Sarah Nicolas's Blog, page 8

QQQ: Mystery Author Leslie Budewitz and the Lawyer to Author Pipeline

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Mystery Author Leslie Budewitz joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the lawyer to writer pipeline, Sisters in Crime, when the struggle was finding publishing information instead of curating it, the pre-internet writing community, writing fiction feeling too daunting at first, publishing as a business, and not having a linear path.

Leslie Budewitz is a three-time Agatha Award winner and the best-selling author of the Spice Shop mysteries, set in Seattle, and the Food Lovers’ Village mysteries, set in NW Montana, where she lives. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody suspense. Leslie is a Mystery Writers of America board member and a past president of Sisters in Crime.

Leslie: Query | Website | Facebook | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Young Adult Author Dante Medema and the Book Auction at the End of the World

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Young Adult Author Dante Medema joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss having a massive earthquake the day your book goes to auction, being overwhelmed by writers conferences, knowing when a book is the one, the non-glamorous life of an author, ten years to overnight success, debuting during a pandemic, and separating the business from your ego.

Dante Medema is the author of THE TRUTH PROJECT and MESSAGE NOT FOUND. When she isn’t writing she can be found chasing her dogs and four daughters around Alaska, obsessing over aliens, or embarrassing herself on Tiktok.

Dante: Query | Website | Twitter | TikTok | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Romance Author Farah Heron and the New Year Resolution Follow-Through

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Romance Author Farah Heron joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the benefits of being a joiner, the problem with being Canadian, DVPit, finding your genre, the important of publicists, deciding if writing is worth the stress, the danger of self-rejection, being a chapter President during the RWA implosion, and nothing being more important than the writing.

Farah Heron is a critically acclaimed author of romance and romcoms.. Her recent release, Accidentally Engaged, was praised in Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, NPR, Glamour magazine, and has been named one of the year’s best romances by Vulture. Her YA debut, Tahira in Bloom, will be out November 1, 2021.

Farah: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | LibroFM

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Horror Author Jessica Lewis and the Korean Rap Editing Hack

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Horror Author Jessica Lewis joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss going from self-insert fanfiction to original fiction, the support of NaNoWriMo buddies, entering all the publishing contests, Pitch Wars, the pressure of writing for money, mental health, and trouble coming up with titles.

Jessica Lewis is a Black author and receptionist. She lives with her way-funnier-than-her grandmother in Alabama. When she isn’t writing or working, she enjoys watching cooking or HGTV-type home shows and playing farming sims.

Jessica: Query | Website | Twitter | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | Libro FM

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Young Adult Author Annie Sullivan and the Resurrected Manuscript

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Young Adult Author Annie Sullivan joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss getting two requests out of a hundred queries, why “write something new” and “don’t give up on a book you love” are not contradictory, learning about publishing rights and contracts, the migration of goalposts, leaving Easter Eggs for her readers, and not putting time limits on your self.

Annie Sullivan is the author of three young adult fantasy novels A Touch of Gold, A Curse of Gold, and Tiger Queen. She lives in Indiana but loves to travel the world. She has a passion for all things fairytales and Jane Austen and loves interacting with fans.

Annie: Query | Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound | LibroFM

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Middle Grade Author Sarah McGuire and Threading the Needle of Confidence

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Middle Grade Author Sarah McGuire joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss shelving a book after six years, being orphaned by your publisher, the revelation courtesy of her opera-singer sister, creating Egmont’s Last List, learning who to take which critiques from, and imposter syndrome

Sarah McGuire is math teacher who sailed around the world aboard a floating college campus. She writes fairy tales and fun fantasy and would love to open a wardrobe and stumble into another world. She wishes Florida had mountains, but she lives there anyways with her husband and their family.

Sarah: Query | Website | Twitter | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Historical Crime Author John Copenhaver and Finding Meaning in the Process

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Historical Crime Author John Copenhaver joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss getting an MFA, querying via snail mail, changes in the mystery genre landscape, what happens if you never get published, and the importance of forming relationships in the industry.

John Copenhaver’s historical crime novel, Dodging and Burning, won the 2019 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel and garnered Anthony, Strand Critics, Barry, and Lambda Award nominations. His second novel, The Savage Kind, was just released. He writes a crime fiction review column for Lambda called “Blacklight,” and cohosts on the House of Mystery Radio Show. He lives in Richmond, VA.

John: Query | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | LibroFM | IndieBound

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Science Fiction Author AJ Super and the Measured Risk That Paid Off

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Science Fiction author AJ Super joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss not getting into Pitch Wars, how far kindness can take you, a successful query letter that is not perfect, how long it takes to put out a good book, mental health challenges, and taking measured risks. 

Angela/AJ Super is a 2021 debut author. Her space opera, Erebus Dawning and its sequel, A Star Reborn have recently released from Aethon Books. She lives in Kansas with her husband and fuzz-brained kitties.

AJ: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | LibroFM | IndieBound

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Picture Book Author Kira Bigwood and Taking an Opposite Action

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Picture Book Author Kira Bigwood and Taking an Opposite Action

Picture Book Author Kira Bigwood joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss querying for eight years, how many picture books you should have ready before submitting, the process of writing a picture book without an illustrator, querying too soon, the importance of making connections, and how making a picture book is truly a team effort.  

Kira Bigwood is an advertising copywriter turned children’s author. Her debut picture book, Secret, Secret Agent Guy, illustrated by Celia Krampien, released this spring from Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and received starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal. Kira is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, and lives in Chicago with her husband, three children and their pandemic puppy.

Kira: Query | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

12 x 12 Challenge

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.

QQQ: Mystery Author Kellye Garrett and Kicking the Door Open

Queries, Qualms, & Quirks asks published authors to share their successful query letter and discuss their journey from first spark to day of publication. 

Mystery Author Kellye Garrett joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss getting an agent offer at a bar, Pitch Wars, when your publisher abruptly shuts down, writing a book because of a headline, selling a book after a year versus five days, waiting ten months to announce a book deal, and never winning NaNoWriMo.

Kellye Garrett is the author of the upcoming suspense novel Like A Sister and the Detective by Day lightweight mysteries. The first, Hollywood Homicide, won the Anthony, Agatha, Lefty, and IPPY for best first novel. She serves on Sisters in Crime’s national board, is a former Pitch Wars Managing Director and is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color.

Kellye: Query Text | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Amazon | Indiebound

QQQ Home Base | Support on Patreon

Search “Queries, Qualms, & Quirks” on your favorite podcast app to listen or listen on YouTube.