Women’s Fiction Author Sierra Godfrey joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss how it's okay if you need longer than other writers, selling a book quickly by doing ten years pre-work, having your agent leave the business, why writers truly need agents, feelings of inadequacy, comparison being the thief of joy, and the importance of learning the market. Sierra Godfrey is the author of A Very Typical Family (Sourcebooks) and a forthcoming title in September 2023. She was born in Sa...
Jan 26, 2023•20 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Non-fiction author Catherine Baab-Muguira joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss 12 years of querying, the worst feedback she’s received, rewriting her book proposal top to bottom three times, how doing things wrong is the process, and the village that raised her book. Catherine Baab-Muguira is a writer and journalist who has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, Slate, CNBC and NBC News. A frequent podcast and radio guest, with appearances on NPR and Lifehacker's Upgrade, sh...
Jan 19, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Sci-Fi Author Nanci Schwartz joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss learning to control what you can and letting the rest go, writing while pregnant, debuting during a pandemic, how Star Wars inspired her books, and more. Nanci Schwartz is an instructional writer by day, a science fiction author by night, and a mom 24/7. In her small amounts of free time, she can be found gallivanting around Disney World, chatting about her favorite space opera franchise, or taking refuge from ...
Jan 12, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Kidlit Author Lyn Miller-Lachmann joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss losing two agents, getting close and not getting remotely close, what her MFA did for her, having a sequel come out six years later, her concerns as an Autistic writer, the importance of loving the process, and more. Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the author of the YA novels Torch, Gringolandia, and Surviving Santiago, the co-author with Zetta Elliott of the verse novel Moonwalking, and the author of a biography o...
Jan 05, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Author and Poet Donna Gordon joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss switching from poetry to prose, the impact of mentors, a long interruption of her writing career, how her visual art helps her writing, needing to write, learning to put herself first, going from being a writer to an author, the stamina it takes to write and sell a book, and collaborating with people who can see things you can't see. Donna Gordon is a Cambridge, MA-based writer. She graduated from Brown, and wa...
Aug 04, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Women’s Fiction Author Roselle Lim joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss parting with an agent, querying a book 120 times, how debuts are like weddings, crying on release day, worrying about things you can't control, how changing for people who hate your book alienates the people who love your book, and the importance of both writing and non-writing community Roselle Lim is the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune , Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris T...
Jul 28, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 29
SFF Author Erin Fulmer joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the importance of community, realizing writing is not such a solitary pursuit, doing things out of order, marketing as a small press author, worrying about choosing the wrong path, and the pros and cons of going with a small press. Erin Fulmer is an attorney by day, author of science fiction and fantasy by night. A 2020 Pitch Wars alumna, she lives in Northern California with her husband and cats. CAMBION’S BLOOD, th...
Jul 21, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Mystery Author Sandra Block joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss querying with stamps, taking a 15 year break, reading the book on common mistakes (see link below), multiple R&Rs to get a book deal, dealing with the lack of control over the publishing process, being kind with herself, and carving out time to write. Sandra A. Block graduated from college at Harvard, then returned to her native land of Buffalo, New York for medical training and never left. She is a practici...
Jul 07, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Young Adult Author Jamie Beth Cohen joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the strawberry shortcake origin story, going against a mentor's advice, the ups and downs of going with a small press, having more to say than having time to write it down, and getting a lot out of Pitch Wars without having been selected. Jamie Beth Cohen is a writer, speaker, and storyteller who lives in Pennsylvania. Her words have appeared in The Washington Post, HuffPost, Salon, Teen Vogue, and sever...
Jun 30, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Gothic Fiction Author Paulette Kennedy joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss letting go of perfectionism to get a draft done, the impact of her first critical critique, learning about publishing on twitter, how much influence Marketing has on publishing a book, her favorite marketing activities, wanting to "get an A" on her first draft, and having a #pitmad twitter pitch go viral. Originally from the Ozarks, Paulette Kennedy now divides her time between her hometown of Springf...
Jun 23, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Historical Fiction Author Addison Armstrong joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss predicting her jobs in Pre-K, querying too soon due to excitement, graduating college with a literary agent, taking her book offer call with a broom in one hand, being surprised by a two-book contract, how a book contract changed her feelings towards writing, and worrying that the first book contract was a fluke. Addison Armstrong is a historical fiction author and a third-grade teacher. She grew...
Jun 16, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Young Adult Author Crystal Maldonado joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss boyband fan fiction, the one book that made her feel like there might be room for her stories, googling everything, being shy about being a writer, her actual rejections from publishers, covid interfering with her publishing schedule, her book baby taking a backseat to her human baby, being grateful for the publishing delay, wishing she had shared her writing sooner, and sending Roxane Gay a copy of her...
Jun 09, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Book Club Fiction Jessica Strawser joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss not believing in her own writing, being inspired by the authors she interviewed, realizing successful authors are regular people, the difference between knowing what a good query letter is and writing your own, the overlap in publishing schedules, worrying you've wasted so much time, advice from Debbie Macomber, and not being afraid to take a pause. Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large for Writer's Digest,...
Jun 02, 2022•35 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Young Adult Author Carolyn Tara O’Neil joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss dreaming of being Carolyn Keene, spending five years drafting and revising her debut, reading the entire Query Shark blog, adding a POV to increase request rate by 600%, how much work her agent actually does, writing one day a week, worrying of never writing something worthy, not beating yourself up, and believing in your own writing. Carolyn Tara O’Neil grew up in a tiny New York City apartment fille...
May 26, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Young Adult Author Margie Fuston joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss having both a great and a terrible Pitch Wars experience, ditching a PhD to write a book, selling a trunked novel after getting an agent, R&Rs, making the one change she said she'd never make, fear of social media, taking care of your mental and physical health. Margie Fuston lives in the woods of California and spends all her time wrangling a herd of cats and helping her nephews hunt ghosts, pond monst...
May 19, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Science-Fiction Author Jackson Ford joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss almost giving up, being encouraged by a friend, having his first series not meet sales expectations, transitioning from journalism to fiction, and not spending enough time with his characters. Jackson Ford is a South African author living in Vancouver. He is the author of the Frost Files series, starring the psychokinetic government agent Teagan Frost. Jackson: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Ama...
May 12, 2022•30 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Young Adult Author Sarah Dass joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss letting go of a book to move forward, the importance of finishing books, her debut group, a disastrous first book, amassing 100 rejections, Pitch Wars, and getting published with your third book. Sarah Dass was born in Trinidad but has lived in Tobago since she was two years old. She works as an office administrator by day and writes stories about the Caribbean by night. When she's not writing, she's reading o...
May 05, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Book Club Fiction Author Lyn Liao Butler joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the book that started as a blog, dissecting her favorite books to learn to write, doing an R&R, not getting into Pitch Wars (for a great reason), reviving trunked novels, post-publication uncertainty, traveling for research, the importance of community, and the benefit of an agent in your corner. Lyn Liao Butler was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. Before becoming an au...
Apr 28, 2022•32 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Nonfiction Author Jessica P. Pryde joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss starting in fanfic, the magic of writing dates, getting an agent without querying, learning how to write a nonfiction proposal, long waiting periods, worrying about the concept matching the reality, narrowing your audience to make your book better, and more. Jessica P. Pryde is a Contributing Editor for Book Riot and cohost of the When In Romance podcast. Her book, Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance...
Apr 21, 2022•32 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Young Adult Author Lauren James joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss having a supportive family, thinking every year this will be the year she has to get a real job, the ten year gap year, when your entire America publishing team gets fired, publishing three books during the pandemic, the one course she wish she'd taken, trusting your instincts, and the value in an editor who also teaches as you go. Lauren James is the twice Carnegie-nominated British author of many Young Adu...
Apr 14, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Middle Grade Author Payal Doshi joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss writing Captain Planet fanfic at eight years old, putting revisions on hold to have a baby, removing an entire POV, wanting to tell a story different from the dominant narrative, paying attention to the market, having to do your own marketing, the benefits and challenges of working with a small press, knowing which questions to ask, writing with a young child, paying attention to word count Payal Doshi has a...
Apr 07, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Middle Grade Author Meera Trehan joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss setting a contract with yourself for writing time, the ups and downs of writing conferences, finding friends through writing contests, harsh query rejections, leaving an agent, struggling with titles, how her greatest fear was her greatest strength, and using the waiting time to work on your craft. Meera Trehan grew up in Virginia where she read as much as she could, memorized poems, and ate enough cookies ...
Mar 31, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Horror Author Cynthia Pelayo joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss breaking stereotypes, having an MFA but not knowing how to query, separating your person from your online persona, getting rejected by every major publisher, listening to your gut on edits, taking 4 years off writing, focusing on the writing instead of the drama, and avoiding the comparison game. Cynthia Pelayo is a three-time Bram Stoker Award nominated author and poet. She lives in Chicago with her family. Cy...
Mar 24, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Fantasy Author David R. Slayton joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss leaving your first agent, canceling a book contract, R&R scars, writing in many genres, learning as you write the first couple of books, getting up at 5am to write, the expectation of marginalized authors to perform their trauma, the ritual of writing, and his advice for writers just starting out. David R. Slayton grew up outside of Guthrie, Oklahoma, where finding fantasy novels was pretty challenging a...
Mar 17, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Middle Grade Author Shakirah Bourne joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the benefit of saying yes to everything, getting distracted from pursuing publication, being 100% confident in a project that doesn't go anywhere, querying without knowing your genre, googling everything, publishing from outside the US, the unfairness of the publishing process, and how you will always have another dream project. Shakirah Bourne is a Bajan author and filmmaker born and based in Barbados. ...
Mar 10, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Middle Grade Author Maria Frazer joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss Google and Twitter University, #dvpit, figuring out her category, meeting friends through pitch contests, the importance of calling yourself a writer, the purpose of language, working with an editor who rejected the book, waiting for a book deal to get announced, being rejected by your peers, writing on your phone to trick your brain, and learning about taxes. Maria Frazer is a middle grade and young adult ...
Mar 03, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Young Adult Author Derek Milman joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss going from acting to writing, how his brother's bachelor party launched his writing career, meeting agents for coffee, two atypical experiences at opposite ends of the spectrum, the last book tour before the pandemic, media mail, focusing on the work in the middle of the business, and being careful about choosing a publisher. Derek Milman is the author of the YA novels SWIPE RIGHT FOR MURDER and SCREAM ALL N...
Feb 24, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Sci-Fi Thriller Author Rob Hart joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss realizing what books could do, the protection the writing community can provide, having your book deal canceled, the benefit of a wide range of publishing experiences, Chuck Palahniuk, the domino effect of bad sales history, and we went on a tangent about writers getting paid for their time. Rob Hart is the author of six novels, the short story collection Take-Out, Scott Free with James Patterson, and a Star...
Feb 17, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Young Adult Author Heidi Heilig joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss throwing away 600+ pages, getting an offer while on bedrest, making your main character more active, the magic in rewrites, transitioning to writing solo after having a writing partner, how being a receptionist helps her writing, and writing depression accurately but keeping it active. Heidi Heilig is the author of THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, a historical fantasy series involving piracy, time travel, and 19th ...
Feb 10, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Disney Author Mari Mancusi joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss writing romance without yet understanding what it was, how she came to write Frozen books, not being afraid of the word no, the importance of reversion clauses, and the challenge with writing so many genres. Mari Mancusi is an Emmy award winning former TV news producer who has written over 30 novels to kids, teens and adults. She currently writes for Disney animation tie-in novels for Disney Press and middle grad...
Feb 03, 2022•32 min•Season 2Ep. 5
