Today I am speaking to Jason Rosenthal, whose memoir, My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, is a story of true love, true loss, and how to truly live again after that loss.

It all began with an extraordinary essay written by Jason’s wife, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a prolific author, public speaker, and filmmaker. In 2017, Amy wrote a piece for the New York Times Modern Love column titled You May Want to Marry My Husband. It was a love letter to Jason, written in the form of a personal ad.

Amy was living with incurable ovarian cancer, and she wanted Jason, her husband and soulmate of 26 years, to experience joy and love again after she was gone. In the essay, she celebrates him in the most intimate and generous way. We learn that Jason is a great dad, a good cook, a lover of live music, handsome, stylish, and full of life. She writes about falling in love with him the day they met, and ends with the hope that the right person might read it.

Amy died just ten days after the article was published.

The piece went viral, read by millions, and it changed Jason’s life overnight. A private person, a lawyer, and a devoted family man, he suddenly found himself in the public spotlight.

A year later, Jason wrote his own response in the New York Times Modern Love column. His essay, My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, shares the same title as his memoir, and begins with the line, “I am that guy.”

In this conversation, we explore what came next.

Jason reflects on grief not as something linear, but as something that moves in waves over time. He shares what it meant to be given permission by Amy to move forward, and how that has shaped his life in the years since her death.

We talk about Amy’s creativity and love of language, including their “marriage goals” list, and how her spirit continues to influence the way he sees the world.

We also explore how Jason has chosen to fill the blank space after loss. He stepped away from his career in law, retrained as a social worker, and now works as a grief therapist. He has commissioned public art in Amy’s honour and co-founded a foundation supporting ovarian cancer research and book giving.

This episode is both deeply moving and quietly practical. Jason shares thoughtful advice on how to support someone who is grieving, why honest end of life conversations matter, and how it’s possible to find moments of joy again, even in the hardest circumstances.

It’s a conversation about love that doesn’t end, and what it means to keep living alongside grief.

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Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast00:28 Amy’s Viral Love Letter02:17 Nine Years of Grief03:33 Permission to Move On04:58 Why Jason Wrote the Memoir06:54 Talking About Death Honestly07:54 Honeymoon Marriage Goals List10:22 Wordplay and Creative Spark11:32 “More Time Here” Message15:22 Filling the Blank Space16:11 New Calling as a Therapist18:26 Foundation and Book Giving19:11 Ovarian Cancer Progress20:04 How to Support Grievers22:14 Sudden vs Expected Loss25:02 End of Life Conversations30:47 Love and Grief Reflections31:41 Closing and Tech Reset

In this episode of Elena Meets the Author, I speak with critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon bestselling author Robert Dugoni, whose books have sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, primarily across his police, espionage, and legal thriller series.

Today we focus on Robert’s standalone literary novel, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, published in 2018. The book has sold over a million copies and has become a word-of-mouth favourite among readers.

Newsweek once called it “the best book of all time.” I must admit, I felt as if I’d been sleeping under a rock, because I hadn’t heard of Sam Hell until a few months ago when I was interviewing Lisa Scully, the owner of Locust Valley Bookstore in Long Island.

Lisa told me that the store sells about 15,000 books a year, and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell is the only book they sell with a money-back guarantee.

If you don’t like it, you get your $14.95 back.

She said to me, “We tell people: trust me on this one.” According to Lisa, readers have gone “Bonko nuts” for the book. Men and women love it equally.

I absolutely adored it. It grabs you right away and doesn’t let go of your heartstrings until the tearful and hopeful final page.

The novel tells the story of a man looking back on his life. It’s a coming-of-age story about a boy who was different from everyone else, and how that shapes his relationships with his family, other people, and most importantly with himself.

Maternal love, bullying, resilience, deep friendship, romance, humour, forgiveness, and faith all feature in this poignant, page-turning story.

In our conversation, Robert shares the journey behind the book, how the story developed over many years, and why the novel explores faith rather than religion. We also talk about his writing process, character creation, and the long path that led him from journalism and law into a full-time writing career.

Topics we cover in this episode

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast00:16 Why The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell Matters00:34 Why Sam Hell Stands Out02:18 Moving from Series Thrillers to a Standalone Novel02:24 Early Reading and Classic Influences03:34 From Journalism to Law School04:27 Leaving Law to Pursue Writing05:04 The Breakthrough of The Cyanide Canary05:35 Writing Sam Hell: Five Weeks to Draft07:22 Finding Sam’s Emotional Throughline09:19 Publishing the Book and Its Slow-Burn Success10:54 Religion Versus Faith in the Story13:24 Accepting Imperfection in Writing14:15 Where Great Lines Come From16:19 An Organic Writing Process and Character Development19:39 Thrillers Versus Literary Craft22:21 Using Humour as Relief in Difficult Stories23:36 Humour in War Stories25:00 Teaching the Craft of Writing25:19 Avoiding the Information Dump26:41 Writing with All Five Senses27:42 Ambiguity Versus Tension in Storytelling29:29 Finding the Right Agent, Editor, and Publishing Team32:23 From Rejection to Amazon Publishing36:04 Ideas for the Next Literary Novel40:18 Wrap Up and Outro

Today I’m speaking to the remarkable author and journalist Haley Cohen Gilliland, whose nonfiction book A Flower Traveled in My Blood reads like a novel, but is entirely true.

Haley’s book - which The New York Times and The Washington Post among others named one of the best books of 2025 - tells the story of the Argentine grandmothers who fought to find a stolen generation of grandchildren.

Haley’s account weaves together a family saga, a forensic detective story and a sweeping human rights history. At its heart are the grandmothers who used their perceived status as harmless “little old ladies” to move beneath the radar of Argentina’s military and police, organising quietly but relentlessly in search of the truth.

A bit of background.

During Argentina’s military coup of 1976, the junta launched what it called the National Reorganization Process, a chillingly bland name for a brutal dictatorship. Over the years that followed, thousands of Argentines forcibly disappeared. Human rights groups estimate the number could be as high as 30,000.

Among the regime’s most horrific crimes was the systematic abduction of pregnant mothers. Women were held in clandestine detention centres, gave birth in appalling conditions, and were then murdered. Many were drugged and thrown from planes into the Río de la Plata or the sea to erase evidence. Their babies were taken and placed with families connected to or sympathetic with the regime, often under false identities.

The distraught mothers of these young women began gathering in Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo. From this movement emerged the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who realised they would have far greater power working together than searching alone.

Haley’s compelling and deeply moving book follows these women over decades, their courage, their strategy, their painstaking documentation, and eventually the scientific breakthroughs that allowed them to identify stolen grandchildren through genetic testing.

We talk about the extraordinary reunions, moments of joy and relief, but also about the pain and identity confusion experienced by many of the grandchildren when they learned the truth. We reflect on how Argentina, as a nation, continues to grapple with this dark chapter in its history.

This is a conversation about memory, justice, science, motherhood, and collective love that proved stronger than fear.

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00:00 Meet Haley Cohen Gilliland and the true story behind A Flower Traveled in My Blood01:05 Argentina’s dictatorship and the Dirty War, disappearances, stolen babies, and state terror02:43 How Haley came to the Abuelas story and why it still feels underknown outside Argentina05:56 The lead-up to the 1976 coup and Argentina’s political instability08:38 Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit’s family story and the beginnings of the Grandmothers’ movement15:58 The science breakthrough, Dr. Mary-Claire King, and the Index of Grandpaternity21:24 The title’s meaning, Juan Gelman’s poem, and mitochondrial DNA25:07 Reporting the book, endnotes, archives, and writing nonfiction with narrative drive27:12 The “what to leave out” decisions that kept the story centred27:36 Finding the right agent and the question of whether American readers would care29:24 Choosing a publisher and building trust with an editor30:03 The behind-the-scenes team: fact checking, outside edits, and accountability31:45 Shifting from magazine writing to a book-length voice33:38 Researching detention centres and survivor testimony, including ESMA36:14 The Grandmothers’ documentation, archives, and paper trail38:15 A high-stakes smuggling story involving chocolate truffles41:03 Haley’s advice for aspiring nonfiction writers44:19 What she hopes readers take away about collective power, truth, and love over fear46:56 What’s next, current reads, future ideas, and closing thanks

Today, I’m speaking to Brigitte Dale about her debut novel, The Good Daughters. It is a powerful, beautifully written story that takes us back to early 20th-century England, when women from all social classes united to fight for the right to vote.

Brigitte’s suspenseful and fast-paced novel weaves historical fact with gripping fiction, centring on four young suffragettes from vastly different backgrounds who come together in London. In 1912, this was not a safe or symbolic act. These women lived in a treacherous world where they risked being beaten, sexually assaulted, imprisoned, and brutally force-fed in jail. The laws and the justice system were firmly stacked against them.

If you enjoy going deeper into the themes and ideas that come up in these conversations, you can also subscribe to Behind the Stories, my optional newsletter where I share writing insights, reflections from the podcast, and a closer look at what connects these authors and their work.

In this conversation, we talk about the real dangers of being a suffragette, the cost of speaking up, and how these forgotten histories shaped the story Brigitte wanted to tell.

We also dive into the four central characters. Charlotte is a middle-class girl who discovers that education does not equal freedom. She shocks her parents by fleeing her English boarding school, escaping to London, and joining the suffragette movement. Beatrice is aristocratic, armed with a law degree she is not legally allowed to use, and engaged to a man she feels little connection to. While handing out leaflets and joining protests, she falls into a forbidden and dangerous love with Sadie, a fellow suffragette and American expat.

Then there is Emily, the daughter of the warden at the notorious Holloway Prison. When suffragettes are brought into the jail, Emily is forced to question everything she has been taught. Her father dismisses the women as hysterical and unstable, yet they do not seem crazy at all. They simply want the right to have a voice and decide their own future.

This is a timeless story about politics, friendship, chosen family, love, perseverance, sacrifice, and the courage it takes to speak up when doing so is dangerous.

Timestamps00:00 Elena meets Brigitte Dale00:42 Character deep dive: the four suffragettes03:13 Writing historical fiction and research05:44 The realities faced by women in the movement08:49 Protest, public response, and change17:17 Suffragists vs suffragettes20:32 Placing the story in its historical context29:00 What Bridget is working on next32:48 Final thoughts

In this episode of Elena Meets the Author, I’m joined by the talented Samantha Greene Woodruff to talk about her gripping historical novel The Trade-Off.

Set against the backdrop of the 1929 Wall Street crash, the novel follows Bea Abramovitz, a mathematically gifted and young jewish woman who foresees the financial collapse but struggles to be taken seriously in a world dominated by men. We explore the inspiration behind the book, the harsh realities of Wall Street in the 1920s, and what it takes to write complex, compelling female characters in historical fiction.

Samantha also shares fascinating insights into her research process, how she balances historical accuracy with narrative tension, and the surprising parallels between the world of the 1920s and the financial and political climate we see today. It’s a thoughtful, timely conversation about power, intuition, and whose voices get heard, then and now.

Highlights

00:00 Introduction

00:15 Introducing Samantha Greene Woodruff

00:35 The story behind The Trade-Off

01:49 Samantha’s writing journey and inspirations

04:17 Researching Wall Street in the 1920s

07:04 Character development and key themes

08:48 Women in finance during the 1920s

22:59 Building suspense in historical fiction

24:27 Writing tension when readers know the outcome

25:04 Financial research and real-world data

27:33 The 1929 market crash

30:15 Choosing the right book title

32:30 The Lobotomist’s Wife and earlier work

34:33 Core themes and takeaways

35:29 The road to publication

39:20 New projects and what’s next

41:54 Final thoughts and surprising discoveries

In this new episode of Elena Meets the Author, I’m joined by debut American novelist Emily Everett to talk about her novel All That Life Can Afford.

We talk about how Emily’s own experiences shaped the story, and explore themes of social class, ambition, friendship, and belonging. We also discuss the influence of Pride and Prejudice on the novel, and what it was like for Emily to write while balancing a demanding day job.

Emily shares insights into her writing process, reflects on the long road to finishing her debut, and tells me about her next novel, set in western Massachusetts. The episode also includes a reading from the first chapter, offering an early glimpse into the life and aspirations of the novel’s protagonist, Anna Byrne.

00:16 Introducing Emily Everett and Her Novel

00:35 Plot Summary of ‘All That Life Can Afford’

02:52 Interview with Emily Everett Begins

04:37 Autobiographical Elements in the Novel

15:57 Insights into Emily’s Next Book

20:12 Choosing St Tropez Over Zurich

20:45 Love for the British Library

22:28 Living in London: A Magical Experience

26:48 Writing Challenges and Successes

28:36 Audiobook Narration Insights

30:29 Book Recommendations and Inspirations

32:01 Hopes for Readers and Personal Reflections

In this special holiday episode of Elena Meets the Author, I’m joined by Lisa Scully, the owner of the wonderful Locust Valley Bookstore on Long Island.

Lisa shares her journey into independent bookstore ownership and speaks openly about the challenges and rewards of running a local bookshop today. We talk about competing with Amazon, the importance of community support, and what keeps independent bookstores alive and thriving, especially during the Christmas season.

We also dive into the joy of bookselling. Lisa talks about how she curates her shelves, why book covers matter more than we sometimes admit, and how Instagram has become an essential way for her to connect with readers and share thoughtful, often unexpected recommendations. Along the way, she offers plenty of reading inspiration, including Christmas gift ideas, bestselling titles from the year, standout children’s books, and some personal favourites.

It’s a warm, funny, and uplifting conversation about books, community, and resilience, and a perfect listen for the holidays.

You can explore Locust Valley Bookstore and Lisa’s recommendations at

https://www.locustvalleybooks.com

You can also follow the bookstore on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/locustvalleybookstore

Episode chapters

00:00 Introduction00:15 Special Christmas episode00:32 Lisa Scully and Locust Valley Bookstore03:16 Lisa’s journey to owning a bookstore09:13 The challenges and triumphs of running a bookstore15:06 Competing with Amazon19:48 Instagram and modern bookselling24:13 The importance of book covers26:40 What makes Locust Valley Bookstore unique27:28 Book recommendations28:24 Christmas reading suggestions29:36 Top-selling books of the year36:27 Children’s books highlights37:51 Favourite books of the year39:37 The resilience of independent bookstores

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In episode 37 of Elena Meets the Author, I speak with award-winning journalist and debut biographer Chris Sweeney about his fascinating new book, The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne.

Chris’s book introduced me to a woman I had never heard of but now can’t stop thinking about: Roxie Collie Laybourne, the trailblazing scientist whose work quite literally changed aviation safety. Known as the world’s first forensic ornithologist, Roxie had an extraordinary ability to identify bird species from the tiniest fragment of feather, skills she developed during her decades at the Smithsonian Institution.

Roxie’s expertise became essential to understanding bird strikes, a major risk to aircraft. Her feather-identification methods helped the FAA and aircraft manufacturers design safer planes, refine engine tests, and prevent accidents. Today, her techniques remain foundational in aviation forensics.

While aviation made up the bulk of her career, Roxie’s feather work also touched the world of criminal investigations, including poaching cases and a KKK murder. The New York Times called her the Miss Marple of Eiderdown. Chris and I talk about what he uncovered in his research, what surprised him, and what it was like to piece together a life lived partly behind laboratory doors.

We also dive into Chris’s writing process: how he first came to hear of Roxie, how he structured her biography, how he kept the science vivid and accessible, and how he grappled with portraying a woman who valued precision, privacy, and sometimes mischief. Roxie began her Smithsonian work long before “forensic ornithology” had a name, and she left an imprint on both science and safety that is still felt today.

I loved this conversation, and I hope you come away admiring Roxie Laybourne’s genius as much as I now do.

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⏱ Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction00:16 Meeting Chris Sweeney and discovering Roxie Laybourne01:04 Roxie’s early life and path into natural science01:36 The feather-identification breakthrough02:41 Challenges, opportunities, and major achievements05:37 How Chris first stumbled onto Roxie’s story09:28 Aviation disasters and how feather forensics played a role12:51 The FAA and the history of bird-strike investigations14:40 Roxie’s long-term impact on aviation safety20:31 Her broader contributions to forensic science22:07 Feather evidence in wildlife and poaching cases25:15 Roxie as mentor and collaborator27:51 A significant family decision and how Roxie handled it28:51 How Chris approached writing an engaging biography30:33 Structuring a life story on the page32:39 Roxie’s legacy today33:46 How she navigated sexism in subtle—and not-so-subtle—ways35:59 Her deep commitment to her craft37:56 Creating the book cover for The Feather Detective40:13 Behind-the-scenes research surprises43:38 The emotional journey of writing a first book45:08 Future projects and inspirations46:46 Final thoughts and recommendations

In this episode of Elena Meets the Author, I talk to the brilliant and bestselling author Fiona Davis about her new novel The Stolen Queen, a dual-timeline mystery that moves between 1936 Egypt and 1978 New York City.

Fiona shares the real inspirations behind the story (thank you Kim Kardashian), as well as her fascination with antiquities and the stories behind them. She looks at the ways history can be reshaped or lost over time. We explore the novel’s two vividly drawn protagonists, a serious and studious curator and her arch opposite, a young, inexperienced over-eager assistant to the Met Ball who have to work together to recover a stolen artefact.

We also talk about the lesser known women of history who spark Fiona’s imagination, the meticulous research that bring Fiona’s settings to life, the energy of NYC in the late 70’s and the busy world behind the scenes at the Met. Fiona likes to blend a good story with some fascinating history and page-turning mystery into her NYC-based novels. She also touches on her own career, from acting to journalism to writing historical fiction.

This episode is a rich, thought-provoking conversation with one of today’s most beloved voices in historical fiction. If you love stories that uncover hidden histories and spotlight remarkable women, this episode is for you

Episode Guide:00:00 Welcome to Elena Meets the Author00:20 Introducing Fiona Davis and The Stolen Queen01:37 Inspiration Behind the Novel03:45 The Ancient Queen Who Sparked the Story06:15 Forgotten Women in History06:37 Diana Vreeland and the Met in the 1970s10:24 Building Atmospheric, Authentic Settings12:28 Research and Story Development15:30 Blending Mystery with Historical Fiction17:19 What Fiona Is Working on Next17:52 New York’s Hidden Corners18:18 A Storied Mansion and Its Remarkable Resident19:29 From Acting to Journalism21:46 The Path to Becoming an Author24:13 Research Rituals and Writing Process29:38 Fiona’s Book Recommendations & Final Thoughts

In this episode of Elena Meets the Author, I had such a fun and fascinating chat with Katie Yee, the debut author of Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar. Her novel has been compared to Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, it’s witty, warm, and full of heart, finding humour even in the hardest moments.

We talk about where the story came from, how Katie created her wonderfully observant narrator, and why she chose to leave her protagonist nameless. We also dive into friendship, love, identity, and the surprising ways storytelling can help us heal.

Katie’s energy is infectious, we even got into her writing process, what she’s been reading lately, and a sneak peek at her next project. I absolutely loved this conversation and I think you will too!

Timestamps00:00 – Introduction00:17 – Meet Katie Yee and her debut novel01:55 – Themes of humour, heartbreak, and identity03:01 – Writing through personal experience12:01 – Exploring race and motherhood22:26 – The role of women and friendship25:45 – Writing as healing26:04 – Craft and structure29:17 – Advice for aspiring authors31:13 – Hopes for readers and future projects33:50 – Book recommendations and closing thoughts