Episodes
Oct. 26, 2024
Barbara Barrett
To avoid a midlife crisis, Barbara Barrett wrote fiction at night while still employed in human resources for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven full-length romance novels and two novellas, she turned to the cozy …
Oct. 26, 2024
Hank Phillippi Ryan
How can television reporter Lily Atwood keep a secret private when she's in the public's eye? Find out in Her Perfect Life.
Hank Phillippi Ryan speaks from personal experience as an investigative reporter about always bei…
Oct. 26, 2024
5-Minute Drill: Setting
What do writers need to consider about Setting for their story?
Oct. 26, 2024
Hannah Dennison
British-born, Hannah Dennison originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting. She has been an obituary reporter, antique dealer, private jet flight attendant, and Hollywood story analyst. These jobs have inspired he…
Oct. 26, 2024
Russia Week - Tart Bites: Pryaniki (Russian Spice Cookies)
Settle in for a good read, a hot cuppa, and these delicious Russian spice cookies!
Oct. 26, 2024
Amy Vansant
In this episode, Linda Hengerer talks with Amy Vansant about her two upcoming releases. Find out what "Meat Bingo" is and what it has to do with Pineapple Cruise, and how Pineapple Circus came to have a circus setting.
Oct. 26, 2024
Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree
Suzanne Fox and Linda Hengerer are discussing Mary Stewart’s book The Ivy Tree and how she uses Brat Farrar, Josephine Tey’s fictional take on a real-life situation, to guide the reader in one direction before taking them so…
Oct. 26, 2024
Russia Week - Encore: Emilya Naymark
Join me for the first themed Tart Words podcast week. It begins Monday with an encore presentation of Emilya Naymark's episode.
Oct. 26, 2024
Russia Week - Dick Francis's Trial Run
Linda Hengerer talks about Dick Francis’s book Trial Run, and how he uses setting to emphasize the story, shows how societal expectations affect actions, and how to build characters for story.
Oct. 25, 2024
Tracee de Hahn
Tracee de Hahn is the author of classic tales of intrigue and suspense published by Minotaur Books. Swiss Vendetta was inspired by her years in Switzerland. A Well-Timed Murder probed the heart of the Swiss watch industry.
Oct. 25, 2024
Alan Orloff
Linda Hengerer talks with Alan Orloff, whose latest YA thriller I Play One on TV came out from Down & Out Books on July 19, 2021. Alan Orloff won an ITW Thriller Award for his novel, PRAY FOR THE INNOCENT, and he won a Derri…
Oct. 25, 2024
Mary Stewart's Thunder on the Right
Suzanne Fox and Linda Hengerer are discussing Mary Stewart’s book Thunder on the Right and how she uses omniscient point of view, how her protagonist differs from her usual protagonist, and why we think this might have been …
Oct. 25, 2024
Neil S. Plakcy
Neil S. Plakcy is the author of over fifty gay romance, gay mystery and adventure, and cozy mystery novels. His eclectic work career includes stints in shopping mall construction, web development, and computer game producing.
Oct. 25, 2024
Connie Berry
Connie Berry is the author of the Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in …
Oct. 25, 2024
Susie Black
Born in the Big Apple, Susie Black calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she le…
Oct. 25, 2024
Mia P. Manansala
Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer and certified book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial …
Oct. 25, 2024
Diane A.S. Stuckart
Diane A.S. Stuckart began her writing career in the 1990s as the critically acclaimed author of historical romance under the names Alexa Smart and Anna Gerard. She later switched to the mystery genre and is the NYT bestselli…
Oct. 25, 2024
Vincent H. O'Neil
Vincent H. O’Neil is the Malice Award-winning author of the Exile murder mysteries from St. Martin’s Press and the military science fiction Sim War series (written as Henry V. O’Neil) from HarperCollins. He has also authored…