Debut Author Podcasts

Each Debut Author Podcast is a conversation between our moderator Maggie Smith and a debut women's fiction author. 

Maggie Smith, a member of WFWA since 2015, hosts our podcast. Her debut novel, TRUTH AND OTHER LIES, released in March 2022 by Ten 16 Press, was the winner of our 2023 Star Award for Debut Fiction and she indie published her second book, a psychological suspense called BLINDSPOT, in May 2024. She blogs on writing-related topics for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Association and serves as the Managing Editor of the Chicago Writer’s Association’s on-line literary publication The Write City E-Zine. A confirmed workshop junkie and avid Instagrammer, Maggie makes her home in Milwaukee. 

If you are a WFWA member and would like to submit your debut women's fiction for podcast consideration, please visit our submissions page.

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Debut Author Podcast: JJ Elliott

JJ Elliott’s debut novel, There Are No Rules For This, is the winner of two Zibby Awards—Best Book for Best Friends and Best Book That Made You Cry. It was also a finalist in Best New Fiction in the International Book Awards. 

 Elliott lost her mother to suicide as a teenager, and spent over two years volunteering on the suicide hotlines in LA. One of the reasons she wanted to write her novel is because she is increasingly frustrated by the way suicide is treated in print and on-screen, as a mystery to be solved rather than a multi-layered, complex mental health situation that can rarely be boiled down to one specific "reason."

 A native of Northern California, JJ now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two teenage kids, and two poorly trained bulldogs. She loves to read, drink wine, play tennis, and eat cheese. 

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First Name	Last Name	Debut Title (click for podcast)
JJ	Elliott	There Are No Rules For This
Tracey	Buchanan	Toward The Corner Of Mercy And Peach
Rachel	Corsini	Sushi And Sea Lions
Dorette	Stover	Tales Of The Mistress
Kelly	Huston	Tex Miller Is Dead
Jane	Rubin	In The Hands Of Women
Hope	Gibbs	Where The Grass Grows Blue
Michelle	Paris	New Normal
Amanda	Speights	Love's Arrival
Laurie	Beach	The Firefly Jar
Gabi	Coatsworth	A Beginner's Guide to Starting Over
Feisty Deeds	Anthology	Feisty Deeds
Cynthia	Bogard	A History of Silence
Barbara	Bellesi Zito	Lucky Stiff
Kyle Ann	Robertson	White Picket Fences
Patricia	Bernstein	A Noble Cunning
Special Episode	2023 Star Award Finalists	Erin Litteken, Lyn Liao Butler, Anna E. Collins
Susan	Carew	Take The Plunge
Heidi	McIntyre	Sea Magic
Kimberly	Young	In The Event of Death
Lisa	Williams Kline	Between the Sky and the Sea
D.	Liebhart	House on Fire
D.K.	Silver	The Weight of Flowers
Annie	Cathryn	The Friendship Breakup
Audrey	Burges	The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone
Kimberly	McMillan	Never Enough Time
Caitlin	Avery	Life of Cyn
Barbara	Miller	When You See Her
Allyson	Rice	The Key to Circus-Mom Highway
Roxana	Trabulsi	Of Mud & Honey
Brynn	Brynn Barineau	Jaguars and Other Game
Patricia	Hudson	Traces
Kathy	Maresca	Porch Music
Georgia	Day	Of Sand and Bone
Amy	Watson	Closer to Okay
Linda	Moore	Attribution
Karen	Heenan	Coming Apart
Wendy	Adair	The Broken Hallelujah
Gloria	Mattioni	California Sister
Nancy	Yeager	When We Were Friends
Anastasia	Zadeik	Blurred Fates
Suzanne	Moyers	'Till All These Things Be Done
Judith	Turner-Yamamoto	Loving the Dead and Gone
Jacqueline	Boulden	Her Past Can't Wait
Carol	Van Den Hende	Orchid Blooming
Tamatha	Cain	Song of the Chimney Sweep
L	Maristatter	Tiny Tin House
C.J.	McGroarty	Clara in a Time of War
Leslie	Kain	Secrets in the Mirror
	Special Episode	WFWA's 10th Anniversary
Adele	Holmes	Winter's Reckoning
Carol	Dunbar	The Net Beneath Us
Angela	Cairns	Touch
Sharon	Peterson	The Do Over
Dianne	Braley	The Silence in the Sound
Rita	Rowe	Becoming Ruthless
Maggie	Ginsberg	Still True
Carolyn	Clarke	And Then There's Margaret
D.F.	Kennedy	The Truth
Staci	Greason	All the Girls in Town
Lisa Williamson	Rosenberg	Embers on the Wind
	Special Episode	WFWA Founders
Nina	Wachsman	The Gallery of Beauties
Chris	Posti	Falling Apart, Falling for You
E.J.	Tanda	Queen of Secrets
Karla	Huebner	In Search of the Magic Theater
Jen	Craven	Best Years of Your Life
Robin	Maass	The Walled Garden
Jody	Herpin	Relative Consequences
Carol	Orange	A Discerning Eye
Suzanne	Mattaboni	Once In a LIfetime
Linda	MacKillop	The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon
Grace	Marcus	Visible Signs
RLynn	Johnson	Cry of the Heart
Janis	Daly	The Unlocked Path
Erin	Litteken	The Memory Keeper of Kyiv
Melanie	Mitzner	Slow Reveal
Karen	Winn	Our Little World
Judith	Brenner	The Moments Between Dreams
Eileen	Brill	A Letter in the Wall
Kimberly	Nixon	Rock Bottom, Tennessee
Kris	Spisak	The Baba Yaga Mask
Zoe	Disigny	The Art of Traveling Strangers
Sarah	Branson	A Merry Life
Maggie	Giles	The Things We Lost
Jen	Gilroy	The Sweetheart Locket
J. Marie	Rundquist	All I'm Asking
Sita	Romero	Words We Cannot Say
Judy	Lannon	Nine Days
Lisa	Roe	Welcome to the Neighborhood
Erin	Flanagan	Deer Season
Shirley B.	Novack	The Story Of...
Kathy	Strobos	Partner Pursuit
Harriet	Cannon	Exiled South
Tammy	Harrow	All the Salt in the Sea
Kerry	Chaput	Daughter of the King
Cheryl	Corriveau	The Demanding River
Tonya	Mitchell	A Feigned Madness
Kimberly	Sullivan	Three Coins
Dawn	Hogan	Unbroken Bonds
Georgina	Key	Shiny Bits in Between
Kelley	McNeil	A Day Like This
Joani	Elliott	The Audacity of Sara Grayson
Maan	Gabriel	After Perfect
Luisa	Ramondo	Beyond the Cobblestones
JoAnn	Catania	A Scarcity of Virgins
Judy	Stanigar	Marika's Best Laid Plan
Pamela	Stockwell	A Boundless Place
Kalyn	Fogarty	What We Carry
Paulette	Stout	Love Only Better
Cherie L.	Genua	Greetings from Tucson
Rebecca	Campbell	Sandalwood
		Special Podcast Episode with Star Award/Debut Finalists
Julia	Brewer Daily	No Names to Be Given
Sarah	Adlakha	She Wouldn't Change a Thing
Karen	Martin	Dancing the Labyrinth
C.	D'Angelo	The Difference
Penny	Haw	The Wilderness Between Us
Elizabeth	de Veer	The Ocean in Winter
Julee	Balko	The Things We Keep
Lyn Liao	Butler	The Tiger Mom's Tale
Amanda	Johnson	East of Manhattan
Kristina	Parro	Lucky: A Novel
Amanda Jane	Schiller	Wicked Games and Wasted Years
Maggie	Smith	Truth and Other Lies
Mary	Camarillo	The Lockhart Women
Tavi Taylor	Black	Where Are We Tomorrow?
Jenn	Bouchard	First Course
Kathleen M.	Basi	A Song For The Road
Kris	Clink	Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy
Margaret	Rodenberg	Finding Napoleon
K. Blanton	Brenner	Appaloosa Sky
Jennifer	Jensen	The Vice
Kristi	Lee	The Worst Thing I Could Do
Kate	Allen	Fear of Flying
Dorothy	Staley	Bear Woman Rising
Leslie A.	Rasmussen	After Happily Ever After
Elissa Grossell	Dickey	The Speed of Light
Libby	Hubscher	Meet Me In Paradise
Debra	Thomas	Luz
Sarah	Penner	The Lost Apothecary
Jill	Caugherty	Waltz in Swing Time
Christina	Consolino	Rewrite The Stars
KD	Allbaugh	Face Down in Rising Sun
Jeannée	Sacken	Behind the Lens
Beatryce	Ruby	No Sweeter Touch
Gina	Wilkinson	When the Apricots Bloom
Tiffany	Meuret	A Flood of Posies
Elizabeth	Chatsworth	The Brass Queen
Shail	Rajan	The Summer Breeze
L.	Bordetsky-Williams	Forget Russia
Christina	Tsirkas	The Night Sender
Judith	Teitelman	Guesthouse for Ganesha
Kathy	Sechrist	Success is the Best Revenge
Joyce	Yarrow	Sandstorm
Denny S.	Bryce	Wild Women and the Blues
Kathryn	Holzman	Real Estate, A Novel
Melissa	Hunter	What She Lost
Florence Reiss	Kraut	How to Make a Life
Geeta	Schrayter	Reaching Riverdale
Densie	Webb	When Robins Appear
Bhaswati	Ghosh	Victory Colony, 1950
KJ	Dell’Antonia	The Chicken Sisters
Rachel	Mans McKenny	The Butterfly Effect
Jaye	Burke	Venice
Grace	Sammon	The Eves
Madeleine	Van Hecke	Once You Know
Paula	Adler	Return to Magnolia Bloom
Angela	Terry	Charming Falls Apart
Katey	Schultz	Still Come Home
Sarah	McCraw Crow	The Wrong Kind of Woman
Mary Helen	Sheriff	Boop and Eve’s Road Trip
Regina	Buttner	Absolution
Nguyễn	Phan Quế Mai	The Mountains Sing
Ehsaneh	Sadr	A Door Between Us
Valerie	Taylor	What's Not Said
Michele	Levy	Anna's Dance
Anita	Kushwaha	Secret Lives of Mothers and Daughters
Barbara	Conrey	Nowhere Near Goodbye
J.L.	Cole	Silver Heights
Susan	Payne	Forever Kind of Woman
A.H.	Kim	A Good Family
Tricia	Zacher	Many a Sudden Change
Amanda	Brainerd	Age of Consent
Lindsey	Cook	How to Bury Your Brother
Stephanie	Newman	Barbarians at the PTA
Pamela	Raleigh	Sandshell Island
Anju	Gattani	Duty and Desire
Tracey	Enerson Wood	The Engineer's Wife
Jacqueline	Kang	The Club
Carol	LaHines	Someday Everything
Diane	Barnes	More Than
William	Schreiber	Someone To Watch Over
Dianne	Romain	The Trumpet Lesson
Lisa	Braxton	The Talking Drum
Sherri	Leimkuhler	What's Left Untold
Lainey	Cameron	The Exit Strategy
Marolyn	Krasner	The Radicals
Shawn	Keller Cooper	Drawing Down the Moon
Elizabeth	Gauffreau	Telling Sonny
Kelly	Duran	Can't Take It Back
Jae	Hodges	The Rose and the Whip
Jamie	Beck	If You Must Know
Sharina	Harris	(Im)perfectly Happy
Kathleen	West	Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes
Alison	Hammer	You and Me and Us
Sally	Suen	Crystal Cove
Diane	Byington	If She Had Stayed
Donna Koros	Stramella	Coffee Killed My Mother
Rebecca	Hodge	Wildland
Barbara Linn	Probst	Queen of the Owls
Joanne	Kukanza Easley	Sweet Jane
Linda	Rosen	The Disharmony of Silence
Michelle	Davis	Learning to Bend
Kimmery	Martin	The Queen of Hearts
Sarah	Robinson	Every Last Drop
Jennifer	Gold	The Ingredients of Us
Sarah	Jones	Summer Squall
Lorelei	Brush	Uncovering
Ellen	LaCorte	The Perfect Fraud
Leanne	Treese	The Language of Divorce
Kathleen	Barber	Are You Sleeping
Judy	Kundert	Sky Queen
Leslie M.	Rollins	Good-Time Girl
Marlene	Adelstein	Sophie Last Seen
Jess	Woods	The Process of Fraying
Kimberly	Lynne	A Pocketwatch, Spray Paint & Morphine
Amber	Cowie	Rapid Falls
Kaela	Coble	Friends & Other Liars
Suanne	Schafer	A Different Kind of Fire
Leah	Decesare	Forks, Knives and Spoons
Erin	Bartels	We Hope for Better Things
Romalyn	Tilghman	To the Stars with Difficulties
Jennifer	Klepper	Unbroken Threads
Leslie Schweitzer	Miller	Discovery
Sarahlyn	Bruck	Designer You
Heather	Frimmer	Bedside Manners
Reyna Marder	Gentin	Unreasonable Doubts
Megan A.	Clancy	A Burden of a Daughter
Ann	Griffin	Another Ocean to Cross
Julie	Maloney	A Matter of Chance
Johanne	Levesque	Trouble & Strife
Sally	Crosair	Come Back
Irene	Olson	Requiem for the Status Quo
Rachel	Dacus	The Renaissance Club
Denitta	Ward	Somewhere Still
Elena	Mikalsen	Wrapped in the Stars
Eldonna	Edwards	This I Know
Marianne	Hansen	The Unscripted Life of Lizzy Dillinger
Carrie	Mumford	All But What's Left
Barbara Solomon	Josselsohn	The Last Dreamer
Julie	Clark	The Ones We Choose
Anna	Quinn	The Night Child
Jennifer	Irwin	A Dress the Color of the Sky
Lori	Henriksen	The Winter Loon
Sweta Srivastava	Vikram	Louisiana Catch