Welcome to Authors Love Readers
This podcast, hosted by USAToday bestselling author Patricia McLinn, is a conversation between authors about how and why they create stories. With questions contributed by readers. Quite a few podcasts are out there for aspiring and established writers, both on the craft and the business.
This podcast, though, is for readers.
The goal is to have authors on the show who write in all sorts of fiction genres. As a reader, it doesn’t matter which path to publication an author takes – independent, traditional, hybrid and other combinations. That’s not going to matter on Authors Love Readers, either.
Listen to the latest podcasts
Episode 55: Plotting Ahead, with R.J. Patterson
R.J. Patterson, an award-winning writer and mystery/thriller author, grew up in a military family and spent some of his formative years living on the estate of an English baron and baroness. Upon returning to the United States, R.J. entered the field of journalism where he won numerous writing awards and was published in prestigious U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times. He later left journalism full-time to pursue writing books, starting with the sports reporter Cal Murphy series of murder mysteries. The Man From Leningrad, Book 5 of his Ed Maddux spy thriller series, came out in November. Book 16 of his popular Brady Hawk series is due to be released in February.
R.J. now resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and four children.
R.J. talks with host Patricia McLinn about plotting ahead to create continuity while maintaining the flexibility to bring back beloved characters.
In his own words: “I have a big arc that I scripted out a long time ago — this is where the story is going and where it’s going to end up. And so about 10 percent of it is that thread in all the novels … that strings them together.” [20:35]
You can find R.J. at:
and
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 54: You Have to First Be a Reader, with J.F. Penn
British author J.F. Penn has traveled the world in her study of religion and psychology. She brings these obsessions as well as a love for thrillers and an interest in the supernatural to her writing.
Her fast-paced ARKANE thrillers weave together historical artifacts, global locations, and a hint of the supernatural. Described by readers as “Dan Brown meets Lara Croft.”
Joanna talks to host Patricia McLinn about using traveling at motivation for her books and how she spent many years as a reader before becoming an author.
In Joanna’s own words: “All readers are intelligent people, and they know books, they love books, and it intimidates them. And they think, ‘I could never do that.’ But the problem with being a reader is you’re reading a finished product. SO the thing that kind of changed my life as a writer was realizing that there was a first draft.” [10:06]
You can find Joanna at her:
or
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 53: Growing Into a Writer, with Rebecca Forster
California-based Rebecca Forster started writing novels on a crazy dare. Now she is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of more than 35 mysteries and thrillers that have been called “Perfect … impossible to put down” by famed law professor Laurie Levenson.
After earning her MBA, Rebecca spent 14 years as a marketing executive before taking the leap to a creative career. A full-time author, speaker and teacher, Rebecca focuses on legal and political thrillers, but is known for bringing an uncommon sense of character and compassion to her work. Her most recent title, Secret Relations (Book 3, Finn O’Brien Thriller Series), released last year.
Rebecca teaches the craft of writing and the cultivation of creativity at programs that have included the acclaimed UCLA Writers Program and as a guest speaker at legal associations, writer’s conferences, women’s symposiums and philanthropic groups.
Rebecca speaks with host Patricia McLinn about how she got into writing, not only the dare but the things in life that got her to say yes and write her first novel.
In her own words [about loving books before writing them]: “I was a really avid reader, and still am, and I just always had a book in my purse [or] in my hand.” [13:50]
You can find Rebecca at her:
or
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 52: Happy Holidays Episode, with Patricia McLinn
Host Patricia McLinn offers her readers seasons greetings and wraps up the first year of the Authors Love Readers podcast, talking about the unexpected benefit of providing good advice for aspiring writers and why lining up author interviews is sometimes like herding cats. She also urges readers to send to her questions they’d like her to ask future guest authors, and she looks forward to next year.
And to those new to Patricia’s author world, that’s her rescue dog Kalli in the Santa hat. If you keep up with Patricia on her twice-monthly readers newsletter or Facebook page, you’ll see more photos and news about the charismatic collie, along with book updates and special deals.
In Patricia’s words: “I would love to have more reader questions. I am your designated question-asker … but I want to know what questions you all would like to have answered. Not to mention, you’ve come up with some fabulous questions. … It points out the variations among the authors and it shows how individual each of us is.” [6:40]
You can find Patricia at her:
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Transcript: Happy Holidays Episode
Patricia McLinn [00:00] Hi, welcome to this week’s Authors Love Readers podcast, where we delve into the stories behind the stories. We’re asking authors questions. Some of them fun, some of them serious, and from their answers, you’re going to learn things you never knew about the people who write the stories you love. My name is Patricia McLinn. I’m your host and designated question asker. Now let’s start the show.
Happy Holidays all you Authors Love Readers podcasts listeners. It’s my pleasure to wish you the very best at this time of the year. Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate. Happy New Year to everyone. And I hope whatever holidays you’re celebrating, it brings you joy and you can find joy in multiple places.
[00:59] I love the holidays that I don’t necessarily personally celebrate. I love seeing the lights and the pleasure and all that good stuff. So I hope you will, too. This is also going to be a mini kind of wrap up. We have come through the first year of the Authors Love Readers podcast. It started in the beginning of January of 2018.
And of course, that brings contemplation of what has happened in the past year, and where we’re going from here. So I want to wrap up the first year, a little bit. And one of the things as a longtime journalist, one of my favorite questions of people was what surprised them about whatever I’m interviewing them about. Surprising how many people don’t know what surprised them, but when they did, when they stopped and thought about it, a lot of the, a lot of times the answer was really revealing and, and dug deep. So, uh, I hope that does this a little bit.
[01:59] What are the things that surprised me about doing the Authors Love Readers podcast is that I want it to be, and it is focused to readers. What readers would want to know from authors if they had an opportunity to sit down with them and chat. But what I’ve seen too, is that so much is really valuable for aspiring writers. So if you have any interest in writing, I highly recommend that you go back and listen to the episodes. There are gems in there. And that was a complete bonus as far as, as far as I was concerned, I didn’t know that was going to happen. And I’ve been delighted by it.
The other thing it tells aspiring writers is the huge variation. Although I knew this, it still surprised me to an extent. It certainly fascinates me the different ways that authors approach writing and the rare times where we actually do something similar. We follow the same path. It’s an endless education, both in how people operate and of course in the writing.
[03:13] So for aspiring writers, it should be very supportive and feel like whatever way is working for them is the way to go forward. And there always are opportunities to try different approaches and different methods. But in the meantime, what’s working for you is fine. You are valid and that, all that matters is that you’re getting the words down on the page and then trying to make them better.
Another thing that surprised me, greatly surprised me, was the, I know people have talked about that the,sometimes working with authors, it’s like trying to herd cats. And I was president of Novelists, Inc., which you’ve all heard about numerous times, way back in 2007. And I experienced some of that at both as president and the various stints on the board, but not like I have with Authors Love Readers podcasts, they are worse than herding cats.
[04:18] And I want to say these are not the people that you’re hearing on the podcast, the ones you’re hearing on the podcast are the good cats. They’re the ones who show up at the time that they selected and don’t leave me hanging. The reasonable and responsible ones. I just am flummoxed by, by folks. It’s given me a little more empathy actually for like doctor’s offices who call and remind you over and over and over that you have an appointment.
And it always irked me because I was like, I’m a grownup. I know what my appointment is. Stop bugging me. Well, now I’m seeing the other side of it. I, on the other hand, I don’t want to be that person. Reminding and reminding and reminding people. That’s not my job. That’s not my, my, um, skills, uh, strafe. I just don’t want to do it.
[05:13] So that has been an interesting, an interesting aspect of this over the past 52 weeks. I want to say I started, um, Authors Love Readers podcast with a group of people I knew very well and had great attendance from them because they knew I would get them if they didn’t show up at the right time. Um, the flip side of that, I also knew that if I messed up the technology, they were my good friends and they not only had to forgive me, but they had to redo the show.
So as a, as the year has gone on, I’ve ventured a little bit more into people, I don’t know, quite as well, which has been interesting and learning about them and getting to know them better. I’ve enjoyed that greatly. Uh, it’s a little, uh, um, little more trepidation. I think for me, both in the, trying to get them signed up and then in asking the questions and making sure that the show goes well, but the imbalance it’s been terrific.
[06:17] And again, I want to emphasize if you’ve heard the person’s interview on Authors Love Readers podcast, they are not one of the straying cats. They are the good person, good people. And the other ones aren’t bad people. They’re just not as reliable, I guess. Okay. Another thing that really has surprised me is that we haven’t had more reader questions.
I would love to have more reader questions. That’s what this is for. I’m, I am your designated question asker. I can always come up with questions, but I want to know what questions you all would like to have answered. Not to mention you’ve come up with some fabulous questions. And I love having that continuity of the questions that come from the readers, because it points up the variations among the authors and it shows how individual each of us is.
[07:15] And I want to ask what you want to ask, because I love hearing their, the author’s answers. So please send us some questions. So you can just do it at podcast@authorslovereaders.com or you can find the, the contact also through the website, www.authorslovereaders.com
That’s been the year in Authors Love Readers podcast. I’d be curious also to know from you all, whether you have interest in the solo shows that I’ve done. I will tell you the truth, most of those happened because an author didn’t show and they were supposed to show. So, um, I sort of punted, and I enjoyed doing them, but I would like to know if that’s what you all want or whether you just have like, to have me skip those shows.
[08:08] Sometimes there’s news to tell you about the publishing world. A lot of times there’s not, there’s news, but it’s not stuff that I think you’d be interested in, you know, and in any business, there’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that is of great interest to those of us active in it, but, you know, it’s, it’s paint drying to other people.
So, uh, but I can talk about bigger, you know, the bigger trends and news, and I could talk about, well, continuing to do the author translate what, what, some of the terms and ideas that come up in the interviews, you know what we’re talking about. And I could also talk about, you know, more individual things I’ve done, uh, various times I’ve done a column called word watch on word usage. I could talk about some of those things.
[09:00] If you wanted, I could talk more about my work, mostly in the past. I know as you know, from, if you’ve listened to some of the interviews, I don’t talk too much about what’s coming up, because if I talk about a story, my little brain goes, Okay, that one’s told let’s go play with something else.
So I have to be very careful about that, but there are things that I could talk about. For instance, now that I’m here, I will say I started this year, I started an eBook store where I can sell my books directly to readers through my website. And I’ve found that to be a fascinating process. And I hope the readers might be interested in that too. So maybe we could talk about that at some point. But I want you all to let me know what you’re interested in. So again, email me.
[09:53] Looking to next year, to year two for Authors Love Readers podcast. I’m not totally committed to this, but I think we’re going to have some schedule changes. And the effect of that will be to spread the episodes out a little more. And that comes back to authors being like herding really bad cats, feral cats. The fewer authors that I interview, the less herding that’s required.
And while I want the, the author interviews to remain the core of the show. We may spread it out a little more and have some weeks where we don’t have episodes. It takes a lot of time to do the interviews. I love talking to the authors in case you can’t tell, it’s like, you know, it’s like sitting around the bar and chatting at a conference about how they work and what they’re doing and why they do it that way. And did they always do it that way or did they start from something else and who are they and where do they come from?
[10:52] So yeah, you can tell I like that. Uh, I can’t think of a single episode where it wasn’t fun and that I didn’t learn something. The other side of it is it consumes a big chunk of my time. And I never have enough time. That’s like a lot of us.
I was writing my Christmas cards and I wrote to somebody and said that because of my dog’s, um, adventures in surgery this year, as those of you who follow me on Facebook are aware, or, or on my newsletter, that I was really behind. And I got a little, little note back. She said, You say you’re behind every year. Well, I am behind every year, every month, every week, most days, but sometimes it’s worse than others. So yes, the podcast does put me behind, but it, it brings me things too. So I’m trying to find a balance there.
[11:54] And it’s not only, I know, you know, that we talk longer than the allotted time. Because we have these combo episodes that we’ve put together from extra bits, we’ve had to cut out so that they, you weren’t listening to a two-hour interview, but I will tell you we also chat before and after. And so it becomes quite a commitment of my time Whose fault is that? I don’t know, couldn’t possibly be mine. Right?
So there is time, time is, is a big factor. Spreading the, the episodes that will also make it somewhat more affordable. As I’ve said to folks before, I’m supporting the podcast. What I spend on editing and hosting and recording fees. Plus the hours for my assistant, who does the show notes and puts, puts the episodes up on my website and, you know, keeps kind of keeps the wheels turning in that way.
[12:53] It’s all money that I can’t then spend on my book business, which is my core business. My income. You know, and it got to keep Kalli in treats. So not to mention, you know, the, the basics of heat, and electricity, and all that good stuff. It also means that I’m not putting as much money back into building my book business, um, whether that’s through advertising or, you know, fluffing up and renewing the presentations through new covers and reformatting or spiffing up my website.
I need to balance how I’m spending my time and my money in doing the podcasts. Unfortunately, right now, it’s doing the podcast versus supporting my core business. I hate that it’s versus I wish they could be mutually beneficial. So that’s the goal. I, I come back to, uh, you know, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the folks who have who’ve donated through Patreon, who they’re showing that support with a small monthly donation.
[14:01] It means so much. It’s great encouragement, and I would love if each of you would consider that. I am surprised, frankly, at how much it means to me. And I think it is because it’s the affirmation, They liked me, they really liked me. And that holds true also for ratings and reviews, which I hugely appreciate, and if you all would take the time to do that, that would be fabulous because that also then draws in more listeners, and it shows you a lot of this.
So that’s really wonderful. If you’re not familiar, then I keep going back and forth between Patreon and patrion. It should be patrion because I’m Pat, but it should be Patreon because of patron. So I will just alternate whenever I feel like it. If you’re not familiar with it, it is a platform where creators ask for support for their creation, and I’m doing it strictly for the podcasts.
[15:00] This is not for me as an author. The only way I’m supported as an author is through the sales of my book. You sign up for how much you want to give a month and that amount is taken from your credit card each month. And it can be as little a, have a dollar or two dollars a month. You can give more if you wanted to. I don’t know what I, what I do if somebody gave the max. I would just probably fall over in a faint.
But it’s very easy. I support several podcasts myself that way, it’s not difficult to stop donating. So don’t worry about one of those things where you get caught up and you can’t ever escape. It’s not like that at all. It’s also easy to up your donation, as I also know. So that would be wonderful.
[15:48] What else I would like from you folks in 2019 is to know what you would like to ask the authors that are interviewed. So do please send in those questions. And what would you like to hear from me? I would like to know that too. This episode is going to be, um, kind of the only one during the holidays, we will pick up the regular or schedule on Wednesday, January the ninth, with a new interview and episode.
Cause I wanted to give Dylan, the editor, and Kay, my assistant, a little time off from these duties. Poor Kay has a lot of other duties that she’s not getting totally off of. Cause got to keep the wheels going on the bus. Right? But we would love to hear from you, authorslovereaders.com. The email is podcast@authorslovereaders.com
[16:44] I hope you’ve enjoyed this year. I hope you’ve learned things as I have, different things, and I’d love to hear what you have learned. I wish you, the coming year of wonderful reading and satisfying reading and, you know, I can’t wish you any better than saying, May you have as many treats in your life as my dog Kalli gets. Cause you will be in clover.
So Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas. I’m a little late for Happy Hanukkah, but I’ll say it Happy Hanukkah, very Happy New Year to you. To all of us. Here we go. Let’s make 2019 terrific.
[17:37] That’s the show for this week. Hope you enjoyed it. And thank you for joining Authors Love Readers podcast. Remember, you can always find out more about our guest authors in the show notes, and you can find out more about me at www.patriciamclinn.com. You can also send in questions to be asked of future authors at podcast@authorslovereaders.com
Until next week. Wishing you lots of happy reading. Bye.
Episode 51: Tips from 28 Years in Publishing, by Patricia McLinn
Host Patricia McLinn gives tips from her 28 years in the publishing industry, using a “theoretical numbering system.” Topics include dialogue, character arc, writing process, editing, business and marketing, and hard truths.
In Patricia’s words: “All writing advice is a buffet. You can pick and choose, you can try something, you can take a little taste of it, decide it’s not for you and leave it on your plate. … What you feel like eating right now might not be what you want later.” [3:30]
You can find Patricia at her:
or Twitter
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 50: Characters Must Suffer, with Nicole Jordan
New York Times bestselling author Nicole Jordan has penned more than 30 historical romances that simmer with passion and sensuality. Set in numerous eras and locales, Nicole enjoys chronicling the sparks that fly when Regency lovers play the matrimonial mating game. Her latest novel, My Fair Lover (2017), earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, a Best Book nod from Amazon, a Fresh Pick from Fresh Fiction, and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews. Other honors include RITA finalist, Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Historical Romance, and the Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence, presented by a group of more than 100 romance reviewers.
Nicole grew up an Army brat, earned a civil engineering degree from Georgia Tech and worked as a manufacturing manager making disposable diapers and toilet tissue. She now lives in Cincinnati with her beloved show horse, EZ.
Host Patricia McLinn talks with Nicole about transitioning from an engineer to an author, how secondary characters make great sequels, and why characters must suffer.
In Nicole’s words: “[I] just tried to write the emotional stories that had a lot of conflict; with a wonderful, happy ending and strong characters who overcome their own obstacles. Because that’s what appealed to me.” (51:52)
You can find Nicole at:
Her website
or
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 49: Bonus Content #2, Various Authors
In our second compilation episode, we bring you bonus interview material that didn’t make it into previous episodes. (So little time, so much to talk about!)
Host Patricia McLinn talks with podcast guest authors Tawdra Kandle, Lou Aronica, Debra Salonen, Kevin Tumlinson, Barbara O’Neal, Steven Womack, Kate Moore, Yvonne Lindsay and Mary Buckham.
Topics include:
Recognizing a story at a young age [2:23]
The Power of Words [2:52]
Music [4:13]
Food [20:45]
I Don’t Have a Favorite Color [26:22]
Life in The 1800s [28:33]
Parents [36:57]
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episode 48: Ideas to Haunt You, with Steven Womack
Author, screenwriter and film school professor Steven Womack began his first novel when he was 18 years old. A short 18 years later, he finally published one. Murphy’s Fault was the only first mystery named to the 1990 New York Times Notable Books List. Since then, he has published 10 more novels, winning Edgar and Shamus awards and multiple nominations with his Harry James Denton mystery series. In 2014, he co-authored with New York-based screenwriter Wayne McDaniel on Resurrection Bay, a mystery based on the real-life story of Alaska serial killer Robert Hansen. His most recent work is the nonfiction short read Why Politics Sucks: With Just A Few Modest Proposals That Might Make It All Suck A Little Less (2016). Host Patricia McLinn talks with Steven about his background as a journalist, why book design matters, and choosing which book ideas to pursue.
In Steven’s words: “It’s usually the ones that haunt you… it’s that one that you can’t stop thinking about. Once it takes up enough of your headspace, it takes over.” [29:17]
You can find Steven at:
His website
or Twitter
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 47: Mechanics and Technique vs. Excitement, with Mary Buckham
Mary Buckham is the author of the USA Today bestselling Invisible Recruits urban fantasy series, praised for its unique voice, intense action and rich emotion. Mary co-authors the young adult sci-fi/fantasy Red Moon series with New York Times bestselling author Dianna Love, using the combined pseudonym of Micah Caida. Mary also collaborated with Love on the nonfiction Break Into Fiction and has published several writers’ guides, including A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting and Writing Active Hooks. She has spoken at the Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference and other author conferences.
Mary, who lives in Washington State with her husband, says her years of international travel and curiosity about different cultures resulted in creating her high-concept urban fantasy and romantic suspense stories.
Host Patricia McLinn talks with Mary about technique, mechanics, character depth and the excitement of storytelling.
In Mary’s words, “Writers take that what-if question and play it out. ‘What can give this character the most conflict, the biggest challenge.’ …I am always playing with what-if.” [18:40]
You can find Mary on:
Her website,
or
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Thanks to DialogMusik for the instrumentals that accompany this podcast.
Episode 46: Experience and Location, with Chris Keniston
A finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award, Chris Keniston is a USA Today bestselling author of several popular book series, from contemporary romance to women’s fiction to sweet and clean romance — all with happily endings. Her newest releases are Keeping Eileen, book 11 of the Farraday Country contemporary romance series set in cattle-ranching west Texas, and Flirting with Paradise, a novella in the “closed-door” Sweet Aloha Series in Hawaii. (The original Aloha Series offers steamier versions from this tropical setting.) Coming soon is Hart Land, a series centering on a lakeside small town, a retired Marine Corps general, his artistic wife and nine single granddaughters.
Chris also partners with friends and bestselling authors Addison Cole, RaeAnne Thayne and Nancy Naigle in the new sweet world, Main Street Romance. Set in the fictional town of Romance, Virginia, the Main Street romances offer readers and fans a place to find HEA sweet stories.
A native New Yorkier, Chris lives in suburban Dallas with her husband, two human children and two canine children, including a German Shepherd rescue. After all, even dogs deserve a happily ever after. Host Patricia McLinn talks with Chris about past life experiences, location and how they play into the process of a “pantser” — one who writes by the seat of her pants (as opposed to a “plotter”).
In Chris’s words: “I remember closing a Nancy Drew novel and once trying to write my own mystery. I had to have been ten years old. … I wrote the first few paragraphs and there was a scene with something in the kitchen … a combination of a stove and a this and a that. … I remember thinking I’m going to have to go back and figure out what that is. Now all these years it turns out, I’m still a crazy-ass pantser who doesn’t know what things are when I put them on the page.” [9:08]
You can find Chris at:
Her website,
Facebook or
Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast enough to want to support us for future episodes. You can do that with as little as $1 a month — that’s only 25 cents per episode! What a deal! — by pledging at Patreon. It’s vital to Authors Love Readers to have your support. Thank you!
Please also consider rating/reviewing the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.