11 episodes

Maggie Lynch interviews a variety of authors of both fiction and nonfiction. Rather than focus on a particular book or selling their latest release, we focus on the author as a career writer. Why this career? What motivates them? Are there common themes in their work? Do they write series or stand-alone books? Where are they in their career and where do they want to be in the next three to five years. Creatives are always interesting, fun, and I learn something every time.

Dust Jackets: Conversations with Authors Maggie Lynch

    • Arts

Maggie Lynch interviews a variety of authors of both fiction and nonfiction. Rather than focus on a particular book or selling their latest release, we focus on the author as a career writer. Why this career? What motivates them? Are there common themes in their work? Do they write series or stand-alone books? Where are they in their career and where do they want to be in the next three to five years. Creatives are always interesting, fun, and I learn something every time.

    Sherrill Joseph Interview

    Sherrill Joseph Interview

    In this episode I interview Children's mystery book writer, Sherrill Joseph. She is a retired K-12 literacy teacher. Her current work is The Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries series, written for children ages 9-14. (Though I have to say, some adults will enjoy these as well) She has garnered multiple awards for these books. I won’t list them all but among these awards are: the Mom's Choice Book Awards, the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, and a Reader’s Favorite Book award.  
     She says she has been inspired by the children she taught, and she uses her writing to  stay connected with "kids who rock."   Her stories present responsible, role-model children detective characters who provide readers with a fun mystery to solve and something to learn, while showing that being respectful and helpful citizens can be cool!  
     
     She lives in San Diego, California, in a 1928 Spanish Mission Revival bungalow. Her inspirations for her series include her historic neighborhood, the Nancy Drew mysteries she grew up reading, and her unique brain which includes lexical-gustatory synesthesia. We we talk about during the interview. To learn more about sherrill, check out her website at https://sherrilljoseph.com   

    • 36 min
    Interviewing Author E. J. Russell

    Interviewing Author E. J. Russell

    My special guest today is E. J. Russell. She as an author of at least 37 published books, including 5 series to date. She writes across several genres: romantic comedy, historical, paranormal mystery, paranormal romantic comedy, and supernatural romantic suspense. 
    E.J. describes herself as a mother of three and a recovering actor who writes romance in a rainbow of flavors. You can count on high snark, low angst and happy endings. Reality? Eh, not so much. She lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.
     You can contact  E.J. and learn more through these connections.
    Website:  https://ejrussell.com/
    FB Profile: https://ejr.pub/ws-fb-profile
    FB Group: https://ejr.pub/ws-reality-ops
    Instagram: https://ejr.pub/ws-insta
    Twitter: https://ejr.pub/ws-twitter
    BookBub https://ejr.pub/ws-bookbub
    Pinterest https://ejr.pub/ws-pin

    • 33 min
    Alma Alexander Interview

    Alma Alexander Interview

    Alma Alexander has written more than three million words in more than 20 books, and countless short stories collected in magazines, anthologies, and numerous collections. She writes for both adults and young adults. Her novel, The Secrets of Jin-shei, has been published around the world in 14 languages. The heroine of her popular YA series, Worldweavers, is as American as Harry Potter is British. With her MSc in Molecular Biology, she has shone the light of science into the shadowy world of shapeshifters in the Were Chronicles. 
    She was born on the banks of an ancient river in Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists. She grew up in Africa when her father moved them there when she was ten years old. They lived in four different countries in Africa: Zambia, Swaziland, and South Africa. She later went to school in a castle in Wales, and has lived in several countries on four continents. An American man she met on the Internet asked her to marry him, promising her coffee in bed every morning. She agreed and then moved to live among the evergreens in the Pacific northwest with two cats as well as visiting deer and raccoons.
    Alma Alexander is a scientist by education, duchess by historical accident, and an author who has written more than twenty novels. Known as the Duchess of Fantasy, she is also a blogger sharing writing tips, and glimpses of both the mundane and magic of a fantasy author's life.
    This interview was recorded in Fall 2021. Due to numerous factors, I was unable to get around to finishing the production until June 2022. This interview is magical. She is one of the smartest, most original authors I’ve interviewed. A true writer's writer. She talks about her process, her life, what makes novels and short stories work. In some ways it was a master class in writing fantasy novels and short stories.
    At the time of this interview, her husband and partner had died six months before and she was still processing that grief and how to get back to writing. Fortunately for all of us, she has returned and since then has released the 20th Anniversary Edition of Changer of Days—the duoology as a single book as originally designed. On July 10th 2022 she released a memoir describing her and her husband’s meeting and their love story. I suggest hankies for this one.
    You can learn more about Alma and her books on her website at https://almaalexander.org 
    She also hangs out on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, BookBub, Goodreads, and if you want to hear from her regularly with patron-only content check out her Patreon option. 

    • 41 min
    Interviewing Laurence O'Bryan

    Interviewing Laurence O'Bryan

    Award-winning author Laurence O'Bryan lives in Dublin, Ireland. In addition to having written 12 books to date, he is also an entrepreneur and owner of BooksGoSocial--a company devoted to helping authors get their books noticed and marketed. Most recently his company has created the first NFT Book Marketplace on the WAX platform. He is focused on helping independent authors connect with reader's interested in collecting limited special edition book creations.
    O'Bryan has solved the problems most readers or book collectors have with NFTs in regard to payment, security, assuring ownership, and making it so that ebooks can be resold by the owner. He's done all this on his Books Go Social NFT site, which offers NFT purchasers easy access and instructions while paying in regular currency (dollars, pounds, euros). His company also provides support both in the buying process and in the reselling process if needed.
    We talk about Laurence's own Book NFT offering, as well as the many other books he has created during his writing career. O'Bryan was born in Dublin.  After going to England, he paid for his own courses and began rising at 4AM so he could study and work at the same time. He studied business, and then IT at Oxford University.
    Laurence was first published by a school newspaper, when he was ten, for a short story about aliens getting lost. Thirty-five years later, he attended an Authonomy workshop and not long after Harper Collins offered a three book publishing contract.  The first of which, The Instanbul Puzzle, won the Outstanding Novel award at the
    Southern California Writer's Conference in 2007.
    Laurence has a great motto that has kept him going: "Not All Who Wander Are Lost – Níl gach uile fhánaí caillte."
    You can learn more about Laurence, his books, and his business at his author website, the booksgosocial website, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Pinterest.

    • 35 min
    Interviewing Lisa Braxton and Leslie Lehr for Women's Fiction Day

    Interviewing Lisa Braxton and Leslie Lehr for Women's Fiction Day

    This is the second of my back-to-back double-author interviews in celebration of Women's Fiction Day. We are focusing on the diversity of stories that make up Women’s Fiction. A reminder that Women’s Fiction Day is June 8, 2021.
    The Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association is planning an entire day of events, getting to know authors, some great deals on books and some nice giveaway prizes. To learn more, check out the link to the WFWA. I also have a full page of information on my website at: https://maggielynch.com/wfday2021.
    Let me introduce you to the two women I’ll be talking with today.
    LISA BRAXTON is an essayist, short story writer, and novelist. Her debut novel, The Talking Drum, was released in May 2020. Barely out a year, it has been racking up awards as well. In 2020 she won the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Award and the National Association of Black Journalists Outstanding Literary Award. Already in 2021 she has been awarded the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for Urban Fiction. You can learn more about Lisa and her books at https://lisabraxton.com/
    LESLIE LEHR is a seasoned writer and essayists. Her women’s fiction includes both fiction and nonfiction. Her critically acclaimed non-fiction book, A Boob’s Life, is currently being developed for a comedy series on HBO. Her novels include: What A Mother Knows, Life Goes On, and 66 Laps. Leslie has also worked in film production and has taught for ten years at the Writers Program at UCLA. You can learn more about Leslie's career and her books at https://leslielehr.com/

    • 43 min
    Interviewing Erin Bartels and Lynn Liao Butler for Women's Fiction Day

    Interviewing Erin Bartels and Lynn Liao Butler for Women's Fiction Day

    Today I'm doing something different. I'm doing back-to-back double-author interviews in celebration of Women's Fiction Day. This podcast is the first of the  double-author interview shows focusing on the diversity of stories that make up Women’s Fiction. A reminder that Women’s Fiction Day is June 8, 2021.
    The Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association is planning an entire day of events, getting to know authors, some great deals on books and some nice giveaway prizes. To learn more, check out the link to the WFWA. I also have a full page of information on my website at: https://maggielynch.com/wfday2021.
    Let me introduce you to the two women I’ll be talking with today.
    ERIN BARTELS is the award-winning author of We Hope for Better Things—a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, winner of the 2020 Star Award from the Women’s Fiction Writers Association in both the debut and general fiction categories, and a 2019 Christy Award finalist—The Words between Us—a 2020 Christy Award finalist—and All That We Carried. Her short story “This Elegant Ruin” was a finalist in The Saturday Evening Post 2014 Great American Fiction Contest. Her poems have been published by The Lyric and The East Lansing Poetry Attack. A member of the Capital City Writers Association and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, she is former features editor of WFWA’s Write On! magazine and current director of the annual WFWA Writers Retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can learn more about Erin on her website: https://erinbartels.com
    LYN LIAO BUTLER was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. In her past and present lives, she has been: a concert pianist, a professional ballet and modern dancer, a gym and fitness studio owner, a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor, an RYT-200 hour certified yoga instructor, a purse designer and most recently, author of multi-cultural fiction. Her mother swears she was not a Tiger Mom to Lyn. Lyn came about her over-achieving all by herself. Her debut novel, A Tiger Mom's Tale, releases July 5, 2021. Already advanced reviews are stellar. Her second novel, Red Thread of Fate, is complete and set to release February 2022. You can learn more about Lyn and keep up with her new books at https://lynliaobutler.com/

    • 42 min

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