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Our guest this week is Georgina Key (Shiny Bits In Between, Balance of Seven, June 2020). Georgina's novel explores the grief of a mother losing a child and finding solace in both the natural coastal beauty of the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston as well as human connections with others also mourning a loss. Though she debuted during the worst months of the pandemic, Georgina was supported by friends and family around the globe, sponsoring one of the first on-line launch parties and continues two years later to not only write her next book but visit book clubs in person and virtually to encourage others to embrace the resilience of the human spirit.

Georgina Key is an award-winning author whose debut novel, Shiny Bits In Between, is a recipient of the Phoenix prize for Best New Voice of 2020 (Kops-Fetherling International Book Award) and a finalist for the 2022 International Book Awards in women's fiction. Her poetry has appeared in several journals and anthologies. Georgina was born and raised in England and currently lives in Texas where she received her M.A. in English. She has taught writing for over 30 years at community colleges, private writing organizations, and one-on-one mentorships. She is currently finishing her second novel.

To learn more about Georgina, click here.

Our guest this week is Kelley McNeil (A Day Like This, Lake Union, November 2021). We discuss how her book was one of several released during the pandemic which examines how our lives might be different if we'd chosen a different path, with some readers calling it a self-help book in fiction form. Kelley also takes us behind the scenes of what it's like to publish through the women's fiction imprint of Amazon with the full weight of their advertising power behind you, including media exposure, Kindle Unlimited and other promotional vehicles, which led to her currently sitting with over 26,000 online reviews. Kelley is one of three finalists for the 2022 WFWA Star Award for Debut Fiction which will be awarded at the annual convention in Albuquerque at the end of September.

Kelley McNeil is an author whose debut novel, A Day Like This, spent seven weeks topping the Amazon charts in the US and UK and is now available in print and audio in numerous countries and translations. It is currently a finalist for the Women's Fiction Writers Association Star Award for Outstanding Debut. A lifelong writer, Kelley's path first took her into the entertainment industry where she promoted concert tours and theatrical events for more than a decade before returning her attention to writing. She loves telling stories with a good pen and good music on hand, often with her two daughters bopping along nearby. A native of Pittsburgh, you can find Kelley living in South Florida most of the time, and in London the rest of the time.

To learn more about Kelley, click here.

This week's guest is Joani Elliott (The Audacity of Sara Grayson, Post Hill Press, May 2021). Knowing she'd never achieve her dream of being a writer unless she made a serious commitment, Joani quit her academic teaching career to work full-time on her first novel. You won't want to miss the backstory of how the book's high-concept idea came to her (and where). And even though it took three years to finish after that light-bulb moment, it only took days for a top agent she met at a pitch conference to offer to represent her. The result was a traditional contract, glowing reader reviews, and a spot in the finals of this year's WFWA's Star Award for Debut Fiction.

Joani is the wnner of two Whitney Awards. She has taught writing at the University of Maryland and Brigham Young University and has published excerpts of her work in LitHub and Fresh Fiction. Joani is passionate about the magic of shared stories and the power of living a creative life. She and her husband are the parents of two daughters and live near Salt Lake City, Utah.

To learn more about Joani, click here.

Our guest on this podcast is Maan Gabriel (After Perfect, She Writes Press, October 2021). What if your protagonist is the hardest character to write because she's like your shadow self, working through events that might have happened to you if your life had taken a different path? That's what Maan experienced when she began journaling the thoughts that became this novel. Hear her take on how her Filipino-American heritage affected her publishing journey, how she signed with the first publisher she queried, and how Barnes & Noble has turned out to be her best sales avenue.

Maan Gabriel is a mom, wife, dreamer, writer, and advocate for women's stories in literature. She earned her BA in Communications from St. Scholastica's College in Manila and MPS in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. She has lived in Manila, Brussels, Dakar, and Mexico City. During the day, she works in strategic communications. Gabriel, along with her husband and son, currently calls suburban Washington DC home.

"I dream of a world filled with hope, where believing is as important as life itself, and where love can move mountains. This is in the very core of my stories, and I wish in more ways than one that I can inspire you to see the world as I see it … a fairy tale."

Luisa's debut began as a recording of her mother's life growing up in a small village in southern Italy and her journey to break free from the poverty and bleakness of her environment, but quickly grew into a historical novel tracing the journey of a gutsy, independent young woman yearning for a better life. Luisa also discusses publishing through a crowd-sourcing method of finance whereby pre-orders paid for most of her initial costs as well as providing her with a solid group of immediate and loyal fans.

Luisa, affectionately known for her Italian heritage and nurturing traits, is an award-winning real estate agent who lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and three sons. When she's not writing or selling houses, Luisa can be found on the tennis courts, on a yoga mat, or in the kitchen. Luisa is known for her natural cooking abilities and effortless entertaining skills. Scents of tomato and basil drift through her welcoming home as she regularly delights her friends and family with Sunday dinners – experiences she's carried from her own youth that helped to inspire her novel.

To learn more Luisa, click here.

Resurrecting a 30-year old manuscript loosely framed around the novel Madame Bovary by Flaubert, JoAnn set about shaping into a workable novel with help from various sources including webinars from WFWA. Working in details from her own Sicilian heritage, JoAnn fashioned a story of a woman's reawakening in middle age to all of life's wonder and possibilities. She took the hybrid press way to publishing and is well on her way now to a full-time career as a writer.

JoAnn Catania was born in Sicily and immigrated to Canada at the age of seven. Her writing often relates to her Sicilian roots. She has a Modern Languages degree from the University of Toronto and a speaks four languages, as well as the Sicilian dialect. She is a former freelance journalist for Macleans and the Toronto Star. A Scarcity of Virgins is her first novel, and has also been released as an audiobook narrated by Audie award-winning narrator, Cassandra Campbell. She is currently working on an historical novel that takes place in Sicily during the Unification wars led by Giuseppe Garibaldi. She is member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Canadian Authors Association. She is the mother of three and grandmother of seven, and currently lives in the beautiful Georgian Bay area of Ontario.

To learn more about JoAnn, click

Listen to our interview with Judy Stanigar (Marika's Best Laid Plan, All Things That Matter Press, October 2021). The idea for this debut novel came from Judy's experience working in a treatment center for heroin addicts early in her career paired with her clinical training in how people deal with grief. She also shares insights from her stint as a junior editor at Little Brown as we discuss chasing trends and plowing through slush piles and she shares how she hates writing outlines so much she purposely queried only small presses that didn't require one.

Judy Stanigar was born and raised in Israel. When she was a teenager, she moved to the United States with her family. She attended Columbia University and worked as a psychotherapist for many years before turning her life-long passion and love of books into writing.

Her experiences as a therapist became the background for her novel Marika's Best Laid Plan, which was published in October 2021. Judy infuses her writing with the therapist's keen observation of human nature. She writes about people's frailties, which make them loveable and relatable, and tries to imbue her characters with humor and poignancy in equal measure.

Judy has lived and worked across the U.S. including a stint in Jamaica. She now lives in San Diego with her Jamaican-born husband. She spends her spare time, painting, walking the local beaches and trails, and cooking Israeli food with a Jamaican twist.

To learn more about Judy, click here.

This week our guest is Pamela Stockwell (A Boundless Place, Ten16 Press, October 2021). We discuss how the idea for her debut novel sprang from the unusual neighborhood Pamela grew up in and how the 2020 pandemic affected her decisions about how and when to publish. She also shares how signing up for WFWA's morning write-ins changed her life when she decided to volunteer to donate one of her kidneys to a fellow writer in need of a transplant.

Pamela Stockwell was born in Texas, raised in South Carolina, and now lives on a small farm in New Jersey. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Princeton Writers Group. Her poetry has appeared in several literary sites. Her first novel, A Boundless Place, won the 2020 LBW Page 100 Writing Competition and is a finalist in the Florida Authors and Publishers Association's Annual President's Book Awards Contest. Her poetry has appeared in Sparked Literary Magazine and Hope: An Anthology of Hopeful Stories and Poetry by TL;DR Press.

To learn more about Pamela, click here.

In this podcast, we discuss how Kalyn suffered a miscarriage a few years ago and sought solace in fiction only to find very few books dealing with this life-changing event. This led to her writing her debut as a way to not only explore her own experience but also reach out to others in the same situation. She re-wrote her manuscript four times, changing not only tense but point of view, but once finished, was offered a contract from all five of the small presses she queried and signed with one that offered wide distribution through not only on-line outlets like B & N, but placement in independent bookstores as well.

Although Kalyn has been writing most of her life, WHAT WE CARRY is her debut women's fiction novel. After suffering a miscarriage in 2017, Kalyn sought to write the book she wanted to read about loss and hope in the wake of grief. She is currently working on her next women's fiction project, EVERYTHING'S STILL THERE which delves into postpartum depression and the unlikely bonds that tie us together. This book releases with Alcove Press on 5/9/23.

Kalyn lives on the south shore of Long Island with her husband, two daughters (3.5 years old and 20 months old) and very large German Shepherd, Layla. By day she is a professional horseback rider and owns her own equestrian business where she trains horses and riders how to jump. The barn has always been Kalyn's happy place and you will see echoes of this in all of her work.

Before Kalyn began her career as a rider and author, she studied Biology and Biochemistry at Stonehill College with the intention of attending veterinary school and has worked at both large and small animal clinics in the New England area where she grew up. Instead of heading to vet school, she followed her passions and moved to NY to begin her career on the elite show jumping circuit. She now hopes to find the balance between her two loves- riding and writing- as she embarks on her career as an author.

To learn more about Kalyn, click here.

Paulette took 18 years to finish this novel which deals with a secret rarely discussed in women's fiction—the pleasure we seek and deserve in the sexual arena. Hear how Paulette's personal experiences prepared her to tackle this controversial subject matter and how once she did, she put herself through a crash course on self-publishing to make her book a reality. We also dive deep into a discussion of why it's so important for your book cover to send the right message to potential readers about your genre —and what can happen when it doesn't.

Paulette Stout is the fearless author of Women's Fiction tackling taboo topics too long ignored. Her debut, Love, Only Better, is an empowering women's fiction read and bedroom rallying cry for women everywhere. Her follow-up, What We Never Say, is due out November 1, 2022.

Raised by a single dad in Manhattan, Paulette is the gold-star wordsmith and owner of her content marketing agency, Media Goddess Inc., where she crafts content for her list of global clients. Prior to MGI, Paulette led content and design teams at several tech companies, and her New York media agency work earned her three industry awards, including a MediaWeek All-Star.

You can usually find Paulette rearranging words into pleasing patterns while wearing grammar t-shirts.

To learn more about Paulette, click here.