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Hear us Roar

Hear us Roar

By: Maggie Smith
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 If you're an aspiring author and want insights into what's involved in launching a book into the world, this is the podcast for you. Debut writers discuss not only the inspiration behind their book, but also their insights into the writing process, the best advice they ever got, and the joys and sometimes pitfalls they encountered on their path to publication. Art Economics Literary History & Criticism Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • 301: Amily D'Nas - Author of The Swaying Willlow

    301: Amily D'Nas - Author of The Swaying Willlow
    Jan 8 2026
    Our podcast guest this week is Amily D'Nas (Beneath the Swaying Willow, indie published, July 2024). Amily joined an existing writing group when she met a member through her day job and found a home with supportive and experienced authors who encouraged her to write a novel informed by her parent's experiences during the Vietnam War era and the family trauma that followed. We discuss why she chose to indie published her debut and the pluses and minuses of being in control of everything, including the cover design and the book tour.

    Amily D'Nas was born and raised in Southern New England and now calls South Florida home. She earned her MBA from the University of Massachusetts and is a member of the Authors Guild, the Chicago Writers Association, and the Women's Fiction Writer's Association. Her award-winning, debut, historical fiction novel, Beneath the Swaying Willow, raises awareness of the mistreatment of our Vietnam veterans who returned home to a divided nation and aims to educate readers and reduce stigma associated with PTSD and veteran suicide. She is a proud supporter of our nation's military veterans and survivors of suicide loss.

    To learn more about Amily, go to https://amilydnas.com/
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    30 mins
  • 300: Sharon Wishnow - Author of The Pelican Tide

    300: Sharon Wishnow - Author of The Pelican Tide
    Dec 31 2025
    This week's guest is Sharon Wishnow (The Pelican Tide, Lake Union, June 2024). Sharon describes how she used both her networking contacts and her background as a non-fiction editor to research the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its devastating effect on the Gulf Coast, in particular the Grand Isle area of Louisiana. We discuss the iterations her novel underwent during the acquisition phase and the seven editors Lake Union gave her to hone her story, including a Cajun proofreader and a sensitivity reader as well as her deep dive into how to write about animals, in this case a brown pelican named Gumbo. Listen to the end for Sharon's advice to newer writers about what it takes to succeed in traditional publishing.

    Sharon J. Wishnow is a transplanted New Englander who makes her home in Northern Virginia. In addition to writing upmarket fiction with environmental themes, Sharon writes non-fiction in the science, technology, and business categories with a passion for research, seashells, birds, and the ocean.

    Sharon is the former Vice President of Communications for the Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), the founder of Women's Fiction Day, and is the Editorial Advisor of the WFWA magazine, WriteOn! She has an MFA from George Mason University. She regularly speaks about research and writing and publishes a regular newsletter, Research for Writers and Other Curious People. When she's not writing or researching, you can find her in the garden, watching the birds in her backyard, or feedinghttp peanuts to her local squirrels.

    To learn more about Sharon, go to https://sharonwishow.com.

    To learn more about how to help Grand Isle rebuild, go to https://restoregrandisle.com/#jointheeffort
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    30 mins
  • 299: Hadley Leggett - Author of All They Ask is Everything

    299: Hadley Leggett - Author of All They Ask is Everything
    Dec 11 2025
    Our podcast guest this week is Hadley Leggett (All They Ask is Everything, Lake Union, August 2024). We discuss the intensive research Hadley did to learn about the foster system, how she changed from first to third POV and the difference in made in the novel's narrative voice, and how winning the Rising Star contest help her find an agent. Then we delve into the collaborative process after signing her publishing contract, including deleting a chapter, softening a secondary character and finding the perfect cover.

    Hadley Leggett writes twisty family dramas that explore truth in shades of gray. Her first novel, All They Ask Is Everything, won the 2025 Nancy Pearl Book Award and the Rising Star Award from the Women's Fiction Writers Association. Her writing has appeared in the Bellevue Literary Review, Literary Mama, Wired.com, and Greater Good Magazine, among others. Before becoming an author, she earned her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco and worked as a medical writer. She currently lives in Seattle with her family, including her three children, three cats, and a very sassy rescue pup.

    To learn more about Hadley, go to https://hadley.ink or at Substack at https://writingchat.substack.com.

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    34 mins
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