On today’s episode we get to chat with Deirdre Swinden, a dark fiction author with a penchant for ghost stories. After twenty+ years as a leader in corporate communications, Dee took a leap of faith and set out to build her creative writing skills. She dove into the realms of sci-fi, horror and speculative fiction during her MFA. Her thesis novel, Somnium, offers readers a blend of psychological horror and high-tech science fiction via a fast-paced nightmare journey where dreams can kill. It’s a novel that explores the shadowy boundaries of fear and technology and is sure to thrill fans of cutting-edge psychological thrillers and high-stakes survival horror. But it is also a journey through the darkest corridors of the human psyche and the lingering effects of emotional and psychological abuse.

After extracting herself from an emotionally abusive marriage, Deirdre is now looking to give a voice to those who suffer verbal and emotional abuse in silence. She has chosen dark fiction as a means to explore that horror and the myriad beliefs and situations that can lead a woman to surrender her voice. She hopes that by exploring her own trauma via fiction, her readers will unearth the courage to rise and rediscover their own voices—as she has rediscovered hers.

You can learn more about her on her website www.deirdreswinden.com and follow her on Instagram @dswinden531

Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Somnium from Crystal Lake Publishing at Bookshop.org.

Kristi Leonard is a modern Renaissance woman deeply rooted in the book world. When she's not immersed in crafting novels, she's orchestrating writing retreats through her business, Writers in the Wild, or lending her voice to non-fiction audiobooks. She leads the Women’s Fiction Writers Association as the president of the board, and interviews her writer pals as one of the hosts of the Author Express Podcast. She will start querying her first book in 2024.

Beyond the realm of words, Kristi embraces the Florida sunshine by hiking with her writer-hiker group and leisurely walks on the beach. She and her husband juggle a couple side businesses and take turns sharing the couch with their goofy Golden-doodle, Maddie. Kristi enjoys travel adventures with her twin sister and living vicariously through her grown children. You can learn more about her and connect at: https://linktr.ee/kristileonard.

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