My guest this week is Barbara Dullaghan (Secrets in the Hollow: A Sleepy Hollow Novel, MindStir Media, March 2023). Hear how her home town of Tarrytown, renamed Sleepy Hollow to revitalize the town’s tourist industry, serves as the backdrop to Barbara’s coming-of-age debut novel, how her local writing group’s format based on prompts led to her initially writing in vignettes, and how she pitched her novel to agents at a top NYC writing conference even though it wasn’t written yet (hint: not advisable). Deciding forego the agent/submissions process, she chose a hybrid publisher as her best option—the control and speed of self-publishing but with the help of people who knew the ins and outs of the system.

Dullaghan published in gifted education with Kendall Hunt and Prufrock Press, and her short stories and poetry can be found in three anthologies. She and her husband, Jack, now live in coastal North Carolina and love spending time at the beach with their three children, spouses, and six energetic grandchildren.

To learn more, click here.

Our guest this week is Donna Norman-Carbone (All That is Sacred, Red Adept Publishing, June 2023). Hear how two separate events, one with a well-known medium, came together to provide the inspiration for this award-winning debut, the advice Donna got from a famous author, and how the timing of her publisher’s offer caught her off-guard. We discuss what she did to create five different major characters and the fun swag that resulted as well as how networking with a fellow debut author led Donna to become a co-host of her own writer-focused podcast.

Donna Norman-Carbone, the award-winning author of All That is Sacred and Of Lies and Honey, published by Red Adept Publishing, has a passion for writing women’s fiction that tugs at the heartstrings. Donna is also co-host of the podcast, Authors Talking Bookish, and a tour guide for the Bookish Road Trip. Her writing affiliations include membership of WFWA and CAPA.

Donna is an English teacher in a small CT suburb, where she and her husband have raised three children, two Labrador retrievers and a Siamese cat. In her spare time, she enjoys reading a good book on a sunny Cape Cod beach (her happy place), spending quality time with family and friends and traveling overseas.

To learn more about Donna, click here.

This week’s guest is JJ Elliott (There are No Rules For This, She Writes Press, May 2023). We discuss how a family tragedy formed the backdrop for this debut which JJ wrote to challenge herself rather than with an eye to being published, how picking up a random book to read led her to a retreat that reawakened her love of writing, how she resisted the lure of big-name publishers who wanted to change her core message, why she changed her initial title, and how this last year has been one of saying “yes” to unexpected and serendipitous marketing opportunities, including a mention in Katie Couric’s newsletter.

JJ Elliott’s debut novel, There Are No Rules For This, is the winner of two Zibby Awards—Best Book for Best Friends and Best Book That Made You Cry. It was also a finalist in Best New Fiction in the International Book Awards.

Elliott lost her mother to suicide as a teenager, and spent over two years volunteering on the suicide hotlines in LA. One of the reasons she wanted to write her novel is because she is increasingly frustrated by the way suicide is treated in print and on-screen, as a mystery to be solved rather than a multi-layered, complex mental health situation that can rarely be boiled down to one specific "reason." A native of Northern California, JJ now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two teenage kids, and two poorly trained bulldogs. She loves to read, drink wine, play tennis, and eat cheese.

To learn more about JJ, click here.

This week my guest is Tracey Buchanan (Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace, Regal House, June 2023). When Tracey was tapped to write a script for an historical re-enactment troupe in her small Kentucky town, little did she realize it would propel her into a whole new career as a novelist. We discuss the life lesson her lead character learns during the course of her book which wound up being one Tracey herself experienced, the difference between developmental editing and working with a book coach, how Tracey believes daydreaming about your novel should count as writing time. Finally she shares the atypical venues she’s used for successful book events and the quirky trait she and I share.

Tracey Buchanan crashed into the literary world when she was six and won her first writing accolades. Fast forward through years as an award-winning journalist, mom, volunteer, freelance writer, newspaper and magazine editor, artist, small business owner, and circus performer (not really, but wouldn’t that be something?) and you find her happily planted in the world of fiction with her debut novel, Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace. Tracey and her husband, Kent, live in Paducah, Ky., with their dog, Leapin’ Naughty Lottie Moon. They travel to see their kids and eight grandchildren as often as possible. Tracey hopes to see her second novel come out soon-ish (the publishing world is frustratingly slow). She is working on her third novel while she waits.

To learn more about Tracey, click here.

Our guest this week is Rachel Corsini (Sushi and Sea Lions, Creative James Media, May 2023). What started out as journal entries morphed into Rachel’s debut which she wound up writing in standalone scenes rather than chronologically, later splicing them together using the Save the Cat story structure. We discuss her query process in depth, which resulted in 100 rejection but also 20 agent requests for full manuscripts and three offers from small presses. She went with Creative James Media and shares the pluses and minuses in working with a small press as well as how to market your book after the launch hoopla dies down.

After declaring herself a pretty pink princess during her first ballet class, Rachel dreamt of sugar plums and began pirouetting her way through life. While studying to become a ballerina, she compulsively read books under her covers by flashlight and scribbled in spiral-bound notebooks. The urge to tell stories culminated in her graduation from Columbia College Chicago with a B.F.A. in fiction writing. Never one to keep her feet on the ground, she traveled the world from Prague to Cape Town. Once settled back in Queens, she dabbled in journalism before working as an Editorial Assistant for a medical publisher. Seeking a more fulfilling career, she earned her MAT from Queens College and currently works as an English teacher in an alternative program in NYC. Rachel spends her time sipping coffee, trying to cook, and practicing her pirouettes. She currently resides in Freeport, Long Island.

To learn more about Rachel, click here.

This week’s guest is Dorette Snover (Tales of the Mistress – Historical High Adventures of a Bread Apprentice in Medieval France, indie published March 2023). We discuss how this historical fiction centering on an agrarian society has tie-ins to Dorette’s career as a chef, baker, and founder of a culinary school which sponsors cooking classes in not only the states but southern France. A story that took almost 20 years to complete, we delve into listening to other’s advice vs. finding your own voice, how direct sales through farmer’s markets have worked well for her, and the joys and challenges of researching the history and culture of another country.

Influenced by her French name, Italian heritage, and the food traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country where she was born and raised, Dorette Snover graduated with degrees in education and culinary arts. As a writer, she loves planting tomatoes, making sourdough bread, and walking her stories down paths lined with fig trees. As a chef she’s been a doughnut maker, hospital dietary assistant, food-styler of fried chicken, fraternity cook, private chef, NPR commentator, goat-cheese apprentice, and media escort to cookbook authors. In 1997, she founded C’est si Bon!, a second generation cooking school in Chapel Hill, where her family continues to teach the mysteries of kitchens and cooking; both here and abroad in Europe.

To learn more about Dorette, click here.

Our guest this week is Kelly Huston (Tex Miller is Dead, self-published May 2023). Kelly and I discuss how winning several writing contests not only provided her with inexpensive professional critiques but also added to her author credentials during her agent search, the unique challenges of writing humor, what makes a book a rom-com, and why she and her agent finally parted ways. We then segue into why she’s embraced the indie path to publication (including the freedom to write what she wants rather than worrying about trends), and her long-term strategy for growing her author brand.

Kelly Elizabeth Huston writes women-centric, genre-straddling fiction that always includes laughs and a love story. Often there's heartbreak, a smidge of mystery, moments of suspense, and maybe a dead body... or two. Not always. But sometimes. Above all, she hopes her protagonists are better for it in the end, and she has entertained readers along the way. After spending a few years in the traditional publishing space, Kelly leaped to the indie side without looking back and is eager to dole out her book babies and get them read. She hopes you'll join her in the adventure.

To learn more about Kelly, click here.

This week’s guest is Jane Rubin (In The Hands of Women, Level Best Books, May 2023). Jane’s novel, an historical fiction set in 1908 NYC and centering around both the suffragette movement and early reproductive rights issues, was inspired not only by Jane’s great grandmother but also her lived experience as an ovarian cancer survivor. Her health concerns drove her decision to forego an agent search and push for an expedited pub date with a small press, which has led to two published novels and a contract for two more. We discuss the importance of defining your book’s target market and how going after larger venues with honorariums can help finance a book tour.

With an exten­sive health­care back­ground and a pas­sion for med­ical and women’s immi­grant his­to­ry, Jane Rubin began writ­ing in 2009 after a genetically based can­cer diag­no­sis. Her novels have culminated in a four-book deal with Lev­el Best Books (Thread­bare, In the Hands of Women-2023, and Over There-2025), fol­low­ing the fic­tion­al life of her great-grandmother’s family. Her characters confront the restrictive reproductive rights of the time, the limited roles for women, and the perilous road to financial success.

Her great-grandmother, Tillie, arrived in New York City in 1866 at sixteen and married a man twelve years her senior, later dying of ’a woman’s disease.’ Ms. Rubin was determined to give Tillie a fictional life, imagining her rags-to-riches life and fight with terminal disease. Threadbare was awarded First Place by the International Impact Book Awards and a Five Star designation by Readers’ Favorite. Ms. Rubin's third book, Over There, transports her characters into the thick of WW1. Over There was shortlisted by the Historical Novel Society, 2024 First Chapters Competition.

To learn more about Jane, click here.