Zara West

Planning a trip? Love little notebooks? While I am a big fan of technology (I am currently writing a novel in Notion), there is something magical about capturing one’s thoughts with only pen and paper. In fact, I firmly believe that my ideas flow better when handwritten. The research study “The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing—Who Wins the Battle?” supports this belief. They…

Please welcome Susie Black. She writes highly enjoyable, laugh-out-loud cozy mysteries. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I have leveraged a successful career as a ladies’ apparel exec into a writing gig. I live in Southern California, am married, and have one adult son. What event or experience in your life affected you as a writer? I kept a daily journal throughout my apparel career,…

Romance author Jana Richards is here today to share her WW2 Time Travel romances. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I’ve been writing seriously for over thirty years. This year, 2026, marks my 20th year as a published writer. Since I retired as a bookkeeper about four years ago, writing has become my full-time occupation. But my most important roles are as a wife, mother, and grandmother to…

Please welcome YA author Susan Dalessandro. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I’ve been writing for about fourteen years, although I’ve always had stories in my head that I didn’t put on paper. I am a math nerd and have made a career in Psychometrics. I’ve been a runner since high school (an experience that factored into my writing this book) and have run five marathons. Running is where I…

Welcome Carol, What event or experience in your life affected you as a writer? My love of writing started when I was a young girl who fell in love with reading. Belonging to a book club of various genre growing up, then frequenting the library to get my hands on the latest Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, and Trixie Belden. Later, I discovered Agatha Christy, and while working at Cornell University’s…

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I’m a novelist, former political consultant, and lifelong storyteller who found her way back to writing after surviving a stroke. Before that turning point, I worked on both Republican and Democratic campaigns, ran a nonprofit organization for sixteen years, and was honored with several awards for community service and civic leadership, including the…

Please welcome paranormal romance author Lori Matsourani. She has a great ghost story for you. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I’m a coastal person at heart. Currently, I live an hour away from the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, but I grew up in Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay and two hours away from the Atlantic Ocean. When stress threatens to take over my sanity, I stop and imagine myself…

Thank you for visiting with us. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? While trained as an anthropologist, I have become an internationally respected expert regarding information security. I am a poet, amateur historian, and I know entirely too much about unicorns. What event or experience in your life affected you as a writer? When I read Nabokov’s Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. This work…

A short story or a novel is built from a series of scenes linked together. Each scene acts as the heartbeat of your narrative—a distinct unit: where an event or action unfolds within a unified setting and timeframe. Whether you’re crafting dialogue scenes, action-packed moments, or reflective sequels where your character weighs their choices, every scene must deliver certain elements to truly…

Welcome Heather, We can’t wait to hear about you and your new rock star romance. What are some of your favorite things? Coffee and mugs. I’m a mug nut; books and mugs are in every corner of the house. I enjoy collecting books I read as a child. I’ve been looking for Beverley Cleary first editions of Romona Quimby books lately. Just holding them in my hands brings back wonderful memories of…

Christine Columbus has a new romance full of river sunsets, romantic campfires, and summer love just for you. How did you become a romance author? Eighteen years ago, while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I published children’s stories, creative non-fiction, poetry, and flash fiction, then stumbled into romance, writing several short stories and a novel with The Wild Rose Press. Then I took…

We want our readers to empathize with our protagonist. We want our readers to feel something akin with them so they want to live through the character over the course of hundreds of pages. To do this, we don’t need to show any backstory or detailed character traits. When well done, you don’t need to describe eye or hair color or what happened at age two. All we need to show, somewhere at or near…

If you love a good mystery, you will be thrilled to learn about Randy Overbeck’s newest paranormal mystery and all the work and research that has gone into it. What interesting jobs have you had? How have those jobs affected your writing? I have always wanted to be a writer. In fact, when I was teenager, I dreamed of writing “the next great American novel.” Ha. But then the call to teach kids…

An exciting new character in Adrift on the Tide is Will Young’s pet raven, Mab. Ravens are as common in Nova Scotia. You can find them throughout the province near roadsides, in forests, and in urban areas, where they often feed on waste and garbage. I have often spotted them, while driving rural roads, scavenging roadkill. Ravens vs Crows To tell a raven from a crow, look for a thicker, curved…