Hi, everyone!
Happy New Year and welcome to 2026. One of my “resolutions” for 2026 is to keep this blog updated on a more regular basis. I tend to be on Substack on a frequent basis, where I post author interviews on a monthly (or more frequently) basis.
Here’s the latest author interviews from the past few months.
Meet Joanna Campbell Slan, bestselling cozy mystery author: Joanna is a prolific cozy mystery writer, with four series, 80 (and counting!) writing projects, along with being an avid crafter.
“There’s so much beauty and joy in the world, but you have to actively look for it.”
Meet Christine Knapp, nurse midwife and cozy mystery author: Christine writes the Modern Midwife Mystery series, and draws from her own experience as a nurse midwife.
“I love that there is never a typical day.”
Meet Thomas A. Burns, award-winning indie author: Thomas is an award-winning indie author who writes both contemporary noir and Sherlock Holmes pastiches.
Novelist Susy Robison: fighting human trafficking through fiction. Susy draws from her childhood experiences in India and her work with the Pittsburg FBI Human Trafficking Coalition to speak and write about this important topic.
“India flavors my life.”
Meet M.A. Lee, historical mystery author and podcaster. She is a prolific historical mystery author and in addition to full-length novels, she has a short story collection of murderless mysteries, which is quite rare in this genre. She’s also the host of the podcast The Write Focus, which focuses on the (you guessed it!) writing: productivity, tools, craft, and such, as well as interviews with other writers.
Meet Christine DeSmet, cozy mystery writer. She is one of the original founding members of Blackbird Writers, so if you follow the Blackbirds, you’ve met her. (And if you don’t follow the Blackbirds, you should. They’re a fabulous group of mystery writers.) She is the author of the Mischief in Moonstone Series set in northwest Wisconsin and the Fudge Shop Mystery Series set in Door County. (Yes, recipes are included!) I read her adorable Christmasy romance-mystery When Rudolph was Kidnapped. So cute. Spoiler alert: Rudolph is okay. No one gets hurt.
“Cozy means you have to use wit and humor and secrets and respect and love as your weapons.”
Meet Rick Hall: former game developer turned storyteller and multi-genre author. Back when I was part of the Twitter book blogger & writing community, I met Rick and was intrigued by the premise of his first novel, Gnosis. In my reading, I rarely ventured into the paranormal or fantasy in general, but the book had mystery/thriller elements, and his description of his novel intrigued me enough that I requested a copy to read and review. It lived up to its promise.
“I’m happiest when I’m diving headfirst into something complicated that I know nothing about, whether it’s in a classroom, a novel, or a game engine.”
Year End Update. I’d interviewed so many lovely, talented, prolific authors over the past few years that I wanted to update my readers about what these folks had been up to in recent months. Turns out, they’ve been busy. A podcaster passed a major milestone, many had new releases and upcoming releases for 2026, and one of my first interviewees is publishing her debut novel in late 2026.
I also had writing-related news of my own to pass on:
After receiving far-too-many form rejections for my query, I had several agents request a full manuscript. Unfortunately, all turned down the project. One mentioned that though she loved the book, she felt the subject matter was too somber to break out in our current market. Upon reflection, I agreed with her. But I’ve never been able to write a mystery/thriller that isn’t extremely dark. My one attempt to write a murder-free mystery ended in disaster when a character (you guessed it) was murdered.
I started writing when my younger daughter was five weeks old. She’s a freshman in college now. I’ve written approximately thirteen manuscripts, queried three, had two professionally edited, and received lots and lots of positive, glowing feedback … and received approximately 180 rejections for those last two manuscripts. I don’t feel that self-publishing is right for me at this moment. But after two decades of serious writing, something had to change.
So I pivoted and decided to write a second YA romance. After reading dozens of YA romance/rom-coms, watching many romantic comedies, and writing four drafts, I have beta readers looking over the draft.
The book has elements of the romcom movies How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Sabrina, only with teen theater techies. The premise: When a teenage wallflower tries to transform herself to gain confidence, she attracts the attention of her long-time crush and his brother, who schemes to separate the two. But he doesn’t expect to either fall for her or have her support while caring for his mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s.
I’m also currently looking for authors (both published or not) to interview in 2026. I’m still mainly focusing on mystery/thriller writers. But considering my own genre switch, I’m open to sweet/non-spicy/mildly spicy romance/rom-com/romantic suspense writers as well. If that’s you, send me a DM and we’ll chat!
Talk to me! What do you think?