This week’s guest is Donette 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 Donette’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 Donette, 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.

Our guest this week is Hope Gibbs (Where The Grass Grows Blue, Red Adept, May 2023). Hope looked around as her kids left for college and thought what now? The result is this southern women’s fiction/contemporary romance mash-up that’s won 13 major writing awards and been licensed by Blackstone for an audiobook release. We discuss how a chapter her editor had her take out because it didn’t advance the story later became the perfect epilogue, how she joined WFWA and immediately binge watched every webinars we offered to learn what she didn’t know, and how, after years of saying no to requests from her five kids, her approach to marketing her debut was to say yes to every offer that came her way.

Hope Gibbs grew up in rural Scottsville, Kentucky. As the daughter of an English teacher, she was raised to value the importance of good storytelling from an early age. Today, she’s an avid reader of women’s fiction. Drawn to multi-generational family sagas, relationship issues, and the complexities of being a woman, she translates those themes into her own writing. A mother of five, she loves playing tennis, pickleball, singing karaoke, and curling up on her favorite chair with a book. She holds a B.A. from Western Kentucky University and is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, the Women’s National Book Association, a tour guide for Bookish Road Trip, and the co-host of the Authors Talking Bookish Podcast.

To learn more about Hope, click here.

This week’s podcast guest is Michelle Paris (New Normal, Apprentice House Press, May 2023). We discuss writing as a catharsis for personal grief, creating a character who’s a stand-in for your own alter ego, the benefits of working with critique groups for useful and safe advice, and how editorial feedback is only useful when you’re ready to hear it. And tune in to hear how Michelle worked with students at the country’s only college-run press at Loyola University in Maryland to bring her book to market.

Michelle Paris is an award-winning Maryland author who writes about hope with humor. Her novels, New Normal and Eat Dessert First, both published by Apprentice House Press, deal with serious subjects told in a heart-felt and humorous way. Michelle has been featured in The Baltimore Sun, The Wall Street Journal, WYPR and WJZ-News Channel 13. Her essays about grief and mid-life dating have appeared in multiple editions of Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational book series. She is enjoying chapter two of her life with her husband, Kevin, and is a proud cat lady.

To learn more about Michelle, click here.

Our guest this week is Amanda Speights (Love’s Arrival, indie published, March 2023). We discuss how her need for control meant she planned to self-publish from the very beginning but also used experts for two important tasks, why 1800’s America has always held a special place in her heart, and how her own childhood trauma helped inform her heroine’s struggles. A self-described “woo” advocate who meditates three times a day, Amanda credits WFWA and specifically its affinity sub-group for indie authors as essential to her writing success. Her best advice for beginning writers? Just write.

Historical Western Romance author, Amanda Speights, weaves spicy tales of resilient women and bold adventures from her home at the foot of America’s Mountain where she lives with her husband and daughter. Her passion for storytelling shines through her work, honoring the Old West’s amorous spirit. Amanda invites her readers to saddle up and journey through love stories that are as enduring as the Rocky Mountains themselves.

Amanda's debut novel, "Love's Arrival," is the first book in the Laurel Springs series, set in the Colorado Territory during the late 1800s. Amanda loves engaging with her readers and offers a newsletter to keep fans informed about her latest releases and book news at her website. She divides her time between crafting her latest historical romance, homeschooling her daughter, and immersing herself in period fiction that spotlights formidable women.

To learn more about Amanda, click here.

This week’s guest is Laurie Beach (The Firefly Jar, Tule Publishing, April 2023). We discuss how she was inspired by a South Carolina wildlife preserve to create her own series’ setting, the importance and difficulty of creating a satisfying ending, and how her experience with grief informed her book’s emotional core. Laurie also shares how she initially taught herself about novel writing by deconstructing Jane Austen’s work, and how her “starter” novel proved invaluable when she took generative writing classes and worked with a book coach. And don’t miss her advice on how writing a rapid-release series can increase sales.

Laurie Beach writes about small southern beach towns, quirky friendships, and true love. When she’s not holding down the couch and typing out words, she stays busy keeping track of her husband and four children. A graduate of Auburn University with a degree in Mass Communications and Psychology, she worked as a television news reporter, an advertising producer, and a political press secretary. She now writes full-time. You can connect with Laurie Beach on Facebook as well as Instagram and TikTok @beachauthor.

To learn more about Laurie, click here.

Our podcast guest this week is Gabi Coatsworth (A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over, Atmosphere Press, April 2023). The concept of a benevolent ghost helping a loved one move on is a popular trope at the moment and Gabi’s book fits right in. Readers like its blend of optimism and small town charm and it has proved there is room for humor in women’s fiction as well as heavier topics like grief and loss. Gabi is a member of both a local critique group and also runs one of WFWA’s Write-Ins, partly because she writes “with an English accent” and often needs help making her prose more accessible. We discuss her success with co-op ads to build her mailing list and how she’s enhanced her own author platform by positioning herself as a go-to interviewer for authors coming through Connecticut on national book tours.

Gabi Coatsworth is an award-winning British-born author and blogger, who has spent half her life living in the United States. Her memoir, Love’s Journey Home, was published by Atmosphere Press in May 2022 and her debut novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over, came out in April 2023. They both won first-place awards in the Connecticut Press Club, and the novel came first in the Indie Author Project Awards. She’s been published in trade publications, and literary journals, both in print and online, and anthologies, and is active in the Connecticut writing community, where she runs several groups for writers. If she’s not writing or traveling, she’ll be in her flower garden, wondering whether to weed, or relaxing with a book.

To learn more about Gabi, click here.