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This week's podcast guest is Judith Turner-Yakamoto (Loving the Dead and Gone, Regal House, September 2022). We discuss how she pulled her manuscript just before it was going to press because she realized she needed to "kill someone", how even though she worked for 20 years as a publicist, she still considers the publishing business a deeply strange pond, how getting comfortable with sharing deeply-personal posts on Facebook has helped grow her readership and brought her speaking opportunities, and how she found her publisher through becoming a finalist for the Petrichor Prize, an annual fiction writing competition.

Judith Turner-Yamamoto's debut novel LOVING THE DEAD AND GONE, a Mariel Hemingway Book Club pick, won the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Southern Regional Fiction. The North Carolina Society of Historians recognized the novel with the 2023 Historical Novel Award. Shortlisted for the 2023 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Grand Prize, the book was also honorable mention in General Fiction and finalist for the First Horizon Award for Debut Fiction. Judith's other awards include two Virginia Arts Commission fellowships, an Ohio Arts Council fellowship, the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, and the Virginia Screenwriting Award.

Judith's publications include StorySOUTH, Mississippi Review, Deep South, and many anthologies. Her articles have appeared in Elle, Travel & Leisure, AARP, and the Los Angeles Times, and her interviews aired on NPR affiliate WVXU. A Kentucky Humanities Speakers Bureau scholar, Judith speaks at conferences and book festivals, including the Chautauqua Writers' Center, Chautauqua Institution, the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and Gaithersburg Book Festival. She lives on the Kentucky/Ohio border where her love of travel and place continues to inspire her writing.

To learn more about Judith, click here.

This week’s podcast guest is Judith Turner-Yakamoto (Loving the Dead and Gone, Regal House, September 2022). We discuss how she pulled her manuscript just before it was going to press because she realized she needed to “kill someone”, how even though she worked for 20 years as a publicist, she still considers the publishing business a deeply strange pond, how getting comfortable with sharing deeply-personal posts on Facebook has helped grow her readership and brought her speaking opportunities, and how she found her publisher through becoming a finalist for the Petrichor Prize, an annual fiction writing competition.

Judith Turner-Yamamoto’s debut novel LOVING THE DEAD AND GONE, a Mariel Hemingway Book Club pick, won the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Southern Regional Fiction. The North Carolina Society of Historians recognized the novel with the 2023 Historical Novel Award. Shortlisted for the 2023 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Grand Prize, the book was also honorable mention in General Fiction and finalist for the First Horizon Award for Debut Fiction. Judith’s other awards include two Virginia Arts Commission fellowships, an Ohio Arts Council fellowship, the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, and the Virginia Screenwriting Award.

 

Judith’s publications include StorySOUTH, Mississippi Review, Deep South, and many anthologies. Her articles have appeared in Elle, Travel & Leisure, AARP, and the Los Angeles Times, and her interviews aired on NPR affiliate WVXU. A Kentucky Humanities Speakers Bureau scholar, Judith speaks at conferences and book festivals, including the Chautauqua Writers’ Center, Chautauqua Institution, the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and Gaithersburg Book Festival. She lives on the Kentucky/Ohio border where her love of travel and place continues to inspire her writing.

To learn more about Judith, click here.

Our latest podcast features Jacqueline Boulden (Her Past Can't Wait, Pine Place Press/indie, September 2022). We discuss EMDR, a new therapeutic treatment that plays a central role in her novel and has been effective in treating people suffering from PTSD, how Jacqueline's background as a reporter both helped and got in the way when she entered the world of fiction, and the valuable advice and support she's found in a new sub-group within WFWA that specifically helps debut indie authors navigate the tricky terrain of publishing their own work.

Jacqueline Boulden is the 2023 IPPY (Independent Press) Gold Award Winner for Best Regional Fiction, Mid-Atlantic, for Her Past Can't Wait. This debut novel was also named the 2023 Global Book Awards Gold winner for Psychological Thriller, and finalist in several other contests. Her second novel, Family Ties Family Lies (pub Jan 2024), also looks at how our past affects our present and shapes our future. Before turning to writing fiction, Jacqueline won several Emmy awards for reporting and Telly awards for video production. Her TV career took her around the country covering politics in Washington, D.C., NASA and the space shuttle program in Florida (including the Challenger accident) and fighting the wind for control of her hat during live shots in hurricanes and blizzards while working in Orlando and Philadelphia. She lives in upstate New York with her spouse and their rescue dog, who's teaching them how to speak Beaglish.To learn more about Jacqueline, click here.

Our podcast guest this week is Nancy Yeager (When We Were Friends, Red Adept, October 2022).  This was Nancy’s debut women’s fiction although during the time she worked on it with both a book coach and a developmental editor, she wrote and released six historical romances and six contemporary romances. This novel (one inspiration was a Steve Miller song) was complicated by not only two POV’s but also two timelines, one of which unspooled backwards. But her biggest challenge was the scramble at release time – due to a scheduling snafu, her launch window was only six weeks long and involved not only the standard marketing steps but also the task of recruiting a different street team for this new genre. Luckily, Nancy’s a quick study and she pulled it off.

 

The guest this week is Carol Van Den Hende (Orchid Blooming, Azine Press, September 2022). We talk about what happens when a character you weren't expecting comes onto the stage and demands to be heard, how Carol bought back the rights to her first book so she could stretch herself and become the publisher of her 3-book series, how she's incorporated her life goals into her writing journey, and how she teaches writers to think of their personal brand as a promise they make to their reader which can in turn help them make choices about where to put their time and energy.

CAROL VAN DEN HENDE is an award-winning author who pens stories of resilience and hope. Her novels Orchid Blooming and Goodbye, Orchid draw from her Chinese American heritage, and have won 30+ literary and design awards, including the American Fiction Award, IAN Outstanding Fiction First Novel Award, and Royal Dragonfly Awards for Cultural Diversity and Disability Awareness.

Buzzfeed, Parade, and Travel+Leisure named Carol's books a most anticipated read. Glamour Magazine recommended her "modern, important take on the power of love." The International Pulpwood Queens selected Goodbye, Orchid as a 2022 Bonus Book-of-the-Month and Orchid Blooming as a 2023 International Book-of-the-Month.

Carol's mission is unlocking optimism as a writer, speaker, strategist, Board member and Climate Reality Leader. One secret to her good fortune? Her humorous hubby and twins, who prove that love really does conquer all.

To learn more about Carol, click here.

This week's guest is Tamatha Cain (Song of the Chimney Sweep, Orange Blossom Publishing, August, 2022). We discuss Tamatha's love of not only the musical heritage of Jacksonville but also true crime podcasts and how she was able to mash the two together in her dual time-line debut novel which tells the story of a missing woman, an interracial marriage, and a mystery played out over the airways. We also discuss Only Oona, her second book and a biography of debutante, actress, and writer Oona Chaplin, whose absent father was the playwright Eugene O'Neill and whose husband was world-renowned Charlie Chaplin.

As the child of an Indian immigrant and her military code interceptor husband, Tamatha Cain lived in four countries and seven states. She is the winner of the 2022 Florida Book Award, the 2020 Royal Palm Literary Award, and The Experience Poetry Competition. A musician and former bandleader, she graduated with honors from the University of North Florida and has a BA in English. She writes book reviews for the Southern Literary Review and is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association, Women Writing the West, and Florida Writers Association. She and her husband live with their weirdly smart little dog in a hundred-year-old bungalow in North Florida.

To learn more about Tamatha, click here.

In this week's podcast with L Maristatter (Tiny Tin House, Niffy Cat Press, August 2022), we examine what she did when her manuscript grew to 380,000 words (chopped it up into bite-sized pieces and made it a trilogy), the challenges of writing a novel that takes a clear political stance (including working hard to make it more than a revenge screed), how essential it is for an indie author to not scrimp when it comes to interior design and cover art and her best advice to over-anxious authors: don't rush to publication but include a 6-month lead-up to release to maximize your pre-publicity.

L Maristatter holds a BA in journalism and an MA in communication. Her short story, "Crying in the Sun," was published in The Saturday Evening Post online, and the web journal Defuncted published her poem, "Child."

Maristatter is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, the Women's Fiction Writers Association, the Wisconsin Writers Association, the Author's Guild, and Realm Makers. She lives in the snowy Midwest, where she tries to stay warm, reads terrific fiction, and eats way too much chocolate. She's on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter regularly, and TikTok and Instagram when she's feeling brave.

To learn more about Lisa, click here.

This week's guest is CJ McGroarty (Clara in a Time of War, Atmosphere Press, September 2022). We talk at length about the world-building inherent in writing historical fiction, a genre that requires the author to not only pay attention to historical facts and real-life events but also be attuned to more subtle details like language, word choice, and style of dialogue and the existing norms of gender roles and codes of conduct in a particular time period. CJ also shares her thoughts on the value of MFA programs and how in-person events are often the best way to make a connection with lifelong readers.

C.J. McGroarty is a former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer with an MFA in Creative Writing. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her short fiction has been published in a variety of magazines and journals. Her debut novel, Clara in a Time of War, was released in September 2022 by Atmosphere Press. When she isn't writing, C.J. gardens, reads, sings, and serves as a tour guide at Historic Waynesborough, the lifelong home of Revolutionary War General Anthony Wayne. She lives in Chester County, Pa., with her husband, Jim, and their cat. C.J. recently completed work on her second novel, The House on Chambers Road, a supernatural mystery set outside Philadelphia.

To learn more about Cynthia, click here.

Today's podcast features Leslie Kain (Secrets in the Mirror, Atmosphere Press, September 2022). We discuss how she writes out her action story first, in cinematic scenes, then goes back and adds in the emotional interiority and reactions later, making sure to not lose the magical voice which is crucial to bringing the reader into the story. Her background in psychology informs her tale of two identical twins caught up in a dysfunctional family dynamic that leaves them both scarred.

Leslie Kain writes "Psychological Fiction With Heart" ― Often dark stories about messed-up people whose greatest obstacles to happiness lie within them. Leslie was always writing something when she was a kid – fantasies, poems, secret plans; culminating in running away across country at fifteen, never looking back. But in her careers (psychology, Government Intelligence, nonprofits), her writing was limited to nonfiction: professional, research. Finally dabbling in fiction during spare moments above the clouds, her short stories found their way into literary journals and anthologies. She developed personal relationships with her characters, who relentlessly nagged her into longer stories. Her debut novel, 'Secrets In The Mirror' has been honored with many awards; its sequel, 'What Lies Buried', will be released May 2024. She also recently contributed to the anthology 'A Million Ways: Stories of Motherhood.' Kain leverages her education, training and experience in psychology to write stories of inner conflict and emotional transformation. She earned degrees from Wellesley College and Boston University. She now lives in Mexico with her husband and 17-year old cat Sheba.

To learn more about Leslie, click here.

In this special edition, we talk round-table style with three of the hard-working volunteers behind making the 10th Anniversary Celebration a success: Jamie Beck, heading up the Agent Pitch and Query Letter happenings, Wendy Rossi, interim co-chair of the event (which means her fingerprints are pretty much everywhere), and Erin Quinn-Kong, in charge of our great line-up of guest speakers and workshop facilitators. We discuss what's in store for the attendees, the long-term planning as well as behind-the-scenes details (nametags, anyone?) that went into making an event like this happen, and what each is most looking forward to next week as 350 members meet in real life in Chicago.

Jamie Beck is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of 18 novels, which have been translated into multiple languages and have sold more than three million copies worldwide. Critics at Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist have respectively called her work "smart," "uplifting," and "entertaining." In addition to writing novels, she enjoys dancing around the kitchen while cooking and hitting the slopes in Vermont and Utah. Above all, she is a grateful wife and mother to a very patient, supportive family.

Erin Quinn-Kong is an award-winning writer and editor based in Austin, TX. Currently the managing editor of Texas Highways, Erin has also been an editor at Austin Monthly, Us Weekly, and Allure. She's been writing fiction since 2019, and her debut novel, HATE FOLLOW, will be released in October 2024 by William Morrow. Born and raised in Missouri, with a three-year detour to California, Erin is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. When she's not writing, you'll most likely find her on an adventure with her foodie husband and their two delightful children.

Wendy Rossi is the Membership Director for WFWA, a role she's been in for almost three years. Prior to joining the Board, Wendy helped to facilitate several online activities for the organization, which led to the opportunity to be nominated for Board service. Wendy is currently polishing her draft of her first work of fiction, a dual-timeline work of Women's Fiction and Historical Fiction. She retired from her professional career in business-project management in January 2023 and is looking forward to pursuing her creative and home-centric interests until grandkids come along.

To learn more about WFWA, click here.