The Bookshop at the End of the Internet

Author Kella Campbell's debut romance novel is titled, Rock Star's Heart. Kella found inspiration for her book at her local coffee shop. One of the baristas played in a rock band, and he shared stories and answered Kella's questions about the rock star life. Inspired, Kella soon found herself hard at work on Rock Star's Heart. Tune in to hear Kella discuss her writing journey, the contract that exists between romance writers and romance readers, and her goal of writing love stories that leave people happy.

Author Adair Sanders is a lawyer turned mystery writer. She is the author of the Allison Parker mystery series, but her first foray into writing was a memoir—the story of generational dysfunction within her own family—titled Biologically Bankrupt. It led Adair down the unexpected path to becoming a published author. Tune in to hear Adair discuss her writing journey, why she decided to write her family's story, and how her mystery series protagonist introduced herself to Adair in a creative writing class.

Thriller writer Kathleen Lopez is the author of several novels and short stories, including Between the Shades of Light and Dark. That story began as a college homework assignment, but it was relegated to Kathleen's bucket list. 18 years later, she picked up where she left off, and her novel was finally published. Tune in to hear Kathleen chat about her writing journey, how her method of creating stories strongly resembles a game of Clue, and how having a good teacher and mentor can make all the difference.

Author Nicole Saunders's debut novel is titled, Disposable. It is a provocative story about surrogacy and the lengths people will go to for the perfect family. Nicole's day job as an attorney informs this legal tale, which is meant not only to thrill and entertain but also to advocate for ideas that are close to her heart. Nicole discusses her writing journey, how she manages the discord between legal writing and creative writing, and how she aims to write stories that both advocate and entertain.

Melody Johnson is the author of the acclaimed urban fantasy, paranormal romance Night Blood series. Melody has always been a fan of the vampire genre. When she decided to write her series, she wanted to put her own spin on the genre while still filling her stories with copious amounts of both danger and romance. Tune in to hear Melody discuss her writing journey, her love-hate relationship with the editing process, and her belief that, when it comes to vampires, danger and romance go hand in hand.

Author Nikesha Elise Williams is an award-winning news producer. While developing story ideas for her novel, Nikesha was inspired by news coverage of the Trayvon Martin killing and similar events, but she wondered how many cases involving black women and girls were not receiving the same degree of press coverage. Inspired by what she was not seeing in the news, Nikesha wrote her novel, Four Women, a story about four African-American women are forced together by a single event, all while the world watches.

Odeta Xheka is an artist and author whose debut children's picture book is titled, Here Comes Ingo. It is a wordless picture book filled with colorful handcrafted collages that invite young readers to make inferences as to what the characters are thinking, feeling and doing. Odeta openly encourages children to write and draw on the pages, enabling them to add to the story in their own unique way and helping them develop the skill of being open-minded when confronted with the unknown.

Malayna Evans writes middle grade fiction. Her debut novel, Jagger Jones and the Mummy's Ankh, is a fantasy adventure story and is the first installment in a trilogy that involves time travel, ancient Egypt and two kids from the South Side of Chicago. Tune in to hear Malayna discuss her writing journey, the challenge of balancing history and fiction for young readers, and how her Ph.D. in Egyptian History came in handy while writing this book.

Sophia Gholz is a children's picture book author. Her debut work is titled, The Boy Who Grew a Forest. It is the true story of Jadav Payeng, who single-handedly planted over twelve hundred acres of lush forest on a once barren island in northeastern India. Tune in to hear Sophia talk about her writing journey, the magic of Jadav's story and the lesson that small things done by one person can have a big impact on the lives of many.

Angelica Shirley Carpenter is an author, retired librarian and Wizard of Oz expert. Angelica's latest book, Born Criminal: Mathilda Joslyn Gage, Radical Suffragist, chronicles the life of one of the most important (but least known) leaders of the early women's movement—a woman who was effectively written out of history. Angelica's book is intended to write Mathilda Gage back in. Tune in to hear Angelica discuss her writing journey and the curious connection between Mathilda Gage and the Wizard of Oz.