My guest today on CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY is Sarah Penner, New York Times Bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary, which has sold over 1 1/2 million copies. Her latest novel, The Amalfi Curse, is out now.

Today, we talk about:

* the books that influenced young Sarah as a reader, and later, as a writer,

* behind-the-scenes of Collector's Editions—how an author finds out about special endpapers and sprayed edges on their books,

* how she manages to write and weave together dual timelines,

* the importance of big "hooks" for her stories,

* the unknown book about the Cotswalds that she wrote during the pandemic that never got published,

* her dream book club menu,

and so much more.

🟨 Want more writing advice and community?

Join more than 20,000 writers at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :

- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,

- behind-the-scenes publishing insights,

- creativity mini-challenges,

- Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers,

- and more.

Podcast booking inquiries:

info@creativeinspiredhappy.com

Want more of Sarah?

You can find Sarah on Instagram, Facebook, or her website, and The Amalfi Curse and her other novels are available everywhere books are sold!

Hello, Protagonists!

My guest today on CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY is Téa Obreht, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, National Book Award Finalist, and international bestseller of The Tiger's Wife and other novels. Her latest book, The Morningside, is out in paperback now.

Today, we talk about:

* how being an immigrant influences her storytelling,

* writing in English while sometimes translating in her head from her first language,

* how she wove in a Serbian folktale into a novel about climate disaster

* why Téa dislikes writing in first person,

* her advice for writers on spending time on social media,

* where she discovers her next reads,

* and so much more.

🟨 Want more writing advice and community?

Join more than 20,000 writers at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :

- ask questions of upcoming podcast guests,

- behind-the-scenes publishing insights,

- creativity mini-challenges,

- Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers,

- and more.

Podcast booking inquiries:

info@creativeinspiredhappy.com

Want more of Téa?

You can find Téa on Instagram and her website, and The Morningside and her other novels are available wherever books are sold!

Téa was born in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia, and grew up in Cyprus and Egypt before eventually immigrating to the United States. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, and was a 2011 National Book Award finalist and an international bestseller. She was the recipient of the Rona Jaffe fellowship from the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, and a 2016 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She was a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, and was named by The New Yorker as one of the twenty best American fiction writers under forty.

Hello, Protagonists!

My guest today on CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY is author Gretchen Schreiber. She is also the Manager of Books at Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. Gretchen's latest novel, All the Stars Align, is out now!

Today, we talk about:

* how Gretchen landed the dream job at Hello Sunshine,

* reading for Reese's taste versus reading for her own

* what Gretchen has learned about the publishing industry from her work at Hello Sunshine

* advice for authors when working with their publishers

* writing about disability from personal experience

* and so much more.

🟨 Want more writing advice and community?

Join 24,000 writers at CreativeInspiredHappy.com :

- Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers,

- author interviews

- behind-the-scenes of writing life,

- creativity mini-challenges,

- and more.

Podcast booking inquiries:

info@creativeinspiredhappy.com

🎤 Got questions for future podcast guests?

I ask for podcast Qs on our community chat (available via web browser or Substack app.) Pop in every so often to check for open calls for questions for upcoming guests!

Want more of Gretchen?

You can find Gretchen on her website, Instagram, and TikTok, and All the Stars Align is available now at your favorite bookstore or online retailer!