Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our guest, Sarah MacLean, is a New York Times, Washington Post & USA Today bestselling author. Vulture Magazine writes - “MacLean is a master at weaving passion and vulnerability equally in her characters. When it comes to historical romance, she’s one of the best…” These Summer Storms is her first contemporary novel. In addition to her novels, Sarah is a leading advocate for the romance genre, speaking widely on its place as a feminist text and a cultural bellwether.

Today, we talk about:

* putting everything on the page,

* romance vs. women’s fiction,

* what romance teaches us,

* the power of our pleasure,

* and so much more.

xo, Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Sarah MacLean:

You can find Sarah on Instagram and on her podcast, Fated Mates. The paperback of her newest novel, These Summer Storms, is available in bookstores everywhere.

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guest, Donna Jackson Nakazawa, is an award-winning science journalist and an internationally-recognized speaker whose work explores the intersection of neurobiology and human emotion. Her book, Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media, was named a best book of 2022 by The Washington Post. Her latest book, Mind Drama: The Science of Rumination and How to Outwit Your Inner Defeatist, is out now.

Today, we talk about:

* rumination - what to do about the negative looping stories in our heads,

* protecting space in our brain for creative insights,

* the creative process of non-fiction writing,

* among other delights!

xo, Joanna

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Donna Jackson Nakazawa:

You can find Donna on Instagram. Her newest book, MIND DRAMA: The Science of Rumination and How to Outwit Your Inner Defeatist, is available in bookstores everywhere!

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guest, Laurie Frankel, is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author known for emotional, character-driven fiction exploring modern family dynamics, including This Is How It Always Is, One Two Three, and Family Family. Her latest book, Enormous Wings, is out now.

Today, we talk about:

* writing about issues on the edge of society’s comfort zones,

* the courage and freedom to throw out your writing,

* how teaching helps you learn,

* the advice she would give to an English major, among other delights!

xo, Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Laurie Frankel:

You can find Laurie on Instagram. Her newest novel, Enormous Wings, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guests are three amazing book publicists from Lavender PR–Carla Bruce, Brittani Hilles, and Amelia Possanza. This team has over three decades of combined experience at publishers like HarperCollins, Little, Brown, Riverhead Press, Flatiron Books, St. Martin’s Press, Algonquin Books, and more. They craft high-impact campaigns for diverse genres, from literary fiction and memoirs to propulsive thrillers. And, as published authors and established freelance writers themselves, the team offers an insider’s perspective on the publishing landscape.

Today, we talk about:

* what book publicists do for authors,

* how to find and hire a book publicist,

* differences between publicity in indie and traditional publishing,

* how book publicists decide who in media to pitch,

* the role of social media influencers in book publicity,

* and so much more!

xo, Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Lavender PR:

Check out their latest publicity campaigns on their website, Lavender Public Relations. You can find Brittani, Carla, and Amelia on Instagram, too!

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guest, Stacey Lee, is a NYT and Indie bestselling author of historical and contemporary YA and middle grade fiction, including The Downstairs Girl, a Reese’s Book Club pick, Kill Her Twice, a school Library Journal best book of the year, and her most recent novel, Heiress of Nowhere. Stacey is a fourth-generation Chinese American and a founder of We Need Diverse Books.

Today, we talk about:

* venturing into Gothic literature,

* the fun of historical research,

* the current landscape of YA fiction,

* and promoting books with the heart of an introvert.

xo, Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Stacey:

You can find Stacey Lee on Instagram. Her newest novel, Heiress of Nowhere, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guest, Rebecca Serle, is the New York Times bestselling author of Once and Again, Expiration Dates, One Italian Summer, In Five Years, and The Dinner List, to name a few. Serle also developed the hit TV adaptation Famous in Love, based on her YA series of the same name. She is a graduate of USC and The New School and lives in LA with her husband and daughter.

Today, we talk about:

* creative brainstorming,

* motherhood and writing,

* when time travel isn’t really time travel,

* and so much more!

xo,

Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Rebecca Serle:

You can find Rebecca on Instagram. Her newest novel, Once and Again, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!

This spring, I’m going to try a small experiment: a live studio for writers actively building a novel, where I’ll read your opening pages and we’ll work on them together, live.

____

Atelier Skye: The Studio for Serious Novelists

Here’s what this will look like:

Twelve novelists. Six Saturdays. Live sessions. Direct developmental critique.

No recordings. No passive consumption. A working studio.

This studio is designed for writers who:

* Are actively drafting a novel

* Have 8–10 strong opening pages ready

* Want developmental-level critique

* Care about both craft and industry positioning

* Take their work seriously

This is not an introductory writing class.

It is a professional room.

REGISTER here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu5kCgtd5PY1nV1Fs8EM00

Enrollment is first come, first served until the atelier reaches 12 writers.

About the Studio Lead:

I’m Evelyn Skye, a New York Times bestselling novelist and the author of eleven books, published by major houses including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Disney, and translated into sixteen languages worldwide. I have also written for Netflix in a literary-film collaboration starring Millie Bobby Brown, Angela Bassett, and Robin Wright.

My work has been featured in PEOPLE, Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, CBS New York, The Morning Blend on NBC, The Mirror, Woman’s World Magazine, South China Morning Post, Book Riot, PopSugar, Bustle, Psychology Today, Mochi Magazine, and more.

I’ve been a featured speaker and guest of honor around the world—at the Festival du Livre de Paris, the Danish Fantasy Festival, San Diego Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, and more. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Russian literature from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Over the past decade, I’ve developed a deep understanding of what makes a manuscript not only compelling on the page, but viable in the marketplace.

In this studio, I bring that experience directly to your opening pages.

More details about the studio at:

https://www.creativeinspiredalive.com/p/the-studio-for-serious-novelists-writing-workshop

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guest, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, is the author of the instant New York Times bestselling novels The Nest (named a best book of the year by People, the Washington Post, and NPR) and Good Company (a Read with Jenna selection). Her work has been translated into more than 28 languages, and The Nest is in development as a limited series with AMC Studios. Sweeney holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars.

Today, we talk about:

* writing distinct and integrated POVs,

* finding the right pace of writing for yourself,

* how we sometimes scare ourselves out of taking risks in writing,

* the truth of having work developed into a TV series,

* and so much more!

xo,

Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney:

You can find Cynthia on Instagram. Her newest novel, Lake Effect, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guests, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka, are a married Romance writing team! They met and fell in love in high school. Austin went on to graduate from Harvard, while Emily graduated from Princeton. Together, they are the authors of multiple novels, including The Roughest Draft and Reese’s YA Bookclub Pick Heiress Takes All. They are also two-thirds of USA Today bestselling author E.B. Asher. So much teamwork! Seeing Other People is their latest novel.

Today, we talk about:

* writing in partnership,

* trends in the romance genre,

* incorporating speculative elements,

* and the writing scene in LA.

xo,

Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Emily and Austin:

You can find Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka on Instagram. Their newest novel, Seeing Other People, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!

Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative. Inspired. ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our guest, TARA MOHR, is an internationally renowned coach and educator on women’s leadership and well-being. She is also the author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead, which empowers women to overcome self-doubt and pursue their dreams by finding their voice and taking bold action.

Along with her coaching certification, she also has an MBA from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree in English literature from Yale. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Today Show, and the Harvard Business Review.

Today, we talk about:

* playing big in a creative career,

* cultivating our inner mentor,

* unhooking from criticism and praise,

* promoting our art with courage,

* and tapping our deepest authenticity.

xo,

Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Tara:

You can find Tara Mohr on Instagram and access her Guided Inner Mentor Visualization on her website. Her book, Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!