The Prose Pros

Tali Shammas and Lauren Khan
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

The Prose Pros is a podcast where publishing insiders get real. We confess creative missteps, celebrate our triumphs, and spill trade secrets. Whether you’re a writer, editor, or book lover, join us as we explore the art, the craft, and the chaos of storytelling. talishammas.substack.com

  1. 6d ago

    Learning to Write a Novel with Journalist-turned-Author Juliet Izon

    Juliet Izon is a New York City and Hudson Valley-based journalist and author. Her work has appeared in national newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and magazines like Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and Architectural Digest (a full archive of clips can be found here). Her first novel, The Encore, was published by Union Square & Co./Hachette in March 2026. Born in University Park, MD, Juliet is a proud alumna of Sidwell Friends School and Trinity College, from which she graduated with honors in English Literature. Before becoming a freelance writer, she held editorial staff positions at Bauer Publishing, Niche Media, and Modern Luxury, where she wrote on a variety of lifestyle topics including entertainment, travel, restaurants, and design. In her free time, you can often find her traveling the world with her husband Mike and daughter Aveline. But when she’s home, she’s probably at the theater catching a new dance performance or off-Broadway show.

  2. Sep 1

    Leaving Your Literary Agent with Marisa Walz

    Marisa Walz writes books about people behaving badly. Her debut novel, Good Intentions, was an instant USA TODAY bestseller. ​A lifelong writer and an alum of The Writers’ Loft in Chicago, Marisa’s authorly aspirations started at the age of seven with her painstakingly detailed childhood diaries and some horrible poetry. In her teen years, off the avocado-green Acer in her parents’ basement, she ran e-zines that regurgitated the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle advice she read about in Cosmo and Seventeen. She finally got her first paid writing gig in college as an opinion columnist and reporter for the campus newspaper, where she may or may not have fabricated a couple man-on-the-street quotes. ​These days, Marisa sneaks her writing in before her two young children wake up and after they go to bed. ​She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, kids, and a labradoodle that throws balls to itself and eats whole entire socks.​

  3. Aug 25

    What It Takes to Get Your Novel Adapted for Film or TV with Sophie Stava

    Sophie Stava received her BA in English literature from UC Santa Barbara. She currently resides in Southern California with her family. COUNT MY LIES is her debut novel.

  4. Aug 18

    The Med School to Writer Pipeline with Ahmad Saber

    Ahmad Saber is a young adult author who grew up on an all-girls college campus next to a massive fort in Pakistan. He now lives in Canada, and loves Broadway (favorite show = Phantom), travel (favorite place = 4-way tie between NYC, Seoul, Paris, and Melbourne), and Taylor Swift (favorite album = folklore) He's also a self-professed Chocolate Chip Cookie Connoisseur and has crowned New York's Culture Espresso’s as the best in the world. Ramin Abbas has MAJOR Questions is his debut novel and is based in part on his own lived experience, exploring the inherent challenges of being queer and Muslim, and the struggle to reconcile faith with sexuality. Ahmad is also a medical doctor specializing in rheumatology. Follow him around @theahmadsaber, or visit his website at SaberBooks.ca

  5. Aug 11

    The Best Writing Craft Advice with Kate Emilie

    Kate Emilie is an American writer whose small-town Florida upbringing inspired much of the setting in her debut novel. Kate has an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University, has completed the Curtis Brown Creative ‘Writing Your Novel’ course, and was a Faber Academy mentee. She lives outside London with her family and fluffy cat. In addition to winning Friday Night Live at the 2025 London Festival of Writing, Kate’s debut novel, Seven Dishes to Fall in Love, was a 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair hotlist title, was shortlisted for the 2025 Idea Idol competition, was named a readers’ favourite and longlisted for the 2025 WriteMentor Awards, reached the Top 100 in the 2025 Bath Novel Awards, and reached the Top 50 in the New2TheScene Winter and Summer Novel competitions. Recently, she was the opening keynote speaker at the 2026 London Festival of Writing.

  6. Aug 4

    Honing In On Your Writer’s Voice with Mimi Montgomery

    MIMI MONTGOMERY is a journalist and author who’s written for outlets like Axios, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Garden & Gun, and Outside Magazine, and her reporting has been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Inside Edition, and CNN, among others. Mimi attended the University of Virginia and has a master’s from Georgetown University. Originally from North Carolina, she lives in D.C. with her family and several furry dependents. Her first novel, MURDER BITES, is out today, Aug. 4, 2026, with Bantam | Penguin Random House.

  7. Jul 28

    Getting to the Auction and 7-Figure Deal with Evann Normandin

    Evann Normandin is a writer with a career in educational publishing. She studied English and Theatre at Middlebury College, then got her MSc at the University of Edinburgh in modern and postmodern literature. After a stint as a theatre critic for BroadwayWorld in Washington, DC she moved to Massachusetts where she lives in a small, quirky town she takes inspiration from daily. When she’s not working or writing she’s exploring New England with her husband and son. Evann's debut, THE GOOD PARTS, is a dual-timeline speculative love story that follows a woman who undergoes an irreversible memory-erasing procedure, and the man she once loved who reenters her life as a stranger, determined to make her fall for him all over again—but at a cost. THE GOOD PARTS is out now!

  8. Jul 21

    From Lawyer to Bestselling Author with Carinn Jade

    Carinn Jade is a lawyer, writer, and co-host of the Pop Fiction Women podcast. Her debut novel, The Astrology House, was a 2025 International Thriller Writers' Awards finalist in the category of Best First Novel and an Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. The Dahlia Suite is her second novel.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The Prose Pros is a podcast where publishing insiders get real. We confess creative missteps, celebrate our triumphs, and spill trade secrets. Whether you’re a writer, editor, or book lover, join us as we explore the art, the craft, and the chaos of storytelling. talishammas.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Tali Shammas and Lauren Khan
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Tali Shammas and Lauren Khan
  • Show Website
    The Prose Pros

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