Heidi and Ellen take questions from Samantha and Gretchen. Both women used the downtime during the pandemic to write books. Samantha lost her job in museum education, and devoted her time to research and planning a book Last fall she released the first four (!!) novels. In February, she published the first in a spin-off series. She really wants to financially support her writing and also inspire others. She is considering adding coaching or self-publishing classes to her business. She wonders if she is taking on too much (7:30).

Gretchen is a college professor and has taught art history for 25 years. During the pandemic, she started writing and within four months had a book! In her Young Adult novels, the main character travels through a painting or work of art and lands at the time of its creation. The characters learn about these historical periods and themselves. She wants to write a series of these books and also create curricular materials for high school teachers. She wonders if this idea has good potential (15:36).

Heidi and Ellen also talk about the second season of Somebody, Somewhere and also the wonderful book by Maggie Smith, You Could Make This Place Beautiful (27:26).