Hear us Roar

Give a listen to our interview with Lisa Williamson Rosenberg (Embers on the Wind, Little A, August 2022). Lisa's life has been a study in duality. She's a self-described Black Jew, a ballerina turned shrink, and a recovered anorexic and bulimic responsible for feeding her family. Her novel began with the local legend of a ghost from the abolitionist period said to haunt her in-law's familial summer home and grew to include linked stories from three different time periods, as she explores the myriad lived experience of modern Black women. We discuss how she carved out time to write during carpool jaunts, how her agent stuck with her through various "almosts" until selling her debut to an Amazon imprint, and the perks that resulted from being a "First Reads" choice on that platform.

Lisa is an author and psychotherapist specializing in developmental trauma and racial identity. She is also a former ballet dancer with the Pacific Northwest and Pennsylvania Ballet companies. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Lisa's short fiction has appeared in Literary Mama and The Piltdown Review; essays in Lithub, Longreads, Narrative.ly, The Common, Grok Nation, Oldster, and Mamalode. Lisa's debut novel, EMBERS ON THE WIND, about an Underground Railroad safehouse turned 21st Century Airbnb, was released on August 1, 2022 by Little A Books. A born-and-raised New Yorker, Lisa now lives in Montclair, New Jersey with her husband and dog. Lisa is the mother of two college kids.

To learn more about Lisa, click here.

In honor of Women's Fiction Day 2023, pull up a chair and listen to this special edition of Hear Us Roar celebrating Women's Fiction Day 2023. Our guests on the episode are Orly Konig, Kerry Lonsdale, and Laura Drake, three of the founding members of the Women's Fiction Writers Association. We discuss how and why the group got started "way back when", the struggles of the early days, and how the organization has evolved over the last ten years. Finally we end with picking the brains of these seasoned professionals about the genre itself and why the term "women's fiction" may also need to evolve.

Kerry Lonsdale is the Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Kindle bestselling author of the Everything series, No More trilogy, and multiple standalone domestic drama novels. Her books have sold more than two million copies and have been translated into twenty-seven languages. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two adult children (when they're home from college), and three cats.

Laura Drake is a New York and self-published author of fourteen Romance and Women's Fiction stories. Her debut, The Sweet Spot, the 2014 Romance Writers of America® RITA® award. A city girl turned Texan, she's currently working on her accent. She's a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours.

Orly Konig is the founding president of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and author of The Distance Home which was a finalist in both the general and debut categories in WFWA's Star Award; and Carousel Beach, which was named to Southern Living's list of Beach Reads Perfect for Summer Vacation. She lives in Maryland where she can be found juggling multiple works in progress — both writing and crocheting.

Nina has no end of interesting tie-ins to her book that she uses in presentations and social media posts from the history and culture of Venice, to ancient poisons, to the world of art and art patrons, to Talmudic scholars and famous courtesans. Her three-part series straddles the line between women's fiction, historical mystery, and historical romance and her rich background, from studying illustration for children's books to running her own advertising company, has prepared her well for her new career as a novelist.

Nina Wachsman graduated from Parsons School of Design where she studied illustration with Maurice Sendak. After a career as an ad agency creative director, she is now CEO of a digital marketing company in NYC. Her debut novel of historical suspense, The Gallery of Beauties has been nominated for an Agatha award for Best First Novel, and is the first book in this series focused on Venice, with the second book, The Courtesan's Secret, due to release in August 2023. She has family ties to the city of Venice, as a descendant of a well-known chief rabbi, and through the heirloom Sabbath candlesticks from Venice, which her mother lit every Friday night.

To learn more about Nina, click here.

Our guest this week is Chris Posti (Falling Apart, Falling for You, Elk Lake Publishing, April 2022). During the pandemic lockdown, Chris followed the sage wisdom of "write the book you'd like to read" and penned a coming-of-age story for women over fifty. Hear how a serendipitous shared birthday resulted in a publishing contract with a well-known Christian small press and how having a husband who owns a restaurant resulted in a unique marketing opportunity.

Chris' debut novel, featured in this podcast, is the first in a planned series of three books and was recently named a Selah Awards Finalist. While self-employed as a career and executive coach, Chris also published four nonfiction books and wrote a newspaper column for the Sunday Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. She and her husband live in the Pittsburgh area. Other than writing, her favorite activity is being silly with her grandsons.

To learn more about Chris, click here.

Our guest this week is E.J. Tanda (Queen of Secrets, indie published, June 2022). The book Twilight had a profound effect on E.J. when she was suffering a low period in her life and she vowed to try her hand at moving people in the same way. Very much a pantser, her characters present themselves as fully formed and dictate the story to her. Her debut, inspired by a family story, features the unique perspective of a woman who becomes a mafia wife through an arranged marriage. We discuss why she decided to self-publish and how she worked with both a book editor and a marketing specialist to master the skills she launch her book into the marketplace.

E.J. Tanda lives in Northern California with her husband and three sons. Growing up, she was surrounded by a large Italian family. With a rich, cultural background guiding her writing, she weaves her heritage throughout her stories. She graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a degree in English and creative writing. When she isn't writing, she travels the globe to gain experiences for her next book.

To learn more about E.J., click here.

Listen here to our interview with Karla Huebner (In Search of the Magic Theater, Regal House, June 2022). We discuss this novel's quick appearance (3 months to write) but long gestation period (8 years to publish), what it's like to work with a small press, her self-imposed production goals, and how her own life's journey often informs that of her characters. And stay tuned to the end to learn about her unique household pets.

Karla Huebner has lived on a boat and worked in factories, offices, theater, publishing, oil refineries, private investigation, and adolescent drug rehab; she is now professor emerita of Art History at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Over the years, her fiction has appeared in such places as the Northwest Review, Colorado State Review, Magic Realism, Fantasy Macabre, Weave, and Opossum. Her books include the novels In Search of the Magic Theater (Regal House, 2022)--a first-prize winner in Chanticleer's 2022 Mark Twain contest and currently a Reader's Choice finalist—and Too Early to Know Who's Winning (Black Rose, 2023), as well as the prize-winning study Magnetic Woman: Toyen and the Surrealist Erotic (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020). Her collection Heartwood was a finalist for the 2020 Raz-Shumaker award. She is a member of AAUP, WFWA, and SCBWI, as well as several scholarly organizations.

To learn more about Karla, click here.

Our guest this week is Jen Craven (Best Years of Your Life, Indie published, August 2022). Listen in as we discuss why she decided on an academic setting for her debut, the pluses of indie publishing, the importance of professionalism when it comes to book covers, how she used comparable authors to formulate her own marketing plan, and how she's found her niche writing about characters where one decision changes everything.

Jen Craven is the author of emotional and suspenseful women's fiction, stories where one decision changes everything. A former college instructor, she loves dark campus novels, which led to her contemporary debut, "Best Years of Your Life." Her writing style blends poignancy with drama to create what-would-you-do narratives of the human experience. In March 2023, she signed a 2-book deal with Bookouture, scheduled for publication in fall 2023 and spring 2024.

Aside from fiction, Jen has personal essay bylines in national outlets, including The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Today's Parent, Scary Mommy and many more.

She writes from northwestern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and three children. When not working on her books, she can be found thrift shopping, taking long walks, and beating her kids in backgammon.

This week's podcast features Robin Maass (The Walled Garden, Spark Press, May 2022). We discuss MFA programs and how they often neglect to teach story structure, and how, as a result, she had to move from "discovering the book" or pantsing to realizing you need stepping stones along the way. We explore how every book has some kind of mystery at its core and how important it is to spend time figuring out what kind of story you want to tell. Finally, we delve into social media and the appeal of Instagram as a platform.

Robin Farrar Maass is a lifelong writer and reader who grew up in western Washington and fell in love with England on her first trip when she was twenty-two. She enjoys tending her messy wants-to-be-an English garden, painting watercolors, and traveling. The Walled Garden is her first novel, and she's already at work on her next novel set in England. She has an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Redmond, Washington with her husband and two highly opinionated Siamese cats.

Robin Farrar Maass is a lifelong writer and reader who grew up in western Washington and fell in love with England on her first trip when she was twenty-two. She enjoys tending her messy wants-to-be-an English garden, painting watercolors, and traveling. The Walled Garden is her first novel, and she's already at work on her next novel set in England. She has an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Redmond, Washington with her husband and two highly opinionated Siamese cats.

To learn more about Robin, click here.

Our guest this week is Jody Herpin (Relative Consequences, Indie Published, March 2022). Jody always starts any new writing project by getting to know her characters, which includes not only a lengthy questionnaire, but a "face to face" interview, and a visual portfolio, including facial features, how they dress, and how they move. Listen to hear the journey of her debut, her best advice to newer writers, and why querying too soon can backfire.

Jody Herpin is an award-winning author who writes with a Southern accent. A wife, mom, and Grams, she is an animal lover, painter, avid reader, and big fan of the Braves and Georgia Tech. Born in Savannah, Georgia, she currently lives in Metro Atlanta with her husband, Mike, and her dog, Bella.

In her writing, Jody uses pieces of her own life experience to create colorful characters, placing them in settings she has either visited or called home. Her novel, RELATIVE CONSEQUENCES, is set in Atlanta and Bonita Springs, Florida.

Jody's next project, the first novel in a series, takes place in the fictitious town of Sequoyah, which lies in a valley between the mountains of North Georgia. The story revolves around the Campbell family, whose youngest daughter has been missing for four years, and whose oldest daughter, a GBI Special Agent goes home to investigate a gruesome discovery at an ancient Cherokee Indian burial site.

To learn more about Jody, click here.

This week's podcast features Carol Orange (A Discerning Eye, Cavan Bridge Press, October 2020). Carol's background in both art (art books in London, art dealer in Boston) and publishing (editorial assistant at a Big Five house) provided plenty of ideas for her art heist novel centering around the looting of 13 masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum over 30 years ago. We discuss how she learned the craft of writing, the importance of networking and community, and how to handle self-doubt as well as the insights (and fun)you can have during the revision process.

Carol Orange is the award-winning author or A Discerning Eye. The novel was inspired by the world's largest unsolved theft at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Carol has worked in the art world for more than twenty years. She began as a research editor on art books in London and later became an art dealer in Boston. She has an MBA from Simmons University and worked as a marketing manager at the Polaroid Corporation. Along with concert pianist Virginia Eskin who played Chopin's music, she read excerpts from George Sand's novels in three salons at the French Library in Boston.

To learn more about Carol, click here.