Katherine Center is a New York Times-bestselling author, and a Romantic with a capital R. Her first novel, written in the sixth grade was a fan fiction about Duran Duran, has sadly not yet been published, but she has gone on to publish ten other novels, two of which have been turned into movies – The Lost Husband and Happiness for Beginners. Both immediately went to the top of the Netflix charts almost as soon as they started streaming.

Last week, Katherine’s 11th novel, The Rom-Commers, was published by St Martin’s Press, and we'd love you to buy it from one of Katherine's favorite indie bookstore, Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Texas, by visiting the store's website.

You can find out more about all of Katherine's books, movies and other projects, and also sign up for her amazing newsletter, at www.katherinecenter.com

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July Duffy was a self-confessed frustrated creative writer-who-wasn’t-writing, when she challenged herself to write a story every day of May 2010. Other would-be writers heard what she was doing and asked to join in. And that was only the beginning.

And today - May 1st, 2024 - Julie is launching the 15th year of StoryADayMay.

Since then thousands of writers have joined Julie each May (and lately in September too), to prove to themselves that they can make creativity a priority in their lives. The focus is on writing, creating and improving your craft, not on getting published (though that may be the end result eventually too).

Now, she leads her community of writers at StoryADay, and is a sought-after guest speaker on topics related to creativity, productivity and community. And as a fellow Scot, I had such a lot of fun chatting to Julie for this episode of Authors & Audiences.

So if you are listening on May 1st - go sign up for Julie's daily email writing prompts.

If you are listening later in May - it's still not too late, so go sign up for Julie's daily email writing prompts.

And if you are listening anytime later, Julie has so many other things to get you writing throughout the year, I think you should sign up anyway.

I'm planning to join in and write some stories too - maybe not every day, but as many as I can manage, so make sure you follow me on Instagram and I'll share my progress with you there, so you can share yours too.

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[It turns out that I incorrectly posted this episode back in April as just a 42 seconds-long clip. Oops! - frustratingly, I have only just realized, but I have now replaced the short clip with the full episode - So sorry everyone!]
Yesterday - on Saturday, April 27th, 2024 I helped celebrate Independent Bookstores Day by becoming one of the Guest Booksellers at Brazos Bookstore, my amazing local indie here in Houston TX at the invitation of Randi Null, the general manager. I'm not sure how many books I helped sell, but I certainly had a great couple of hours talking to the staff, the other authors who were Guest-Bookselling too, and of course, to the readers of all ages who were checking out the shelves and asking for recommendations so I could give you the chance to help us celebrate the indie bookstore network around the world too. I even got to talk to the Inprint Poetry Buskers - all Masters students at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program - who were on duty with their trusty typewriters, ready to produce an original poem to order - just give them a topic and then pick up your piece of original literary artwork a few minutes later.

Of course, because we were recording live in the store, the sound quality is rather louder than usual, and unfortunately, because I was trying out some new lapel mics for the interviews, my own sound is a little distorted at times. Huge apologies, but I hope you'll forgive all that and just enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of a bustling indie bookstore on a busy Saturday afternoon.

My fellow Guest Booksellers on the afternoon shift were Chris Cander and Sydney Dunlap, and the Inprint Poetry Buskers were Adrian Pachuca, Caleb Berg and Anna Barr.

Shoutouts to other indie stores mentioned by my guests:
Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston TX
Kaboom Books, Houston TX
Class Books, Houston TX
Buy the Book, Woodlands TX
Village Books, Woodlands TX
Moe's Books, Berkeley CA
Bad Animal, Santa Cruz CA
Literati, Ann Arbor MI
Dawn Treader, Ann Arbor MI
Curious Books, East Lancing MI
Parnassus Books, Nashville TN
Goldberry Books, Concord, NC

And also to the two libraries mentioned - Aurora IL Public Library, and Ms Nelson, the school librarian at Roberts Elementary School, Houston TX.

And thank you to all the readers and book-buyers who so willingly let me accost them and demand to know what books they'd chosen.

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Norah Woodsey, is an indie author, with three novels, THE CONTROL PROBLEM and LIFELESS, and the novella WHEN THE WAVE COLLAPSES. Her next book, THE STATES, will be out in April 2024. After short careers in finance and tech, Norah began writing novels featuring subjects of which she says she has “intense interest but not quite expertise”, such as history, physics, genetics, sociology and gender studies. She’s a fourth generation Brooklynite, though she’s now living over on the west coast.

You can pre-order THE STATES or buy any of her other books via the links on Norah's website, or from Norah's favorite indie bookstore, Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, and you can find Norah at www.norahwoodsey.com and follow her on Instagram.

Kealani Netane is a Native Hawaiian and Samoan author who was raised on the leeward side of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi where she currently lives. She writes children's books and her debut picture book will be TALA LEARNS TO SIVA, illustrated by Dung Ho (Scholastic, Summer 2024) and is available for pre-order now.

Kealani is passionate about championing Pacific Islander voices in all sectors of the art world, and she was part of the organizing team which put together the Books for Maui online auction to help support the island recover and rebuild after the devastating wildfires of August 2023.

The other auction organizers are:

• Malia Maunakea- LEI AND THE FIRE GODDESS
• Keala Kendall- unannounced book news
• Erika Cravahlo Meyers- not an author, contributor to Scholastic’s Rising Voices initiative
• Shar Tuiasoa- Punky Aloha
• Terisa Siagatonu- award-winning poet
• Joanna Ho (Chinese/Taiwanese)- NYT Bestselling author.

The four organizations which the Auction supported are:

• Kamehameha Schools and the Pauahi Foundation
• Hawai’i Community Foundation
• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
• Maui Food Bank

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Emily Bain Murphy is the author of two gorgeous magical fantasy books for young adults - THE DISAPPEARANCES and SPLINTERS OF SCARLET - and has this month published her first novel for adults, ENCHANTED HILL, with Union Square & Company, Emily has not only transitioned to writing for an adult audience, she's also turned to the world of a detective and a murder mystery. Having lived in the Far East as a youngster, and all over the US as an adult, Emily has finally settled in the St Louis area.

You can buy ENCHANTED HILL from Emily's favorite indie bookstores in Missouri, Main Street Books in St. Charles, or The Novel Neighbor in Webster Groves.

You can find Emily at www.emilybainmurphy.com, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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Kathryn Casey is an award-winning journalist and the author of eleven true crime books and seven crime fiction novels. As a journalist, Casey has written more than a hundred national magazine articles and pieces for The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Houston Chronicle. Her true crime story, DEADLY LITTLE SECRETS was made into a movie, SINS OF THE PREACHER, and based on her work for her book DELIVER US, she was featured in all three episodes of the Netflix series "Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields." In 2022

Her latest book - her 19th - is Angel Falls, and this time, it's historical fiction, but based on a real life explorer, Ruth Robertson.

To buy Angel Falls from Kathryn's favorite indie bookstore, Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas, visit the store's website.

To buy Angel Falls, and support this podcast, visit our page at Bookshop.org

You can find Kathryn, and read the opening chapter of Angel Falls at www.kathryncasey.com

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Today is November 1st, the opening day of National Novel Writing Month – or NaNoWriMo which takes place every November, as writers from all over the world come together, in person and online, to write 50,000 words in just 30 days.

I'm a big fan of NaNoWriMo, because the book I drafted during NaNoWriMo 2010 ended up being published as WAIT FOR ME, my debut YA novel for Harper Collins in 2017. And I’m not the only NaNoWriMo participant who then got a Big Five publishing deal with that same project. So on my blog yesterday, at carolineleechwrites.com , I posted my five best writing tips to help you win NaNoWrimo, and today, on this episode, I share with you my best social media tips to help you engage with your readers and with the other NaNoWriMo participants all through November, without using up all your precious writing time, and without derailing your wordcount goals.

So whether you are already signed up , are still thinking about it, or are happy to stay on as cheerleaders, hope you'll find this episode interesting and useful.

For more details, and to sign up to take part, visit the National Novel Writing Month website.

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Welcome to the new season of Author and Audiences, and we're starting off with my recent in-person conversation with two incredible middle-grade authors - Dhonielle Clayton and P. Djèlí Clark- during Banned Books Week 2023

Dhonielle Clayton is an NYT bestselling YA and middle grade author. She is COO of the hugely influential non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and also the President and founder of Cake Creative and Electric Postcard Entertainment. Her new middle grade book, The Memory Thieves, is the second in the Conjureverse quartet, and follows on from the first book, The Marvellers.

P. Djèlí Clark is the award-winning author of science fiction and fantasy for adults. He’s currently visiting schools around the country to share his middle grade debut novel, Abeni’s Song, an African and African Diaspora-inspired fantasy adventure for middle-grade readers which was released this summer by Tor Publishing’s young reader imprint, Starscape.

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.

We Need Diverse Books is a non-profit that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. It aims to put more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all readers and build a world where everyone can find themselves in the pages of a book.

Buy Dhonielle's new book, The Memory Thieves from her favorite Houston indie, Blue Willow Bookshop, or support this podcast by buying it from the A&A store on Bookshop.org.

And by Phen's MG debut, Abeni's Song, from his favorite Connecticut bookstore, River Bend Books, or or support this podcast by buying it from the A&A store on Bookshop.org.

You can find Dhonielle at www.dhonielleclayton.com, and on Instagram as @brownbookworm

You can find P. Djèlí Clark at www.pdjeliclark.com and on Instagram as @pdjeliclark

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