Shail Rajan's Blog, page 2

The Search for Family (3 Minutes with Dr. Rachel Callaghan)

My guest this week on 3 Minutes with the Author is Dr. Rachel Callaghan, physician turned novelist and award-winning essayist. She writes from experience as a survivor of stage IV lymphoma about traumatic circumstances and the emotional and psychological damage they cause. Following a stem cell transplant and a decade of profound fatigue which left her mourning the loss of patients she loved as friends, Dr. Callaghan turned to writing about people and making them come alive on the page. Her firm belief in recovery and starting over imbues her debut novel UNDER WATER , a dual timeline exploration of people renovating not only a home, but relationships and marriages in their search for family.

Watch the entire episode HERE.

Do you want to discover new authors and find your next favorite read in less time than it takes to boil an egg? Check out my free, bite-sized interview series 3 Minutes with the Author! Subscribe to my newsletter to have the episodes delivered straight to your inbox!

About UNDER WATER

Submerged beneath layers of history lies a long-ago buried secret.

During the pandemic lockdown, Iris Pearl impulsively relocates her dulling marriage across the country in a bid to revive it. But renovating their Prerevolutionary Pennsylvania homestead gives Iris more than she bargained for when she makes a gruesome discovery, one that hurtles her and Benny’s haunted past to the present.

Iris is desperately consumed by the desire to know what happened on her property over a century and a half earlier. Her search leads her to Irish immigrant Aoife Sprigett, the wife of Union soldier William. The further she digs into the mystery of Aoife’s fate, the deeper she reaches into her own secret history.

While William serves in the Civil War, Aoife struggles to uphold her vow to maintain their livelihood, their farm, during his absence. Aoife’s only companion is their hired help, Thomas Walker, a freeborn black laborer. Aoife and Thomas develop a warm friendship as they toil side by side in the fields. Together, Aoife and Thomas sow deep seeds that bear deep-rooted consequences, which are now coming to light.

Will unearthing the truth behind Aoife’s tragic past, which so closely parallels Iris’s own, free her and Benny from their marriage’s haunted history, or will revisiting that dark time destroy it?

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Stick Shifts & Second Chances (3 Minutes with E.D. Hackett)

A cancelled flight, a chance encounter, and a stick shift are the perfect ingredients for a second chance romance about personal growth, forgiveness, and responsibility. Join me as I chat with E.D. Hackett, my guest this week on 3 Minutes with the Author, about her novella A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE which is now available for pre-order.

Watch the entire episode HERE.

Do you want to discover new authors and find your next favorite read in less time than it takes to boil an egg? Check out my free, bite-sized interview series 3 Minutes with the Author! Subscribe to my newsletter to have the episodes delivered straight to your inbox!

About A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Cassidy McCarthy, a single woman from Tampa, is on her way back to Boston for the first time in years to attend her best friend’s wedding. While guilt has kept her away from her home and family, she simply can’t turn her best friend down.

At the airport, Cassidy becomes stranded by a freak snowstorm and is unexpectedly thrust into the path of her ex, Dusty. Forced to share the last rental car and a journey up the Eastern seaboard together, they are confronted with the shared past and buried emotions they both presumed long gone.

Cassidy can't help but wonder if their story isn't over yet...

When Dusty arrives at the wedding with another woman on his arm, Cassidy is thrown for a loop and reminded yet again of the destructive behaviors of her past. Will she find the strength to fix her mistakes and preserve the relationships she holds closest to her heart, or will she return to Florida alone?

Perfect for fans of closed-door romance, personal growth, and second chances.

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A Mercy of Widows (3 Minutes with Marcy Lane)

You know those books where just the title alone will make you want to pick it up and give it a read? The debut novel by Marcy Lane, my guest this week on 3 Minutes with the Author, is just such a book. And once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down. A MERCY OF WIDOWS tackles the serious issue of assisted dying while tempering the topic with humor and realistic legal drama.

You can watch Marcy and I chat about her debut in less time than it takes to boil an egg! Watch the entire episode HERE.

I created this bite-sized interview series to help you discover new authors and find your next favorite read! Subscribe to my newsletter to have the episodes delivered straight to your inbox!

About A MERCY OF WIDOWS

A dead fiancé. A courtroom full of secrets. Can she deliver justice when her own heart is on trial?

Heddie Wright is a woman on the brink, struggling to rebuild her life after losing her boyfriend to cancer. Left grief-stricken and questioning her place in his life, the forty-something almost-widow fears she was nothing more than a convenient caregiver during his final illness. Sidelined at his funeral and left out of his will, her sorrow is tangled with doubts and regrets.

Just as she begins to find her footing, Heddie is called to serve as a juror in a high-stakes mercy-killing trial. The case is headline news: a woman who fights for assisted dying is accused of ending her husband’s life. As the trial unfolds, Heddie notices troubling similarities between the defendant’s story and her own, forcing her to confront her deepest fears about love, loss, and doing what’s right.

As she listens to the testimony and uncovers unsettling truths, the lines between guilt and innocence blur, and Heddie must face her own pain while striving to decide what justice really means.

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LOL but Keep the Tissues Close (3 Minutes with Ruth Stevens)

If you're searching for your next great read that will make you laugh out loud while bringing on the feels, I've got just the book for you: MY YEAR OF CASUAL ACQUAINTANCES by Ruth Stevens, my guest this week on 3 Minutes with the Author is now available for pre-order. Ruth is currently hosting a Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win one of 10 signed copies of the book. You can enter the giveaway HERE.

Watch the episode HERE.

I know that sometimes it's hard to find 30 minutes or more to listen to a podcast! That's why I created 3 Minutes with the Author. In less time than it takes to boil an egg, I'll help you discover new authors and find your next favorite read! Subscribe to my newsletter to have the episodes delivered straight to your inbox!

About MY YEAR OF CASUAL ACQUAINTANCES

When Mar Meyer's husband divorces her for another woman, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy to start over, Mar is young-looking, fit, and ready for new adventures—as long as she can keep things casual.

With each passing month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next. Among them: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical consultant, a kindly older gentleman... and Charlie, a handsome best-selling novelist who wants more from Mar than she's able to give. She learns something new from each encounter. But can she change enough to open herself up to happiness and true connection?

Surrounded by an ensemble of quirky, endearing characters, Mar follows a tortuous and unpredictable path as she navigates the first year of her reinvented life. My Year of Casual Acquaintances is packed with laugh-out-loud moments mingled with scenes of loneliness and self-doubt that will put a lump in your throat.

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A Hidden Gem (3 Minutes with Heidi McIntyre)

After a successful and award winning career in marketing, Heidi McIntyre realized her life long dream of writing a book with the release of her debut novel SEA MAGIC, book one in the aptly named Hidden Gems paranormal women's fiction series. The book, inspired by the real-life story of Maria Hallett and her love affair with a notorious pirate, follows main character Madeline, an antique shop owner on the coast of New England, as she solves a paranormal mystery surrounding the items that come into her shop. Book two in the series titled Dark River Magic will be released in 2025.

Join Heidi and I as we talk about who made her change her major, her love of the supernatural, and her favorite thing about being an author. WATCH NOW.

About SEA MAGIC

There is a place on the coast of New England where a salty sailor gives sage advice, and a legendary mermaid appears at least once a century. Madeline owns an antique store in this charming town and knows everyone by name. But she keeps a secret buried deep inside–her ability to touch an object and feel the essence of the previous owner.

After purchasing a mysterious box at an estate sale, she has startlingly vivid dreams about Maria, a young headstrong Puritan whose “knowing” could get her branded as a witch, and whose forbidden love for a poor sailor turned pirate caused a scandal.

Desperate for answers, Madeline turns to Evan, a handsome history professor who tempts her to believe in love. Together they uncover Maria’s story, helpless to stop its trajectory toward tragedy. With Evan’s support, maybe she can lay the ghosts of the past to rest—including her own.

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When Shenanigans Ensue (3 Minutes with Kelly Elizabeth Huston)

Congratulations to my guest this week on 3 Minutes with the Author Kelly Elizabeth Huston whose latest book SEE SADIE JANE RUN released today! This is the forth book in her Found Families series of interconnected stories that can also be read as standalones. Kelly, who started her author journey in traditional publishing, decided to part ways with her agent in pursuit of a career as an independent author with one goal in mind: to find her readers. And she's done just that!

Join Kelly and I as we talk about her favorite thing about her author journey, her favorite thing about being an author, and what she's working on next. WATCH NOW.

About SEE SADIE JANE RUN

Whoever said you can't go home again didn't know Sadie Jane Klein.

When mechanically-minded Sadie Klein, Ph.D., finds herself poufy dress-deep in a well-meaning scheme gone awry, she escapes from a riverboat casino with the help of Dutch Holland, an old teenage crush she hasn’t seen in fifteen years. Sadie runs to her childhood home intent on settling down in coastal Georgia’s Canaan Cove, where her Jewish grandparents raised the brainy nerd girl and her queer brother—outsiders on the outskirts of town. More than a decade later, that seaside hamlet has seen some changes, but everyone thinks they know everyone’s business, and the rumor mill still spins fast.

Sadie’s high stakes shenanigans on open waters include an accomplice, Tristan Pembroke, the heir apparent of the major energy conglomerate that is also Sadie’s employer. Playboy Tristan is a trust fund kid looking for an even bigger payday, while Sadie wants full rights to an invention patent pending so that she can do some good. They learn too late that big business won’t suffer the trickeries of a little geotechnical engineer, no matter how brilliant she is, and the mysterious Dutch may be more involved than their accidental run-in makes it appear.

With a present told from Sadie’s point of view and glimpses of their heartbreaking past seen through teenage Dutch’s eyes, a love story of yanked-apart teens that never truly let go unfolds. Old secrets and outright lies come to light while corporate espionage puts lives at risk, all with a backdrop of sticky summer nights and peach moonshine in a quirky ocean-side town full of bighearted characters. Sadie can’t outrun her past mistakes, and forgiveness is a steep hill to climb, but after living all over the world, home might be right back where it all began.

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Family Relationships and Forgiveness (3 Minutes with Gail Priest)

Gail Priest, my guest this week on 3 Minutes with the Author, has done it all! She's had a career as a college professor, an actor, a director, a playwright and has a background in counseling psychology. For her newest release SOUL DANCING, which was recently selected by the American Fiction Awards as a Finalist in Women's, Gail layers in a paranormal twist when the 90 year old main character dies and wakes up in another woman's body.

Join us as we talk about how her experiences inform her writing, her award winning catalog of books, and what she's working on next. WATCH NOW.

About SOUL DANCING

When ninety-year-old Shirlene Foster dies, she is shocked to wake up in another woman’s body. Even more astonishing, she’s in a hospital delivery room, about to give birth. Fearing no one will believe her, she attempts to hide her true identity, but acting like a twenty-year-old proves impossible, and she realizes she must tell someone.

Cameron Michaels vowed to raise his niece after his brother abandoned his pregnant girlfriend, Rain. But after Rain has the baby, she changes… drastically. When Shirlene confesses she is inhabiting Rain’s body, Cameron hesitates to believe such a wild story, but it does explain Rain’s complete transition.

While adjusting to her new life and relishing her second chance at motherhood, Shirlene struggles to keep her growing attraction to Cameron in check. But Shirlene soon discovers that her new body may not belong to her for long.

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Up next, my interview with women's fiction author Kelly Elizabeth Huston.

Emotional and Hard Hitting Women's Fiction (3 Minutes with Laura Drake)

As a debut author, I was fortunate enough to stumble across the Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), an organization made up of incredibly talented, knowledgeable, and generous authors. Without the support of this group, many authors (including me!) would be struggling or completely lost. So, it was with gratitude that I welcomed Laura Drake, my latest guest on 3 Minutes with the Author and a founding member of the WFWA to discuss her long career as a romance and women's fiction author and her latest release FOR ROGER.

Join Laura and I as we chat about her emotional and hard hitting women's fiction novels, her stint as a romance writer, what she's working on next, and her love of bull riding. WATCH NOW.

About FOR ROGER

Joan Merritt lives a charmed life. Happily married to her soulmate, she delights in following rules, her heart and her passion—advocating for women.

When her husband Roger is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, he asks Joan to help him end his life peacefully. But how can she miss one moment of their remaining time together? She refuses.

Roger takes his fate into his own hands, and on a Saturday morning bicycle ride, flies down a hill into oncoming traffic. He survives but has multiple fractures and a head injury that causes a crippling stroke.

His daughter, a devout preacher’s wife, comes to be by his side. Bee, only three years younger than Joan, has always resented her stepmother, and those feelings intensify as months drag on and Roger’s health and will to live deteriorate.

Joan faces an impossible dilemma: How much is she prepared to risk to grant her husband the peace he desperately wants and needs? When Roger dies, Bee has her own answer, and it leads straight to the police.

A story of love, truth and family that shines a light on the shadow between justice and mercy.

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Up next, my interview with women's fiction author Gail Priest.

Friendships, Heartbreak, and Power (3 Minutes with Kathryn Dodson)

One of the great joys of reading is the ability to travel without ever moving your feet, and one of the great joys of writing, is the ability to live vicariously through your characters. Both of these vantage points combine beautifully in FIVE TRIES TO GET IT RIGHT, the newest release by my guest on this week's episode of 3 Minutes with the Author, Kathryn Dodson.

Join Kathryn and I as we chat about being a world traveler, vicariously living the naughty side of life with one of her characters, and her favorite thing about being an author. WATCH NOW.

About FIVE TRIES TO GET IT RIGHT

What would you do for your best friend?

When her best friend hits rock bottom, a lonely widow convinces her to join a worldwide voyage retracing their wild youth in a last-ditch effort to heal heartache and reclaim meaning.

Lydia is a small town teacher who can't imagine life alone after her husband's death. Kate built a successful career, but now faces emptiness after divorce and professional failure.

The longtime friends travel to the exotic locales of their youth, trying to find meaning amidst heartache and loss. In Spain, Amsterdam, the Caribbean, Australia, and finally Costa Rica, they reignite passions for life and love that time had extinguished. But Kate still plans to end it all, until a surfer from the past offers Lydia another chance, forcing her to choose between saving her friend or herself.

Five Tries to Get It Right is a heartfelt story about female friendships, the heartbreaks of life, and the power of women to choose their destiny. R-rated scenes.

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Up next, my interview with author and founding member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association Laura Drake!

A Bookshop and A Promise (3 Minutes with Janis Wildy)

An inheritance, a bookshop and a promise...the makings of the perfect summer read. And that's just what my guest on this week's episode of 3 Minutes with the Author delivers with her debut novel THE ENGLISH BOOKSHOP. Janis describes her writing as cozy, comfort reads that follow a character going on a life journey. As a self-proclaimed Anglophile, she loves researching gardens, villages, and old English castles. And if you're a Jane Austen fan like me, wait until you hear what she's working on next!

Join Janis and I as we chat about her next project, what she loves about being an author and her writing process. WATCH NOW.

About THE ENGLISH BOOKSHOP

An inheritance, a bookshop and a promise…

Lucy isn’t ready for a life-changing journey when it comes knocking; she just wants to keep everything the same as the day her stepfather died. Unfortunately, expenses have overtaken her small family business, forcing her to do something quickly to keep it afloat.

When Lucy finds out she has inherited a bookshop in England, she travels to see it, intent on selling the property as soon as possible. But once there she meets a wonderfully kind group of villagers, including a handsome bookseller, who challenge her decision to make a quick sale. What begins as a way to make money for her business in Seattle becomes an experience that uncovers family secrets and reveals the kindness of strangers. In England, Lucy just might rewrite her past in order to follow her heart.

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Up next, my interview with author Kathryn Dodson!