Episodes

Jennifer and I discuss The Unsinkable Greta James, writing a love story about Greta and her music, exploring what it is like to live a creative life, the effects of living in such a connected and public world, how working in the publishing industry impacts her work, and much more.

Adele and I discuss The Tobacco Wives, the dangers the tobacco companies knowingly ignored and covered up, her stunning cover, the role marketing and advertising plays in shaping public perception, her favorite character to write in the book, and much more.

Brit and I discuss The Vanishing Half, why writing her sophomore novel was more difficult, what she loves to hear from her readers, balancing research and writing, her paperback release, and much more.

Lisa and I discuss Woman on Fire, the 2013 event that inspire this book, how the ownership of certain pieces of art is one of the only remaining issues left from World War 2, her favorite and least favorite characters to write, creating her Carpool Care-Aoki series on Instagram, the book's stunning…

Lyn and I discuss Red Thread of Fate, how this book is a more personal story for her, wanting to make sure she had the adoption details exactly right, the difficulty of writing a shy/reserved character, found families, and much more.

Deanna and I discuss The Impossible Imposter, the inspiration for Veronica and Stoker, crowdsourcing information about her previous books on her Twitter feed, how much fun it is to create this series, her beautiful covers and the Easter eggs hidden within them, and much more.

Kim and I discuss Love & Saffron, her personal inspiration for the book, drafting an epistolary novel, writing letters on a typewriter, capturing the way food brings people together, how working at a bookstore impacted her writing. and much more.

Elena and I discuss The Spanish Love Deception, her unusual and very cool publishing journey, winning the Goodreads Choice Best Debut Novel Award and what the selection process was like, her favorite romance trope, how being a romance blogger and bookstagrammer prepared her to write rom-coms, and m…

Bryn and I discuss The Last Grand Duchess, why she decided to focus on Olga's story, telling the family's personal story, how the Romanovs are the most documented family in history, why the Romanovs were ill-suited to rule of Russia, Olga's political astuteness, and much more.

Kristin and I discuss her role as a literary agent, tips for how to find a literary agent, the process for pitching a book to an agent, exclusive submissions and pre-empt deals, the step-by-step process for how a book gets sold, and much more.

Ruta and I discuss I Must Betray You, life in Romania under Nicolae Ceausescu, conveying what it was like to live under constant surveillance, the incident that kickstarted the book, using fiction to cumulate many people's stories, and much more.

Lizzie and I discuss Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?, her personal inspiration for this book, her belief that self love is the most important kind of love, creating an immersive story format, the television show that inspired her, the process for finding her book's title, and much more.

In this crossover episode, I join Diana and Michele on Wine, Women, and Words to chat podcasts, books and Diana's new book, Antoinette's Sister.

Fiona and I discuss The Magnolia Palace, choosing the Frick Collection for this book, why and how she created the scavenger hunt in the book, what surprised her most during her research, writing about Henry and Helen Frick, the magnolia connection, and much more.

Meriel and I discuss The Lost Cafe Schindler, trying to better understand her father by delving into his past, researching her family's history, the current Cafe Schindler and its place in history, and much more.

Bob and I chat about Nailing It, his desire to inspire and encourage the younger generations to see the many opportunities available to them, how hard it was to narrow it down to 25 people, the people he wished he could have included, and much more.

Mary and Pamela join me to discuss their recommended reads for January through April of 2022.

Kerri and I discuss The Paris Bookseller, writing about the iconic Shakespeare and Company. in Paris, the fabulous book club kit created for this book, Princeton's Shakespeare and Company Project, the magic of 1920's Paris, the 5 authors she would choose to host at her (imaginary) bookstore, her 5 …

Julia and I discuss The Last Dance of the Debutante, the last year Queen Elizabeth II received debutantes at court, how she enjoys focusing on time periods right before radical change, writing secondary characters, her Ask an Author series on Facebook, and much more.

In this episode, Elizabeth and I chat about some of our favorite books in the historical-fiction genre.

In this episode, Kelly and I chat about our favorite books of 2021.

Olga and I chat about book cover designing, what the process looks like from start to finish, all of the parties that must sign off on a book cover, trends in book cover design, her fabulous Instagram book cover showcase account, and much more.

Wiley and I chat about When Ghosts Come Home, why he chose to set the book in 1984, how good stories come from tension, why he is comfortable writing female characters, how the title came about, and much more.

Karen and I chat about her new book The Lightmaker's Manifesto, her studying and writing about the intersection of joy and activism, her own claiming of the term activism, how stories provide an amazingly resonant way to connect with people, performance activism, and much more.