Contemporary Fiction Episodes

Rebecca and I discuss One Italian Summer, exploring the dialogue between fate and free will, including a bit of magical realism in her stories, how the inspiration for her stories comes from what she is personally working through at the time, the hardest character for her to write in One Italian Summer, and much more.

Jennifer and I discuss The Unsinkable Greta James, writing a love story about Greta and her music, exploring what it is like to live a creative life, the effects of living in such a connected and public world, how working in the publishing industry impacts her work, and much more.

Lyn and I discuss Red Thread of Fate, how this book is a more personal story for her, wanting to make sure she had the adoption details exactly right, the difficulty of writing a shy/reserved character, found families, and much more.

Elena and I discuss The Spanish Love Deception, her unusual and very cool publishing journey, winning the Goodreads Choice Best Debut Novel Award and what the selection process was like, her favorite romance trope, how being a romance blogger and bookstagrammer prepared her to write rom-coms, and much more.

Lizzie and I discuss Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?, her personal inspiration for this book, her belief that self love is the most important kind of love, creating an immersive story format, the television show that inspired her, the process for finding her book's title, and much more.

Wiley and I chat about When Ghosts Come Home, why he chose to set the book in 1984, how good stories come from tension, why he is comfortable writing female characters, how the title came about, and much more.

For this special episode, Carol Ann Tack of Top Shelf at Merrick Library and I interview Kimmery Martin together. We talk about her new book Doctors and Friends, writing the book pre-pandemic, how it changed post-pandemic, her wonderful website, and so much more.

Tabitha and I discuss Paper Airplanes, telling this very personal story, how 9/11 transformed the United States, the chapter she found the most difficult to write, participating in Pitch Wars, her publishing journey, and much more.

Kristy and I discuss Christmas in Peachtree Bluff, writing a holiday story versus a non-holiday story, returning to Peachtree Bluff after a hiatus and whether she will write more in the series, Friends and Fiction, and much more.

We discuss We Are Not Like Them, how they started writing the book together and what their writing process looked like, encouraging people to have more in-depth conversations on race, why storytelling induces empathy, being selected as the October Good Morning America book club selection, the editorial process, and much more.

Tracey and I discuss her debut novel We Are the Brennans, her writing process, the characters she enjoyed writing the most and the least in the book, writing from multiple points of view, the Little Free Library drops coordinated by Celadon Books, and much more.

Jayne and I discuss her unusual and ultimately rewarding publishing journey, her new role at Zibby Books, how her background involves working in industries at a time of significant upheaval, her trilogy, and much more.

Jane and I discuss The Sweetest Remedy, writing in the third person, being selected for Book of the Month (twice), setting a book in Nigeria, crafting her second novel, and much more.

Jo and I discuss Three Rooms, how she decided to write this story, whether working as an editor helped her when crafting this book, her writing process, why she doesn’t use speech marks, and much more.

Eden and I discuss The Bennet Women, retelling Pride & Prejudice on a contemporary college campus, how she formed her writing group and decided to tell this story, her publishing journey, writing from multiple points of view, and much more.

Charlotte and I discuss Once There Were Wolves, how she decided to write about wolves and rewilding the Scottish Highlands, her research, mirror touch synasthesia, crafting Inti’s strong character, and much more.

Suzanne and I discuss So We Meet Again, the male-dominated investment banking industry, her stint as an entrepreneur, wrapping in the craziness of 2020, her favorite character to write, and much more.

Jason and I discuss Hell of a Book, the autobiographical nature of this book, his writing process, being selected as the July "Read with Jenna" book club selection, how the book is designed to start conversations about race and identity, and much more.

Meg and I discuss her new book The Runaway Heiress, how it took her a while to realize she was a writer, her inspiration for the character Mick, reconciling her past so she could move forward with her future, writing romantic suspense, creating her "Cozy Tea Time" on YouTube, and much more.

Jamie and I discuss Blush, paying homage to the books that have stayed with her for decades, what Jackie Collins’ daughter thought about Blush, the unfortunate push to categorize books by women and how men’s books are not treated the same way, how art cannot be judged in the moment, and much more.

Lyn and I discuss The Tiger Mom’s Tale, what she wants readers to take away from her book, bringing Taiwanese culture and food to life, how her Instagram blooper Reels came about, her unusual publishing journey, and much more.

Chantel and I discuss Instamom, the world of Instagram influencers and how individuals now make careers of out being influencers, the term childfree and how it better reflects not having children, her book recommendations, and much more.

Amy and I discuss Lady Sunshine, how Woody Guthrie and Fleetwood Mac inspired her book, crafting the lyrics for the songs included in Lady Sunshine, taking someone’s art and finishing it, her unique Covid writing spot, and much more.

Saumya and I discuss What a Happy Family, wanting to focus on mental health and the ways we do and do not talk about it, how memories are filtered through our own experiences, the origins of the title, balancing two careers and a young child, and much more.