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From Hollywood Battles to Literary Triumphs: Kay Oliver's Inspiring Journey
From Hollywood Battles to Literary Triumphs: Kay Oliver's I…
In this inspiring episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich and co-host Michelle Hayes sit down with Kay Oliver, a Hollywood veteran…
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From Hollywood Battles to Literary Triumphs: Kay Oliver's Inspiring Journey

In this inspiring episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich and co-host Michelle Hayes sit down with Kay Oliver, a Hollywood veteran turned award-winning author. Kay shares her incredible journey of resilience, from navigating the challenges of a male-dominated entertainment industry to surviving breast cancer. She opens up about her decision to leave Hollywood, her pivot to writing empowering and action-packed novels, and how her experiences shaped her unique storytelling style. Kay also provides valuable insights on marketing for authors, balancing creativity with discipline, and the importance of authenticity in historical fiction. Her story is one of perseverance, triumph, and inspiring others through the power of words.

Award-Winning Author Kay A. Oliver

In this inspiring episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich and co-host Michelle Hayes sit down with Kay Oliver, a Hollywood veteran turned award-winning author. Kay shares her incredible journey of resilience, from navigating the challenges of a male-dominated entertainment industry to surviving breast cancer. She opens up about her decision to leave Hollywood, her pivot to writing empowering and action-packed novels, and how her experiences shaped her unique storytelling style. Kay also provides valuable insights on marketing for authors, balancing creativity with discipline, and the importance of authenticity in historical fiction. Her story is one of perseverance, triumph, and inspiring others through the power of words.

Award-Winning Author Kay A. Oliver

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Major Points of the Episode:

  Introduction of Kay Oliver: Former Hollywood professional turned award-winning novelist, celebrated for her empowering, female-centric narratives.

  Resilience Through Adversity: Kay discusses surviving breast cancer while losing her job and how she focused on overcoming her health battle rather than legal challenges.

  Gender Inequality in Hollywood: Personal experiences of unequal pay and systemic sexism in the entertainment industry, and how they shaped her perspective and storytelling.

  Transition to Writing: Kay's decision to leave Hollywood, reclaim her creative control, and write novels that blend action, romance, and resilience.

  Unique Writing Style: Describes her process of visualizing stories like movies, her aversion to foreshadowing, and crafting unexpected twists inspired by life’s unpredictability.

  Historical Fiction Research: The importance of meticulous research in creating authentic historical narratives, such as exploring Egyptian and Sudanese cultures.

  Prolific Career as an Author: Publishing 11 novels in 4 years, her ability to write quickly, and balancing her passion for storytelling with her teaching career.

  Marketing Insights for Authors: Practical tips on leveraging social media, crafting engaging book trailers, and the importance of standout covers and blurbs.

  Awards and Recognition: Her self-published works have earned 25 awards, highlighting the quality and impact of her writing.

  Hollywood’s Impact on Her Work: How her experiences in Hollywood influence her stories, including themes of empowerment and resilience.

  Future Plans: Writing the fourth book in her Disturbed Tombs series and continuing to inspire through her stories.

 

Description of the Guest:

Kay Oliver is a Hollywood veteran turned award-winning author whose journey is a testament to resilience, creativity, and empowerment. With over 30 years in the male-dominated entertainment industry, Kay crafted compelling, female-centric stories that defied conventional norms. After surviving breast cancer and choosing to leave Hollywood, she embarked on a new chapter as a novelist, channeling her passion into historical fiction and hardboiled cozy mysteries. Her self-published works have earned 25 awards, including recognition as the Fiction Author of the Year. Kay's dedication to meticulous research, her unique visual storytelling style, and her ability to balance action-packed narratives with emotional depth have captivated readers worldwide. Beyond her writing, she is a marketing professor who empowers authors with practical tips to succeed. Kay’s inspiring story is one of overcoming adversity and reclaiming creative control to celebrate women’s strength and resilience.

 

The “Transformation” Listeners Can Expect After Listening:

  Inspiration to Overcome Challenges: Gain motivation from Kay Oliver’s resilience in the face of personal and professional adversity, including her journey through breast cancer and navigating sexism in Hollywood.

  Encouragement to Pursue Creativity: Feel empowered to take control of creative passions, even when faced with obstacles, and explore storytelling as a form of self-expression.

  Insights on Equality and Advocacy: Develop a deeper understanding of gender inequality in the workplace and the importance of standing up for fairness and respect.

  Actionable Marketing Strategies: Learn practical tips for authors and creatives on how to effectively market their work, build a brand, and reach a target audience.

  Appreciation for Storytelling Craft: Understand the importance of research, authenticity, and unexpected twists in creating impactful narratives.

  New Perspective on Resilience: Feel inspired by Kay’s ability to turn life’s challenges into opportunities for growth and triumph, both personally and professionally.

  Empowerment to Challenge Norms: Leave with a renewed sense of confidence to defy conventional expectations and craft a unique path in any field.

 

List of Resources Discussed:

  Kay Oliver’s Website: kayaoliver.com - Explore Kay’s books, writing tips, and blog.

  Kay’s Novels:

  • Disturbed Tombs
  • Calculated Risk
  • Road to Elysium
  • Dr. Galsworthy Series

  Social Media Platforms:

  • Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook (Kay is active on these platforms).
  • BookTalk and Threads (mentioned in the context of social media engagement).

  Marketing Tools for Authors:

  • Canva (canva.com) - A graphic design platform for creating marketing materials.
  • BeFunky (befunky.com) - A tool for creating professional-looking posts and graphics.

  Awards and Recognitions:

  • Who’s Who in America
  • Fiction Author of the Year (2025)

  Book Giveaway Platforms:

  • Book Funnel (bookfunnel.com) - For distributing free chapters and novellas.

  Books Inspired by Real Events:

  • Road to Elysium - Inspired by a true story shared on the news.

  Hollywood Connections:

  • Jeffrey Katzenberg - Mentioned as a former boss and admired leader in Hollywood.

  Michael J. Fox Foundation - Briefly referenced during a tangent conversation about fundraising events.

Engage Further with "Conversations with Rich Bennett"

After listening to this inspiring episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, take the next step to connect with Kay Oliver’s incredible journey! Visit her website at kayaoliver.com to explore her award-winning novels and dive into her blog for free writing tips and insights.

Follow Kay on social media to stay updated on her latest releases and behind-the-scenes glimpses into her creative process. Whether you’re an aspiring author, a fan of historical fiction, or simply inspired by her story, there’s something for everyone to discover.

Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast for more meaningful conversations, and share this episode with someone who could use a dose of inspiration and empowerment. Let’s celebrate resilience, creativity, and the power of storytelling together!

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Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett, joined by my lovely co-host, Michelle Hayes. And today, we're excited to welcome an incredible guest whose journey from Hollywood to award winning novelists is nothing short of inspiring. Kaye, a I'll Oliver see that real fast ten times. Spent over 30 years navigating the male dominated entertainment industry, and she's only 25. Crafting compelling female centric stories that often defied Hollywood's idea of marketable. After triumphing over challenges including surviving breast cancer, Kay made the bold decision to leave Hollywood and take control of her creative destiny. As an author, she has written strong, empowering narratives that celebrate women's resilience and strength. Her debut novel, Disturbed Tombs, won four awards and she has since published wrote to us. Is that. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:04
Alicia. 

Rich Bennett 1:06
Alicia I was going to say that road to it. I put it this way. She's written a ton of books, earning accolades, like being inducted into who's Who in America and Named I a OTP fiction author of the Year. That the one you were telling me about before we recorded. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:25
Love. 

Rich Bennett 1:26
Four 2025 Suu Kyi's unique perspective, shaped by her Hollywood experience and her passion for storytelling, brings depth and inspiration to her work. Her books are described by readers as transcending the pages, draw on true events and life lessons to create narratives that resonate deeply. I first of all, I have to say this, Kay, 

it's just amazing. Every time I talk to a breast cancer, a breast cancer survivor, I'm just amazed. And you, here you are. And you're still going writing books, not listening, not letting anything stop you. So I want to ask you this. While you were going through it, were you still writing? 

Kay A. Oliver 2:15
No, In fact, I was work. 

Rich Bennett 2:17
Okay. 

Kay A. Oliver 2:18
was working at the time. It wasn't the right. 

Rich Bennett 2:21
Oh. 

Kay A. Oliver 2:22
And the week I found out I was diagnosed with that, they let me go. So. 

Rich Bennett 2:28
White. 

Kay A. Oliver 2:29
They let me go. So I lost my insurance and my income because I'm single and I had to fight it with a lot of help. 

Rich Bennett 2:41
Please tell me you won that battle. 

Kay A. Oliver 2:44
No, I didn't take that. The battle I won was breast cancer. 

Rich Bennett 2:48
Well, yeah. 

Kay A. Oliver 2:49
You can either do the breast cancer or go after the company. And I just I just wrote them off. 

Rich Bennett 2:57
That. 

Kay A. Oliver 2:59
I know. 

Rich Bennett 3:01
I'm sorry. Here 

Kay A. Oliver 3:02
okay. 

Rich Bennett 3:02
in that just piss. It pisses me off. 

Kay A. Oliver 3:10
liability. And I guess they did. 

Rich Bennett 3:12
Yeah. 

Kay A. Oliver 3:12
Exactly so. 

Rich Bennett 3:14
And that's just wrong. 

I don't know. Well. 

Kay A. Oliver 3:19
Karma. I believe in karma. 

Rich Bennett 3:22
Yeah. Yeah. All right. So actually, I want to let's talk about your Hollywood journey. Can you take us back to your time in Hollywood? What were some pivotal moments that actually shaped your career and mindset in such a challenging and male dominated industry? 

Kay A. Oliver 3:40
Yeah. So I was fortunate enough that I really landed in Hollywood. I started at local television stations to begin with. And they were kind of smooth and the smaller, you know, quantity of people. So you don't have those interactions that you have in a big studio. But when I went to a big studio, I was fortunate enough to have a boss who was a good mentor and helped me understand the differences between how men approach professionalism versus women. And taught me some things that way. However, things did occur even with that boss where they gave a huge raise to a guy who was working there, who had not worked there as long as me, did not have the degrees that I will. And then I went in to approach that topic. They said it was because he had children at home, that he needed more money. And I said 9 to 5 or 5 to 9 because I can not adopt kids, you know. So, yeah, I didn't want that one either. 

Rich Bennett 4:48
With the. 

Yeah, it's. You hear the nightmare stories like that, and you and your first thought is, Oh, come on, There ain't no way. People don't do that. Well, and you keep hearing horror, Stuart Horror Studios. Horror stories of. 

Kay A. Oliver 5:07
Executives. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 5:09
Yeah, Especially in Hollywood, is it? Now, I don't know when you were working in Hollywood, but does it seem like it's gotten worse over the years or better? 

Kay A. Oliver 5:19
I don't think it's gotten much better. We are still put down as women when we want equal pay for equal roles or equal jobs, and we're asking for that so that we can start our own production companies or we can 

Rich Bennett 5:33
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 5:34
get those movies out that women want to see 

and film them the way women want to see them, not the idiots who always fall where they're being chased by the bad guys because we don't. 

Rich Bennett 5:45
Yeah. 

Kay A. Oliver 5:46
But you know, it happened again to me that, you know, later on at the same studio where the guy was getting a good $20,000 more a year than I was, the question wasn't. Oh, you want equal pay? The question was, how do you know he's getting that? And how did you find out? We want to know how you know. And it was just like, wow, you know, that's you're attacking me for, you know, trying to, you know, get equal pay. So that happens sometimes. There's things I won't talk about because they're very they weren't it was actually kind of, in my opinion, humiliating for the men. What they did. But it was very you know, it was very unprofessional. And as as. 

Michelle Hayes 6:30
No, go ahead. 

Kay A. Oliver 6:32
And, you know, as women, you can't fight every battle. You have to pick the battles you want to fight because even those are very hard on you. And I'd always come in with all my documentation and everything. And you're still the problem child because you're reporting something. So that that's a hard line to tell. But I did it, and I'm sure it cost me my job at one studio, because you're the one who complains. I get rid of you. So and keep going along their merry way, you know. And I used to be told that harassment in Hollywood can't be charged because we shoot sex scenes or we shoot love scenes. I know. So I'm glad that that's. little bit with, you know, the people they're bringing, you know, to justice. But those those are just some you know, they not charged the people who assist in making that happen. So, you know, there are people who support that behavior and they don't charge them, so they go on to do it again anyway. 

Michelle Hayes 7:38
Yeah. And I think back to what you were saying about, you know, women in the workplace in general, in any workplace. I mean, we've been fighting for equal pay and equal rights for, you know, how long now it's it's a. 

Kay A. Oliver 7:51
Forever. 

Michelle Hayes 7:52
Everybody's like, oh, you know, women fighting for equal rights. That's a history lesson. It's now a lesson still fighting for rights. And I think kind of a sidebar to that situation and that conversation and movement that's still going on. It's not in history, but kind of a side silo of that is talking about how much are being paid, that is. Largely taboo. And we've been very lucky with my husband's employer who was bought out. But the culture there is. Go ahead, talk about it. If you don't think it's fair, let's talk about it. And he's been. 

Rich Bennett 8:28
Mm hmm. 

Michelle Hayes 8:29
We were very fortunate with that company. But that's not the reality in many companies. That's not the the role. That's the exception. And I think that's even more. In. 

Rich Bennett 8:42
That's one thing I never understood with 

businesses in the corporate world. Why? Just because you're man. You should make more money. It shouldn't matter about, you know, your gender, your race, or whatever. The one that does the better job should be the one that makes the more money. It shouldn't matter how many kids you have. That's ridiculous. I mean, it's something a lesson I learned when I was in sales because I asked for a raise. They said, oh, okay, you want to raise so more that your raise and that they're now in sales. I know it's a little bit different, but in general, it just means you want to raise. Then work hard or show us that you are. You're worth it. And I just. I'm sorry, but it pisses me off when I hear of how women are so mistreated or somebody of another race is mistreated in the workplace because, you know, they they don't they don't deserve to get paid this much dirt. You know, that's a load of crap. The person that does the best job 

definitely deserves more than even a higher position as well. And that's the other problem, because a lot of them will not get the position that they deserve. 

Kay A. Oliver 10:12
Absolutely. Promotions is another thing. And they always kind of say you're not management material. Oh, because I'm not a bully. Okay. 

Michelle Hayes 10:23
love that one. 

Kay A. Oliver 10:25
I'm not a bully. But funny. When you gave me the assignment to do, I did an email. You ever had to do that assignment? And got the crew to work with me. And, you know, we came in under the 2% loss that you were looking for. You've never done that. I was the first person to do that. But oh, I'm not management material. So, you know, is because, you know, they see you as if you're friendly or able to talk to employees and not step on them, that you're not strong enough, which is actually backwards. 

Rich Bennett 10:58
Yup, exactly. You know. You know where the bullies are the best at boot camp. 

Yeah. The drill instructors, they have to be bullies. Yeah. In. In the real world. The corporate world. No, that doesn't fly. 

Michelle Hayes 11:16
No, I mean. 

Kay A. Oliver 11:17
How. 

Rich Bennett 11:18
You got. You got me round up now. 

Kay A. Oliver 11:21
Okay. Simplify. Okay. 

Michelle Hayes 11:25
I've said it before, you've heard me say. K My father passed from my dad. I have a biological father and a stepfather who was a big part of raising me. 

Kay A. Oliver 11:34
I understand that. 

Michelle Hayes 11:35
And I adore them both. I truly do. They both had a big role in who I am today. And Brad, my stepfather, he died about 12 years ago. And one of his big things when he was the head of our family. He always said, I am a servant leader 

and. 

Kay A. Oliver 11:53
Right. 

Michelle Hayes 11:54
As a woman in leadership, it's so important to remember that. But then also remember, you're the leader, too. On that balance because you don't want people to walk all over you, but you also want them to know that you'll scrub the floor with them if they need that you also create. 

Kay A. Oliver 12:10
I'll roll up my sleeves. 

Michelle Hayes 12:12
Exactly. And that's just such a hard balance to to do. 

Kay A. Oliver 12:17
Well, I've got a good story for you. Hollywood story. 

Michelle Hayes 12:20
Okay. 

Kay A. Oliver 12:21
We were at a event where we had brought all of our consumer products for a particular movie and we we showed this retailer everything that we had. It was a huge amount of stuff, including a race car in the. Yeah. So after the event when we started to pack up, I rolled up my sleeves that I know helping pack and everything. And Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of the studio, walks by to other studio heads, rolls up his sleeves and he starts packing also. And the other two stood there and I thought, Oh, that doesn't look good on them, you know. But yeah, so Jeffrey Katzenberg got right in there and was helping, so, you know. 

Rich Bennett 13:04
That's a good leader there. 

Kay A. Oliver 13:06
Yeah, I. I loved working for him. I've heard other people say not so much, but I loved working for him. I had. 

Rich Bennett 13:13
Never, never have your employees do something that you will not do yourself. 

Kay A. Oliver 13:19
Right. 

Michelle Hayes 13:19
Exactly. 

Kay A. Oliver 13:21
He could have gotten his plane and gone home because he had a brother. 

Rich Bennett 13:23
Yeah. 

Kay A. Oliver 13:24
Yeah, but no, he came over and helped, so. 

Rich Bennett 13:28
Wow. So with all this 

crap that you went through with Hollywood, how did those experiences actually influence the way you approach storytelling today? 

Kay A. Oliver 13:44
So. Yes, absolutely. So something that people always ask me, do you write it all out? Do you plot it all out? I don't. I see it in my head. I've always seen it in my head like a movie. I see movies in my head. So when I direct, I know what I'm doing. Even though. 

Rich Bennett 13:58
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 13:59
For the day's shoots. You have to know what you're shooting. So you have to have a, you know, a shoot schedule. But overall, I know the overarching storyline. I know how to start it, how I want to end. And then I just start writing and what I had to learn because I am a perfectionist at everything I do. Not to worry about being a perfectionist when you write the first time you write because your novels are not made in the draft or the first draft or the second write, they're made in the edit phase. You know, novels, award winning novels are made in the edit. So, you know, just write and not worry about what you're saying or if you're using the same word over and over, then you can go back in and search that later and change that out. But just writing. So and then I don't do foreshadowing. I don't like foreshadowing. I'm more like a Spielberg in the sense of you take a laugh and you don't see what's coming and you turn it to a cry or scream or the other way around. A scream to a laugh. And I learn that. So I do the same thing in my books where you think something's going one direction and all of a sudden, bam, it's something else. And you're like, Wait a minute. Yeah. So, you know, that's what life's like. So. 

Rich Bennett 15:14
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 15:16
That's what I do. So that's I think that is a lot of it. I love them being able to put the descriptions in because. 

Rich Bennett 15:24
Mm hmm. 

Kay A. Oliver 15:25
Visual is one thing you don't have to say. Somebody is, you know, a type person. They have the collar button and you know how they dress tells you a lot about the character. And in the book, you have to describe that as opposed to, you know, making it visual. So I love that. 

Michelle Hayes 15:43
Rich is not allowed to write a book. 

There are so many inappropriate terms to describe people, and I feel like you would use all of them. 

Rich Bennett 16:01
just love getting picked on. 

Michelle Hayes 16:02
I know. I've been doing it all. 

Kay A. Oliver 16:04
Well, that's looking at it. That's what his editor is for. 

Rich Bennett 16:09
So. So, Kay. Do me a favor. Explain to the listeners, because this this amazed me when we were talking before we started recording the types of books that you actually write that be the one I know historical fiction, but the other. 

Kay A. Oliver 16:25
Yes. Yes. So I write historical fiction and I write hard boiled, cozy mist. 

genre. It is not a sappy story. It is action filled. It is guns, shooting people, attempted murders, things like that. It is it can take a Clive Cussler story and add a little romance to what she does, by the way, because. 

Rich Bennett 16:52
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 16:53
He's dating that Senator Dirk Pitt is dating that senator. But, you know. 

Action packed by loves. Calculated Risk is about an accountant who gets a new client, and then the client is brought up on charges of something that her accounting firm would have known about. And in the process of trying to prove his innocence, they get caught up in a gambling joint and mafia type people. They're being shot out and nearly killed. And so it's not just, you know, for the person who also read a romance novel, it's not a romance novel in that sense, but you kind of know they're going to get together because they go through all this action and shooting and dodging. 

Rich Bennett 17:45
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 17:46
Together. So. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:48
I've never heard of that genre before. 

Michelle Hayes 17:51
Sounds like. 

Kay A. Oliver 17:51
Yeah. 

Michelle Hayes 17:52
Be a part of. 

Rich Bennett 17:54
Oh. 

Kay A. Oliver 17:55
Go. 

Rich Bennett 17:56
And actually, when did you start writing? 

Kay A. Oliver 17:59
I started writing 2020. 

Rich Bennett 18:02
Wait. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Why? 

Kay A. Oliver 18:07
mean, the books. The books I started. 

Rich Bennett 18:08
Yeah. The box. 

Kay A. Oliver 18:10
2020. 

Rich Bennett 18:11
What year was the first one published? 

Kay A. Oliver 18:15
Probably 2020. 

Rich Bennett 18:17
So. 

Kay A. Oliver 18:18
wanted to lay. 

Rich Bennett 18:19
In four years. You released 11 novels. 

Kay A. Oliver 18:23
A release tagged the 11th was coming out in January. It's already done. 

Rich Bennett 18:28
Kate, when do you find time for yourself? 

Kay A. Oliver 18:31
I have plenty of time for myself. I technically retired and I have. A professor that teaches marketing at a university. So but other than that, yeah, I love writing. I can write. I write quickly. I always have since I started. 

Rich Bennett 18:50
say your professor as well to teach his marketing? 

Kay A. Oliver 18:53
Yes, sir. 

Rich Bennett 18:55
All right. Is there. All right. What don't you do? 

Kay A. Oliver 18:58
I don't have a husband to stop me. 

Michelle Hayes 19:02
AX. Hey, I mean. 

To check. 

Kay A. Oliver 19:08
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 19:08
Well, I mean, that's not that's amazing. I mean. No, not amazing that you don't have a husband to tell you that the 11. 

Michelle Hayes 19:18
You happy 

Rich Bennett 19:18
What? 

Michelle Hayes 19:18
you don't have a husband, Kay. 

Kay A. Oliver 19:21
Yes, I was married. I'm divorced. 

Michelle Hayes 19:23
Okay, good. She doesn't have a husband, Rich. Good for her. 

Rich Bennett 19:28
Do we know? I'm saying I'm amazed that she's. Written 11 novels in four years. 

Kay A. Oliver 19:37
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 19:38
They're not novellas. These 

Kay A. Oliver 19:40
No. 

Rich Bennett 19:40
are all novels. 

Kay A. Oliver 19:42
They're nice. That looks. 

Rich Bennett 19:46
All right. Now, this is going to be a scary question and it's probably going to floor me with you're going to floor me with your answer. On average, how long does it take you to write one novel? 

Kay A. Oliver 19:57
Six months or less. 

I write fast and I can stay. stay. My dog tells me it's time to get out and do some. 

I guess you've been selling to a lot more. can write 2 to 3 chapters in a day. Easy. 

Rich Bennett 20:18
Wow. 

Kay A. Oliver 20:19
I love writing. 

Rich Bennett 20:21
And well, and looking at your website, speaking, by the way people while you're listening go to k a Oliver accom that's k aui a the letter a. Oliver. Dot com. Your website. The videos. This is the book travel book. 

Kay A. Oliver 20:43
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 20:45
I take it you've done them yourself? 

Kay A. Oliver 20:47
Yes, I have. 

Rich Bennett 20:49
Do me a favor, because I think a lot of authors are missing the boat on that. Actually, you know what? I'm going to take a little turn here. 

No, no, because. No, I didn't realize that you're a professor Marketing, too. And it seems like this is something all a lot of authors have problems marketing their books. What's the secret? 

Kay A. Oliver 21:13
Due diligence. So, you know, making sure that, you know, that you're using social media, it's not that expensive to market on social media 

across all different platforms. They all have certain hashtags that they use. So make sure you find out what those are. You know, call out your readers, you know, hardboiled Cozi mystery readers. This is for you kind of think of, you know, historical fiction. This is for you. Yes, I do book trailers like movie trailers. background. I started as a video editor. 

Rich Bennett 21:46
I love them. 

Kay A. Oliver 21:47
Career. Thank you. And it gives you more a little more detail for your readers to see if there's something they want to read or not. So but you know, you need to post, you know. You know, every other day on the days that your audience is on that particular platform. So if you're doing Twitter, I recommend weekends. If you're doing, you know, Facebook, I'd recommend, you know, Monday mornings and different things in consideration. In consideration of time zones. So if you're posting in California at 9 a.m., it's 12 noon and New York. So, you know, you need to keep that in mind, you know, and find out what is the height of people on a certain platform like Instagram or Twitter. Yeah. So and it changes. So it's not, you know, don't look it up one time and say, okay, that's great, because, you know, in the future, you know, either a new platform comes out like Tick Tock did. 

Rich Bennett 22:47
Book talk. 

Kay A. Oliver 22:48
Yeah. Look, That's it. Hashtag looked at and. Absolutely. So, you know, things change, audiences change. You know, age of audiences change. So, you know, you need to keep on top of that as well. 

Rich Bennett 23:04
That with the with the marquee what's probably probably not in the professor at it but what's what's been one of the hardest things when it comes to marketing your books. 

Kay A. Oliver 23:18
You're making your book stand out, I think. Right. You need to stand out somehow. You need to make sure you have a really good cover. I give writing tips on my website for free. You know, have to pay for them. I have a blog writing tips. Yes, books are judged by their cover. And, you know, I'm writing a really good blurb is the second thing, to try to get some kind of hook in there to grab your readers. So those are, you know, difficult. And marketing is can be time consuming until you build up a good number of, you know, nice posts that you can recirculate eventually. But yeah, creating those quotes and getting them out. 

Rich Bennett 24:00
And thank you for saying that about. Yes, your book is judged by the cover because it's like the old days where. But you can't judge a book by its cover. Now it is. And speaking of which, do you use the same illustrator for your book covers? Because. 

Kay A. Oliver 24:15
I do. He's awesome. 

Rich Bennett 24:18
Yes. 

Oh, my. For all of them. For both. For both genres, it's the same. 

Kay A. Oliver 24:25
Uh huh. Let's just say. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 24:28
Really? Wow. 

That's okay. I'm just blown away now. I mean, because for. 

Kay A. Oliver 24:37
It's funny. 

Rich Bennett 24:38
I was for years this year after I forgot all about Hollywood. 

Kay A. Oliver 24:43
The other day, I got some criticism on one of my book covers that says, You got to stop using I for your book covers that I wrote. I'm not using 

Rich Bennett 24:49
Huh? 

Kay A. Oliver 24:49
air. So. 

Rich Bennett 24:52
I don't see any of your books. It looks like I. 

Kay A. Oliver 24:55
So that was kind of funny that someone said that and then they went, Sorry. Like, I'm not using a. 

Rich Bennett 25:02
Wow. I yeah, I don't looking at the books online all. 

Kay A. Oliver 25:07
There's a lot of mean people out there. 

Michelle Hayes 25:10
Look really good. And as someone who sees a lot of AI generated content, I mean, in today's day and age, honestly, they probably were like, That's too good to be a human. That created that. I because. 

Kay A. Oliver 25:28
There you go. 

Michelle Hayes 25:29
I mean, honestly, that's what a lot of people are thinking. And it's it's mean and it's not true. But these are actually really beautiful. 

Rich Bennett 25:39
They are. They all have five fingers, not six, like I. 

Michelle Hayes 25:43
I'm like, starting to count fingers. 

Kay A. Oliver 25:46
Long. 

Rich Bennett 25:47
I'm sorry. 

Kay A. Oliver 25:49
Five digits. 

Rich Bennett 25:52
So what what was your favorite book to write? 

Kay A. Oliver 25:58
that's. You know what that's like asking an actor. What's your favorite project you worked out? What film? 

Michelle Hayes 26:03
Familiar. What? Wine, Rich. That's. That's not fair. 

Kay A. Oliver 26:07
I will tell you this, that if I could marry my character, Derek, from the Dr. Galsworthy series, I would. 

That was that. 

So, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:22
Okay. 

Kay A. Oliver 26:23
That's a little different. I created a band who doesn't exist. 

Rich Bennett 26:30
Okay. People are allowed to have fantasies. It's. 

Kay A. Oliver 26:35
So. Yeah, I. I love both. I like I think I like, you know, I bounce back and forth. I like the research needed for my historical fictions because I put real facts in them, along with the fiction of the novel. In the first one, Disturbed Tombs, which you mentioned. I came from a question as to why we, you know, dig up every mummy we find, but our graveyards are sacred. You know, are we disturbing our peace so that that question is answered in disturbed to my way. 

Rich Bennett 27:08
I never thought about that. Why do we do that? 

Kay A. Oliver 27:13
Oh, I've searched for science, but you don't have to dig up every single one you find. You know, they find 28. They dig all 28 up. I don't understand that. 

Rich Bennett 27:24
I. Never mind. That's a whole God. I could go down the rabbit hole. 

Michelle Hayes 27:28
That's another podcast. 

Rich Bennett 27:29
You are back. It is because. 

Kay A. Oliver 27:31
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 27:32
You hear about gravesites here? 

Kay A. Oliver 27:34
We don't. 

Rich Bennett 27:35
That. 

Kay A. Oliver 27:36
You have to go jump through hoops to even do something up front to investigate a murder. Right. So. 

Rich Bennett 27:43
Well, some are. From what I understood to some, I was talking to some I needed a lot of. A lot of your plots are rented. 

Kay A. Oliver 27:52
Well, they're starting to do that now. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 27:54
Yeah. 

Michelle Hayes 27:55
Okay. I'm sorry. A plot. You're kind of there for a long time. 

Rich Bennett 28:00
No. 

For a certain period of time, and then afterwards 

it's exhumed and basically leads to. 

Kay A. Oliver 28:12
Freeman and God. Yeah. 

Michelle Hayes 28:14
Hey, that's truly disturbing. 

Rich Bennett 28:17
But. Well, think about this, Michel. I mean, otherwise we're going to run out of land. 

Michelle Hayes 28:23
Understand. But rest in peace and rest in peace is a very different. 

Kay A. Oliver 28:30
Absolutely. Well, of course, you know, they so-called move graves before for city development. 

Rich Bennett 28:36
Yeah. 

Kay A. Oliver 28:38
Or they were found that they weren't marrying them at all. So, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 28:44
Oh, it's happened here where I live. Well, they didn't move the graves. They moved the heads 

Kay A. Oliver 28:48
Headstones. 

Rich Bennett 28:49
to another. 

Kay A. Oliver 28:50
That's what Poltergeist was about, right? 

They built the house on top of the graves. 

Rich Bennett 28:56
Yeah, sure. I'm glad you're with the historical fiction. I'm glad you mentioned the research, because it's and I think a lot of authors missed the boat here. Well, not a lot. You do have a lot of them due to research, but the proper research. How important that is, and even to let everybody know how important it is to the small little details, especially when you're writing historical fiction. 

Kay A. Oliver 29:25
Absolutely. In fact, you know, that first book takes place in both Egypt and Sudan, because Sudan has more two more pyramids than Egypt does. And I needed to know about the culture and everything, you know, because my ladies were traveling in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and someone from that region read my book and said, have you been there? Because you got it right. And that was, you know, a compliment. You know what? What do they wear? Where are the stands? What? 

Rich Bennett 30:00
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 30:01
And now with, you know, Google Maps, you can go down and look in and physically see it. You can actually. Writing about. So I use that as well. I on the highway that goes through the cities that I was travelling. I, you know, research what the highway was like and, you know, the whole nine yards. So, yeah, I, you know, and the characters, a couple of the characters that she comes across were actual pharaohs. But there were male and female pharaohs. And so I bring up one of the female pharaohs and, you know, and then how does that work and how do you get a conversation starter? And it's, uh, that's why it won four awards. I'm sure that was my first book out of the gate. So when I started winning awards, I thought, I'm on to something here. So, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 30:55
Yeah, I would say so. And how many awards again? 

Kay A. Oliver 31:00
25. 

Rich Bennett 31:01
2025 awards. 

Okay. And you're are you self-published or did you go through a publisher? 

Kay A. Oliver 31:11
Self-published. 

Rich Bennett 31:12
No way. Come on. 

Kay A. Oliver 31:14
Yeah. 

You know, I try. It takes a lot of work to get a publisher. And I tried. You know, I continue to try that. I just went off self-publish. So maybe somebody somewhere will notice me at some time. 

And, you know, I, I would love to have a publisher, but I'm still self-publishing, so. And I haven't spent 

Rich Bennett 31:37
All. 

Kay A. Oliver 31:37
energy in that arena. 

Rich Bennett 31:39
All of your books, ten of them. The 11th one coming out are all self-published. And you got 25 awards. 

Kay A. Oliver 31:48
Yes, sir. 

Rich Bennett 31:50
How in the world. Okay, 

now I'm really blown away. So how do you go about getting the awards? 

Kay A. Oliver 31:59
What you do is something like any award, even Emmy Awards and Oscar awards you have to submit. You don't just get. 

Rich Bennett 32:06
I didn't know that. 

Kay A. Oliver 32:07
Absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 32:08
Oh. 

Kay A. Oliver 32:09
Yeah. Saw it. know, there's a lot of lobbying that goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood to get nominated. And there's a lot of politics. The good thing about book awards, it's the content of your book, right? And not what you did in your personal life. And so you just apply for awards. And if you're good enough, you get an award. So. I guess so. 

Rich Bennett 32:35
Wow. 

Kay A. Oliver 32:37
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:37
So let me make sure I got this straight, because you're no longer working in Hollywood. So you're. 

Kay A. Oliver 32:42
All right. 

Rich Bennett 32:43
Full time job is a professor and an author preneur. 

Kay A. Oliver 32:48
A novel? Yes. 

Rich Bennett 32:50
You're an author producer. 

Kay A. Oliver 32:53
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 32:54
novelist. What, you're still I mean, you're an entrepreneur in a trading. But but you're. I mean, if from what I can see, from what it sounds like, you're successful at it. I mean. 

Kay A. Oliver 33:04
Yeah. Everyone. 

Rich Bennett 33:07
You're busting down doors. 

Kay A. Oliver 33:09
Yeah, I, I just keep writing. So when you say that, I'm like, Oh, yeah, that's right. I did do that. Then who's who in America? Also due to my literary. 

Rich Bennett 33:21
How did that come about? 

Kay A. Oliver 33:23
Somebody recommended me to Who's who? You. Because you cannot get. You cannot submit yourself. Someone 

Rich Bennett 33:29
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 33:29
has to. I have no idea who has submitted me. 

Michelle Hayes 33:32
No one took credit for that. 

Kay A. Oliver 33:33
They won't tell you. They don't tell you the same thing that the fiction writer of the Year. Someone has to nominate you and they won't tell you who nominated. 

Rich Bennett 33:43
Really? 

Kay A. Oliver 33:44
Then they go through a process of researching you and your information and then they interview you. And then finally, if you're the one, you're chosen. 

Rich Bennett 33:54
Probably your bosses because they feel guilty. Finally. 

Kay A. Oliver 33:57
I also. 

Rich Bennett 34:00
Or it could have been John Katzenberg. 

Kay A. Oliver 34:03
Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

Rich Bennett 34:04
I mean, Jeffrey Katzenberg. Yeah. Who's John Katzenberg? 

Kay A. Oliver 34:07
I don't know. Maybe he hasn't even. 

Rich Bennett 34:09
Was he? Cheers. 

Kay A. Oliver 34:11
No. 

Rich Bennett 34:13
Who was that on? Cheers. The 

Kay A. Oliver 34:14
That 

Rich Bennett 34:14
mailman. 

Kay A. Oliver 34:15
was such an honor. I can't remember. 

Rich Bennett 34:17
I'd. 

Kay A. Oliver 34:18
Oh, no. You know, I'm thinking of another song. Yeah. 

Michelle Hayes 34:23
There is a John Katzenberg on LinkedIn, who's a private equity chief financial officer. 

Rich Bennett 34:30
Yeah. I don't think you. 

Kay A. Oliver 34:32
He knows that he doesn't know me. 

Michelle Hayes 34:33
He's pretty impressive. 

Kay A. Oliver 34:36
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 34:40
Okay. Michelle, are you trying to hook up? 

Michelle Hayes 34:42
I mean. 

He's got some some financial resources. 

Rich Bennett 34:51
Hey, give her medication. She'll find his Tinder for you. 

Michelle Hayes 34:55
Hey, don't knock Tinder. We've been together seven years. We've been married a year. Don't knock Tinder. 

Kay A. Oliver 35:04
There you go. 

Rich Bennett 35:05
So. Okay. Are there times where you actually miss Hollywood? 

Kay A. Oliver 35:09
That's funny you ask that. No, 

I somewhat I'm somewhat not out of it because I still help people. They write themselves into corners and then call me and say, Get me out of this. I had that on 20. 

Rich Bennett 35:22
Really? 

Kay A. Oliver 35:23
On 24, one of the writers wrote himself into a mess and then I think called me and said, Get me out of this, because I had called a couple of times and told them, You messed up the storyline, you did this. And they're like, No, he didn't. You didn't watch the show. Oh my God, we did. So. 

Rich Bennett 35:40
Wow. 

Kay A. Oliver 35:41
Yes, I heard that. And then a couple of my friends are podcasters and I who are Hollywood people that I help them with that as well. But yeah, so you don't really ever leave Hollywood. I still talk to my friends who are, you know, 

Rich Bennett 35:55
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 35:55
A-listers. 

But no, because, you know, I know people think it's glamorous, It's a job. And the only time you're glamorous is when you're walking a red carpet. And then we are glued to tape, sucked in, you know, in a girl, you name it. And we're most uncomfortable. So, you know, it's not really it's Hollywood is not glamorous, as people tend to think it is. 

Rich Bennett 36:22
Right. That's because it's it seems like is and correct me if I'm wrong, but that has become more political than anything. 

Kay A. Oliver 36:31
It's been political all along. 

Rich Bennett 36:33
Oh, really? 

Kay A. Oliver 36:34
Yeah. So back when? So I know the history of Hollywood. I study that as well, even though I was in it. But, you know, Edison. 

Rich Bennett 36:40
Ooh. 

Kay A. Oliver 36:41
The guy who did the light bulbs supposedly had the first cameras, and they actually called it the Edison Cartel because he was the only one that had cameras. And he kind of ran Hollywood. You know, if you go back and look at Hollywood, it's a pretty interesting story. And you can see pretty much why. They treat women the way they do in Hollywood, because, you know, some of the original contracts were women as extras or extras. It's your sense of the word. They were 

Rich Bennett 37:11
Wow. 

Kay A. Oliver 37:11
be party fillers. Yeah. So it's it's interesting. 

Rich Bennett 37:17
Have you ever thought about writing a documentary about that? 

Kay A. Oliver 37:20
People have asked me to write a book about my life in Hollywood, but I just assumed. Forget it. I'm sorry, but. 

Rich Bennett 37:29
Well, no, I don't 

Kay A. Oliver 37:29
Would 

Rich Bennett 37:29
blame. 

Kay A. Oliver 37:30
they believe me? Where they believe me? I don't know. 

Michelle Hayes 37:32
I mean, I feel with with all the everything coming out about Hollywood and the music issues and all of that, I feel like at this point there can't be anything we don't believe. 

Kay A. Oliver 37:46
That's good to know. 

Michelle Hayes 37:47
These are so crazy right now. You do. You don't know. I mean, it just goes 

Kay A. Oliver 37:52
Right. 

Michelle Hayes 37:52
Smile on the screen. You don't see what they do. 

Kay A. Oliver 37:57
In between. My mom didn't believe me for years. You know, that's the person you kind of tell people things to that you don't tell other people. And then one day we were on a vacation together with I met up with several girlfriends who worked on Hollywood, and we just started talking our normal selves. And I turned around, I look at my mom and her mouth is like. And I go, What's wrong? What's wrong with something? Okay. She was. I never believed you. These stories are real. And I said, Yeah, they're real. And I haven't told you have. 

Rich Bennett 38:27
Wow. 

Kay A. Oliver 38:28
So, you know, if I tell people the truth about things that I witnessed or experience firsthand, they would be mean that that can't be happening. Oh, yeah, it can. 

does. sad point. But I you know, I tried to be an advocate for those who follow after me because I knew I was getting beaten up for standing up. 

I did it anyway. always documented everything. So. 

Rich Bennett 38:58
Good. 

Michelle Hayes 38:58
Good. 

Kay A. Oliver 38:59
Yeah. Yeah. So they would say, Donna, that's not true. I pull out my paper, I go, Well, in this book here on this day, and here's the email and you know, they'd be like, Oh crap, you know, she has it all. So. 

Rich Bennett 39:11
So. All right, let me get this straight. Anything I get wrong, let me know. So in Hollywood, you wrote, right? Directed. You said. 

Kay A. Oliver 39:20
Director Schwartz. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 39:22
Did you say produce as well? 

Kay A. Oliver 39:24
Yes. Produces easy. 

Rich Bennett 39:27
Am I missing? The thing. 

Kay A. Oliver 39:29
And Ed. 

Rich Bennett 39:31
And Ed. Okay. They. Now you're doing that. You're a novelist, entrepreneur and a professor, and I bet you love doing them. Doing them a lot more, don't you? 

Kay A. Oliver 39:44
Yes. Total creative control. 

Rich Bennett 39:48
Yeah. I do have a question for you, though, about Hollywood, because this is always bugged the hell out of me. 

Kay A. Oliver 39:53
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 39:54
What the hell is a gaffer? 

Michelle Hayes 39:56
Oh, my gosh, Reg. 

Kay A. Oliver 39:59
A gaffer and a best boy. So one of them brings the sets, the stage, and the other one takes it from the best way to the inside the stage. 

Rich Bennett 40:13
The best boy. 

Kay A. Oliver 40:15
Have you heard of that. That's what. Yeah, that's point. 

So there's there's one set of people who, you know, create the stage in the wherever they're, you know, a facility is to create the stage pieces and then those are brought to the stage and then someone takes those from them and brings them inside the stage and sets up the set. 

Rich Bennett 40:41
Okay. I'll be honest with you. I knew there was a position called Best Boy that you. 

Kay A. Oliver 40:46
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 40:47
All. 

Kay A. Oliver 40:48
It is union oriented. So does that make more sense? 

Rich Bennett 40:53
Yeah, definitely. Why did you laugh, Michelle? You've never seen that term in the credits. 

Michelle Hayes 40:58
Best boy. 

Rich Bennett 41:00
No gaffer. 

Michelle Hayes 41:01
Yes, I've seen that one. And then I go. 

Rich Bennett 41:03
You knew what it was. Oh, okay. Well, never mind. I never. 

Michelle Hayes 41:07
Have you met my husband? 

Rich Bennett 41:09
Just to. I've just always wondered about. 

Michelle Hayes 41:13
My husband is an analytical individual. He works in tech. So if anything is a question or even he thinks I might have a question, he is already Googled it, gone down the rabbit hole, found the end of the rabbit hole, and probably is on the phone with contractors to sell said rabbit hole to a developer. He's very, very ahead of the game there. So yeah, I do it. 

Rich Bennett 41:41
Okay. So 2025 if. 

If you have time, if Michel doesn't get you hooked up with this guy, she fan on LinkedIn. Oh. 

Huh. How many How many books are you planning on publishing for? 2025. Especially now that you got the yo yo. The 2025 Fiction Writer of the Year award? 

Kay A. Oliver 42:04
At least two. 

Rich Bennett 42:06
Okay. 

Kay A. Oliver 42:07
At least two. I've slowed. I slowed down on purpose. Cause I don't want to miss sales on the one I just published. Right by going up there. Now, here's another one. Kind of like. 

Rich Bennett 42:21
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 42:21
Here's your new cell phone. Oh, six months later, here's a new cell phone. So, yeah. So I've tried to slow down in my writing, but it's kind of difficult because it's a passive, so I know I'll do, too. I already have the book in my hand that I need to start writing the two characters I need to research so I'll be writing the fourth novel to the Disturbed Tomb series. So. 

Rich Bennett 42:48
Now. Any plans on writing another type of genre? 

Kay A. Oliver 42:54
No, you generally stick most people right one genre the. 

Rich Bennett 42:58
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 42:59
You know, even the famous ones write more than one genre. But I probably bounce between the two. I accidentally stumble. 

Rich Bennett 43:07
You like doing that so much? 

Kay A. Oliver 43:09
I do, I do. And it gives me a different change of pace. Each one has 

Rich Bennett 43:13
Good. 

Kay A. Oliver 43:13
Voice said a different change of pace. So. 

Rich Bennett 43:16
Now are are any of these in audiobook form yet? 

Kay A. Oliver 43:20
Yeah, I think all of them are. 

Rich Bennett 43:23
Wow. 

Okay. Now, did you. Well, no, because you got character. So who. Who did the audio for? 

Kay A. Oliver 43:33
I hired a one guy who did the audio for three of the books. And then 

that a couple of them are voice generators. 

Rich Bennett 43:44
It's hard, especially when you have different characters because you need the I mean. 

Kay A. Oliver 43:49
Well, normally audio books are all one voice. They don't change. I mean, they can change the tone of the sound of the character. But. 

Rich Bennett 43:57
Right. 

Kay A. Oliver 43:59
You know, it's not like an old radio show where you've got different voices. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 44:02
Well, I guess if I to I mean, one person can change their voice as well. 

Kay A. Oliver 44:07
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 44:08
Huh? Okay, so when has anybody from that dreaded place that begins of age and ends of a day come to you about doing a screenplay for any of them yet? 

Kay A. Oliver 44:20
I have had two producers ask me for the road to Elysium. So I have. 

Rich Bennett 44:26
Really? 

Kay A. Oliver 44:27
I have. Yeah. I have written a draft of the screenplay and have, you know, tweaked it here and there. But yes, so people are that that book's won ten awards. So there's two other ones 

Rich Bennett 44:41
Lord. 

Kay A. Oliver 44:41
right there. So including Book of the Year. So, yeah, there's been some conversation about it. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 44:51
You know, when that comes out, you got to let me know because I. Yeah. need to find out. And that's. That's the hard boiled. I'm going to get it wrong. Heart. What's it called again? HARDBALL. 

Kay A. Oliver 45:04
While cozy. Mr.. The road to Elysium is not a road to the least. 

Rich Bennett 45:10
Oh, that's. 

Kay A. Oliver 45:11
That one is the only one that is based on a true event. 

Rich Bennett 45:18
Oh, what event is that? 

Kay A. Oliver 45:21
What? Yeah. So I was I was watching the news one night, and one of the uplifting stories at the end was about a young boy who asked a man to teach him how to throw a ball. And I found that so inspiring. I went to go find the book, and there wasn't one. And there was only a blurb. 

Rich Bennett 45:39
Wow. 

Kay A. Oliver 45:40
So the book is fiction, but it is inspired by that true event and how it changes the man's life, the kid's life, the family's lives, the neighborhood's lives, all from a knee jerk reaction of the bold question Will you help me teach me a sport? And the man saying yes, because that was his natural reaction. And it changes everything in his life. That little. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 46:08
So it's a tear jerker. 

Kay A. Oliver 46:10
It ends with a very happy note. It is considered. 

Rich Bennett 46:13
Happy tears. 

Kay A. Oliver 46:14
Happy Tears. It's A Wonderful Life Meets Blind Side. 

Rich Bennett 46:19
Oh. 

Kay A. Oliver 46:21
Oh, yeah. That's the book they're looking for. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 46:29
I like that. Claire's is one of my favorite characters. 

Kay A. Oliver 46:33
There you go. Jimmy Stewart. Yes, I meant. 

Rich Bennett 46:36
Oh, I have to watch it every year. Every year. I have to watch that. 

Kay A. Oliver 46:41
And it's not really people always go, it's a holiday movie. Not really. It happens in winter. And they do talk about angels, but it's not really a holiday tradition, a movie. you really watch it. 

Rich Bennett 46:55
Yeah. Oh, it's a lot. It's a life. It's a life learning movie. 

Kay A. Oliver 46:58
It's a life learning movie. Yes, absolutely. 

Rich Bennett 47:02
It's one of those ones that you're right, you can you can watch any time. Why they only bring it out at Christmas time. I don't know. 

Michelle Hayes 47:09
Okay. But if it happens around Christmas, it should be considered also. 

Rich Bennett 47:13
No, no. 

Kay A. Oliver 47:14
No. 

Rich Bennett 47:16
No, because Die. I'm sorry. Die Hard is not 

Michelle Hayes 47:18
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 47:18
a. 

Michelle Hayes 47:19
shut up, Rich. 

Kay A. Oliver 47:20
There you go. 

Michelle Hayes 47:21
Nobody likes you. 

Kay A. Oliver 47:22
January one, it's winter. So February, when it's winter, is not necessarily a. 

Michelle Hayes 47:28
I associate cozy with Christmas like fun and, like, light and cozy. And there's a fire in. 

Kay A. Oliver 47:37
That sounds more like winter and not Christmas. 

Michelle Hayes 47:40
I associate that with Christmas. 

Rich Bennett 47:44
Yeah. Yeah. 

Michelle Hayes 47:44
Winter is like, dark. 

Winter. It's like dark and depressing and cold. I freeze. It sucks. 

Rich Bennett 47:52
Cold. 

Kay A. Oliver 47:53
Oh, 

it's warm and cozy and fireplace. 

Michelle Hayes 47:59
Christmas. I want to be outside and freeze. I have fleece lined clothing for seeing Christmas lights. That's why I. 

Rich Bennett 48:05
Winter times you winter times. The only time my wife wants to come with me because in summertime she says, Don't touch me. It's too hot. 

Michelle Hayes 48:11
I have three cats. I need. 

Rich Bennett 48:13
I. 

Michelle Hayes 48:15
I'm going to do. Don't let him hear that. Rich. Cut that out. 

Rich Bennett 48:21
So it's okay. Any plans on actually starting a podcast? 

Kay A. Oliver 48:24
No. 

Rich Bennett 48:26
No, just helping others. 

Kay A. Oliver 48:31
do a podcast without writing some? 

Michelle Hayes 48:33
You're retired. 

Kay A. Oliver 48:35
It's just. 

Rich Bennett 48:36
She's not retired. 

Kay A. Oliver 48:39
No. 

Rich Bennett 48:40
She is not retired. 

Michelle Hayes 48:42
That's what she said. 

Rich Bennett 48:42
No. 

Kay A. Oliver 48:43
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 48:44
And actually how many times out of the week are you there? It's at a university where you're a professor, right? 

Kay A. Oliver 48:52
Yes. One day a week. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 48:54
Just one day a week. 

How many days of the week are you writing? 

Kay A. Oliver 49:00
The rest of them. 

Michelle Hayes 49:01
The other six. 

Rich Bennett 49:01
Oh, okay. Never mind. Okay. You're. You're. You're too busy to start a podcast. Well, in that case, what is next for Kay? 

Kay A. Oliver 49:10
Next is the fourth book. 

To 

too. 

then whatever book comes into my head after that, I'll have to get out of my head. So. 

You never know. You know, life brings you so many storylines. It's amazing. But yeah. 

Rich Bennett 49:35
Actually with. I want to get back to marketing the books for a minute here with good reads. Do you ever partake in and do like the giveaways or anything of your books? 

Kay A. Oliver 49:46
I do do giveaways. I normally do them through my newsletter. 

So I have a newsletter as well 

so you can subscribe on my website. But yeah, I normally do them through my, you know, the fans that follow me. Well, you know, the books I do that sometimes. I have two books that are giveaways through book funnel. The first chapter of the Stupid Tombs is a giveaway. And then I have one called The Counterfeit Actor. I wrote about, you know, what some actors go through from working in Hollywood, if that's a giveaway. 

technically I have, books. Out in the 13th coming out. But 

Rich Bennett 50:37
Lord. 

Kay A. Oliver 50:39
because I don't count the two that are giveaways. So they're shorter versions. They're almost novellas. So just over. Yeah. So. 

Rich Bennett 50:47
Trying to find the link for your 

newsletter. Am I missing something here? 

Kay A. Oliver 50:55
Well, I can put you on if you just want me to send it to you. An email. Yeah, you can just send me. 

Rich Bennett 50:59
Well, yeah. Yeah, I definitely want to be on it. But I also want to. I want to include the link in the show notes. 

Kay A. Oliver 51:05
You know what? I'll send it to you so you have it. 

Rich Bennett 51:07
Okay. All right. Perfect. Oh, good Lord. Look. And you are on. You are on every what? Twitter Tik-Tok. Instagram, Facebook. What is on Amazon? Author Center. Okay, never mind. I thought they were. I thought there was a new social media site I didn't know about, but as 

Kay A. Oliver 51:25
Not 

Rich Bennett 51:25
Amazon. 

Kay A. Oliver 51:25
yet. Threads I on threads, but I don't think I've added up their. 

Rich Bennett 51:31
Oh, that's the Instagram thing, right? 

Kay A. Oliver 51:32
That's the Facebook thing because the. 

Rich Bennett 51:36
Same thing. 

Michelle Hayes 51:37
No. The one that you keep saying, does it still exist? 

Rich Bennett 51:42
Yeah. 

Kay A. Oliver 51:43
Yeah, that would. 

Rich Bennett 51:43
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's like the chat, almost like a chat for Instagram knowledge after. But I don't know. 

I might have to try again. Who knows? I can't figure it out. But Kay. Or actually, I ask Michelle first. Michelle, do you have any questions for Kay? 

Michelle Hayes 52:05
Funny you should ask, Rich. He forgets sometimes. 

authors that are out there that that want to market themselves 

into marketing their books. What would be like the biggest piece of advice that you would give them? 

Kay A. Oliver 52:28
Biggest piece of advice I would get them is to go to a platform like kava or be funky. That helps you create be funky. Dot com helps you create posts. Helps you create posts. 

So that they look professional. If you're not good at graphic art, then that would help you out a lot. And then to, you know, post, like I said, across all the different formats at the time that you should be posting for your genre and your, you know, yours 

Michelle Hayes 53:00
Got. 

Kay A. Oliver 53:00
readers. 

Michelle Hayes 53:02
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 53:04
Is there anything other any other websites say I don't know about? I. Be funky. What the hell? 

Kay A. Oliver 53:12
I'm. I'm assuming there's a ton you don't know about, but the fun CNN.com is the one I use actually, to create my posts most often because I it's easy to use as user friendly. So I do that. But yeah, so you always. 

Rich Bennett 53:31
heard of, I. Yes, Well, it's that. 

Kay A. Oliver 53:34
Like her husband. I Google and they say, What's the best site for whatever it is I'm looking for that I check them out and then pick one that I like. 

Rich Bennett 53:43
Google doesn't like me. 

Michelle Hayes 53:44
Well, that's. 

Kay A. Oliver 53:45
All. 

Michelle Hayes 53:46
Scale issue. 

Rich Bennett 53:47
It always sends me in the wrong direction because I can taste that. And they wouldn't tell me. I would think it was being. 

Kay A. Oliver 53:53
Well it might be the query that your. 

Rich Bennett 53:55
Told me to be funky. 

Kay A. Oliver 53:58
Oh. 

Michelle Hayes 53:58
You might not be putting in the right keywords. Further. 

Rich Bennett 54:03
I thought, Wait a minute. Hold on, hold on. Hello? Yeah, ask her. 

Okay. 

So that was that Katzenberg guy from LinkedIn. 

Kay A. Oliver 54:22
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 54:25
K Is there anything you would like to add? 

Kay A. Oliver 54:29
Well, I have one question and then I have something to add. 

Rich Bennett 54:33
Okay. 

Kay A. Oliver 54:33
Does the two of you meet? 

Rich Bennett 54:36
Oh, my God. Okay. 

Michelle Hayes 54:37
So I'm married. 

Rich Bennett 54:38
I tell this. 

Michelle Hayes 54:38
I'm married. 

Rich Bennett 54:39
Okay, Go ahead. 

Michelle Hayes 54:40
Family who absolutely adores the rich. 

And then we just kind of clicked. I don't know really how that worked, because apparently we were together, We're children, but you can probably tell a better story about it, Rich. 

Rich Bennett 54:56
So her the family she's talking about. 

My family has known them, especially my brother in law for years from the Ben owned a tire store. And Ben is Mitchell's grandfather. Michelle's husband's right. So. Yeah. And 

Ben had Parkinson's. So every year they would do a big fundraiser to help raise money for, well, actually, for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. 

Kay A. Oliver 55:30
Michael? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 55:31
And I told them when they when I heard that because Michael J. Fox has always been one of my favorite actors. I loved him. 

Kay A. Oliver 55:38
He's a great person. 

Rich Bennett 55:39
Tilda Yeah. And so I said, I want to deejay this. So we deejay it every year and, you know, just don't charge it. We want to give back and just became like, they are. They're like family. And it just so happens Michele Mitchell's wedding, which was October of last year, that was that was the last wedding my son and I deejaying and we retired from deejaying basically DJ and weddings since then and now we own the only thing we'll deejay is the fundraiser every year that they do for Michael J. Fox Foundation and a couple for, you know, a couple other things. If if Michelle's mother in law needs me, like they do this weekend, do something. 

Michelle Hayes 56:28
We will always need you, Richard. We always. 

Rich Bennett 56:30
Then. Then I'll do it. But our great family always giving back. And Michelle came to me because she started her own company. I was like. Yeah. Okay. I'll help. Whatever I. Whatever you need me to do. Boy, did was. I didn't realize that she was going to be giving me a hard time and picking on me all the time. Kay. I'm telling you, people probably 

Kay A. Oliver 56:55
There 

Rich Bennett 56:55
think 

Kay A. Oliver 56:56
are more. 

Rich Bennett 56:56
we're married or something. 

Kay A. Oliver 56:58
You're a marine. You can handle it. 

Michelle Hayes 57:00
But I'm a mom of a teenager and I help. Two of my own siblings. So I'm technically raising my third kid at this point and I've survived. 

Kay A. Oliver 57:10
Your husband or a rich. 

Michelle Hayes 57:12
Oh, no. 

Rich Bennett 57:13
That's what I was wondering. To where you. 

Michelle Hayes 57:15
Siblings, plus the one I gave birth to. I don't raise I don't raise grown men. No way. 

If I want babies, I have three cats. I'm good. 

Now. Now we just pick on each other professionally and it's super fun. And he's my mentor. 

Kay A. Oliver 57:34
Absolutely fantastic. 

Michelle Hayes 57:38
He's great and he's just it's been a wonderful partnership. 

Rich Bennett 57:43
She's lucky I love her. 

Michelle Hayes 57:44
No, I. 

Rich Bennett 57:46
We'll see. And when she came on the podcast, on my podcast originally to talk about what she does, times I can when I have different guests on, I can tell if. 

If they would be good at podcasting or co-hosting. So I have I have several different cohorts that my goal is that eventually some of them, because some of them are not allowed, would go off and start their own podcast and a couple of them have. Michelle's not allowed to. I keep telling Wendy she's not allowed to, but she's going to anyway. 

Michelle Hayes 58:21
I don't want to. The desire is not there. Don't worry. 

Rich Bennett 58:25
It's a lot. It's a lot of hard. A lot of. 

Kay A. Oliver 58:28
lot of work. I know my friends who podcast get a lot of work. 

Rich Bennett 58:32
Yes. Yeah. Especially. And I do everything. I do the editing. I do it all. And I've had people tell me, You're rich. Why don't you pass something on to somebody else? Yeah, it it's hard to do when you run your own business and you're so used to doing something a certain way now. 

Kay A. Oliver 58:51
You want it done. 

Rich Bennett 58:52
Yeah. Now. And I'm. I'm the of marketing. If Michelle was ahead, I'm fine with Michelle doing that for me because I. I know how good Michelle is. So certain other. Yeah, certain things I don't mind. editing and everything. And 

But I do with my, you know, like through pod match when I have. Cause, you know, I get you get a lot of people wanting to come on the show, but not everybody's a good fit. 

I'll ask some of my cohost, Hey, what do you guys think? And if you're interested in me getting them on, I will. I didn't do that with you because I was. I was already interested in get you like. I 

Kay A. Oliver 59:41
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 59:41
said to myself, So yeah, because remember I told you Michelle and I were recording in earlier today and I asked her she was doing this one. She goes, Whoo! So when I said today, if she goes, I'm in. 

Kay A. Oliver 59:55
Well, I've had a wonderful time with you guys. 

Rich Bennett 59:58
Oh, well, thank you. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:00:00
My saying is do everything you do with the intent of love. And I wanted to spread that. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:07
I love that. 

Michelle Hayes 1:00:07
I love the. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:00:09
Even when you breathe, do it with the intent of love because you're filling your lungs or giving yourself life. Everything. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:17
Did you hear? Did you hear that, Mr. Katzenberg from LinkedIn, If you're listening. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:00:25
This guy is going to become famous. He's going to. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:28
I do. Are you on LinkedIn? 

Kay A. Oliver 1:00:30
I am. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:31
So if you if you get a request, a friend request from somebody on LinkedIn whose last name is Katzenberg. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:00:38
Not my ex-boss, Jeffrey. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:40
Yeah. This. This is not like so. May take a while. So. Oh, God. Kay. Thank you so much. It's been an honor and a true pleasure. Michel. Thank you for coming on and picking on me. 

Michelle Hayes 1:00:53
Always. It's always a pleasure. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:00:55
Keeping you humble. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:57
Yeah. Take care. Thanks. 

Kay A. Oliver 1:01:00
Thank you very much. Bye. 


 

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Kay A. Oliver

Kay A. Oliver is an award-winning author, Television Academy member, and a prominent figure in literature and entertainment. A natural storyteller, Kay’s creative spirit has fueled her journey to becoming a celebrated author. Her mission is to craft captivating stories that ignite joy, spark curiosity, and engage readers with her signature easy-to-read style. Known for irresistible page-turners, Kay’s novels are filled with unexpected twists that keep readers captivated until the final page.
Recently named Author of the Year in Fiction by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP), Kay’s contributions to the literary world have been widely recognized. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, honored in Who’s Who in America, and celebrated as the “Woman of the Year Circle” by the National Association of Professional Women in 2014, as well as “Who’s Who Women of Influence” in 2024, and “Distinguished Woman of the Year 2023” by the City of Stanton. With over 20 literary awards to her name, she is regarded as one of the most prolific storytellers of her generation.
With more than three decades of experience in Hollywood, Kay has worked on Emmy and Oscar-winning productions, blending her industry expertise with boundless imagination in her writing. Her storytelling legacy continues to grow, solidifying her place among the greats of her era.
A frequent guest on over 25 podcasts, Kay shares her passion for writing and offers invaluable tips to both aspiring and seasoned authors alike. Her insights inspire countless listeners, reflecting her de… Read More