I’ve never met Cara Sue Achterberg in real life, but if I did, I think we’d be fast friends. She describes herself as “an irrepressible writer, a curious cook, a lazy gardener, a loyal friend, a dog trainer in training, and an occasional cowgirl.” With a set of interests as diverse as those, she’s sure…

Interviews are some of my favorite posts to put together, mainly because I’m excited about the authors I choose to interview. Today’s interviewee is a real pleasure to feature: Abigail Swanson is a current high school student and daughter of a college acquaintance. Abigail’s older brother, Jonathan, was born at thirty-one weeks with Cornelia de…

Award-winning author A.J. McCarthy is one prolific woman. She’s been writing since 2004, when she wondered if she could write a better book than the one she just read. Indeed, she did, and she hasn’t looked back. Her fourth novel, By the Book, released November 12, and she’s all set for her fifth, Faux Friends,…

Social media can be a wonderful thing. Case in point: my ability to meet new authors via several author groups. While I tend to linger longer in the groups devoted to women’s fiction, I do meet authors of other genres from time to time. Michael J. Moore is one of those authors. His latest book,…

Anyone who is even lurking on the outskirts of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association has probably heard the name Lainey Cameron before. She’s an involved member of the group: she served as Head of Writing Workshops and then Vice President of Programs for the last three years. In 2020, she stepped back from the administrative…

Writing communities are vital to the health and well-being of an author and their works. One of the most robust writing communities lives here in the Dayton area: the friends, supporters, attendees, and faculty of the Antioch Writers’ Workshop. Shuly Xóchitl Cawood has been a part of that workshop, as attendee, speaker, and supporter. And that’s where…

The act of writing connects all authors, but each author I’ve encountered is so vastly different from another, it’s no wonder the products of our writing are so varied. In this installment of the Author Interview, I’m pleased to present V. Jolene Miller (all the way from Alaska!), whose background and life are so different…

Writing is an act that brings so many people together, and with our technological wonders of the day, that’s even more true now. Meeting new writer friends and keeping in touch with writers across the globe has never been easier. And that technology is how author Carol L. Paur and I “met.” Carol writes out…

This past summer, I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Walsh and his book, Lost Dayton, Ohio, at an event sponsored by the Woodbourne Library in Centerville, Ohio. Andrew is a librarian at Sinclair Community College here in Dayton, and the book is chock full of interesting historical details and photographs from sites “that represent…

Meredith Doench has a mission: “I want my writing to contribute to the growing collection of voices that say all stories matter regardless of the character’s sexuality, gender, religion, race, or class,” she says. “Every life counts; we need to be able to recognize ourselves in literature and film.” And contribute she does, both with…