#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Sean O'Leary

I’d like to weclome Sean O’Leary to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: the waiting

Easiest thing about being a writer: I don’t get writers block. All I have to do is go to the desk and work.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Coffee, laptop, notes galore.

Things that hamper your writing: Ah, boring stuff, like paying bills, cleaning, but good stuff too, like great films and books, I can’t drag myself away from.

Last best thing you ate: Lemon Cheesecake.

Last thing you regret eating: Garlic bread.

Favorite music or song: Chet Baker/Royel Otis

Music that drives you crazy: lift muzak

The last thing you ordered online: a desk lamp.

The last thing you regret buying: some dodgy headphones.

Things you always put in your books: sex/fights/plot twists

Things you never put in your books: I’m up for everything.

Things to say to an author: I love your stuff

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I always thought I could be a writer. (There’s nothing stopping you.)

Favorite places you’ve been: Vietnam

Places you never want to go to again: Bali

Favorite books (or genre): The Great Gatsby. The Quiet American.

Books you wouldn’t buy: I’m up for anything, but if it doesn’t work, I don’t mind quitting early on.

Favorite things to do: Write/drink great coffee. Arabica in Bangkok is great. Travel.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Get insurance. Complain about bad service.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: This was an extract from a review. I loved it: Fast-paced, sleazy, violent. O'Leary doesn't just show you the seedy sights of two of Australia's most famous cities; he drags you down into the gutter along with the losers, deadbeats, and addicts that populate this engrossing tale. I needed a bath with a wire brush and Dettol once I was done with this one.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: I got a 2-star review recently, and it started with, this isn’t my usual fare—and went downhill from there.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done? I just started doing screen printing, plus I’m a mad photographer.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: A few short stories got burned and shredded.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: I’ve been in a psychiatric ward for a short time on three occasions. I have schizophrenia.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I wrote a short story collection called ‘This is Not a Love Song’ about failed love affairs, and a few people thought some were true. None were by the way.

The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: I bought ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ at Brashes at Chadstone Shopping Centre, and I’ve been editing an anthology called ‘Crime Songs’, and Nevada McPherson-one of the contributors, chose that song as her inspiration.

A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: Rave

My favorite book as a child: The Guardians, a sci-fi book by John Christopher.

A book I’ve read more than once: The Great Gatsby.

Your favorite movie as a child: My parents took me to the cinema to see ‘The Man Who Would be King’ with Sean Connery and Michael Caine. It stayed with me.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): The Thirteen Ghosts/The Exorcist.

About Sean:

Sean O’Leary is a writer of crime and literary fiction from Melbourne, Australia. He has published five short story collections, two novellas and four novels as well as over fifty individual short stories in journals both literary and crime. He walks through cities, along coasts and on bush tracks. Takes photographs like a madman, does some drawing and thinks test cricket is the greatest game of all.

I write crime novels that are fast paced, action filled stories featuring relentless protagonists who never give up.

I write crime and literary short story collections filled with slices of life that will make you laugh and cry and break your heart.

My crime novels are also translated into Spanish and Portuguese.

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.oleary.404569

Instagram 1: https://www.instagram.com/oleary4119/

Instagram 2: http://www.instagram.com/point_and_shoot_88

Threads: http://www.threads.com/@point_and-Shoot_88

#WriterWednesday Interview with Bill McCormick

I’d like to welcome author Bill McCormick to the blog today for #WriterWednesday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Writing; Selling.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with story ideas. If you open your eyes, see the world and have imagination, they are limitless.

Things you need for your writing sessions: To leave my house and go to another location whether that’s a café’, library, office, beach or park. If my bed is anywhere nearby or if I’ve a computer with access to the internet, I’ll never get anything done.

Things that hamper your writing: I’ve lived so long in foreign countries that hearing English spoken, even in the background, pulls my attention. I cannot write a word if there are English speakers about! I’m certain that rival writers send tourists to Riga to derail my career!

Something you’re really good at: Storytelling; Research.

Something you’re really bad at: Everything else!

Favorite music or song: The Beatles are by far my favorite artists, but I’ve done most of my writing to Alice Cooper, The White Stripes or 50’s era Miles Davis. Lately, I’ve been writing to Latvian industrial band Tesa. Good stuff.

Music that drives you crazy: Lawerence Welk-era champagne music; modern techno; pop country; any American folk that isn’t Bob Dylan.

Things you’d walk a mile for: A classic noir film showing; Kraft Mac & Cheese (you can’t get it in Europe); or just to see who or what is over that hill a mile away.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Parents who bring infants to move theaters; people who believe the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen; writing a synopsis.

Things you always put in your books: Hitchcockian humor

Things you never put in your books: My first-person narrative of a mime somehow never has enough words…

Things to say to an author: “Sure, I’ll leave a great review on Amazon or Goodreads.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “How come you can’t write as fast as Stephen King?”

Favorite places you’ve been: Riga, Latvia; Odesa, Ukraine; Krakow, Poland. Isle of Skye, Scotland; Mexico City, Mexico. The bohemian Uzipus neighborhood of Vilnius, Lithuania; Iceland’s endless tundra; jagged Alpine mountains; the healing sands of the Mojave Desert.

Places you never want to go to again: Moscow, Russia

Favorite books: Moby-Dick; Of Mice and Men; Ghost Stories of an Antiquary; The Maltese Falcon; The Iliad (Robert Fagles translation); Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; Atonement; Silence of the Grave; The Shadow District; And Then There Were None; The Black Dahlia; LA Confidential; The Big Nowhere; White Jazz; The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Shadow Over Innsmouth; The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt; Billy Budd; Hitler and Stalin Parallel Lives; A Brief History of Time; In the Name of the Rose; Republican Party Reptile; The Quiet American; The Third Man; Livy’s War with Hannibal; Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque; Winning Through Intimidation; Where the Red Fern Grows; Dracula; The Turn of the Screw; Jaws; Camilla.

Books you wouldn’t buy: A cookbook. One of those Gone-With-the-Wind knockoffs with a cover where a muscular, shirtless man embraces a woman falling out of her dress in front of a castle, plantation or sea cliff; Anything having to do with Twilight or Dan Brown.

Favorite things to do: Explore the world; watch a classic film; listen to old time horror and mystery radio programs; go to a concert or sporting event; hike in the desert. mountains or seaside; try a new restaurant; learn something; laugh; listen to an audiobook.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Did I mention writing a synopsis?

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Quit my job and moved to Europe to become a writer.

Something you chickened out from doing: Spelunking caves in Nevada and Carpathia. At 6’4” undulating on my belly through 18-inch crevices in the Earth’s crust isn’t really for me.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Reggie Jackson.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: I saw a surprisingly scrawny Mr. T in a Vegas casino once.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: A tearful reader of LENIN’S HAREM once thanked me for telling the English-speaking world about what happened to her family and so many other Baltic people deported by the Soviet regime. I don’t think any experience in my writing career has ever touched me as much. I think of that woman and her family often.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “The Holodmor didn’t happen.”

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: Stalin’s purge of his military is a key plot element in my novel LENIN’s HAREM. The Parex bank scandal, while heavily fictionalized, is the inspiration behind KGB BANKER.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: The CIA operative in KGB BANKER is not me! (Really people I’m not CIA!)

About William:

William Burton McCormick is an Edgar and Dagger awards-nominated writer of thriller and historical short fiction. His work regularly appears in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and elsewhere. Twenty-four of his best stories were recently collected in the book DEEDS OF DARKNESS (Level Best Books), presently a finalist for a Silver Falchion Award for Best Collection released in 2024. He also is the author of three award-winning novels including KGB BANKER (with whistleblower John Christmas), A STRANGE FROM THE STORM, and LENIN'S HAREM, the last of which became the first work of fiction included in the permanent library at the Latvian War Museum in Riga. A native of Nevada, William has lived the last twenty years in Ukraine, Latvia, Russia, Estonia and the United Kingdom for writing purposes. Learn more about his work at williamburtonmccormick.com.

Let’s Be Social:

http://williamburtonmccormick.com

https://www.facebook.com/bill.mccormick.73345/

https://www.facebook.com/William-Burton-McCormick-365316520150776/

https://twitter.com/WBMCAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/williamburtonmccormickauthor/

https://www.goodreads.com/williamburtonmccormick

Building Partnerships

Building strong partnerships in your writer’s life is important. You need a support team. Other writers understand and will help you celebrate the wins and commiserate during the bumpy times.

Find a writer’s group. That is the best thing I did for my writing career. I instantly had a wonderful peer group that shared opportunities, events, and advice.

My first traditionally published mystery credit was from a Sisters in Crime chapter anthology. I met other writers, booksellers, librarians, and a whole bunch of mystery fans from the events that we hosted.

Other writers, especially those in the mystery community, are so generous with their time and advice. They have helped me with blurbs and all kinds of publishing and craft questions.

I have found my critique groups and partners, not to mention folks who plan book events and conference meetups.

Look for writing groups, especially with local chapters. They’ll help you stay plugged into what’s going on in your area. My agent and publishers also have virtual meetings to help their authors network. And if you want to meet people, volunteer to assist with one of their committees or projects.

Writing is often a lonely job. You need a peer group that understands the journey you’re on.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Rosalie Spielman

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Rosalie Spielman to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday!

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Going on walks, reading, stitching, watching true crime.

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Grocery shopping. It’s rather unfortunate that people must eat.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: Water and/or a hot beverage.

Things that distract you from writing: My phone. My kids. (They’re grown, but still distracting.)

Hardest thing about being a writer: Promo. It’s a never-ending task, like laundry.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Ideas. I have too many of them!

Things you will run to the store for at midnight: Not happening, ever. Though I have been known to send a minion for ice cream.

Things you never put on your shopping list: Kale and eggplant.

The coolest thing you’ve bought online: Recently, it’s a reading light that you hang around your neck. I use it for reading or stitching. Nerdy, I know.

The thing you wished you’d never bought: I bought my daughter a goat Squishmallow, goat socks, and a screaming goat button, only to have her kindly tell me that her college mascot (a ram) is a sheep, not a goat… She still likes and uses them but that was pretty embarrassing for this self-proclaimed “farm girl.”

Favorite snacks: Ritz crackers and dark chocolate, especially covering fruit or nuts. (The dark chocolate almonds from Aldi are a favorite right now.)

Things that make you want to gag: Eggplant.

Something you wish you could do: A yoga headstand.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: How to watch a Reel.

Things to say to an author: “I loved your book!”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Repeatedly apologize for a behavior they have no intention of changing. I’ll restrain myself from being more specific…since I’m not moving anytime soon.

The most exciting thing about your writing life: Meeting readers who already know who I am. Even after ten books I am consistently stunned to hear people read them.

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: I would have waited for Welcome Home to Murder to be my debut book.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: That my Hometown Mysteries is their new favorite series.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: In a review (so not directly at me), a reader said they were surprised at the quality of the writing since it was published by a small publisher. Back handed compliment much?

Best piece of advice you received from another writer: That the writing process looks different for everyone and that it’s ok that mine is not like someone else’s – do what works for me.

Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: I would encourage me to start earlier, though I didn’t possess the confidence to even try until I was in my forties.

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Since I alternate between two series, I’ll take a break from writing whatever I’m stuck on and focus on a different book / the other series. Or I write a short story. It’s ok to take a break. Though having said all that…with deadlines, I don’t have time for writer’s block.

Things you do to avoid writing: Social media/promo…still work but not writing!

About Rosalie:

Rosalie Spielman is an award-winning author, mother, veteran, and retired military spouse. She was thrilled to discover that she could make other people laugh with her writing and finds joy in giving people a humorous escape from the real world. In addition to other books and short stories, Rosalie writes the Hometown Mysteries series, set in Idaho. Rosalie has been featured in Bold Journey Magazine, the Moscow-Pullman Daily news, Kings River Life News and Reviews, and Fresh Fiction. She is an active member of Sisters in Crime and the Military Writers Society of America, the latter of which awarded her work a gold medal in 2024.

Let’s Be Social:

For more information on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter, go to www.rosalie-spielman-author.com Rosalie strives to provide you an escape...one page at a time.

Bookshop store: bookshop.org/shop/YouKnowTheSpiel

You Know The Spiel reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/760076150762688

Murder, They Write group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/451857037689554

Instagram: Rosalie.spielman

Slow and Steady - Building a Following

When I started with Twitter (many years ago), I had three followers. It takes perseverance and constant “care and feeding” to build your email list and social media following.

Here are some tips that have helped me along the way.

Social Media Sites

• Pick one of your social media sites each week and focus on growing your audience. Interact with other (likes, comments, shares), and follow new people.

• When you’re trying to build your social media following, look at other authors who are similar to you. See who their followers are. (And follow them.)

• To find fans of certain topics, search for the hashtag or topic on the social media sites. You’ll find groups and individuals with similar interests.

• If you don’t already have a schedule, try to post regularly. One post a week is probably not enough.

• Look at your content. Make sure that all of your posts are not “buy my books.” People want to be entertained and informed.

• Provide folks away to offer feedback. Pose a question or ask for recommendations.

Newsletter/Email List

• Create a sign-up sheet. Put it on a clipboard and take it to every event you do (whether or not you are selling books).

• Make sure that people who visit your website have a way to sign up for your mailing list. But don’t make it the first thing that pops ups when they open your page.

• When you get ready to send out a newsletter, create a teaser graphic and provide a link to sign up. Post it on your socials.

What else would you add to my list?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Breakfield & Burkey

I’d like to welcome Charles Breakfield of Breakfield and Burkey back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: Wine for Breakfield and champagne for Burkey.

Things you wish you’d never bought: The silver handled turnip twaddler for Burkey’s birthday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: We both need quiet and coffee to write in the mornings.

Things that hamper your writing: In two words: Distractions and interruptions.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Breakfield and Burkey scripting out their next thriller/mystery.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Breakfield and Burkey scripting out their next thriller/mystery if the wine has run out.

Things you always put in your books: We always have our AI enhanced supercomputer ICABOD in all our books.

Things you never put in your books: Weak, wimpy, whiny females. We like strong willed, determined females, both good and bad.

Things to say to an author: “I’ve always enjoyed your work.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “Are you kidding with that crap you sort of write?”

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Winston Churchill and J.R.R. Tolkien.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Any billionaire.

Favorite things to do: For Burkey, it’s having a cook-a-thon with her children and grandchildren. For Breakfield, it’s catering the heavy weapons for a clandestine operation to destabilize 3rd world dictators and cruel military juntas.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: For Breakfield, it’s changing diapers. For Burkey, being on time.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Burkey loves to zipline anytime she gets a chance. Her big passion is the longest zipline in Dubai.

Something you chickened out from doing: Bungy jumping from the ISS space station.

The funniest thing to happen to you: Breakfield and Burkey were in Brazil at Iguazu falls and lost track of our hired driver who was supposed to get us to our plane with the bags. We were in a panic but finally found him drinking coffee and daydreaming. With only minutes to spare we got to the airport but couldn’t find our passports that Charles had in his hand.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: Breakfield had to watch his highly agitated software developer in a heated discussion with the customer, fall backwards out of his chair after he bounced too hard in it.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I didn’t want to feel sorry for the antagonist, but I couldn’t help myself.” (The Enigma Source.)

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “You guys made that up! That technology can’t be real.” As technologists for over 25 years, we eviscerated them at the book signing, politely of course.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Rox and Charles have been known to save discarded furniture in the neighborhood and restore it. Tables and chairs are our specialty.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: One of the rebuilt chairs did not come out as desired and was christened “Franken-chair” due to its large size and list to one side.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: Breakfield once got tangled up with a bank robber while trying to sell mutual funds. Robert made into book #2 The Enigma Rising.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Many people believe that Gretchen, the evil femme fatal in The Enigma Stolen, is patterned after Rox Burkey, but that is untrue.

About Breakfield and Burkey:

Breakfield and Burkey have created award-winning stories that resonate with men and women, with a fresh perspective on technology possibilities within a fictional framework. They have two technothriller series, The Enigma Series and Enigma Heirs. They ventured into writing cozy mysteries with the Underground Authors in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. Their newest short story collection complements their novella and individual short stories. Their love of children’s imagination prompted them to create the delightful story and activity book The Dream. Reach out directly to Authors@EnigmaSeries.com or visit their website at: https://www.EnigmaSeries.com.

Let’s Be Social:

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/_56u3VjXIko?si=nYDBTryira1vNP31

Website: https://www.EnigmaSeries.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnigmaSeries

Blog: https://enigmabookseries.com/enigma-series-blog/ and https://roxburkey.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbreakfield/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxanneburkey/

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/EnigmaSeries

https://twitter.com/1rburkey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEnigmaSeries https://www.facebook.com/roxanne.burkey.50

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/enigmseries/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enigmabookseries/

What Have You Been Reading This Summer?

What have you been reading this summer? My reads have been a mix of cozy mystery and suspense.

I really love Kim Davis’s Cupcake Catering Mysteries. What a fun series!

Marcia Talley’s Disco Dead is a great read that focuses on forensic genealogy to solve a gruesome murder from the 1970s.

I’m going back and reading the Jack Reacher novels that I missed for some reason. Nothing to Lose is an early one. And Lee Goldberg’s Hidden in Smoke is a chock full of action and suspense.

I had the pleasure of reading two, fun ARCs (Advanced Review Copies) for Michelle Bennington’s Killer Cache and J. Kent Holloway. Both mysteries that will be out soon. Michelle’s is about an amateur sleuth who is a hoarder, and J. Kent’s is about a magical holiday place.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Jennifer Sommersby

I’d like to welcome Jennifer Sommersby to the blog this week for some of her favorite (and not so favorite) summer things!

Favorite summer treat: Peaches and nectarines! I love all the delicious summer fruits (not watermelon) that come from the Interior region of BC. The biggest, juiciest peaches you’ve ever sunk your teeth into. (Make sure to have paper towels and/or wet wipes on hand for after.)

A summer treat that makes you gag: Pretty much the only thing that makes me gag is broccoli, and that’s all year long. Oh, and spaghetti squash. Any squash, really. My mother used to make this nasty spaghetti squash with a rosé-style sauce and just thinking about it … *gulp*. Let’s not think about it.

Favorite summer beverage: A deliciously cold lager or ale from a local brewery, condensation on the can or bottle, best gulped down after doing yardwork or moving furniture or something laborious that makes me sweaty and gross.

A drink that gives you a pickle face: OMG, a few weeks ago, I went to the VIP movie theater with my husband (saw the last Mission Impossible film, not realizing it was part 2—I gotta hand it to Tom Cruise—that man is nuttier than a walnut tree, but he gives EVERYTHING to his films. Really, the Last True Movie Star)—and I ordered this whisky concoction with ginger beer and a sprig of basil and a splash of berry … and it is the first time I have ever sent back a drink of any sort because I couldn’t force myself to get through it. Utterly nasty.

Best summer memory: Playing with my kids at spray parks, beaches, the local pools … their lemonade stands and “sleepovers” when they’d pile into the living room with blankets and popcorn and watch movies together. Good times.

Something you’d rather forget: Big fight with my mom that ended with a concussion and ruptured left eardrum (mine, not hers) and I drove away with my three young (and thereafter traumatized) kids. We drove five hours north on I-5 until I couldn’t go another mile and found a crappy travelers’ motel where we stopped for the night to regroup before restarting the trip home the following morning. Turns out the motel was right in the heart of cattle country in the San Joaquin Valley (VERY stinky)—I didn’t know that because we arrived in the dead of night, and I was kind of out of it. Big horseflies everywhere. And my youngest (just turned 7) tripped on the sidewalk en route to our room and ripped open her knee … that made me cry the hardest.

Your favorite thing to get from the ice cream truck: Mint chocolate chip and espresso flake, two scoops in a waffle cone. We have a local ice creamery AND a new specialty ice cream/pastry shop at the park a few blocks from our house. Talk about dangerous.

Some dessert that you wish you’d never bought: Anything lime. *shudder*

Most favorite place to write/edit in the summer: My husband (film industry sculptor of 35 years) repurposed a gazebo in our backyard into a writing shed/office for me, complete with double-paned windows, a door, a heater, the works. We also have a “catio” attached to that side of the house, and our three tuxedo cats can see me through my office’s glass-paned door from their various perches. They take turns yelling at me: “Meeeeeooooowwwwww!” Because they want me to come inside and give them cookies and love. Alas, they are in their secure catio, and I am in my office, thus dubbed the Howling Cat in their honor.

The worst place to try to write in the summer because of all the distractions: Pretty much anywhere inside my house. My three (adult) children still live here + my granddog (Canadian Grand Champion miniature longhaired Dachshund, Pippin Took + three cats + my noisy husband who is currently building a space station for some indie film in our backyard, right next to the Howling Cat, so the whole place is total chaos right now).

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening: Sit outside when it cools down and read, sip a beer, and prop my leg on my husband’s chair so he will rub my foot.

Least favorite thing about summer: I hate being hot. Also, wasps. But autumn is the Best Season Ever and we can’t have autumn without summer, so I grin and bear it (and complain the whole time).

The thing you like most about being a writer: Living countless lives through my characters and their adventures.

The thing you like least about being a writer: How hard it is to make money in publishing. It’s bullshit that the world turns to the arts for solace, comfort, entertainment—movies, books, music, etc.—during the hard times (COVID, anyone?), but then there is SO little funding available for arts programs and so much piracy, as if people are entitled to art without compensation to the creatives. I could rail on about this for days.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: Advil or other fever reducer. Ice cream. Chocolate. LOL, and before last year, feminine hygiene.

Things you never put on your shopping list: Broccoli. (Also liver. Or pork chops. Pigs are smart. Oh, and no crab because, although I am a good Oregonian who once enjoyed Dungeness crab during summer camping trips, my husband, early in our marriage, casually mentioned that crab and lobster are basically giant insects of the sea and now I can’t get past it.)

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: People reading and ENJOYING my work—like the lady at an in-person book signing who told me Must Love Otters and Hollie Porter Builds a Raft got her through her husband’s months-long cancer battle. Wow.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: Accepting the Random House US offer for my YA debut instead of waiting for the Canadian publisher to finish edits before looking for a US home. Huge regret. OH, also trusting the wrong people. Snakes everywhere, people. Pay attention.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Moved to Canada with my Canadian husband and two young children, moving into a house we’d only seen online and had friends vet for us before signing the lease.

Something you chickened out from doing: Taking up Dr. Faiola when he offered to sponsor me through medical school. I wish I’d had more confidence in myself back then. I would’ve made a great doctor. Now I just play one in my books.

About Jenn:

Jennifer Sommersby is a freelance editor, devoted bibliophile and Superman freak, and author of thirteen books and three novellas (written under Sommersby and Eliza Gordon), including award-winning YA and rom-com titles. Through her company SGA Books, she supports indie authors with editorial services, publishing resources, and hands-on teaching, as well as branding, design, and custom merch through Bard & Bloom. In 2025, she joined Pulp Literature Press as Head of Novel Acquisitions to revitalize their fiction line, focusing on edgy and emotionally resonant commercial and genre fiction. Trans rights are human rights.

Let’s Be Social:

SGA Books: https://www.sgabooks.com/

Jenn Sommersby: https://www.jennsommersbybooks.com/

Eliza Gordon: https://www.elizagordon.com

Plumfield Editing: https://www.plumfieldediting.com/

Bard & Bloom: https://www.bardandbloom.com

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennsommersby/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennsommersbyauthor/

Substack: https://jennofletters.substack.com/

TikTok: @jennie_krypton

BlueSky: @jennofsteel.bsky.social