The Writing Table with Kris Clink

How does an author balance a writing career that spans television and literature? Melissa de la Cruz discusses how she makes it all work. Melissa de la Cruz is the #1 New York Times, #1 Publishers Weekly, and #1 IndieBound bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for readers of all ages. Many of her more than seventy books have also topped USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestsel...

What makes a fascinating female protagonist? Wall Street Journal bestselling author Victoria Helen Stone shares how she creates her characters, where she goes for inspiration, and what she learned about conspiracy theories in this episode. Victoria is the author of the runaway hit Jane Doe, writes critically acclaimed novels of dark intrigue and emotional suspense. Her work includes Follow Her Down, At the Quiet Edge, The Last One ...

Paulette Kennedy explores the world of gothic suspense, peeling back the curtain on her writing journey and process. She is the bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain, The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, and Parting the Veil, which received the prestigious HNS Review Editor’s Choice Award. She has had a lifelong obsession with the gothic. As a young girl, she spent her summers among the gravestones in her neighborhood cemetery, ...

From book clubs to navigating characters who are hard to pin down, Marie Bostwick shares her best practices about drafting a novel and discusses what inspired her latest novel, The Bookclub for Troublesome Women. 

Marie is a New York Times and USA Today Bestseller of heartwarming fiction for women. Published in 2005 by Kensington Books, Fields of Gold, her first novel, was a finalist for the prestigious Oklahoma Book Award. River’s ...

Catriona Silvey discusses her journey to publishing and what she's learned along the way. Catriona is the author of the international bestseller Meet Me in Another Life. She was born in Glasgow and grew up in Scotland and England. After collecting an unreasonable number of degrees from the universities of Cambridge, Chicago, and Edinburgh, she settled in Edinburgh where she lives with her husband and children. Her latest work ...

Emily Carpenter peels back the curtain on querying and how she arrived at her distinct style of southern gothic suspense. A former actor, producer, screenwriter, and behind-the-scenes soap opera assistant, Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she now lives in Georgia with her family. 

Learn more at: EmilyCarpenterAuthor.com.

Special thanks to Netgalley for the advance...

Kat Mackenzie is an American who just happened to find herself living abroad for ten years and accidentally traveling to over forty countries in an attempt to taste all the food. She holds degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oxford but has discovered that they serve her best collecting dust on the shelf while she pens comedy-forward stories about women who travel. Work in Progress is her first novel. 

Lear...

Raising sheep, chickens, and more while home schooling a house full of children, Melissa Ferguson shares what's in store for readers with her next novel, The Perfect Rom-Com. Melissa is the bestselling author of titles including Meet Me in the Margins, How to Plot a Payback, and On the Way to Christmas. She lives in Tennessee with her husband and children in their growing farmhouse lifestyle and writes heartwarming romantic co...

Poppy Kuroki was born in Scotland and grew up in England. She’s been living in Japan in the Kanagawa prefecture since 2016 where she works as a writer and freelance editor, and lives with her son. She conducted extensive historical research while writing her debut, interviewing historians, tour guides, and even a descendent of Saigō Takamori. Gate to Kagoshima includes maps, family trees, character lists, timelines, and a glossary ...

Years after completing an MFA at Iowa and retiring from a storied careers in television and academics, Bob Johnson returned to writing to become an award-winning short story writer and graduate of the lowa Writers’ Workshop. His work has been published by The Common, Philadelphia Stories, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Barcelona Review, and elsewhere. His story "The Continental Divide" was named Short Story of the Year in The Hudso...

Jenn Bouchard reveals her takeaways on developing characters, how she rebounded after disappointment, and what's behind her latest novel, Considering Us. 

Jenn has been teaching high school social studies for twenty-five years. She is an avid cook, volunteer for good causes, and devoted Red Sox fan. A graduate of Bates College and Tufts University, she lives in the Boston suburbs with her husband and two children. Enjoy FIRST C...

What did Jennifer Weiner learn from Toni Morrison? Where did her research for her latest novel take her? Find out in this week's episode of the Writing Table. 

Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen books, including That Summer, Big Summer, Mrs. Everything, In Her Shoes, Good in Bed, and a memoir in essays, Hungry Heart. She has appeared on many national television programs, including the Today ...

Cynthia Cina Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet. Heavily influenced by dark fairytales, folklore, urban legends and true crime and a master of blending gothic, horror, and suspense, Pelayo's latest is a dark retelling of Sleeping Beauty and explores what this classic tale reveals about death and the particular role of women in the fairytale. As a Chicago native, th...

Kimberly Brock is the bestselling author of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Townsend Prize for Fiction, and The River Witch, recipient of the Georgia Author of the Year Award. She is the founder of Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. A native of North Georgia, she now lives...

Jacqueline Faber is an author and freelance writer. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University, where she was the recipient of a Woodruff Scholarship, and taught in the Expository Writing Program at New York University, where she received an award for excellence in teaching. She studied philosophy in Bologna, Italy, and received a dissertation grant from Freie University in Berlin, Germany. Jacqueline writes ac...

Dating is hard, but Lindsay Jill Roth has conducted years of research, revealing key topics to consider when looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right. Roth is an award-winning television and live-events producer who has created and developed a wide variety of programming globally, including original content for NBC, BET, ESPN, Food Network, Billboard, The Masters, The Grammys, The TONYs, and the US Open. She is the former producer of Emmy-nom...

Amber Chen is a Singaporean-Chinese author of SFF and contemporary fiction. She spends much of her free time living within Chinese fantasy novels and dramas, and also drinks one too many cups of bubble tea. One of her webnovels, The Cutting Edge, has been adapted for television. Today, we’ll chat about her latest novel, Of Jade and Dragons, a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee. 

Learn more at ambercwrites.com

Special thanks to NetGalley ...

Shanora Williams is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty romance and diverse suspense novels. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and three boys and is a sister to eleven. When she isn’t writing, she’s spending time with her family, binge reading, or running marathons on TV streaming services. Her latest novel is Beautiful Broken Love. 

Learn more at shanorawilliams.com 

Int...

#1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Barbara Nickless promised her mother she’d be a novelist when she grew up. What could be safer than sitting at a desk all day? But a sense of adventure led her astray for a few decades. Now an award-winning author and creative writing instructor, she spends her free time snowshoeing, caving and hiking the Colorado Rockies. Her latest novel is The Drowning Game. 

L...