The Resilient Writers Radio Show

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A powerful secret can do more than create suspense. It can reveal what your characters value, what they fear, and how far they will go to protect the lives they have built.
In this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I’m speaking with Susan Shapiro Barash, the author of 14 nonfiction books and five novels. 
Susan writes fiction under the name Susannah Marren, and her latest novel, Palm Beach Confidential, explores wealth, privilege, family loyalty, female rivalry, and the lasting consequences of keeping a life-changing secret.
At the center of the novel is Lucinda Barrows, a prominent Palm Beach matriarch whose carefully constructed life is threatened when a secret from her past is about to be exposed. Lucinda also has three adult daughters, Maribelle, Caroline, and Raleigh, each navigating her own ambitions, relationships, and place within the family.
Our conversation offers a fascinating look at how writers can use secrets to create suspense while still developing emotionally believable characters. Susan explains why a secret cannot exist simply as a plot device. It must grow out of a character’s circumstances, desires, fears, and choices.
We also talk about Susan’s decades of research into women’s lives. For her nonfiction books, including Estranged: How Strained Female Friendships Are Mended or Ended, Tripping the Prom Queen, and A Passion for More, she has interviewed hundreds of women across generations and backgrounds. That research gives her fiction a rich understanding of female relationships, social expectations, judgment, betrayal, and survival.
Susan shares practical insights into her writing process, from beginning a novel with a clear sense of its opening and ending to discovering the middle as she writes. 
She keeps detailed notebooks about her characters, including their longings, clothing, food, relationships, and histories. Once the first draft is complete, she revises chapter by chapter, asking whether the writing is clear, sharp, well paced, and emotionally true.
We also discuss the publishing journey and why writers need both persistence and support. Susan reflects on working with publishers including St. Martin’s Press and Meridian Editions, studying with E. L. Doctorow, and returning to a novel she first began during her MFA. She also explains how a skilled freelance editor can help a writer identify structural or developmental problems that are difficult to see alone.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
How to use secrets to deepen character and strengthen suspense
Why wealth and privilege do not protect characters from conflict
How nonfiction research can inspire compelling fiction
A practical approach to drafting and revising a novel
Why outside editorial support can improve a manuscript
How to stay resilient through an unpredictable publishing career
If you’re writing a novel, revising a manuscript, or wondering how to make your characters more layered and emotionally convincing, I think you’ll find plenty of insight and encouragement in this conversation with Susan Shapiro Barash.

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Sometimes a whole novel begins with one sentence that refuses to leave you alone.
That is exactly how Of Pies and Men, the cozy fall romance by Melissa N. Wright, began. Melissa had one line circling in her mind, so she wrote it down. 
That sentence led to questions, the questions led to characters, and before long, she had created a story filled with baking, friendship, found family, kittens, and a love triangle.
In this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show, Melissa and I talk about what makes a story feel cozy and how writers can create a fictional world that feels like home.
For Melissa, coziness comes from familiarity and connection. It is the comfort of a small town, the predictability of seeing familiar faces, and the presence of friends who will tell you the truth and offer you a hug afterward. Baking also plays an important role in the novel. For Stewy, the main character, making pies gives her something to do with her hands when her anxiety takes over.
We also talk about writing a story without a traditional villain. In Of Pies and Men, much of the conflict comes from within Stewy herself. She overthinks, second-guesses her choices, and worries about hurting the people around her. It is a struggle many writers and readers will recognize.
Melissa shares how she completed her first draft in about a month, then spent several more months revising and editing it. We talk about her publishing journey, from researching agents through QueryTracker to choosing Rogue Wolf Publishing, an independent publisher that offered professional support while allowing her to keep creative control.
She also offers an honest look at fitting writing around a full-time job and other responsibilities. Melissa writes during evenings and weekends, but she also accepts that some days she is simply too tired. When that happens, she saves ideas in her phone so they will be waiting when she is ready to return to the page.
One of my favourite parts of our conversation is Melissa’s reminder to trust the reader. Writers do not need to explain every detail. Readers can notice clues, make connections, and understand more than we sometimes give them credit for.
We also talk about the discomfort of promoting your own book and why believing in your work matters. If you love the characters, the setting, or the feeling your book creates, there is another reader out there who will love it too.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How to create a cozy atmosphere in fiction
Why internal conflict can be just as powerful as an external villain
How Melissa balanced writing with a full-time job
What she learned from choosing an independent publisher
How to trust your readers without overexplaining
How to talk about your book with greater confidence
Listen now for a warm, honest conversation about cozy romance, the writing process, publishing, and believing in the story you have created.

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An outline doesn’t have to limit your creativity. It can give you the freedom to explore your story without losing your way.
In this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I’m joined by award-winning Canadian author Gail Anderson-Dargatz to talk about her new novel, The Atlas Keeper, and the writing process behind this complex time travel romance.
Gail has written across genres, from literary fiction and domestic thrillers to hi-lo books and speculative fiction. Her novels include The Cure for Death by Lightning, A Recipe for Bees, The Spawning Grounds, The Almost Wife, and The Almost Widow. 
With The Atlas Keeper, she gave herself permission to follow a longtime love of time travel stories and simply play.
That sense of play is at the heart of our conversation.
Gail shares how the idea for the novel began with a question: What would a map of someone’s life look like? 
With help from her husband, a GIS analyst with an interest in astrology, she developed an intricate structure based on a lunar month, the twelve astrological houses, and a character who can visit different moments in her own life.
Writing a story with so many moving pieces required a clear map. Gail explains how she begins with a synopsis, moves into an outline, and then creates a chapter-by-chapter plan. At the same time, she writes snippets of scenes and allows room for discovery.
Her process offers a helpful reminder for writers who worry that outlining will take the magic out of writing. The outline is not a cage. It is a guide you can adjust as the story develops.
We also talk about what literary writers can learn from genre fiction. Whether you are writing literary fiction, romance, suspense, or fantasy, your character still needs a goal. Something must stand in their way. The reader needs a reason to keep turning the pages.
Gail also opens up about reaching a stage in her career where she is less concerned about awards and expectations and more interested in enjoying the act of creation. After experiencing burnout, she found her way back to the pleasure of writing by exploring new genres and remembering why she started.
This episode is a warm and honest conversation about outlining a novel, experimenting with genre, staying curious, and making writing feel playful again.
Listen now to discover how structure can support creativity, why writers benefit from trying new genres, and how finding the fun in your process can lead to a stronger book.

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Strong historical fiction does more than recreate the past. It pulls readers into another time, helps them understand what was at stake, and keeps them turning the pages.
In this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I’m joined by lawyer, finance and fintech innovator, and historical fiction author Terry Kirk. 
Terry is the author of Pitfall and Plunder, two financial thrillers that bring major moments in history to life through memorable characters, high stakes, and plenty of suspense.
Terry came to writing later in life after spending several decades practising law. She shares how her professional experience inspired her to write fast-moving stories that make the world of finance interesting and accessible, particularly for readers who might otherwise find it intimidating.
Her latest novel, Plunder, takes place in London in 1940, as World War II intensifies and America considers entering the war. Terry’s protagonist, Frank Cork, has been given an enormous task: find the money needed to help finance the war.
We talk about the research required to write historical fiction convincingly, from studying fashion and magazines to understanding how people communicated before email, text messages, and instant access to information. 
Terry explains why the smallest historical details can make the biggest difference, and how she immerses herself in an era before she begins writing.
We also dig into the craft of writing suspense. Terry shares how she keeps a story moving even when the historical realities involve delays, letters, and slow communication. 
Her approach includes strong chapter openings and endings, changing points of view, and resisting the urge to rely on words like “suddenly” to create tension.
As a committed plotter, Terry uses Excel to track her chapters, characters, word count, and story development. She sees the spreadsheet and the blank Word document as two different creative spaces, one for structure and one for imagination.
Our conversation also explores writing characters whose lives are very different from our own, the challenges of cultural appropriation, her surprisingly quick path to publication, and the discomfort many writers feel when they have to move from quiet creative work to marketing their books.
Terry’s story is a lovely reminder that it is never too late to begin writing. After decades in another career, she found that becoming a writer felt like coming home.
Listen to learn:
How to research historical fiction without overwhelming the story
Ways to create suspense and maintain narrative pace
Why chapter endings and multiple points of view keep readers engaged
How plotting tools can support the creative process
What Terry learned from beginning her writing career later in life
Why writers need courage during both publishing and promotion
Listen now for an honest and encouraging conversation about historical fiction, plotting, publishing, and finding the writing life that feels like home.

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AI is everywhere right now, but for writers, the conversation has become a lot more complicated.
Can you use ChatGPT to brainstorm your novel? What about getting feedback on your plot? Can AI help you edit? And where is the line between using AI as a tool and letting it do so much of the work that your authorship, copyright, or even publishing opportunities could be affected?
Those are exactly the questions I wanted to dig into in this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show.
I’m joined by Ana del Valle, novelist, CEO of StoryGroove.ai, and someone I turn to when I want to understand what’s happening with AI in the writing world.
Ana works with writers who want to understand how generative AI can fit into a creative process while staying aligned with current copyright guidance and recommendations from organizations including the Authors Guild and the Association of American Literary Agents.
And one thing becomes very clear in our conversation: there is a big difference between asking AI to help you think and asking AI to write your book for you.
We talk about where Ana believes that line sits, including the difference between using AI for brainstorming, outlining, analysis, and preliminary feedback versus asking it to rewrite, polish, tighten, expand, or generate your prose.
Ana also walks us through four different categories of AI tools writers are encountering right now.
We look at AI book generators that can produce entire books, more technical tools such as NovelCrafter that connect writers with large language models, AI-powered writing programs such as Sudowrite, and platforms designed around analysis, feedback, and editorial support.
We also talk about tools writers may already recognize, including ProWritingAid, AutoCrit, Scrivener, Plottr, Dabble, Claude, and ChatGPT.
But this conversation isn’t really about finding the newest shiny tool.
It’s about understanding what the tool is actually doing.
Is it helping you think more clearly about your story?
Or is it beginning to replace the creative work that only you can do?
Ana also shares why she believes experienced editors and publishing professionals can often recognize AI-generated prose, even without technological detection tools, and why writers need to think carefully before handing their sentences over to a chatbot for “just a little polishing.”
If you’re curious about AI but worried about accidentally crossing a line, this episode will give you a much clearer framework for thinking about it.
You don’t have to use AI in your writing process at all. I don’t.
But if you choose to explore it, understanding the boundaries matters.
Listen to the full conversation and decide what role, if any, AI should have in your writing life.