Kelly J. Ford returns to the 7am Novelist to talk project management, finding your genre, and not giving up.

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Kelly J. Ford is the Anthony-nominated author of Real Bad Things; Cottonmouths, a Los Angeles Review Best Book of 2017; and The Hunt. An Arkansas native, Kelly writes crime fiction set in the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley.

Today, fabulous fiction duo Patricia Park and Desmond Hall talk about how writing is like exercise, how to invest in your writing career, and the importance of finding a great teacher and writing community.

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To find Park and Hall’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Desmond Hall is the author of two award-winning YA novels, including most recently Better Must Come, which was a top ten In the Margins book pick, CariCon Award for best Caribbean YA novel, and won honors for the Massachusetts Book Award.

Patricia Park is the author of The New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Re Jane, a Jane Eyre retelling; Imposter Syndrome, a Gotham Book Prize finalist; and most recently, What’s Eating Jackie Oh?

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Tessa Fontaine and Annie Hartnett return to talk about accountability (and their new writing retreat).

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To find Fontaine and Hartnett’s latest books as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Tessa Fontaine is the author of THE ELECTRIC WOMAN: A MEMOIR IN DEATH-DEFYING ACTS, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and best book of 2018 by Southern Living, Refinery29, Amazon Editors’, and The New York Post. THE RED GROVE, her first novel, was a best book of May from Amazon and People Magazine, and long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Raised outside San Francisco, Tessa is part of the MFA faculty of the Warren Wilson program. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her daughter, goofy dog and sassy cat.

Annie Hartnett is the award-winning author of three novels: Rabbit Cake, Unlikely Animals, and the national bestseller The Road to Tender Hearts, which won the 2025 New England Book Award for fiction. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband Drew, daughter Leora, and a border collie named Willie Nelson.

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Today, I’m happy to be talk again with AE Osworth as we revisit the concept of Joy-Writing since their publication of their latest novel, AWAKENED.

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To find Osworth’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

A.E. Osworth is a transgender novelist. Their debut, WE ARE WATCHING ELIZA BRIGHT, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and was long-listed for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize, and The Tournament of Books. Their latest book, AWAKENED, was a USA Today Bestseller and received starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus. They are a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing where they teach fiction, interactive fiction, and new media. They research the intersection of creative writing and artificial intelligence with their research collective, called Artificial Intelligence Does Not Exist and they are currently undertaking a project on Undisciplined Art Practices with philosopher Carrie Jenkins.

Today, I finally get a chance to talk to Crystal King whose latest novel, THE HAPPINESS COLLECTOR, was released in December. We’re talking about how a writer might transition into using speculative elements in their fiction—something a lot of authors are playing with right now—as well as the thorny issue of technology, not only how to handle it, but how to make sure it doesn’t squash any mystery you’re trying to create.

Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for a few weeks. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.

I don’t charge for subscriptions, but if you’d like, you can support my work with with a small donation here.

To find King’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Crystal King is the author of IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS, which was a MassBook Must Read, THE CHEF’S SECRET, and FEAST OF SORROW, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and was also a MassBook Must Read. Her latest is THE HAPPINESS COLLECTOR, is an Amazon best fantasy pick. She is an author, culinary enthusiast, and marketing expert. Her writing is fueled by a love of history and a passion for the food, language, and culture of Italy. She has taught classes in writing, creativity, and social media at several universities including Harvard Extension School and Boston University, as well as at GrubStreet, one of the leading creative writing centers in the US. A Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and former co-editor of the online literary arts journal Plum Ruby Review, Crystal received her MA in critical and creative thinking from UMass Boston, where she developed a series of exercises and writing prompts to help fiction writers in medias res. She resides in Boston.

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Today, I’m talking to Rosie Sulton & Barbara Best, directors of a new initiative called Peer Coaching for Writers.

Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for a few weeks. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.

For more info, go here. Or email Rosie and Barbara directly: [email protected] / [email protected]

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To find books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Rosie Sultan is an award-winning novelist, educator, and founder of Peer Coaching for Writers & Artists. Trained through the Harvard University Peer Coaching Initiative, where she served as Principal, facilitator, coach, and coachee, she brings evidence-based listening practices to creative communities. Unlike traditional workshops focused on critique, peer coaching asks: What’s challenging in your writing life? What’s getting in the way? Through presence and deep listening, writers turn isolation into connection and sustain creative momentum together. Rosie is the author of Helen Keller in Love (Viking/Penguin), praised by The Washington Post. Her essays appear in The New York Times and elsewhere. She helps writers discover that the bravest work comes when we feel supported, not judged.

Barbara Best is Executive Director of Convu—where listening happens—and a trained peer coaching facilitator using Harvard University’s peer coaching methodology. Her participation in a Harvard-based peer coaching program deepened her understanding of how structured peer support cultivates dialogue and leadership development. Barbara is a key collaborator in bringing peer coaching to writers. She leads a vibrant community at Convu centered on deep listening and peer coaching across schools, workplaces, and organizations. Previously Executive Director of the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership and Texas Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund, Barbara holds an EdLD from Harvard and centers the transformative potential of peer relationships in all her work.

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Today, I’m talking to Elizabeth Searle, author most recently of the story collection: THE DRAMA ROOM: A Collection in Three Acts. We’re going to be talking about how her scriptwriting has helped her fiction and vice versa, for any of you who might be “script curious.”

Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.

I don’t charge for subscriptions, but if you’d like, you can support my work with with a small donation here.

To find Searle’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Elizabeth Searle is the author of six books of fiction. Her new short story collection—THE DRAMA ROOM: A Collection in Three Acts—was released in the fall of 2025. Her previous books include CELEBRITIES IN DISGRACE, produced as a short film, and A FOUR-SIDED BED, a finalist for an ALA award and in development as a feature film. Over 30 of Elizabeth’s short stories have been published in magazines such as Ploughshares, New England Review, Kenyon Review, AGNI and Solstice. Elizabeth is the playwright of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera, and co-writer of the feature film I’LL SHOW YOU MINE (2023; Duplass Brothers Productions). Her film was released in select theaters and is now widely available on home screens. Both her film and her rock opera have drawn national media attention.

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Today, I’m talking to Charlene Wang, whose debut novel, I’LL FOLLOW YOU, was released in October. We’re going to be talking about how she woke up her passive protagonist by paying attention to the tactile and—simply or not simply—giving her character “something to do with her hands.”

Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.

I don’t charge for subscriptions, but if you’d like, you can support my work with with a small donation here.

To find Wang’s book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Charlene Wang was born in Beijing and, after immigrating to the US when she was three, has lived in seven different cities from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh to Biloxi. Graduating with a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law, she worked as a litigator for six years before quitting to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an author. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her fiancé and their dog Winky.

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Today, I’m so happy to get the chance to talk again with Sheri Joseph. I’ve always been a fan of her work, and her latest, Angels at the Gate, is the kind of dark, academic mystery that also takes its time in digging into the realities of a certain kind of campus life. We’ll be talking about an idea she often teaches about at Georgia State University, and that is how revision is about pushing toward the center of what she calls the life-artifice spectrum.

Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for a few weeks. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.

I don’t charge for subscriptions, but if you’d like, you can support my work with with a small donation here.

To find Joseph’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

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Sheri Joseph’s fourth book, ANGELS AT THE GATE, was published by Regal House in September. Of the book, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote: “This deeply immersive coming-of-age serves up a compelling slice of dark academia that interrogates the complex ways gender roles intersect with class to impact privilege.” And Kevin Wilson called the book “mesmerizing… more than a campus novel, more than a mystery, more than a reflection on memory. It’s heartbreaking, joyful, and utterly unforgettable.” Her previous books are the novels WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME and STRAY, and a cycle of stories, BEAR ME SAFELY OVER. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and the GrubStreet National Book Prize, as well as numerous residency fellowships including Yaddo and MacDowell. A resident of Atlanta, she teaches in the creative writing program of Georgia State University.

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Today, I’m excited to have acclaimed writer Peter Orner with us, author most recently of The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter. We’ll be talking about how he struggled with the structure and timeline of the book. It took him fourteen years. He explains that he was trying to say something slowly. We discuss exactly what that means and how to do it in a time when very little seems slow and it’s difficult to have the patience we need to let a story grow on the page.

Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.

I don’t charge for subscriptions, but if you’d like, you can support my work with with a small donation here.

To find Orner’s latest book as well as many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.

Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.

Born in Chicago, Peter Orner is the author of seven acclaimed books including Maggie Brown & Others, Love and Shame and Love, Esther Stories, finalist for the Pen/ Hemingway Award, and Am I Alone Here?, finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, Best American Stories, and been awarded four Pushcart Prizes. A former Guggenheim fellow and recipient of the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Orner is chair of the English and Creative Writing Department at Dartmouth College. His latest, The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter, was recommended by the New York Times and was listed as one of the best books of the year by the New Yorker, The Chicago Tribune, and many more/ He lives with his family in Vermont, where he’s also a volunteer firefighter.