What Were You Thinking? (Dana Goldstein)

Young Adult author Christina Kilbourne has tackled some tough topics in her novels: suicide, homelessness, and mental health, to name a few. The Limitless Sky, a dystopian YA novel set 700 years in the future was a complete departure from what she is accustomed to writing. In this episode, we discuss her process, her challenges and and why she decided to switch gears to dystopian fiction.

Learn more about Christina on her website.

Watch the video mentioned in the podcast.

Support the podcast through Patreon.

Visit Dana Goldstein's website.

Pat Duckworth was caught off guard by the need to share what she knows about menopause. After time at a retreat, she discovered she did have a book in her, trying to get out. Actually, she had five books waiting to see the light of day. Over the UK, where she lives and works, Pat has become the go-to expert on managing menopause symptoms using mind/body techniques. She is also leading the way for workplace awareness, helping businesses understand how to keep menopausal women working and making accommodations for their changing needs.

Visit her website.

Read about the menopause discrimination in the workplace:

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/diocese-settles-discrimination-case-with-depressed-menopausal-employee

https://hbr.org/2020/02/its-time-to-start-talking-about-menopause-at-work

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-we-should-be-talking-about-menopause-at-work/

Support the podcast by becoming a patron.

Sorry For Your Loss is a poignant, touching and sometimes funny story about Evie, a girl whose family runs a Jewish funeral home. In this episode, Joanne and I talk about how kids can learn about hard topics through reading, what some of the challenges are when writing for middle grade and why the feedback from young readers means so much to her.

Visit Joanne's website.

Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Find out more about your host at danagoldstein.ca

Nora Nickum, author of Superpod, wasn't always interested in writing non-fiction for kids. Her day job requires a lot of non-fiction writing - she is the senior ocean policy manager at the Seattle Aquarium. But don't let that dry title fool you. Superpod is a fasctianting narrative that will make you want to jump in, get your feet wet, and help the whales in our oceans.

Listen to the orcas: www.Orcasound.net

Investigate The Whale Trail: thewhaletrail.org

Learn more about Nora: https://www.noranickum.com/

Visit my substack: danagoldstein.substack.com

When a group of creatives come together with purpose, magic does indeed happen. The Many Mothers, Seven Skies Anthology was first birthed as a play with a series of vignettes, musical performance and actors. The production evoked so much emotion in viewers and the creators, so the decision was made to reproduce the performances and stories in writing.

Kalena  Miller's debut novel will take you back to everything that was horrible and awesome about high school. There's junk food, fighting, texting, and prom night. You know what's missing? Sex. The night that was carefully planned goes horribly wrong. You'll laugh out loud, but also feel deeply connected to the characters in The Night When No One Had Sex.

Buy the book.

Follow Kalena on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

To learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein, visit her website.

Real Bad Things will leave with some real bad dreams. At least it did for me. To say I LOVED this book is a gross misrepresentation of just how deep I fell. It was my first 5-star read of 2022 and I knew before I was halfway done that I wanted to interview the author, Kelly J Ford. We cover a lot of topics in this episode: the agent journey, GritLit/Southern Gothic/Southern Noir, LGBTQ+ genre, her process (helo, playlists!) and much more.

Visit Kelly's website. 

Find more GritLit on Goodreads. 

Read this fantastic piece by Kelly about her author journey (and all the relentless self-doubt involved).

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Support the podcast on Patreon.

When Canadian Karen Patterson moved to China, she fully intended to spend the rest of her life there. While there, she built businesses, learned the language, got married and gave birth to her daughter. She never imagined her life would be completely upturned when her husband, Chinese artist Wu Yuren, disappeared.

For years, Karen struggled to find him, and when she did, the fight to free him from the clutches of the Chinese government began. As a foreigner in a foreign land, Karen was the only one who could help. Taking on China is a riveting look behind the red wall - at the people, the art world, and the obstacles one woman faces in her search for freedom.

Purchase Taking on China.

To listen to more episodes, or to check out my books, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Tammy Plunkett started writing Clinical Trial to quell the boredom of being a stay-at-home-mom to four children. Ten years after she first completed the book, she took it out of the drawer to revisit the romantic thriller, updated it, edited it and hit publish. It was perfect timing for this ex-ICU nurse to launch a book that reads like a string of Grey's Anatomy episodes. In the midst of a pandemic, there was something medical we could get into without feeling scared or overwhelmed.

Learn more about Tammy: https://www.tammyplunkett.com/about/

For more episodes, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

To inquire about being a guest, contact Dana.

I'm a bit of a science geek, so I was keenly interested in Pauline's debut book about DNA. It's a fun picture about the core of who we are, scientifically speaking.

Kelly DeVos is the author of 5 young adult novels. She has a remarkable gift for tapping into the fears and insecurities of teenagers, but it's the dark side of her characters that really shines. The young women who are her main characters are determined, saucy and smart- mouthed. It's hard not to see your younger self in the pages of her novels.

In this episode, we talk about strong YA characters, her journey to publication and the not always nice feedback.

Visit Kelly's website.

Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

STICKERS!!!!

Learn more about Trixie Belden.

Visit the host, Dana Goldstein's, website.

Support the podcast on Patreon.

This debut novel is a crazy ride. From the very first page, I was hooked, wanting to know why a priest murdered a parishioner with a candlestick. If that feels reminiscent of a game of Clue (Colonel Mustard, in the library, with a knife), you're not wrong. There are enough twists and turns and unexpected, laugh out loud moments in All is Well to give you literary whiplash.

Buy All is Well.

To learn more about the Beringia Land Mass:

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-ancient-horse-dna-reveals-gene.html

https://www.beringia.com/exhibit/ice-age-animals/giant-beaver

My Sister the Serial Killer: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38819868-my-sister-the-serial-killer

Check out my own work at my website.

If this was an episode of Who Would Win: Dinosaurs or Cephalopods, the squids would come out on top. While dinosaurs fossils get all the glory, it's the cephalopod fossils who have been doing all the work of telling the story of survival. After already surviving five (5!!!) mass extinctions, the cephalopods are likely the ocean creatures that will survive the next one. They are truly the Monarchs of the Sea, rising to the top from the deepest, darkest places of the sea.

In this episode, I talk to author Danna Staff whose book examines the fossil records of cephalpods - squid, octopus and cuttlefish. We talk about their evolution, their survival skills, the challenges of studying creatures of the sea, and how they have managed to stick around this blue marble for so long.

Visit Danna's website.

Watch the EVNautilus YouTube videos.

Save the Nautilus initiative.

The latest cephalopod (maybe) discovery.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Become a Patron.

As I started reading Joelle's memoir, I realized I knew very little about yoga, other than the few failed attempts I made in classes. Joelle's experience is anything but typical. In her memoir, The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga, Joelle shares her story about how her search for inner expansion led her down a dark path.

Learn more about Joelle and. order the book on her website.

I asked past guests to share the best book they read over the past year. I have a few of my own that I added to the list, so get busy with your Goodreads list.

Links to the podcast episodes for each guest:

Clare Pooley

Marci Warhaft

Christina Kilbourne

Danna Staaf

Mary Boone

Bev Katz Rosenbaum

Connect with me on Goodreads.

If this was an episode of Who Would Win: Dinosaurs or Cephalopods, the squids would come out on top. While dinosaurs fossils get all the glory, it's the cephalopod fossils who have been doing all the work of telling the story of survival. After already surviving five (5!!!) mass extinctions, the cephalopods are likely the ocean creatures that will survive the next one. They are truly the Monarchs of the Sea, rising to the top from the deepest, darkest places of the sea.

In this episode, I talk to author Danna Staff whose book examines the fossil records of cephalpods - squid, octopus and cuttlefish. We talk about their evolution, their survival skills, the challenges of studying creatures of the sea, and how they have managed to stick around this blue marble for so long.

Visit Danna's website.

Watch the EVNautilus YouTube videos.

Save the Nautilus initiative.

The latest cephalopod (maybe) discovery.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Become a Patron.

Waubgeshing Rice, Waub to all those who know him, has been crafting stories from the age of 17. He started reporting when he was an exchange student in Germany, went to journalism school and worked for CBC Television as a reporter before his latest novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, enabled him to focus on writing full time. Anyone who remembers the blackout of 2003 will find parallels to that eastern seaboard chaos in Waub's novel. In this episode, Waub talks about his early experience as an exchange student, how his culture influences his writing, and how his grandmother is a voice he paid tribute to in the novel.

Buy Moon of the Crusted Snow

Follow Waub on Twitter

Read the Maclean's article where Waub shares his views on Ryerson

Listen to more episodes and learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein

James Fell is the author of his own rules. He does everything writers are told not to, and it works beautifully every single time. Does he have the Midas touch? Maybe. Can he turn a dying career into syndicated fitness column? For sure. Can he make history interesting? Fuck yes.

Follow James (and buy a MF'ing book) on Substack.

Read about his recent ADHD diagnosis.

Read his most popular post on Facebook.

Learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein.

In this unconventional (for me) episode, I chat with five o the six poets behind the Espresso Poetry Collective. Over the course of our conversation, these wonderful women school me on what it means to be a poet, how to read poetry, and where we can see poetry in our everyday lives. Where poetry once once relegated to a small section at the back of the bookstore, the art form has exploded into mainstream over the last few years (Rupi Kaur, anyone?).

The poets of the collective started as a course and finished as a close group whose friendship goes beyond the bindings of their book.

Buy Uncommon Grounds

There is no way I could possibly land on one book to discuss with Eric Walters, since he's penned more than 130 of them. In this episode, we talk about building a career as an author, some of the keys to success and the process required to keep going.

Learn more about Creation of Hope.

Dana Church's new middle grade non-fiction, The Beekeepers, isn't just for kids. Her research is sound and the information shared within its pages is valuable for readers of any age. If you didn't know our bees were in trouble, this book will help you understand why and give you tools to do something about it. The Beekeepers changed my relationship with the chonky buzzers in my own backyard and I now watch them with interest rather than run squealing into the house.

Follow Dana on Twitter or Instagram or visit her website.

To learn about Dr. Shiela Colla and the bee nest sniffer dogs: https://wildlifepreservation.ca/blog/nosing-out-nests-can-detection-dogs-be-used-to-find-bumble-bee-nests/

Research Article here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0249248

Learn more about Working Dogs for Conservation: https://wd4c.org/

Check out my own books: http://danagoldstein.ca

Judith Clark absolutely set out to write a novel about a gay boy living in rural Alberta. The controversy in the province over GSA's - Gay Straight Alliances - inspired her to tell the story of a high schooler who choses to keep his sexuality a secret until he graduates. Gunnar has a lot at stake: his space on the wrestling team, his friendships and his plans to stay under the radar until his final day. Life gets in the way, and Gunnar is set on a path he never intended to take so soon.

In this episode, we talk about how Judith was able to get inside a teenager's head and her path to writing the novel.

To learn more about Judith and to purchase Under the Radar, visit her website.

To learn more about me, my books and for past episodes, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Rebecca Eckler has spent most of her writing career sharing her life and her opinions. She was a columnist for the Globe and Mail and the National Post, sharing stories of motherhood and her view of the world. As the executive editor for SavvyMom.ca, Rebecca writes about her parenting style, opening her up to criticism and hateful comments. Her writing style is candid and open. She is brutally honest about her own experiences and shares freely in her memoirs. As the founder of the weekly newsletter, Re:Books, Rebecca champions Canadian women authors, from the obscure to the mainstream. Once you dive into her books, you'll feel you know her and that you've been friends for years. In this episode we talk about everything from pregnancy to menopause, from publishing to promotion.

Mary Boone is the author of more than 60 non-fiction books for young readers. She has written about everything from boy bands, the Biebs and in her latest book, bugs.

Bugs for Breakfast is an informative, engaging book, not just for middle grade readers, but for adults as well. It will open your eyes (and you mind) to a culinary experience that is becoming less quirky trend and more global necessity.

During this interview, Mary talks about her experience as a non-fiction author, her journey to writing Bugs for Breakfast, and how to get over our squeamishness when it comes to ingesting insects.

Learn more about Mary on her website.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Support this podcast on Patreon.

There is nothing about P.L. Stuart that I found intimidating. He is friendly, kind and generous with his time. A law enforcement employee by day (and night, because shift work), he has been in some harrowing situations. His calm demeanour would diffuse any tense situation, a handy trait when it comes to managing the seven children he and wife Debbie share. He is quite the opposite of the protagonist he created in A Drowned Kingdom. Othrun is entitled, spoiled, racist, bigoted - not entirely likeable at the start. But over the course of 400+ pages, you'll feel connected to the prince without a kingdom. I have not read much high fantasy. It's not my typical genre. But the fact that I am eagerly awaiting book 2 (coming in 2022), tells you a great deal a bout P.L.'s skill as a writer.

Get your copy of A Drowned Kingdom.

To learn more about your host and her own books, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Julie Van Rosendaal has built a brilliant career as a cookbook author, food blogger, chef, and teacher. She is an icon in Calgary's food community and an ardent advocate for food access. In this episode, not only do we talk about Dirty Food (her 11th cookbook), we discuss the publishing industry, diet culture, #buttergate and food security. In an extremely bold move, Julie decided to make her 12th cookbook, Cookies I Have Loved available only through her purchase and independent bookstores. A portion of direct sales through her website —$1 per book— will directly support food-related community initiatives (school and community pantries and kitchens, sending meals to ICU staff).

Buy the book.

Follow Julie on Twitter and Instagram.

See your Phil Booth horoscope here.

Read the Globe & Mail article that became #buttergate.

For more information about me and my books, visit my website.

Visit Gina's website.

The love Beth Duke holds for her home state of Alabama is abundantly clear in her novels. Through It All Comes Back to You and Tapestry, she brings the south to life through her characters, their dialogue and the way they live. She charmed me through her novels and through this conversation.

She shares her experiences with book clubs, agents and the traditional publishing world and is candid about how she found INCREDIBLE success as an independent author.

Find her books on her website.

Mentions in this episode:

Learn more about the Marshall Space Centre.

Novel Bitches

Canadian sources for book subscription boxes:

https://www.owlcrate.com/

https://sweetreadsbox.com/pages/subscription-options

Support this podcast on Patreon.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Jennifer Sommersby started writing rom-coms (romantic comedies) under the pseudonym of Eliza Gordon as she was in the waiting game of edits/revisions/publication for a young adult novel. She has penned 8 books under that name, the latest a three-part series - Planet Lara. Welcome to Planet Lara is an enviromance - environmental romance - with excellent characters (I hated Lara for most of the book) and incidents that keep you turning pages. In this episode, we talk about Jennifer's author journey, writing unlikeable characters and writing under a pseudonym. Check out all the quirk that is Eliza Gordon. Read about Sleight and Scheme (the Undoing, in Canada) on this website. Learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein. Support the podcast on Patreon.

Whether you are a reader or a writer, you have THAT ONE BOOK that changed things for you. It might be the book you read as a teen that rocked your world, or the book that made you want to become a writer - or a better writer. Maybe it's a book that gives you comfort when you need it, that is as familiar as your own face looking in the mirror.

For this special episode, which I had planned on releasing as a holiday special later in December, I asked the authors I've interviewed to share that book with us. And with supply chain issue affecting bookstore all over the world, I wanted to give you adequate time to pick these up, should you want to gift them or keep for yourself.

I've collected all the books, including those the authors penned, in a Goodreads list.

Check our my own books on my website.

S.M. Freedman's author journey has been anything but typical. She self-published her first book, then was approached by a publisher who wanted to publish that book. She went back to the drawing board for rewrites and revisions. After she wrote the sequel, she self-published again. Her next novels were traditionally published, but S.M. learned so many lessons - about writing, publishing, and persevering.

Jennifer Savran Kelly's debut novel, Endpapers, explores the journey of a genderqueer book binder who is trying to navigate through her relationships while following the trail of a secret love note she finds tucked into the endpapers of a book. While classified as literary fiction, this book engaged me so thoroughly, I didn't even realize it was literary. A must read for 2023.

Watch Jennifer in her acting roles:

https://littlewhaleproductions.com/zombie-revolution

https://littlewhaleproductions.com/yahwehs-sea-glass

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi708025625/?ref_=vp_rv_1

Check out the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts retreat space: https://www.saltonstall.org/retreat/retreat-space/

Follow Jennifer:

Instagram

Twitter

Website

It's the close of another season of What Were You Thinking. This year, I'm ending with my interview with Karen Sokoloff, who runs TINYABC - This Is Not Your Average Book Club. She had me join the book club for an hour of chat, laughter and Q&A.

You can listen to Karen's episode on this podcast here.

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi met in an online critique group. They were both writing children's books and were looking for support and feedback from other writers.

They soon discovered they had a knack for building lists of ways writers could show emotion, display the positive attributes and character flaws. The put these lists on a website and from there the first book - The Emotion Thesaurus - was born.

Angela and Becca have more than 1.2 million copies of their 10 thesauruses. They are a leading self-published resource for writers around the world.

Visit Writers Helping Writers.

Visit One Stop For Writers.

Learn more about Critique Circle.

Visit Dana Goldstein's website.

Selling a collection of short stories is hard, but for a debut author to be able to it is astonishing. Kate Doyle managed to to exactly that with her debut, I Meant it Once.

When Megan Freeman first started to write Alone, it was a typical middle grade novel. Despite some good feedback, the book never found its wings. She left it...ahem...alone for a while, and it wasn't until she took a workshop about novels-in-verse that the shape of what Alone could be took form. And then it took off.

When Laurie Carmichael retired from nursing, she already knew she was going to focus on writing. She took courses then wrote her first book. Every step of her journey - from drafting to publication - has been an opportunity to learn something new.

In this episode, Laurie shares her story, her discoveries and her fears.

Visit Laurie's website

Shop the Writers Helping Writers Bookstore

Learn more about Rowan House

Get EDucated

Subscribe to my newsletter

Jenny L Howe's debut novel is one you'll fall in love with, literally. Her main character, Allison, mirrors some of the challenges Jenny faced in her own life - professionally, but not necessarily romantically. Allison, who is, as Jenny would say, unapologetically fat, finds herself entangled with an on-again, off-again lover. Let the games begin! In this episode, we talk about her agent and publication journey, the HEA (Happily Ever After), and why we need more diverse characters in romantic comedy novels, and many other topics.

Visit Jenny's website.

Learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein.

When you first meet Marci Warhaft, you immediately recognize a woman who is confident in who she is. She is fun and outgoing. She dances on TikTok. She is never afraid to take a chance. That's the Marci I've known for a decade. But when I picked up The Good Stripper, I was stunned with what I found in those pages: a series of traumatic events, the struggle with an eating disorder, a sex life she really didn't want, and a lifestyle not commonly associated with motherhood. 

The Good Stripper is so candid, I felt uncomfortable learning these things about my friend. It proved that you never know what is happening behind closed doors or in someone's head. In this episode we talk about Marci's life, her experience writing the book, and how she manages the feedback and fallout common when writing memoir.

Visit Marci's wesbite.

Support the podcast.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

TINYabc stands for This Is Not Your average book club, and it most certainly isn't. Karen Sokoloff decided to create a paid-membership book club, a risk she wasn't entirely comfortable with, but took anyways. The result is a vibrant club that meets 4 TIMES PER MONTH, to meet authors, discuss books, and build camaraderie around the printed word.

Join the Facebook group.

Follow Karen on Instagram.

Erin Whaling had worked on a business plan many years ago as part of a photography course. Her intention was one day to start a business that was community-focused and allowed her some creative freedom. She parked the business plan and the dream when she took a corporate position. In the middle of the pandemic, Erin was laid off. As she was cleaning folders on her computer, she found the business plan and decided to tweak it for a bookstore. Her dream never died, it just re-routed, and now Erin owns a lovely bookstore in Diamond Valley, AB.

When Vanessa Chan left her job at Facebook to get her MFA, she had no idea how to write a novel. From a throwaway homework assignment, the first stirrings of the novel she would write emerged. The Storm We Made went to auction, with 11 houses vying for the debut novel. It's not the typical journey, but it makes for a great conversation.

When Christina Sweeney-Baird started writing The End of Men, she was exploring the idea of a world without men. She gave serious thought to how the world would function without men filling typically male jobs: electricians, garbage disposal and infrastructure. When she was creating this dystopian world, a pandemic seemed a reasonable way to eliminate 50 percent of the world's population. What she didn't count on, was seeing the plague in her pages come to life in the real world.

Buy The End of Men here.

For more episodes, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

To inquire about being a guest, contact Dana.

I fell in love with this book when I first read read a rough draft. Melissa and I are in a critique group together, and I was fortunate to put my eyes on this wonderful fantasy/spec fic story. In this episode, Melissa and I talk about her rocky road with an agent, getting Sue B to publication and how Melissa lets her characters run wild. Learn more about Melissa on her website. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Last year, I was interviewed by Joelle Tamraz for her YouTube channel, Elevating Voices in Memoir and Fiction. It was a candid conversation about my own journey as a hybrid author (both independently published and traditionally published). Listen in as I share my experiences, the planning (or lack thereof), the ups and downs and why I chose the self-publishing route for my memoirs.

Visit my Substack page.

I already know The Taste of Hunger will fall into my top 10 books for 2024. I cheered for despicable characters, I wanted the best for all of them, like they were real people in my life. It's a magnificent read.

BIO: Barbara Joan Scott has been in love with words her whole life, whether as a reader, writer, instructor of English Literature and Creative Writing, freelance editor, or musician with a special affinity for lyrics. ​Her first book, The Quick, won the Writers' Guild of Alberta Howard O'Hagan for Best Collection of Short Fiction, and the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Award for Best Book. The Taste of Hunger is her first novel.

She lives and writes in Calgary, Alberta.

Watch Wakefield Brewster in action.

Visit Barbara's website.

Buy the book.

A short episode to update you with some news from past guests as well as some news from your host, Dana Goldstein.

Welcome to What Were You Thinking, a podcast about authors and their stories. We'll be meeting authors from all genres to discover the "What If..." moment that led them to start writing their books. We'll talk about their characters, their plots and how their books came to life.

FIRST EPISODE DROPS JUNE 15!

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Genalea Barker has three novels in the queue for publishing over the next two years. She managed to find publishers WITHOUT AN AGENT, WHILE RAISING FOUR KIDS!

A unicorn? For sure.

An extremely talented writer? Unarguably.

Follow Genalea on Twitter.

Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.

Visit Heather's website.

This debut novel is a crazy ride. From the very first page, I was hooked, wanting to know why a priest murdered a parishioner with a candlestick. If that feels reminiscent of a game of Clue (Colonel Mustard, in the library, with a knife), you're not wrong. There are enough twists and turns and unexpected, laugh out loud moments in All is Well to give you literary whiplash.

Buy All is Well.

To learn more about the Beringia Land Mass:

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-ancient-horse-dna-reveals-gene.html

https://www.beringia.com/exhibit/ice-age-animals/giant-beaver

My Sister the Serial Killer: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38819868-my-sister-the-serial-killer

Check out my own work at my website.

Carissa Hyde gave traditional publishing her best shot, but when she realized she was heading into depression, she hired a therapist and changed her strategy. Listen in as Carissa shares her journey to publication, full of up and downs and ending with a very positive experience.

Visit Carissa's website.

As the author of 3 bestselling dystopian novels with strong female characters, Christina Dalcher is often painted as a feminist. There are so many more layers to this linguist-now-author. While her first novel, Vox, brought the issue of silencing women to the table, her latest, Femlandia, examines life in broken-down world, where women are building colonies and not everything is as idyllic as it appears.

SHOW NOTES:
Watch MRI and ultrasound footage of a tongue in motion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPbJLXaPnZg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql9TLUr7G78

Learn more about Christina on her website.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

In November of 2021, Travis Baldree set out to try NANOWRIMO again. He was not new to National Novel Writing Month, but in 2021, he was focussed on finishing this time. He did, and he self-published his first novel, Legends and Lattes in February of 2022. By November, that little project was on the New York Times bestseller list. From self-published, to agented, then traditionally published, Travis' journey is really the stuff of fantasy.

Visit Travis' website.

From the very first lines of Walking Through Needles, you'll know you're in for a ride. This debut novel, by Heather Levy, is rich with characters that will run you through the spectrum of emotion and will make you squirm. Yet still, you won't be able to stop turning the pages.

In this conversation, Heather talks about BDSM, Pitch Wars and the challenges of writing about sexual assault.

WARNINGS: We talk about some very adult topics: masturbation, assault, bondage, sadism and masochism.

Purchase Walking Through Needles.

Read the article about pain referenced in this episode here and her twenty year lie here.

Follow Heather on Twitter.

To listen to more episodes, or to check out my books, visit danagoldstein.ca.

H.N. Khan was going to be a lawyer, until he realized there were other choices he could make. His journey took a very different turn, exposing and connecting HN Khan to the startup and tech world. As his career as a tech writer emerged and evolved, Humayun enrolled in Humber’s writing program. That program led him to new connections in the writing world, laying the groundwork for Wrong Side of the Court.

Learn more about H.N. Khan by visiting his website.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Become a Patron.

Jennie Ogilvie always knew there was something different about her. She has a deep connection with spirit and has catapulted to the top as Alberta's favourite medium. Her debut book, Inside my Head, is a combination of memoir and Chicken Soup for the Soul. Within its pages, readers are taken on a journey to recover from grief, move through death with ease and grace, and carve out a better life for the time they still have.

Visit Jennie's website.

Watch the pilot episode of her series.

I had a fantastic and fun interview with Cass and Meredith from The Clopen Effect: A Retail Podcast. They interviewed me by phone to chat about my latest memoir, Spent: My Accidental Career in Retail. We giggled over the ridiculousness that happens in the retail world. We conspired over the tricks we use to get through the day. It was a nice opportunity for me to talk with people who are still in the retail world and who loved my book. It made them feel seen, they said.

Order your copy here.

Listen to The Clopen Effect.

I had no idea how complicated translation a novel cou;d be. A ward-winning translator Susan Ouriou set me straight. It takes a level of dedication, experience and knowledge to esentially re-write a book from a langugage you;ve learned inot your mother tongue. Susan Ouriou does it so well, she has earned the Governor General's Award and was appointed a Chevalier in France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Find Susan and her work at any of the following websites:

https://www.attlc-ltac.org/en/translator/susan-ouriou-en/

https://wordswithoutborders.org/contributors/view/susan-ouriou/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Ouriou

https://www.fitzhenry.ca/susan-ouriou

https://www.reddeerpress.com/susan-ouriou

Ali Bryan's words are everywhere: in her 5 novels, in anthologies, magazines, newspapers...pretty much anywhere the printed words can appear. She chased the dream of being a full-time writer and crossed the finish line. But just because you win one marathon, doesn't mean you'll win them all. Ali shares her writer journey candidly and with transparency in this episode.

Visit Ali's website.

Read the Day in the Life in the Calgary Guardian.

Colleen Nelson is the author of 18 books, primarily young adult and middle grade (with one non-fiction in the bunch). Her books have earned many accolades and awards, the latest being The Forest of Reading's Silver Birch Award (2023, for The Undercover Book List). In this episode we chat about writing for middle grade, her process, and getting the right ending.

Watch the Forest of Reading announcement here: https://twitter.com/i/status/1659213838636531712

No one thinks they'll ever go to prison, and that was certainly the case for Phyllis Taylor, author of The Prison Lady. When she was fired from her job at a law firm, Phyllis was stunned. Her 30-year career had come to a complete stop. But a friend forced her to come to an Oprah event, an action that would lead Phyllis to a new career behind bars: helping prisoners develop important life skills.

I thought it was probably a good idea to introduce myself in a solo episode. I've kept it short (the self-effacing voice in my head tells me I'm not that interesting), and I've dropped a couple of weird things most people don't know about me. I've shared why I decided to start this podcast and how I use book reviews on Goodreads.

To learn more about me, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

You can buy my books wherever books are sold, or buy them directly from my website for signed and personalized copies.

Check out my other life as the owner of Digital Shoebox (where I offer video and written content for others).

Find me on:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Bev Katz Rosenbaum never intended to write a pandemic book. She had written the story about high schooler Kelsey Kendler long before lockdowns, but she was struggling with how to frame the story. When COVID-19 forced us all to remain in our homes, Bev knew this was the perfect environment for Kelsey's story to emerge and grow. It's a story of survival, failure and how one girl makes it through the wreck of a year.

In this episode, Bev shares how she was able to find her YA (Young Adult) voice, the challenges she faced when booking author events, and how she has grown as a writer.

Visit Bev's Website: https://www.bevkatzrosenbaum.com/

Read Emilia Bassano's published book of poetry, Salve Deus Red Judaeorum: http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/lanyer1.html

Learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein, and check out her own work, on her website.

Ask anyone who has ever read a book by Jeff Zentner and they will tell you how the book broke them, or made their lives better, or put them on a different course. It's not just young adults who connect with his novels. Adults (myself included) really respond to his stories as well. In every book, Jeff says he ensures his characters have someone to love and someone who loves them. That is the core of every human being and it's why his books are such compelling reads. Learn more about Jeff on his website.

Learn more about the host, Dana Goldstein.

Andrew Snook is never not busy, but this is by choice, not circumstance. As a freelance writer and editor, owner of Snookbooks Publishing, and publisher of the newly launched Canadian Independent Publishers magazine and website, he has made writing and all its modalities a fullt-time gig.

Both of Clare Pooley's novels do a fantastic job of capturing what it is to be authentically human. It's ironic, given that she wrote a blog about her alcoholism anonymously for years. She is a master at multiple character narratives; The Authenticity Project and Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting are heartwarming, with characters you hate and love and back again.

In this episode, Clare shares what led her to start the Mommy was a Secret Drinker blog, her journey to publication, managing multiple characters, and how she waled away from a complete 90,000 word manuscript.

Watch her TedX talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/clare_pooley_making_sober_less_shameful

Read about the abandoned novel: https://lithub.com/clare-pooley-on-writerly-perseverance-and-knowing-when-to-give-up/

Learn more about Clare: https://clarepooley.com/

Learn more about the host: danagoldstein.ca

Support the podcast: www.patreon.com/WWYT

Michelle Good took 9 years to write Five Little Indians. As a member of the Cree nation, she had first-hand knowledge of the experiences of those who had been sent to Canada's residential schools. She wanted her novel to answer two questions: what happens when the children are released and how do they function in the world. She answers both of those with an emotional, thought provoking novel.

Buy Five Little Indians here.

Learn more about Michelle.

For more episodes, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

To inquire about being a guest, contact Dana.

To learn more and order the book, visit https://www.jamielouisemadigan.com/.

Kirsten Miller has written for Middle Grade and Young Adult, but her latest novel, The Change, pushed her out of her comfort zone and into the adult market, specifically, the older, menopausal one.

I recorded this in the fly because I couldn't wait ti get back to my office to tell you that the podcast will resume in October! I took a much needed break to focus on the release of my second middle grade novel and to wrap up revisions for my upcoming women's fiction. Thank you for sticking around! I've got great plans for the rest of the year. xo Dana

When first-time author and full-time business owner Laura Ballerini sat down to write some stories, she didn't anticipate the transformation that would take place inside her soul. From a very young age, Laura was introduced to art through her mother's skill with crafting, fixing, and cooking. Now, as a graphic designer, Laura realizes just how endemic art is to all our lives. In this episode, we discuss the impact of art, how she found time to fit writing into an already busy creative life and the power of story.

Visit Laura's website.

To learn more about host Dana Goldstein, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Brittney Morris performed what most writers would consider an impossible feat: she wrote an entire novel in 12 days. After being inspired by the Black Panther movie, Brittney decided to write a story about a 17-year-old high schooler who developed a game played by the global black community. Brittney wanted to participate in Pitch Wars, a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for an agent showcase.

She had 14 days to produce an entire manuscript. So she did.

In this episode, Brittney shares how she feels the pressure to represent her race, how she overcame more than 200 rejections and what the full-time writing life means to her.

Learn more about Brittney on her website.

Check our her author profile on Amazon.

To learn more about me, my books and for past episodes, visit danagoldstein.ca.

In this episode, you’re going to meet Elise Russel, author of Behave Boldly, a memoir of her entrepreneurial journey so far. The book chronicles the details of her struggles and successes as she built her company, Pony Friday. Her story is not complete however, and during the conversation Elise is candid about what it’s really like to build and run your own business.

Full disclosure here - I’ve known Elise for more than half of her entrepreneurial life. I’m proud to call her my friend and have supported her through many walks in the park, chats about clients and coffee dates in the before times. I was a fan before she had even written the first paragraph of Behave Boldly.

Buy the Book

Link to the #WhatPublishingPaidMe spreadsheet, where you can browse the list of authors who voluntarily shared how much their advances were (or weren't). [live at time of this episode's release]

To listen to past episodes, learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein, or to order her books, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Visit Robin's website.

Learn more and check out the ciourses and workshops offered by the Alexandra Writers' Centre Society.

If you've been paying attention, you've seen copies of When Grumpy Met Sunshine online, in bookstores, and even grocery stores. But Charlotte Stein is not an overnight success: she's been writing and publishing for 15 years.

Visit Charlotte's website.

If you take a bird's eye view of Karma Brown's writing career, it does look a bit wild. First a journalist, then a magazine writer, and now a novelist whose books cross many genres.

Learn more about Karma.

Check out the adventures on Outward Bound Canada.

Brittney Morris performed what most writers would consider an impossible feat: she wrote an entire novel in 12 days. After being inspired by the Black Panther movie, Brittney decided to write a story about a 17-year-old high schooler who developed a game played by the global black community. Brittney wanted to participate in Pitch Wars, a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for an agent showcase.

She had 14 days to produce an entire manuscript. So she did.

In this episode, Brittney shares how she feels the pressure to represent her race, how she overcame more than 200 rejections and what the full-time writing life means to her.

Learn more about Brittney on her website.

Check our her author profile on Amazon.

To learn more about me, my books and for past episodes, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Visit Brian's website.

Chelsea Wakelyn's debut novel, What Remains of Elsie Jane is not your typical story about loss. When Elsie Jane's husband Sam dies unexpectedly, Elsie does not pretend to be okay. She doesn't acquiesce to the needs of others. She completely falls apart, turning to Craigslist to find a way back to the life she once knew.