In this episode of Imposter Hour, Liz and Greg sit down with Raúl Palma, Cuban-American author of the haunting and brilliant debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens. Together, they explore how Palma’s background in writing and academia intersects with imposter syndrome and how debt — both financial and emotional — becomes a kind of haunting in his work.

Raúl talks about his protagonist, a spiritual healer who doesn’t believe in ghosts, and how that contradiction mirrors the emotional weight many of us carry. From the mechanics of capitalism to the invisible toll of poverty, this conversation dives deep into the intersections of identity, creativity, and survival.

They also dig into how writing can be a form of self-care, especially when confronting the emotional landscape shaped by capitalism. Raúl shares how cultural identity informs his fiction, the role of support systems in sustaining a writing life, and what it means to feel “unauthorized” to tell your own story — and to write anyway.

In this episode of Imposter Hour, hosts Liz Keenan and Greg Wands sit down with author and former academic Lauren Nossett, whose novels The Professor and The Resemblance explore mental health, power dynamics, and identity within the framework of compelling thrillers.

Lauren discusses her transition from academia to fiction, the prevalence of imposter syndrome among both creatives and academics, and how writing became a space to process and interrogate societal expectations. They talk about the responsibility of writers to reflect real-world issues, the emotional weight characters can carry, and the ways thrillers can hold literary depth while remaining accessible.

The episode also touches on Lauren’s writing process, the joy of embedding literary references in her work, and her excitement for her next novel. Whether you’re a reader, writer, or both, this is a conversation about voice, community, and the art of telling meaningful stories within genre constraints.

In this episode of Imposter Hour, hosts Liz Keenan and Greg Wands welcome self-published thriller author Dan Lawton to discuss his latest novel, The Two of Us, and the emotional realities of long-haul creativity.

Dan shares what it’s like to write through imposter syndrome, how his personal experiences influence his characters, and why writing from multiple perspectives continues to challenge and excite him. As a self-published author of eleven novels, Dan reflects on the freedom, discipline, and perseverance it takes to build a career outside the traditional system.

They also explore the difficulty of finding fresh ideas in a saturated genre, the role of empathy in storytelling, and how emotional state can shape narrative. Dan offers advice to aspiring authors, emphasizes the importance of reader feedback, and talks about the balance between writing for yourself and writing for your audience.

A generous and insightful episode about resilience, authenticity, and staying in love with the work.