AN22: Thriller novelist Sandy Parks talks about her writing routine and how to infiltrate the writers’ conference circuit as a volunteer

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In this excerpt from my  Writers Room interview with thriller novelist Sandy Parks about her book Under the Radar. In it she shares how and when she found the time to write the several novels she’s published over the years, and talk about her strategy for getting in front of agents in an organic way as a volunteer at writers’ conferences. 

AN21: Journalist and Author Kathy Mexted talks about the transition from article writing to longer form biographical sketch for her book Australian Women Pilots

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In this portion of my Writers’ Room interview with author Kathy Mexted about her book Australian Women Pilots, she talks about learning to trust her voice, put herself into a story, and present a subject in longer form to write this collection of ten biographical sketches of pioneering women pilots throughout the last hundred years of Australian aviation history. 

AN20: Amy Goodpaster Strebe on publishing an historical graduate school thesis on the WASP and Night Witches with a university press.

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In this portion of my writers’ room interview with Amy Goodpaster Strebe, she talks about publishing her masters thesis, which was a comparative study of the Women Air Force Service Pilots and the Women who flew for Russia, including the Nacht Hexen or Night Witches, entitled Flying for Her Country. 

WP19: Merryl Tengesdal’s memoir writing advice to women in aviation: “Just Do It. Go take a dive in the sea of uncomfortableness and start doing the back stroke.”

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In this expert from my Writers’ Room interview with Merryl Tengesdal (which is actually S2E2), she shares her lessons learned from pressing to get her memoir published on a tight timeline driven by her appearance on the reality TV series, Tough as Nails, and she tells all of you out there who are on the fence about writing your memoirs to Just Do It!  

AN18: Thriller novelist Sandy Parks talks about how she developed her craft

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In this portion of my Writers’ Room interview with thriller novelist, Sandy Parks, whose books have been both traditionally and self-published, talks about how she developed her craft. 

AN14: Author and writing professor, Lauren Kessler, talks about how, as a narrative non-fiction writer, she might approach research for memoir

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In this Writers’ Room portion of my interview with author and writing professor Lauren Kessler, we talk about how she might approach the question of memory in memoir writing. 

AN13: LGBTQ+ romance writer and retired Air Force and airline pilot Julie Tizard talks about conflict in storytelling and we both share how we seek and find inspiration to fuel our creativity

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In this portion of my Writers’ Room interview with Julie Tizard about her military lesbian romance novel, The Road to Wings, she starts off talking about developing conflict for her fictional characters and then we transition to talking about where we draw our creative inspiration. 

AN12: Book Publicist Jen Coburn talks timelines, costs, and the relationship between an author and her publicist.

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We’re jumping ahead in the process in this excerpt from my interview with book publicist Jennifer Coburn. Once you publish your book, you’re probably going to want to sell it. Some publishers will include a budget for book launch promotion, and others won’t. In this clip, Jennifer, who is the author of eight of her own books, worked as Robing Kardon’s publicist for the launch of her Flygirl series. Jenn tells us what that process and timeline look like, and how much it might cost. All things you’ll want to think about when envisioning the full picture of what writing and publishing your book looks like. You can find the full interview in The Aviatrix Writers Room on my website or YouTube Channel from August of 2021. 

AN11: Thriller novelist and co-author of Niloofar Rahmani’s memoir, Open Skies, Adam Sikes talks about the challenges of putting emotions on the page.

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As military members, and/or as pilots, we are not accustomed to exposing our emotions, but in order for our stories to resonate with an audience, we need to make an emotional connection. Author Adam Sikes and I commiserate. 

AN10: General aviation pilot and author Erin Seidemann talks about her writing journey and the daunting process of publishing her memoir, Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix

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In this excerpt from my Writers’ Room discussion with Erin Seidemann, she talks about her writing journey, shares her thoughts on memoir, and talks about the challenges of getting published traditionally. 

AN9: Award-winning Children and Young Adult author Sherri L. Smith talks bout her writing journey to publish the novel Flygirl about a fair-skinned black woman who passes as white to serve in the WASP

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In this excerpt from my interview with ward-winning Children and Young Adult author Sherri L. Smith, she talks bout her writing journey to publish the novel Flygirl about a fair-skinned black woman who passes as white to serve in the WASP

AN8: Professional editor-for-hire Marylin Noble talks about the different types of editing and the importance of hiring an editor

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In this excerpt from my interview with ghost writer and editor Marylin Noble, we talk about structural editing versus copy and line editing, and the importance of hiring an editor, particularly if you self-publish. 

AN7: Patty Bear talks about finding her voice and the power of driving the narrative through writing

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In this excerpt from my Writers’ Room interview with author Patty Bear about her book From Plain to Plane: My Mennonite Childhood, a National Scandal, and an Unconventional Soar to Freedom, she talks about how sharing her truth through writing helped her find her own power and control over the narrative. 

AN6: RAF Tornado GR4 combat pilot Mandy Hickson talks about her duty to write a book and how the publishing industry rejected her on the basis that ‘plane books are for a male readership who have no interest in reading about a woman’

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In this excerpt from my interview with Mandy Hickson, author of An Officer, Not a Gentleman, talks about why and how she finally decided to write her memoir, and how the common theme of publishers not knowing how to market a book featuring women in aviation. Mandy is doing very well as a self-published author. 

AN5: Cecilia Aragon, author of the award winning memoir, Flying Free, talks about honing her writing craft and making choices in her writing and publishing journey to make her work the best it can be.

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In this excerpt from my Writers’ Room interview with author Cecilia Aragon, she talks about the choices she made to pursue an MFA and draw on the resources available to make her writing the best it can be so it can reach the broadest audience possible. 

AN4: NYT Best-selling author Kate Quinn offers advice for writers, wherever you are in your writing and publishing journey: learn to stifle the voice of doubt and fear in your head and “Embrace the Suck”

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In this excerpt from my interview with Kate Quinn about her thriller novel The Huntress, she shares that even with fifteen books published, she still writes crappy first drafts, but a bad page is better than a blank page . . . 

AN3: Navigating Publishing Options with Literary Agent Amy Collins: Traditional Publishing? Self-Publish? Hybrid Publisher? It depends . . .

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In this portion of my interview with Literary Agent Amy Collins, she gives us a primer on publishing options and offers her advice to writers on which direction to consider based on what you’re writing. 

AN2: Is memoir fiction, non-fiction, or somewhere in between? Acclaimed author and professor of writing, Lauren Kessler, shares her thoughts.

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In this author’s note from Season 1 Episode 11, Lauren Kessler talks about how memoir is almost a genre unto itself, asserting that, as humans, relying on our own memories and experiences, it would be impossible for us to tell a completely true story. Memoir, therefore, falls somewhere between fiction and non-fiction.

AN1: Welcome to Author’s Notes. We kick it off with determining your WHY as a writer with Robin D. Kardon, author of the Flygirl series.

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In this Author’s Note from my Writers’ Room interview with Robin D. Kardon, she shares her writing journey, talks about determining your why as a writer, and offers advice about how to develop your craft through structured programs like San Diego Writers, Ink.

In my intro I mention that Robin hosted a workshop with the Aviatrix Writers entitled What Are You Writing and Why?

She also talks about the first two books in her series, Flygirl and Angel Flight. Book three, Flying Home, will be out in February and is available for pre-order now.