Book Journey

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]

Book Journey with Pamela Pan

This month, I spoke to our 2025 alum, Pamela Pan, about her writing journey--from her newly published poetry to her novel currently out on submission! 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: J. Morgyn White

I got a chance to speak to our 2019 alum, Joanne Morgyn White, who writes at J. Morgyn White, and was so impressed by how prolific and tenacious she is! We talked about the many books she’s written (17!) and how after signing with an agent and going out on submission, she decided to self-publish. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons as well as Magic: The Gathering, will be particularly interested in Joanne’s role in helping price the cards when the collectibles were first created! https://www.jmorgynwhite.com/J. Morgyn White [https://www.jmorgynwhite.com/] https://www.jmorgynwhite.com/ is the author of Too Cursed to Kiss and the forthcoming Demons for Breakfast. She is the award-winning founder of SCRYE Magazine and former editor of Fork & Bottle, where she specialized in artisan cheese and biodynamic wines—two passions that sometimes sneak into her fiction. Her stories have earned recognition from the Daphne du Maurier and Olive Woolley Burt Awards, multiple Claymore finals, and in 2023 she was named Best New Writer at Futurescapes. She’s a proud alumna of the Northern California Writers’ Retreat and a member of WFWA, HWA, ITW, and HNS. When she’s not plotting monsters or rewriting time, she can be found treasure-hunting vintage jewelry, nurturing heirloom vegetables, or testing obscure indie perfumes that smell like witch’s forest walks and forgotten libraries. White lives in Northern California wine country with her game-designing husband, their son, and two mischievous Bengal cats. She’s always hunting dragons—and writing the kind of stories that kiss like curses and bite like fate. About Too Cursed To Kiss: Harlan Madson just wanted a quick payday. Instead, the job ends with her ex dead, the murder weapon in her hands, and a poison searing through her veins. Enter Waldemar Forndaur: aggravatingly hot, suspiciously powerful, and unable to touch Harlan without setting off a death curse. He saves her life, then ruins it with a single truth. And now the hunters are coming. Chased by ruthless reality-warping monsters and haunted by secrets, Harlan and Wald must survive long enough to clear her name, reverse the curse, and maybe, finally, figure out what the hell is going on between them. Rewriting time doesn’t just change the future, it rewrites who you are. Dark, romantic, and twisted with shadow-soaked magic, packed with wicked humor, scorching chemistry, and a heroine who claws her way to power one mistake at a time. https://www.etsy.com/shop/jmorgynwhite/?etsrc=sdtBuy Joanne’s debut on Etsy! [https://www.etsy.com/shop/jmorgynwhite/?etsrc=sdt] https://www.etsy.com/shop/jmorgynwhite/?etsrc=sdt I hope you enjoy our conversation! Many thanks for reading and listening, Heather founder + director, Northern California Writers’ Retreat [https://www.norcalwritersretreat.com] 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]