Susan Donovan Bernhard on "Westerly"

Susan Donovan Bernhard on "Westerly"

Susan Donovan Bernhard joins Why Authors Write host Sara Stanton to reveal the story behind Westerly, her just-published novel, tracing its roots in rural Ireland and the personal and historical currents that shaped it.  Their conversation uncovers the messy realities of writing about family secrets, shifting definitions of identity, and 50 years of misdirection and well-intentioned decisions with terrible consequences. Susan shares how the idea for "Westerly" came to her in during a family trip to Ireland.  A wrong turn in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland led her to the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, a former Irish Red Cross site that sheltered German children after World War II.  The image of young children transported from their war-torn homes to a foreign country came to her so powerfully that Susan stayed in the car while her husband and son went hiking.  She opened her laptop and started writing the first scene of what would become Westerly.  From there, these two fictional girls “that appeared by the roadside” refused to let her go. The complex family story that emerged from this powerful vision ook Susan seven years to complete. She talks candidly about wishing she could be better organized instead of relying on taped-together timelines and notebooks, and the challenges of tracking her characters' evolution over the decades.  Faye and her daughters, Maeve and Molly form the emotional core of the book and tell their stories from multiple points of view as Susan reveals the heart-breaking reality of an ordinary family trying, sometimes imperfectly, to be good to one another despite life-changing secrets, trauma, and the pressures of expectation. Looking forward, Susan teases the novel she is just starting, describing it as a story compressed into three days with a different tonal palette and, she hopes, a quicker path from draft to finished book. The episode closes on a note of encouragement for writers: acknowledging that publishing is a tough industry makes it essential for authors to enjoy the  flowers they find in the writing process itself. Susan defines success as finishing a chapter, holding the published book in your hands, and hearing from readers whose life your work has touched. Insights and Highlights --How a vision of children on an Irish roadside inspired Bernhard to abandon a draft novel to write Westerly. - Crafting Faye, Maeve, and Molly as distinct emotional lenses on family, trauma, and expectation  - Portraying an ordinary family trying to be “good” while carrying a life-changing secret  - Balancing historical truth with fictional invention and ethical responsibility  - Susan’s reflections on success, book launches, and the power of reader feedback - A preview of her next novel, and how her writing process may (or may not) change

Kyleigh Leddy on "Worse Than Strangers"

In this sparkling, summer-themed episode of Why Authors Write, host Kristie Dickinson sits down with Kyleigh Leddy, author of the memoir The Perfect Other and her debut novel Worse Than Strangers, for a deeply honest, hopeful conversation about creativity, the healing, almost magical power of writing from the heart, and the challenges of making a living as an author.   Kyleigh shares how she craved an escapist fiction project after writing "The Perfect Other" and ended up plotting "Worse Than Strangers" during a single stressful corporate meeting. Set on Nantucket and inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the novel follows Rose and Lily Gardner, a mother-daughter duo whose close, funny, and emotionally rich relationship is rooted in Kyleigh’s own bond with her mom. She talks about what it means to “write the version of a place only you can see,” and how her adjacent-to-local view of Nantucket allowed her to show both the glossy beach-read side and its quieter, more introspective depths.   As a licensed therapist and writing instructor, Kyleigh recently helped to design a new Boston College graduate program that combines creative writing with psychological humanities. Kyleigh explores the intersection of psychology and storytelling—how concepts like theory of mind, mental health, and self-knowledge naturally live on the page. She also opens up about creative self-doubt, rejection, and how she has learned to reframe failure as redirection. From the line, “There’s nothing more irresponsible than ignoring a dream,” to her belief that writing contains a kind of magic that can manifest change in our lives, Kyleigh offers both practical insight and soulful encouragement to aspiring authors. Kristie also digs into Kyleigh’s experience with adopting productive writing tools (hello, Scrivener), her strategy of developing multiple income streams, and why play—not rigid discipline—is at the heart of sustaining a long-term writing life.   Highlights & Insights * How a bad corporate day birthed a Nantucket beach novel * Turning lived experience into layered, fictional characters * Blending mental health, psycho-education, and character-driven fiction * Navigating self-doubt, rejection, and “investing in luck” * Practical talk: money, advances, and building sustainable income as a writer

Jessica Keener on Evening Begins the Day

Why Authors Write host Mary J. Cronin welcomes Jessica Brilliant Keener to discover why emotional betrayal and broken trust were issues that haunted her while writing Evening Begins the Day. Keener shares how her interest in fractured family relationships, marital infidelity, and the complexity of human motives became the emotional core of this book. Rather than lean on clichés about leaving a relationship or drawing a line, she digs into the complicated reasons people hurt each other deeply, then stay connected for better or worse. A turning point in writing Evening Becomes the Day was Keener’s discovery of the counting of the Omer, a 49‑day spiritual practice from Jewish tradition that she integrated into lives of all her characters in revising the story. She recounts a moving real-life encounter involving her son and a young man named Nate, whose simple act of generosity led her to discover this ritual of reflection and healing. Keener explains how the counting of the Omer became a “lightweight but profound” framework that unites the novel’s characters, from teenagers to deeply wounded adults, without ever becoming heavy-handed or dogmatic Mary invites Jessica to open up about her writing process and the strategies she relies on to complete her novels.  Keener’s discipline includes sitting down to write 500 words, five days a week with no excuses. That routine, however, doesn’t prevent period of self-doubt and agonizing decisions to throw out big sections of her manuscript and start over when early drafts go off track.  She wraps up her reflections on authorship with generous, hard-earned advice for writers at every stage of plot development and publication, including the importance of surrounding yourself with people who truly want your work to thrive. Insights * Exploring themes of broken trust and betrayal * Power of a religous ritual in a secular setting * Wrestling with self-doubt and permission to "make a mess" on the page * Writing routine and process Chapters * 00:00 Exploring Broken Trust and Betrayal * 05:28 Writing Routine and Process * 12:58 Transition to Book Promotion

M.L. Rio's Wild Trip Writing "Hot Wax"

Would you sell your house and spend 18 months living out of your car to make yout road trip story authentic?  That’s what bestselling author M.L Rio did to write her blistering rock‑and‑roll novel "Hot Wax." In this episode of Why Authors Write, host Mary J. Cronin sits down with Rio to unpack the wild, 10‑year journey that brought Hot Wax to readers everywhere. Beyond this novel’s compelling origin story, Mary and M.L. dig into the stubbornness it takes to keep on writing in the face of rejection, falling in love with the story you are meant to tell, and the techniques that work to get a road trip novel over the finish line. Rio begins with brutal honesty about confronting the unforgiving nature of the publishing industry when first novels don’t achieve sales projections. She sold her debut novel, *If We Were Villains,” in her early 20s with every reason to think her next book would follow quickly.  Then came the shock; almost no one bought this story about a troupe of Shakespearean actors in the UK. After a trickle of dismal sales, her publisher lost interest, and the offers for her next book project evaporated.  Rio looks back and remembers absorbing the idea that her writing career was likely over.  She returned to academia, earning a doctorate in literature and kept on writing in the margins of a life built around scholarship and survival. Then, in a fiction-worthy twist of fate, during the pandemic Rio’s first book became a viral sensation on TikTok, and sales surged. Suddenly, Rio’s debut novel was an international phenomenon and she was back in demand as publishers reached out to ask about her work in progress. Rio insisted her next book had to be Hot Wax: a propulsive, emotionally charged story of a mid‑list band clawing its way across an American landscape of dive bars, bad gigs, and fraught relationships. That’s when she decided to live her fictional band’s story, driving from city to city, visiting second-rate music venues, smoky bars, and greasy spoons. She calls herself a “method writer” meaning that she is someone who needs to get as close as possible to the world she’s building on the page. That risky decision to spend so much time on the road, followed by years of revision, rethinking, and rewriting almost derailed her second book.  After 10 years in the making, publisher interest had turned elsewhere and she faced an agonizing wait for a contract.  Rio’s advice to young writers and aspiring authors of all ages is two-fold: First, “don’t rush into publication.”  Worthwhile writing requires authenticity, conviction, and willingness to keep revising until you get it right.  Great fiction is hard - -and she believes that’s how it should be. Second, as a novelist who has learned plenty about the challenges of getting into print and the need to sell books as well as create them, Rio urges every author to spend time learning how the publishing industry actually works.  Its advice born of early success, flame-out, and a hard-earned comeback.   Insights and HIghlights * Debut authors can come back from early rejection to find a loyal audience * Writing takes time and should not be rushed * Be authentic; write what you believe * Understanding the publishing industry is crucial for success and long-term survival as an author Chapters * 00:00 The Wild 10 Year Path to Writing and Publishing Hot Wax

Chrisopher Mirabile on The Washashore and Its Hero

What convinces a lifelong entrepreneur and venture investor to pivot from business success to become a full time mystery writer? In this episode of Why Authors Write, Christopher Mirabile tells Mary J. Cronin what inspired him to create Silas Lopez as a quirky and deeply decent outsider detective hero in “The Washashore.”  Mirabile opens up about applying his entrepreneur’s mindset to a career pivot into full-time fiction writing, his decision to launch a new mystery series set in Provincetown and Cape Cod, and how falling in love with his book’s main characters is an unexpected bonus. Takeaways * Career Pivot: Christopher transitioned from a successful career as an investor to a full-time author, driven by a desire to write fiction and explore new creative endeavors. * Writing Process: Christopher's writing process involves meticulous editing, dialogue-driven storytelling, and the development of characters and plot arcs over multiple books. Chapters * 00:00 Writing Process and Character Development * 13:32 Lessons Learned and Future Plans * 19:40 Book Promotion and Writing Business