Hear us Roar

This week the podcast welcomes Melora Fern (Whistling Women and Crowing Hens, Sibylline Digital First, May 2025). Making what she calls "an audacious leap", Melora moved from being an accountant to being a writer with her debut novel which features not one, but three, fascinating subjects: artistic whistlers, the Jazz Age of the 1920's, and the Chautauqua Circuit (the TED talks of the early 20th century). We discuss the vital role both critique groups and on-line classes played in her pivot and how she now gives back through teaching writing at her local library. "If you work hard and take it seriously, you can learn the craft of writing."

The only constant in life is change – so after a year of multiple doozies, Melora moved from Texas to North Carolina to become herself. Growing up as the perpetual "new kid" she persevered by making up stories and recently learned how to hone that skill into writing fiction. As a recovering CPA, she now counts seashells, colorful stones, or words discovered on her walks. After nine years of perfecting her craft with writing classes, workshops, retreats, and an awe-inspiring critique group, Melora's months of querying agents and small presses paid off. She's currently working on her second novel, volunteer teaching beginners writing classes at local libraries and is a founding member for Word on The Street NC, a Literary Arts Festival scheduled for March 2027 in Hillsborough, NC.

To learn more about Melora, click here.

Our podcast guest this week is Alexandria Faulkenbury (Somewhere Past The End, Apprentice House Press at Loyola University, Baltimore, May 2025). Alexandria explains what it's like to work with a university-based teaching press where professors supervise college students studying aspects of publishing while working on your book, including in editing, graphic design, and marketing. We then discuss how she used her selection for The Debutante Ball cohort to not only share the emotional ups and downs of launching a debut with seven other newbies, but also marketing ideas and even an introduction that led her to an agent. Finally Alexandria shares how to plan a successful book tour.

Alexandria Faulkenbury is the author of Somewhere Past the End, a 2025 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Gold Medal Winner. She holds an M.A. in multicultural and transnational literature from East Carolina University and teaches English at Midlands Technical College. Her writing has been featured in MER Literary and The Maine Review, among others. When she's not writing, you can find her reading, tap dancing, knitting, or grading papers. Originally from Texas, she now lives in South Carolina with her husband, two rambunctious kids, and one ornery dog.

To learn more about Alexandria, click here.

This week we welcome Julie Wise, a Canadian author (Make No Mistake: The Novel, indie published, May 2025) to discuss her debut featuring older women activists which one reader called "The Handmaid's Tale with a Molotov cocktail twist." We discuss what it's like when you novel's plot becomes reality and then we do a deep-dive into how Julie used the social media app Substack to first release her book in serial form, and later used its podcast function to produce her audio book. If you've ever wondered whether Substack is worth it, give this one a listen.

Julie Wise (she/her) is a writer from the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Her poetry and prose have appeared in multiple publications as well as four anthologies. She is the author of Dream Bigger: Reclaiming A Life of Joy and Ease (2010), Make No Mistake: The Novel (2025) and writes Glimmers From The Edge on Substack.

To follow Julie on Instagram, click here.

To learn more about Julie, click here.

This week our guest is Joan Fernandez (Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo van Gogh, She Writes Press, April 2025). We talk about what happened when a competing book about Jo from the prestigious Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam came out right when Joan was ready to query, how her read 900 letters from Vincent for research, and how she's still marketing her novel 18 months after launch. And listen for our interesting talk about how Jo used modern marketing techniques like FOMO, 2 for one, and hometown advantage to get Vincent's artwork into the world.

Joan Fernandez is a historical novelist and public speaker recovering the stories of women written out of the historical record. She is author of Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo van Gogh, whose twelve book awards and honors include First Place for the Missouri Writers Guild's Walter Williams Major Work Award and is rated 4.7 stars in Amazon reviews. She is a former Principal and general partner at Edward Jones, where she spent twenty-two years in marketing and communications centered on translating specialist research for general audiences — the same work, in a different subject, that shapes her presentations today.

To learn more about Joan, click here.

This week we welcome Meg Hamand to the podcast (Diamonds in Auschwitz, Greenleaf Publishing, March 2025). We discuss the books that kept her sane while writing about a horrific period in history while living through another (COVID), how she writes her first draft straight through without looking back, and how going with a hybrid publisher was a mini-course in learning about the publishing industry. We then talk about setting realistic goals for your career and how you don't necessarily have to say yes to the first person that says yes to you, be they an agent, a publicist, or a publisher.

Diamonds in Auschwitz was cited as "a significant contribution to Holocaust literature" by Readers' Favorite and was an Amazon Bestseller and a #1 New Release. It was awarded second place in Women's Historical Fiction by The BookFest, first place in Historical Fiction by Firebird Book Awards, and the Prodigy (Best Debut Novel) Award from StoryTrade Awards.

Meg has had a heart for storytelling since her first publication in elementary school. She graduated summa cum laude from Indiana State University with a degree in English and creative writing and has an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan. She lives in Plymouth, Indiana with her husband/high school sweetheart and their 15-year-old daughter (also an aspiring artist).

To learn more about Meg, click here.

Our podcast guest this week is Jill Amber Chafin (Shaken, Vine Leaves Press, March 2025). Hear how the inspiration for Jill's debut occurred in a doctor's office, how writing a book about a controversial (and dark) subject matter hurt her when looking for an agent, and how she eventually found her publisher through a Twitter post that went viral. And we spend time talking about how Jill found her critique group, how she used them throughout her writing process, and how important it is to get other's eyes on your work before querying.

Jill Amber Chafin's work has appeared in The Personal Story Publishing Project and Motherfigure, and has been honored as a Finalist for the Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award, Honorable Mention in the New Millennium Writing Awards, and Third Place winner in the anthology America's Next Author. Her debut novel, Shaken, was selected as a finalist for the 2024 Wishing Shelf Book Awards and awarded the 2025 Literary Titan Silver Book Award. She lives with her husband and two children in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she works as a writer, editor, and circus arts teacher. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok @jillamberchafin.

To learn more about Jill, click here.

This week our podcast guest is Tatiana Goded (A Trip Towards the Sunset, indie published, March 2025). Tatiana's debut follows 3 women facing mid-life challenges and dovetails with her own journey moving from Spain to New Zealand and from a scientific field to being a life coach while also embracing her dream to write. We discuss what's it like to rediscover your passion, how social media can be used to help stave off the loneliness of the solitary writer, and how she had to learn the self-discipline to write without the safety net of classes or critique groups.

Born in Madrid, Spain, and trained as a scientist, Tatiana's passion for writing goes back as long as she can remember. After moving to New Zealand in her mid-thirties, she rediscovered storytelling and took creative writing courses at the New Zealand Writers College.

She won second prize in the 2014 "1st Letras Latinas Short Story Competition" (Alac Inc, Auckland) for "A Trip to Vienna," and in 2018 Letras Latinas Publishing House published her mini stories "Farewell" and "If I Went There for a Second Time" in English and Spanish.Alongside science, Tatiana works helping women in midlife reconnect with their passions. She loves reading, spending time with her daughter, dancing, tramping and travelling. After 14 years in New Zealand, Tatiana has now moved to Ireland with her daughter and their Golden Retriever.

Follow her writing at tatianagoded.com.

Our podcast guest this week is Raquel Y. Levitt (The Seer, Acorn Publishing, March 2025). We discuss the originals of her debut which started as a single clear image she saw of a woman in a marketplace in the 1800's and why she decided going for her MFA was the next right move for her. Then we move into the tricky challenge of marketing a mixed genre (historical fiction with paranormal elements) from cover design to finding the right audience and the effective use of contests to establish legitimacy in a crowded publishing environment.

Raquel Y. Levitt received her master's degree in English and has taught Literature and Composition at the university level. After a few years she decided to pursue what she really loved—writing, so she shelved her gradebook and pursued an MFA in Creative Writing. Her debut novel, The Seer, has received multiple accolades and awards, including Literary Global Book Awards 2025 Fiction Book of the Year. Her short stories have been published in literary journals and anthologies, including the multi-award-winning Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. Besides being a writer, Raquel is an avid reader, book hoarder, world traveler, amateur nature photographer, birder, and collector of cool rocks.

To find about more about Raquel, go to https://raquellevitt.com

This week our podcast guest is Angelika Morini (Do You See Me Now?, indie published, February 2025). Angelika, who lives and writes from Germany, discusses the challenges of querying publishing professionals from overseas. We delve into how a short story kept growing until she realized she was writing a book, how her plot (two sisters at a retreat to study The Hero's Journey) provided a structure for her book as well, and how it wasn't until she'd published her debut that she realized book marketing was another (almost) full-time job.

Angelika Morini was born in Eastern Germany in the 1980s and chose to alchemize her own lived experience as the historical background of her debut novel Do You See Me Now?. She writes in English, the language of her emotions, thoughts, and dreams, ever since she studied in the United States, in Minnesota and Washington State. Since then, most of her life has happened in English, including her professional and family life. By profession Morini is a senior HR leader, ICF certified Coach and certified Conscious Parenting Coach through Dr. Shefali Tsabary's institute, which informs the psychological texture of her fiction. She lives in Germany with her husband, son and well-traveled cat, enjoying regular visits of her two adult bonus-children. She frequently spends time at the Lago Maggiore in Italy, her energetic home and setting of the second novel she's currently writing.

To learn more about Angelika and her novel, click here.

Our podcast guest this week is Jen Sinclair (There's Always A Price, indie-published, September 2024). We talk about her early love of writing (her first book, a police procedural with a twist, was written in 8th grade), how she handled revising this debut to give her protagonist more agency through a structural change and how she's a believer in always needing to be open to changing your story based on feedback. We delve at length into Facebook ads which has proved successful for her, and also discuss her habit of having several quick drafts of novels waiting in the wings.

Jen Sinclair is a professional writer who pens personal essays and contemporary women's fiction that explore complicated relationships, love, loss, and all the messiness of life. She uses humor, heart, and compelling plot elements to explore what it means to be human. Her first two novels, There's Always a Price and According to My Science placed second and third for best women's fiction at The Florida Writers Association 2025 Royal Palm Literary Awards. They were both also named Best Books of Fall 2025 by Pencraft, and According to My Science was a semi-finalist in the BookLife 2025 Fiction contest. She also collaborated on the dark friendship fiction novel, The Accidental Life of MF Ascher under the pen name Ivy H. Booker. Jen lives in Florida with her kids and spoiled puppies.

To learn more about Jen, click here.