On today’s episode, we get to chat with southern novelist Mindy Friddle, whose third book (and first domestic thriller) Her Best Self is out now from Regal House Publishing. Her Best Self includes the perspectives of a constellation of characters, including first-person point-of-view from the protagonist, a small-town matriarch, as well as third-person from a range of characters including her husband, adult children, a neurodiverse grandson with an affinity for animals, and the antagonist, a magnetic grifter. Joining us for a conversation about the value in bringing not only multiple POVs to a thriller, but branching those perspectives out in all directions, Mindy casts the spotlight on puzzling through perspective, and building suspense.

Mindy Friddle is author of the novel, Secret Keepers, (winner of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction). The Garden Angel, her first novel and SIBA bestseller, was selected for Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers. The South Carolina Arts Commission awarded Mindy a prose fellowship, and she has twice won the state’s Fiction Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals. She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson and lives on Edisto Island, South Carolina.

You can find Mindy online at mindyfriddle.com,

and on Instagram @mindyfriddle

Her Best Self is available from Regal House Publishing or support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Her Best Self at Bookshop.org

Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.

She offers a free 7 Steps to Perfect Your Podcast Title to anyone interested in launching a podcast. You can also follow her on Instagram-@ShawnaPodcasts, and learn more about the network and community at https://linktr.ee/37by27.

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Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -

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Once every few years, a great love story sweeps readers off their feet and becomes a runaway sensation. Amy Neff’s stunning debut The Days I Loved You Most is perfectly poised to become that next great love story for the ages. The book asks the question: Could you live without the love of your life? And centers on a couple in a coastal Connecticut town who decide to redefine the ending to their love story, on their own terms.

It just received a glowing starred review from Booklist which praises: “As the story weaves between the past and the present, the reader witnesses the heartaches and triumphs of their long, intertwined lives. This bittersweet tale, both heartbreaking and heartfelt, will leave even the most stoic reader with tears in their eyes.”

And Jodi Picoult lauds: “I’ve never read a story quite like this deeply moving, complex novel — the truths we owe ourselves and others; the difference between self and selfishness; the parts of love that make us want to leave...and the parts that make us desperate to stay.”

The Days I Loved You Most is an unforgettable and deeply romantic debut, a moving tribute to the enduring power of love, a celebration of a lifetime spent together, and a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there is always hope and beauty to be found.

Amy Neff's debut novel, The Days I Loved You Most, is a love letter to the seaside town where her family has spent summers since the early 1900s. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and their rescue dog. Connect with her on social media or find her online at www.amyneff.com.

Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of The Days I Loved You Most at Bookshop.org

Author and musical composer Kathleen Basi is mother to three boys and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, follows a musician on an unconventional road trip. Bestselling author Kerry Anne King writes, “In a novel filled with music, heartbreak, and surprising laughter, Basi takes us on a journey that encompasses both unimaginable loss and the powerful resilience of the human heart.”

Meaty, earnest, occasionally humorous, and ultimately uplifting, Kathleen’s fiction highlights the best within ourselves and each other. She writes monthly reflections on life, writing and beauty on her newsletter. Subscribe at https://kathleenbasi.substack.com/.

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast

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In today's episode, we chat with Christine Gunderson about her ten year journey to a traditional publishing deal, tenacity, and how to deal with rejection. She wrote her debut novel, Friends with Secrets, in her mini van in the school pick up line, at piano lessons, during drama rehearsals, at swim team practice, basketball practice, crew practice, and in lots of other unglamourous and uncomfortable places where only a mother who writes would write.

Like most writers, Christine started life as a reader. Born and raised on a fourth-generation family farm in rural North Dakota, she devoured Laura Ingalls Wilder books in her very own little house on the prairie. She also burned holes in her chenille bedspread while attempting to read Trixie Belden books under the covers when she was supposed to be asleep.

During these formative years growing up on the farm, Christine learned to haul grain, drive a combine, and pick rocks, skills that have yet to be useful later in life. Growing up on the prairie fifty miles from the nearest McDonalds also gave Christine a lifelong aversion to trees, and a craving for wide open spaces.

She eventually left the farm, attended college, then headed into the wide world to seek her fortune. She pursued the kind of jobs where you get paid to talk and write and no one cares that you almost failed algebra. She worked as television anchor and reporter and a Capitol Hill press secretary, then left it all behind to stay home with her children, where algebra still continues to baffle her all these years later. Christine currently live in the Washington D.C. suburbs with her three children, Star the Wonder Dog, and a very patient husband.

When not writing, she's sailing the Chesapeake Bay with her family, playing Star Wars monopoly, re-reading Jane Austen novels or unloading the dishwasher.

After years of rejection and heartache on the road to publication, the fact that someone is actually reading a book she's written continues to astonish her, and she absolutely loves to hear thoughts and ideas from readers.

You can contact her at www.christinegunderson.com and sign up for her newsletter, Notes on Love and Laundry.

Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of the #1 Best Seller Friends with Secrets at Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781662522710 or support this podcast by getting your copy of Friends with Secrets through our Amazon Affiliate link - https://amzn.to/3WRCt8c

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Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -

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