Myung-Ok Lee - THE EVENING HERO

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 …

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May 29, 2022

Interview with Amy Tector - THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS

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 …

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April 25, 2022

Interview with Michelle Huneven - SEARCH

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 …

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April 19, 2022

Interview with Christine Simon - THE PATRON SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES

In this interview, Christine and I discuss The Patron Saint of Second Chances, her inspiration for this story, when she knew she wanted to be a writer, her unusual publishing journey, creating a tremendous sense of community in her book …

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April 15, 2022

Interview with Ashley Winstead - FOOL ME ONCE

Ashley and I discuss Fool Me Once, how second-chance romance is her favorite trope, writing books in several genres, her fabulous cover, setting a book in the world of politics, weaving pop culture and humor into this novel, rom-com character …

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March 29, 2022

Kathleen West - HOME OR AWAY

For this special episode, Carol Ann Tack of Top Shelf at Merrick Library and I interview Kathleen West together. We talk about her new book Home or Away, the intensity of youth sports, the book's title, writing about #metoo, and …

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March 24, 2022

Interview with Rosie Walsh - THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Rosie and I discuss The Love of My Life, having her book selected as a GMA Book Club pick, the obituary writing business, the tortuous process she went through when writing this book, how book covers are selected and the …

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March 4, 2022

Rebecca Serle - ONE ITALIAN SUMMER

Rebecca and I discuss One Italian Summer, exploring the dialogue between fate and free will, including a bit of magical realism in her stories, how the inspiration for her stories comes from what she is personally working through at the …

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