CREATIVE. INSPIRED. HAPPY with Evelyn Skye – Details, episodes & analysis

My guest today is Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author and an icon in the historical fiction space.

Today we talk about:

* writing what you're drawn to and if/when marketability goes into that decision

* The Hero's Journey vs The Heroine's Journey for character development and plotting

* how to draw the line between fact and fiction when writing about real life people or historical events

* advice for both aspiring writers and writers who are a few books into their careers

* and so much more.

I hope you enjoy the show!

»Please leave a rating for me on Apple or Spotify 💛)

🤓 Are you serious about your writing?

Every Tuesday & Friday, you’ll get a new author interview, publishing insights, creativity mini-challenge, or something else to make you more creative, inspired, or happy. Subscribe now--it's free! CreativeInspiredHappy.com .

Want more of Kate?

The Briar Club and The Phoenix Crown are both on sale now.

You can also find Kate online on Facebook, Instagram, and her website (where you can also sign up for her newsletter and get the free Alice Network short story.)

Podcast booking inquiries:

Brittani@lavenderpublicrelations.com

My guest today is Taran Matharu, New York Times bestselling author with over 3 million copies sold. Taran is also co-founder of a small publishing house, Portal Books.

Today, we talk about:

* how Taran got his start on Wattpad during NaNoWriMo, and then landed multiple book deals with traditional publishers,

* advice for anyone participating in a novel writing challenge this month,

* why he decided to start his own publishing house

* what he's learned about the book industry since becoming a publisher

* how he balances his work as a writer and as a publisher,

* and so much more.

I hope you enjoy the show!

»Watch here, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts! (please leave a rating for me on Apple or Spotify 💛)

🎥 Past episodes of the podcast live here!

»Interviews with New York Times bestselling authors including Alka Joshi, J. Courtney Sullivan, Alison Espach, National Book Award winner Sabaa Tahir, and many more.

Want more of Taran?

Taran is on X and Instagram, and you can find his books at your favorite retailer. For more information on his publishing house, you can visit Portal Books on their website.

🟨 Full video version of this interview is available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with $1,000 & $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers, a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

Podcast booking inquiries:

Brittani@lavenderpublicrelations.com

My guest today is Sabaa Tahir, National Book Award winner, Printz Award winner, and New York Times Bestselling author.

Today we talk about:

* writing the stories unique to you

* maintaining self-esteem and confidence as a writer

* how the National Book Award and Printz Award have changed her career, and so much more

✍🏼 And don’t forget about our $1,000 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers (more info here).

🟨 Full video version available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with $1,000 & $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers, a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

Want more of Sabaa?

Find her online:

Tiktok

Instagram

Facebook

Website

My guest today is Caroline Chambers, queen of a culinary media empire with her Substack What To Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking as the crown jewel with nearly 200k subscribers, as well as a popular podcast “So Into That” and an active social media presence (her Instagram rivals her Substack, with well over 200k followers, so I stopped counting, haha.)

Today we talk about:

* building an author platform,

* balancing motherhood and a creative career,

* infusing your personal voice into non-fiction,

* the process of writing (and photographing) a cookbook, and more!

I hope you enjoy the show!

And don't forget about our $1,000 and $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers. Applications now open! More information here.

🟨 Full video version available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with $1,000 & $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers, a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

Podcast inquiries: publicity@creativeinspiredhappy.com

Want more of Caroline?

What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking Substack: whattocook.substack.com

Instagram: carochambers

Website and book tour info: carolinechambers.com

My guest today is Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and The Perfumist of Paris. The Henna Artist was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and is currently in development at Netflix as a series.

Today we talk about:

* beginning a writing career later in life

* what it's like to work with Reese Witherspoon and her book club team

* Alka's ideal writing schedule,

* advice for getting started as a writer, and so much more.

✍🏼 And don’t forget about our $1,000 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers (more info here). It’s meant exactly for writers who are already in a different career but want to study more about writing—through continuing education, community college courses, or elsewhere.

I hope you enjoy the show!1

🟨 Full video version available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

Podcast inquiries: publicity@creativeinspiredhappy.com

Want more of Alka?

You can find her in so many places online:

Website: alkajoshi.com

Instagram: thealkajoshi

YouTube: AlkaJoshi

Facebook: alkajoshi2019

Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Pick and was LongListed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It has been translated into 29 languages and is currently in development at Netflix as a tv series. In 2023, Forbes selected Joshi as one of 50 over 50 women empowering other women. Joshi was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. She lives in California.

My guest today is the artist Sally Fama Cochrane, a classically trained painter whose gorgeous work was the inspiration for the paintings in my new novel, One Year Ago in Spain.

In this episode, we delve deeper into how creative careers are the same yet different in the worlds of writing and fine art.

We talk about:

🟨 our processes for making a book or painting from idea to finish,

🟨 balancing motherhood and art,

🟨 why artists have a hard time asking to be paid for their work,

🟨 the little Easter egg in One Year Ago in Spain that my long-time readers will find,

🟨 and so much more.

Afterwards, explore more of Sally’s incredible art on her website or Instagram.

I hope you enjoy the show!

🟨 Full video version available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with $1,000 & $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers, a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

🥳 My newest novel, One Year Ago in Spain, is out today!Thank you for buying copies for yourself or other readers in your life.

One Year Ago in Spain is available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook anywhere books are sold.

My guest today is Julie Soto, whose first novel, Forget Me Not, was a bona fide TikTok sensation last summer and became a USA Today Bestseller. Her latest novel, Not Another Love Song, just hit bookshelves everywhere.

Today we talk about

- Julie’s origins as a playwright,

- how to take fan fiction (or work on places like Wattpad) and re-publish it as a book

- the demands of social media on artists today.

✍🏼 And don’t forget about our $1,000 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers (more info here).

🟨 Full video version available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with $1,000 & $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers, a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

Podcast inquiries: publicity@creativeinspiredhappy.com

My guest today is romantasy author Scarlett St. Clair, who has sold millions of copies of her books worldwide and is a #1 New York Times and international bestseller. We first met in France at le Festival du Livre de Paris (aka Paris Book Festival), where I got to witness firsthand the magnitude of her international fame.

Today we talk about:

* How she rose from a flop to become a global superstar in self-publishing, then later switched over to a traditional publisher

* Why “No” just means “Yes, but in a different way”

* Her unorthodox way of writing books

* Nurturing a genuine community of readers and fans, and much more!

Also, Applications are now OPEN for our $1,000 Scholarship for Aspiring Writers. Get more info at creativeinspiredhappy.com

Want more of Scarlett?

Find her on Instagram @authorscarlettstclair or her website scarlettstclair.com

My guest today is Jeannine Ouellette, author of the award-winning memoir The Part That Burns and founder of the incredibly popular Writing in the Dark, an online writing community that offers online creative writing intensives as well as literary salons.

Today we talk about:

* separating art from commerce

* how paying attention to everyday life helps make creativity more easily accessible

* building a career through different income streams and types of writing

* and more.

We also touch on transparency in making money as a writer. After you watch/listen to the episode, here are two posts with even more detail:

* Making money as a writer

* Book Deal 101: How do authors get paid (traditional publishing)

I hope you enjoy the show!

$1,000 and $2,500 Scholarships for Aspiring Writers

CREATIVE.INSPIRED.HAPPY is pleased to sponsor scholarships for writers to further their writing education. More information here!

GIVEAWAY: 1-year paid subscription to Writing in the Dark

Jeannine and I are partnering to give away a 1-year paid subscription to Writing in the Dark!

To enter, just be a subscriber to CREATIVE.INSPIRED.HAPPY:

I will choose a random winner from my subscriber list on Sunday, July 7, 2024 and will update this post once the winner has confirmed via email.

Want more of Jeannine?

You can find her at Writing in the Dark, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

Want more writing advice and career insight? Join thousands for free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com to go behind the scenes with bestselling authors, and get access to our Book Club for Writers, creativity challenges, and more.

I can't wait to see you there!

My guest today is Beth Spencer, a picture book author-illustrator, photographer, and founder of the staggeringly popular Introvert Drawing Club, an online community of 7,000 members she leads in ultra-relaxed drawing sessions.

Today we talk about how Beth succeeded in building a bestselling Substack platform even though she didn’t know what she was doing when she started, how to find fulfillment in your work, and tips for getting started in a creative pursuit, even if you’ve been told your whole life that creativity wasn’t for you.

Full video version available free at CreativeInspiredHappy.com, along with a Book Club for Writers & Curious Readers, behind-the-scenes insights into a bestselling authors' life, mini-creativity challenges, and more.

You can find Beth and her low-pressure, cameras-off club at introvertdrawingclub.com : ) It’s a lot of fun—especially if you like drawing animals.

The book she mentioned on the podcast: Attention Span by Gloria Mark