Book Journey with Marianne Lonsdale

Book Journey with Marianne Lonsdale

What’s it like to become a debut author at seventy-one? Pretty exhilarating! I had a fantastic time speaking to our 2024 alum, Marianne Lonsdale, about the journey to publish her novel When the Road Curves (Sibylline Press, June 2026). Marianne’s journey started a while back—when she was a new mother at forty-one, she started writing personal essays, sharing with a small group of writers. Little by little, she decided to pursue publication for those essays and later, she began to dabble in fiction. She founded the group “Write On Mamas,” a gathering of about forty mothers one day a month at the Mill Valley library. Their goal was to write for at least an hour and then they would have local authors come speak to them. It was this community and the writing community she’s continued to meet throughout her writing journey that has helped sustain her through this long road to publishing! It was a joy to get to speak to Marianne, and I hope you’ll take a listen! Marianne Lonsdale [https://mariannelonsdale.com] writes fiction, personal essays and poetry. Her work has been published in several print anthologies and various online journals including The New York Times, Literary Mama and Pulse. She’s read at many events including San Francisco’s Litquake festival, and is honored to be an alumna of the Community of Writers, and The Napa Valley Writers Conference. She’s committed to youth literacy efforts and volunteers with 826 Valencia and the Oakland Literacy Coalition. She lives in Oakland with her husband and their dog, Ricky Ricardo. About When the Road Curves: When The Road Curves follows thirty-six-year-old Nora as she navigates love, friendship, and loss in the Bay Area in the 1990s. Returning home to Oakland after spending a decade working and playing hard in New York City, Nora is at a crossroads—evaluating career choices and wondering if she wants marriage and children. Then she meets Paul—a singer-songwriter who is gorgeous, attentive and great in bed—but struggles with anger issues. The road curves once more when her best friend Linda is diagnosed with AIDS forcing Nora to make life-altering decisions. Buy Marianne’s novel on Bookshop.org [https://bookshop.org/p/books/when-the-road-curves-marianne-lonsdale/fa5d4862eaec2472?ean=9798897409327&next=t]! I hope you enjoy our conversation! Thanks for reading and listening, Heather Lazare founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit norcalwritersretreat.substack.com [https://norcalwritersretreat.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Book Journey with Martha Conway

I have been a fan of Martha Conway’s writing for years. We first met at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference in 2014, when I read the opening pages of what would become her novel, The Underground River. She had met with me for a consultation and I ended up editing her book before her agent submitted it to publishing houses—it was acquired by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, the imprint I used to work for before starting my developmental editing business. But before all that, Martha had published other novels, and she would go on to publish more after, and what we talked about in this conversation are the many ways a writer can publish. Martha has been traditionally published by Big Five publishers [12 Bliss Street, nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel (St. Martin’s) and The Underground River, a New York Times Editor’s Choice (Touchstone)], has self-published (Sugarland and Thieving Forest, which won the North American Book Award for Historical Fiction, and the Independent Publishers Award), has been published in the UK and distributed into the US market [The Physician’s Daughter (Zaffre)], and she has been published by a small press [We Meet Apart (Regal House Publishing)]. What I love about her story is that it exemplifies that there are so many ways to get your stories into the world and there is no “right way” to do it. If you’re looking for a new Substack that is alway succinct, check out Martha’s https://marthaconway.substack.com/500 Words [https://marthaconway.substack.com/] https://marthaconway.substack.com/—it’s just that: a quick read that ends with a writing prompt! https://marthaconway.com/Martha Conway [https://marthaconway.com/] https://marthaconway.com/ is the author of several novels including The Underground River, which was a New York Times Book Editor’s Choice and published in seven languages. Her short fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, Folio, and other journals. Martha was awarded a California Arts Council Fellowship for Creative Writing, and she teaches creative writing for Stanford University's Continuing Studies. Born and raised in Ohio, she now lives in San Francisco with her family and a lumpy, lovable dog. About We Meet Apart: When World War II shuts down ocean travel in 1940, two American sisters are trapped in Ireland—but in different realities. In 18-year-old Gaby’s world, and true to history, Ireland has claimed neutrality and is not fighting in the war. But in 17-year-old Sabine’s world Germany has invaded Ireland, and as an enemy alien she must survive on the run. Both sisters believe the other one has died. But when they each arrive at a grand Irish manor owned by distant relatives, they find one another again. For one hour at dusk—“the time of pookies and ghosts” in Celtic tradition—their two worlds overlap. However when Sabine falls in love with a German officer in her reality, a man who is charming but devious in Gaby’s reality, even this short time together is threatened. In the tradition of Haruki Murakami, where other worlds reveal themselves in tantalizing glimpses, WE MEET APART explores the notion of an existence after death. It asks the question: Can you ever let go of the family you’ve lost? And should you? Buy Martha’s novel on https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-meet-apart-martha-conway/57f3f0a5d28eb257?ean=9781646037025&next=tBookshop.org [https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-meet-apart-martha-conway/57f3f0a5d28eb257?ean=9781646037025&next=t] https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-meet-apart-martha-conway/57f3f0a5d28eb257?ean=9781646037025&next=t! I hope you enjoy our conversation! Happy listening, reading, and writing, Heather Lazare, founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit norcalwritersretreat.substack.com [https://norcalwritersretreat.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Book Journey with Lina Patton

When Lina Patton finished college, she did what every responsible adult (who secretly wants to be a writer) should do: she went into advertising to make money. For years, she fought the idea of being a writer—it was not the smart, organized, Type-A thing to do. But when she applied to the George Mason MFA program and got in, and then to the 2018 Northern California Writers’ Retreat and also got in, it seemed the universe was trying to tell her something. Lina was working on a dark literary novel when I first met her. She signed with a literary agent for that novel (hi to our former Guest Literary Agent Danya Kukafka!). So how did she end up debuting with a soapy thriller rather than that dark literary novel? The answer is reflective of many stories we hear from debut novelists—the first book didn’t sell. Rather than give up, Lina kept going, and with the support of her agent and writing friends she made at NCWR, The Lake Club was born. On the Book Journey Podcast, Lina and I talked about her persistence in becoming an author as well as her other artistic outlet: drawing. She calls herself a “doodler” and enjoys being able to sit down for ten minutes or an hour to create something tangible that doesn’t need hundreds of edits before it’s ready for a reader—it can immediately be appreciated. Here’s a bookmark she created for the retreat years ago: Lina Patton [https://www.linapatton.com/] https://www.linapatton.com/ is a writer, illustrator, and teacher. Originally from Maine, she moved to Minnesota at thirteen, trading the ocean for 10,000 lakes. Her work has appeared in ELLE, The Cut, Narrative, and Driftwood Press, among others. After seven years living abroad, she and her husband currently reside in Washington, DC, where she teaches Creative Writing at The George Washington University and co-produces the storytelling series Generation Women DC. The Lake Club is her first novel. About The Lake Club: When Danika Crawley attends events at the Aldon Lakes Country Club, heads turn. Danika has it all—beauty, money, a successful husband, and two perfect children. She plans on making this summer her best season yet and has a secret weapon to secure the envy of her neighbors. Augie Elling has lost it all. Reeling from a post-grad scandal amidst her now-former life in New York, she returns to Aldon Lakes with her tail between her legs. Augie wants to keep her head down, save money, and find a way to leave her hometown for good, but someone keeps distracting her. Danika and Augie have one thing in common: they are both a little obsessed with Chat, the male nanny Danika hired for the summer. But, unbeknownst to either woman, Chat’s appearance in town sets off a chain reaction that threatens Aldon Lakes’ carefully maintained ecosystem. As the heat rises between the three of them, the truth behind a long-buried scandal comes to light, and everyone at the club must reckon with the consequences. The Lake Club is both an addictive, rollicking beach read, and a stylish, deft exploration of a lesser-known region of American wealth. Pre-order Lina’s novel on https://bookshop.org/p/books/an-accident-of-dragons-cheri-radke/e0477ec1c738e0e5?ean=9781645662457&next=tBookshop.org [https://bookshop.org/p/books/an-accident-of-dragons-cheri-radke/e0477ec1c738e0e5?ean=9781645662457&next=t] https://bookshop.org/p/books/an-accident-of-dragons-cheri-radke/e0477ec1c738e0e5?ean=9781645662457&next=t! Visit her Etsy shop at byLinaPatton [https://www.etsy.com/shop/byLinaPatton]! I hope you enjoy our conversation! Thanks so much for listening, Heather Lazare founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit norcalwritersretreat.substack.com [https://norcalwritersretreat.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Book Journey with Cheri Radke

When Cheri Radke joined us for our first ever Quail Retreat this past fall, she was already gearing up for the publication of her debut novel, An Accident of Dragons, which publishes April 28th from Erewhon Books, and imprint of Kensington. On the Book Journey podcast, Cheri and I talk about what the writing process was like for her and how she knew THIS was the novel she was going to query (unlike others she’d written in the past). We discuss how she found her agent, and what the editorial process was like before going out on submission. This book was part of a two-book deal, so we touch on what it was like to be in copyedits for one novel while writing the next in the series (she’s already finished with the second book, which will be published in 2027!). Cheri also discussed the importance of having a writing community (we agreed!), and how when she was querying and in the submission process, she didn’t have other writers to lean on, to ask if what was happening was normal. In coming to NCWR, she gained her writing community and we’re so happy to have her and lift her up throughout this publication and onward to book 2! https://cheriradke.com/Cheri Radke [https://cheriradke.com/] https://cheriradke.com/ has been a librarian, a bookseller, and an academic coordinator. She studied Linguistics at New York University and went on to earn a Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She lives in Woodland, California and can be found on social media @cheriradke. About An Accident of Dragons: An unlikely lord finally meets a problem he can’t flirt his way out of in this adventurous and light-hearted queer cozy fantasy featuring pirates, dragons, kidnapping, tea, and other high-fantasy delights for readers of Rebecca Thorne, TJ Klune, Sarah Beth Durst, and Travis Baldree. In theory, the dragoness of Summer can make any resident on her island the ruler, if the previous Lord Summer is so careless as to die without an heir. In practice, absolutely no one expected her to choose Teddy, the last lord’s middle-aged fancy man. With his quick wit, heaps of charisma, and excellent dress sense, Teddy brings plenty of virtues to his new role, but statecraft, pedigree, and decorum are not among them. That’s all right: he’s done his duty to the island, and his five-year-old daughter, Zinnia, will make a brilliant Lady Summer when her time comes. Except when a ship of desperate mainlander thieves arrives, Zinnia’s caught in the fracas and taken hostage. Teddy jumps into the rescue mission without delay, even though his days of adventures on the mainland are long buried with his lover. But his sailors have never seen their destination, and worse, the hard-liner admiral who leads them thinks Teddy’s a worthless dandy. Against a conniving robber baron, a sorceress who’s tamed her own dragon, and ordinary people with everything to lose, the crew faces terrible odds. But with all he loves in danger, Teddy must prove there’s more to him than he’d ever intended to show. I hope you enjoy our conversation! Happy listening, reading, and writing, Heather founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit norcalwritersretreat.substack.com [https://norcalwritersretreat.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Book Journey with Caro Claire Burke

Sometimes, your third novel is your debut. I met Caro Claire Burke in 2017 when she was fresh out of college, taking her writing seriously for the first time. She was dabbling in fiction, playing around with pages that would become her first novel, a book which I edited in 2018. Caro attended our retreat in 2017 and 2018, and received her MFA from Bennington Writing Seminars after that. Caro’s journey was not straightforward—it involved signing with one agent and then realizing they weren’t a good fit (after years), going out on submission with her second novel and having it rejected by every editor…and then it turned into a unicorn story: her third book had fifteen editors bidding in the US, twelve in the UK, and it’s an Indie Next Pick [https://www.bookweb.org/news/april-2026-indie-next-list-preview-1632596] for April. Patience and persistence, the two most important words in publishing. Caro kept at it. Yesteryear [https://bookshop.org/p/books/yesteryear-a-novel-caro-claire-burke/3633cf5fc7b2b2b1?ean=9780593804216&next=t] https://bookshop.org/p/books/yesteryear-a-novel-caro-claire-burke/3633cf5fc7b2b2b1?ean=9780593804216&next=tpublishes April 7th, and I hope you’ll pre-order from your favorite bookseller! https://www.caroclaireburke.com/Caro Claire Burke [https://www.caroclaireburke.com/] https://www.caroclaireburke.com/ received her Master’s in Fine Arts from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is the co-host of Diabolical Lies, a politics and culture podcast. Yesteryear is her first novel. About Yesteryear: A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1855—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel. During our conversation, Caro and I talked about how she sent me the novel after it sold to publishers—I mentioned printing it out and having it bound so I could read it (my eyes get tired of reading on screen and I do all my pleasure reading on paper). See below for the copy that has been passed through my mom, sister, aunt, and book group! We’re all fans! I hope you enjoy our conversation! Thanks for listening, Heather founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit norcalwritersretreat.substack.com [https://norcalwritersretreat.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]