Alone At Lunch

This week we are joined by Tanya Grant! Tanya Grant writes twisty thrillers packed with secrets, murder, and gossipy group dynamics. Her essays have appeared in Writer’s Digest and CrimeReads, and she’s spoken about creativity on various podcasts.

Tanya lives in Seattle with her family and a herd of cute but messy guinea pigs. When she’s not writing or conducting highly suspicious web searches (for research!), you can find her gardening in her foxglove-filled yard or dreaming up her next plot twist over a cup of cinnamon tea.

In this episode,Tanya Grant joins Carly and Emily to discuss her new psychological thriller, *A Beautiful Lie*—a queer story of obsession set in a Newport mansion, where intimacy, trust, and privilege shape the characters’ lives. She shares how her journey from romance writing to thrillers, her love of research, and her hyperfocus influenced the book, alongside reflections on her later-in-life ADHD diagnosis and the role of burnout in understanding herself. The conversation also explores handling reader feedback, motherhood, and taking risks. 

Recommendations From This Episode:

Count My Lies

You

Follow Tanya: @tanyagrantbooks

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]
 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Cole Brauer! Cole Brauer is a record-breaking American professional sailor who finished second in the grueling 2023–2024 solo race around the world. Brauer and her work have been featured in The New York Times and on Today and CNN. A University of Hawai‘i graduate, she is a sought-after speaker for companies and organizations ranging from PJT to Kaiser Permanente, known for her candid storytelling and a philosophy of unvarnished grit. When she isn’t sharing her story on land, she is back on the water as a co-skipper for an IMOCA 60 team.

In this episode, Cole Brauer shares her journey from sailing around the world to writing a book about her experiences, including the creative process behind designing fonts for accessibility and recording your own audiobook. She also addresses the importance of authenticity, gender identity, and resilience in pursuing one's passions.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

A Marriage At Sea

Young Woman And The Sea

Follow Cole: @colebraueroceanracing

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Ellen O’Clover! Ellen O’Clover is the author of If Not You, The Heartbreak Hotel, and other stories for teens and adults. Her books have been selected for Book of the Month, appeared in outlets like NPR and Rolling Stone, and been nominated for multiple states' book awards. She lives in a little green house under a giant aspen tree near Boulder, Colorado, with her rocket scientist husband and two perfect bulldogs.

In this episode, Ellen discusses her journey from copy writing to romance novels, the importance of authentic storytelling, and the themes of friendship, love, and self-doubt in her latest book 'If Not You.' She shares insights on writing for different age groups, her creative process, and her experiences balancing her career and personal life.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

Great Big Beautiful Life

Follow Ellen: @ellenoclover

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Maggie Gates! Maggie Gates is an author who writes raw, relatable romance novels packed full of heat and humor. Maggie calls North Carolina home. In her spare time, she enjoys daydreaming about her characters, jamming to country music, and eating all the barbecue and tacos she can find! Her e-reader is always within reach due to a love of small-town romances that borders on obsession. Make sure to check out her latest novel, Blue Jean Summer! 

In this episode,  Maggie shares her journey from culinary school to becoming a successful romance novelist, discussing her writing process, character development, and the influence of her personal life on her books.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

Sterling Point

The Wrong Paris

Follow Maggie: @authormaggiegates

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod
 

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Marshall J Moore! Marshall J. Moore is the author of the Son of a Sailor cozy fantasy trilogy, the Rites of Resurrection epic fantasy trilogy, and over thirty published short stories. His story “Red Lanterns” won second place in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Short Story Contest. His latest novel, The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing is out 9/22/26. 

Author Marshall J. Moore joins the show to talk about Henchperson's Guide to Unionizing, a cozy horror novel he describes as "Horrible Bosses meets What We Do in the Shadows," and how he uses character relationships to balance absurdity with real emotional weight around abuse, exploitation, and found community. He also  traces his path as a storyteller — from becoming a reader in first grade and loving Animorphs, to his theater background and disciplined 2,000-3,000-word daily writing practice.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

What We Do In the Shadows

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Follow Marshall: @marshalljmooreauthor

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Isabel Sterling! Isabel Sterling writes stories about queer love and resilience with a witty magical twist. She is the author of several YA and adult novels, including: These Witches Don’t Burn and With All My Haunted Heart. Connect with Isabel at www.IsabelSterling.com

Author Isabel Sterling joins the show to talk about her new sapphic ghost story, With All My Haunted Heart, and how a childhood steeped in witchy books, tarot, and Practical Magic grew into the worlds she writes today. She dives into grounding magic in real practices like Reiki and tarot, discovering her queerness through writing, and the mindset tools — honed through her work as a life coach for authors — that got her through rejection, rewrites, and a canceled book contract. It's a conversation about joy, grief, and ambition coexisting, essential listening for anyone drawn to stories with heart, humor, and haunted energy.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

Hocus Pocus 2

Death Becomes Her

Follow Isabel: @isa_sterling

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Ally Zetterberg! Ally Zetterberg is a British-Swedish writer who grew up in rural Sweden before stumbling on a modeling career that took her all over the world. She somehow ended up in the South of France, where she now lives with three children, a dog, and a cat. She has a degree in psychology and is passionate about writing characters who feel real and who bring a complicated human experience to the page.

In this episode, Ally discusses the journey that informed her creative work, from being discovered as a Swedish model at seventeen to her eventual move to the South of France. She reflects on why she gravitated away from short stories, how her studies in psychology helped her craft authentic characters, and the ways her global modeling career provided a unique perspective for writing nuanced, realistic women.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model

Game Night

My Sister, The Serial Killer

Follow Ally: @allyzetterbergauthor

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Ophira Eisenberg! Ophira Eisenberg is a Standup Comedian, Writer, and Podcast Host (NPR, CBS, CNN, The Moth, HBO, Comedy Central, iHeart) who headlines theaters and comedy venues across the world, tours regularly with the Moth Mainstage, and hosts the weekly parenting-comedy podcast Parenting is a Joke (Webby Finalist for Best Host). Her new comedy special, I Used to Be Nicer produced by Lewis Black/Stark Raving Black Productions is available now. She also hosted NPR’s trivia comedy show Ask Me Another for 9 years. Her breakout memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press) has been optioned for a television series, and her solo show Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars won Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts and just finished a successful European tour. She recently returned from the Just For Laughs festival where she performed her 3rd gala for CBC/Global Television.

In this episode, we talk about stand-up, storytelling, and the experiences that shaped Ophira’s comedic voice, covering everything from performance anxiety to Jewish identity and parenthood. Ophira reflects on toggling between her stand-up persona and her public radio storytelling work, how growing up in Calgary shaped her outsider perspective, and why some audiences respond best to specificity and intelligence. The conversation also turns personal, digging into family silence and inherited trauma, and tracing her path from a single weekend comedy workshop to a full-fledged career.

Recommendations From This Episode:

Here All Along

Empire Records

Follow Ophira: @ophirae

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Natalie Moss! Natalie is the author of the adult psychological thriller, The Night Hunter. She is a Filipina-South African, born and raised in Manila, Philippines, and has gone on safaris since she was three years old. An Oxford graduate, Natalie has lived in seven countries, including the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, and Spain, and has now settled in London. She's an avid reader of thrillers and crime fiction, and is obsessed with solving the puzzle of a good mystery.

In this episode, Natalie Moss shares the inspiration behind her debut psychological thriller, The Night Hunter. We discuss how her upbringing across various continents and her lifelong relationship with the Southern African wilderness informed the novel's setting and its exploration of identity and belonging. Natalie also reflects on her academic years at Oxford, her creative routine, and the balance of maintaining a career in economics while pursuing the craft of storytelling for the sheer love of the mystery.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

My Oxford Year

https://www.natalie-moss.com/

Follow Natalie: @natmossauthor

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Isabelle Spotts! Isabelle Spotts is the writer and narrator of two award-winning audio dramas, Night Faces and Middle West. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, two children, and two black cats.​ Saint Delilah is her debut novel.

In this episode, Isabelle shares how her childhood terror of horror films evolved into a creative passion, leading her to transform those early anxieties into compelling narratives. We also explore how her upbringing in rural Wisconsin influenced her work and why her dedication to the macabre serves as a means of addressing and overcoming personal fears.

Recommendations From This Episode: 

Hocus Pocus

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

The Butcher Legacy

Follow Isabelle: @isabellespotts

Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag

Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh

Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod

Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends! 

Email us: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.