Always blessed with quirky interests, Sondra Eklund memorized the book of Psalms beginning in childhood, which illuminated her journey through an unwanted divorce to a new career as a librarian. Now she’s passionate about shining light on good books and showing how patterns from Psalms can deepen your prayers. How did you become a writer? I’ve been an avid reader as long as I can remember, so writing was a natural outgrowth of that. After I started working in a library, I

Dr. Lona Bailey is an award-winning, Amazon-bestselling author and leading researcher of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She has written several acclaimed biographies, including Uncredited, Voice of Villainy, Mrs. Radio, and Some Small Nobility, with a focus on restoring the voices of overlooked women. Her book Voice of Villainy was a finalist in the International Book Awards and won the Gold Medal in Dan Poynter’s Global Ebook Awards. Dr. Bailey has been featured in Film Daily,

How did you become a writer? I've had a love of writing for as long as I can remember. Diaries, journals, short stories, poems, you name it. I even wrote a few songs when I was in elementary and middle school just for fun. English, language arts, and creative writing were my favorite classes, and I was always the weird kid who got excited about essay assignments and research reports, and that followed me into college. At some point, I decided to give novel writing a shot and

Sarah E. Burr is an award-winning cozy mystery author whose stories blend charm, clever twists, and millennial sparkle. A former healthcare IT professional, Sarah left the corporate world to write full-time and has since published more than twenty books. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, co-hosts A Bookish Moment, and loves connecting with readers through her Sleuthing Society. How did you become a writer? I began my publishing journey with a young adult fantasy trilogy I

At Metamorphosis Literary Agency, we want you to approach querying with clarity, strategy, and as little emotional whiplash as possible. Think of this as building a long-term process, not a one‑time event. Where to find literary agents QueryTracker: QueryTracker is a fantastic tool for researching agents and keeping your submissions organized. You can log who you’ve queried, when, and what response you received. Many of our authors used it as their main hub. If you prefer, a

🌟 Charlotte readers, mark your calendars 🌟 A magical picture‑book moment is coming your way. On May 9th, author LaRonda Gardner Middlemiss will be at Park Road Books to celebrate her brand‑new picture book and you’re invited to be part of the joy. If you love: ✨ stories that sparkle with heart ✨ events where kids light up ✨ meeting the creators behind the books your family cherishes ✨ supporting indie bookstores that keep our communities vibrant …this is absolutely your nex

Jordyn Zimmerman How did you become a writer? As a nonspeaking autistic person, my use of language has not always been well understood. For a long time, people underestimated the depth of my thought and what I had to say. In some ways though, writing changed that — becoming a powerful tool in advocacy, communication, and connection with others. It now gives space to more deeply articulate experiences that might otherwise go unshared, and to make sense of the world for myself

Did you see the cover art for My Name Was Baby: An Intersex Memoir by Chris M. Arnone ? @chrismarnone Chris is a rising intersex activist who offers a compelling memoir that brings rare visibility to intersex life in the American Midwest. With candor, humor, and emotional honesty, Arnone tells a story of growing up different—and learning, decades later, why. https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700642250/ “ My Name Was Baby is a brave and intimate exploration of the search fo

Shannon Iwanski began writing as a child and won his first award at 15. He has gone on to win multiple awards for science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery/suspense, and romance. He has previously served as an editor for two small presses, enjoys speaking at writers’ conferences, and helps other writers with their craft, including as a sensitivity reader. 1. ‎How did you become a writer? I learned to read using the I See Sam books, which featured various animals. That led t

How did you become a writer? I've been writing for as long as I can remember. As a kid I loved writing little holiday short stories about me and my friends (going Christmas shopping, being attacked by ghouls at Halloween, you name it), using the old method of middle name + street name for the character names. I didn't think anything of my writing abilities until I wrote a short story in grade school, and my teacher said he passed it to his wife (a high school English teacher)