Blondie and the Brit

We are so excited to bring Linda Broday back to the program. Linda is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of over twenty-five western historical romance novels and short stories. She was a finalist in the 2018 National Reader’s Choice awards and 2018 for her book To Catch a Texas Star, and was named Writer of the Year for 2018 by the Texas High Plains Writers organization. Today Linda shares her insights on her writing life where she publishes three to five books a year writing three pages a day. In her delightful Texas twang, she shares the moment she was discovered through a contest for new voices and encourages listeners to just write the book and persevere despite obstacles thrown in your way. Her latest book Longing for a Cowboy Christmas released on September 24, and her next book Mail Order Bride’s Secret comes out in January.

We are delighted, here on Blondie and the Brit, to re-introduce you to one of our favorite authors, Kerry Anne King, also writing as Kerry Schafer. Kerry has recently published her Amazon Kindle First Read, Whisper Me This, which is still ranking high on the Amazon charts. In this entertaining interview, Kerry discusses the unique cover design sparked from her husband's insistence, to how her son wrote a song with the lyrics that came to her spontaneously. She also discusses her work as a creativity coach using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Kerry encourages our listeners to set achievable goals, not to doubt their own personal writing process, and to have fun while they are marketing. Kerry's 'keeping it real' interview mixed with her great sense of humor make this a lively and rewarding podcast.

This month on Blondie and the Brit we are excited to bring to you a fabulous multi-genre author, Kelly Martin. If you are struggling to find time to write we are sure you will be inspired by this Tennessean writer who tackled 8 books last year while raising 3 kids and working a full time job. Kelly also shares her love of photographing abandoned houses and one of her most successful marketing strategies on Instgram finding ghost hunters to spread the word about her books. You won't want to miss this southern sweetie and her inspiring author journey.   Don't miss her latest book, Between the Dreaming and the Dead that launches today here: http://geni.us/KellyMartin1

You will really enjoy our guest this month on Blondie and the Brit. We have Linda Broday on the show and she is a sheer delight. Linda shares her writer’s journey from humble beginnings to award-winning, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author. Her delightful Texas cowboy stories set in a different time are not only charming, but she also explores a time of challenge and determination. This is reflected in Linda’s desire to write better endings for her friends who have difficulties in their own lives. She shares her journey from competitions to publication and her experiences of indie vs. traditionally published. Pull up a chair and be drawn back to a time gone by in the Wild West.   

This month on Blondie and the Brit we are delighted to bring you one of our all-time favorite guests, in fact her podcast last year was voted #1 in our podcast awards. Rachel Thompson is the face behind BadRedhead Media and always brings great energy and information to the podcast. This time she shares her expertise in book marketing and introduces us to her current promo event, #NaNoProMo (National Novel Promotion Month), inspired by #NaNoWriMo.  Rachel's version is a month-long initiative of tips, resources, and daily giveaways from experts across the book marketing and publishing industry -- all free. Rachel also gives advice from her two #BookMarketing books on how to optimize SEO for your blog, the advantages of choosing Wordpress blogging platform and how to target your perfect reader.   Suzanne is featured on the blog and we are giving away a 30-minute podcast or consult with Suzanne here. Visit the fun over on Rachel's blog here.    

This month we are excited to bring to you the delightful Jodi Thomas. Jodi is not only a USA Today and New York Times bestseller, she is also the eleventh writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers Hall of Fame after winning her third RITA award. Five of them now sit on her crowded shelf along with National Reader's Choice Awards, and Booksellers' Best Awards. With nearly 50 books under her belt, Jodi gives us an insight into her journey to best-selling author in her charming Texas drawl. She talks about changing genres with her latest book Mornings on Main and about the upcoming Christmas release Mistletoe Miracles. We had a good laugh when Jodi shared her experiences at Avon KissCon. She also demonstrates her tenacity in describing her library tours and the dogged strategy at the beginning of her career to get the word out about her books. Don’t miss this wonderful interview with a truly lovely lady.

This month on Blondie and the Brit we are pleased to introduce you to Jesse Lakes, one of the masterminds behind the company Genius Link (www.geni.us). Genius Link is an incredible online tool that provides intelligent links to help you to improve your sales by routing international readers to their local stores while helping you earn affiliate money and valuable insights in the process. They also own the booklinker.net link management service that is a simpler version of this concept but focused on authors, indie publishers, and Amazon.This in-depth interview covers many of the elements of this fascinating tool that would be ideal for any authors toolkit. Jesse is also giving a wonderful gift to our listeners, offering a 30-day free trial (double the standard) to anyone who mentions "Blondie and the Brit." Just click here to begin your trial (https://my.geni.us/join) then use the messaging bubble inside the dashboard to mention the extended free trial. Suzanne and I also give you our latest tips on planning and rewarding your accomplishments with a Victory Journal.   

This month on Blondie and the Brit we are excited to introduce you to the work of Amy Vansant. Not only is Amy a USA Today Bestselling author but she also runs a highly successful book marketing company for authors. In this informative interview she will give you a rundown on her services including how to grow an email mail list with ease, partipate in a newsletter swap, and have your book included in her own line book fairs. Both KJ and Suzanne have used Amy's services with great success.   Amy will tells us about her latest multi author boxed set - The Twelve Sleys of Christmas which was just released with proceeds going to her favorite dog shelter. Don't miss this great interview, espically to learn all about her highly unusal book titles. Visit Amy at Authorsxp.com.         

Join us for part two of the Blondie and the Brit Author Round Table with seasoned authors Kerry Schafer (A.K.A. Kerry Ann King), Camille Di Maio, Amy Quick Parrish, Kim Hunt Harris, and Melody Robinette along with your hosts Suzanne Kelman and KJ Waters.  What an inspiring episode with advice and suggestions as varied as the authors we've gathered from our group launch team. Guaranteed to light a fire under any author no matter what your state of mind. This episode we talk about what rituals we go through to prep for our writing sessions and we offer encouragement and inspiration for our author pals listening to the show. 

Blondie and the Brit are excited to bring you an exclusive event – our Author Roundtable Podcast! This unique chat with seven incredible authors offers writing inspiration, sensational book marketing expertise, and insight into the fantasy vs. reality of becoming and author. This is part one of the hour-long chat with best-selling authors from both the traditionally published and indie communities. Join Blondie (KJ Waters) and the Brit (Suzanne Kelman) who host an author chat with Kerry Schafer, Camille Di Maio, Amy Quick Parrish, Kim Hunt Harris, and Melody Robinette where we discuss writing woes and successes along with a unique approach at combining forces as a launch team for our newest releases. Find more about these authors on our Facebook page here: Blondie and the Brit on Facebook

This week on Blondie and the Brit we welcome back our Podcast Award Winner Kim Hunt Harris. Kim won for her Best Fangirl Story with her story about meeting Diana Gabaldon from Outlander fame. Kim writes humorous women fiction and is about to release her latest cozy mystery, Knickers in a Twist. In this interview, we discuss the highs and lows of writing comedy. Kim also shares with us some of her book marketing strategies, from email list building to newsletter management. Ever considered creating an audio book? Kim talks about her experience with that as well. Don't miss this fun but informative episode. Kim is also part of our #SummerBookBlast Facebook party and Kinde Fire giveaway. Join us June 16th for a lot fun and great prizes here on Facebook. 

This week we are excited to bring you award-winning author Martin Lastrapes, a great friend to Blondie and the Brit and one of our Podcast Heroes. Martin brings to the show all the weight of his comedy and interviewing expertise from his own podcast, "The Martin Lastrapes Podcast Hour" (check it out here). This is a fun upbeat interview that also has very poignant moments where Martin opens up about the struggles we all face on the writer's journey. Don't miss this open, funny, 'telling it like it is' interview with one of our favorite guests.

This week we are excited to air a brand new interview with one of our podcast heroes, Amazon best-selling author Susan Wingate. A lot of laughter in this one as it is always a fun interview with Susan. We delve into her latest woman's thriller she is working on, and dream about clones helping us get everything done. She also gave us a behind the scenes of her ongoing success and how she uses google analytics and book awards to promote book sales. What your clone doing today?

This week on Blondie and the Brit we head back in time to revisit our premier podcast interview with successful author Darynda Jones. We were fortunate to land our very first interview with Darynda who is a USA Today and New YorkTimes best-selling author. She shared her journey of how she was first discovered and also talks about her writing process. Darynda entertained us with a behind the scenes view of her characters in the Charlie Davidson Series. Regularly a traditionally published author, she also talks to about stepping out into the world of Indie publishing for the first time.

Ever wonder what makes a great book cover? This week we revisit a very informative podcast where we interview our very own KJ Waters and her business partner, Jody Smyers. Together they have a book cover business called Blondie's Custom Book Covers. In this episode we discuss Suzanne's first book cover, that KJ and Jody designed, as an example of what elements to consider when hiring someone to create a book cover for you. As the very first thing your readers will see, your cover is a crucial part of packaging your book. 

This week we are excited to re-air the interview with Blondie and Brit Podcast Award winner, Jeri Walker. Jeri is an outstanding editor and her skills include all elements of manuscript editing and profreading. We have both used her and love her work. She is a former English teacher who also runs a highly successful blog with writing tips called WordBank. Jeri discusses how she made her blog so successful, and how she encourages people to comment on it. She also talks about her first novel, Lost Girl Road, and gives advice on how to choose an editor, and how she works with a style sheet. Don't miss this great episode.

This week we re-introduce you to another of our Blondie and The Brit podcast winners, J.D. Lex. J.D. won our audience choice for Funniest Podcast. Check out our funniest lighting round to date at the end of the show. J.D. kept us highly amused throughout the interview as he shared his author journey, spontaneous writing style, and entrepreneurial spirit. We know you will enjoy this one!

This week we are excited to bring you another amazing Blondie and the Brit podcast winner. Terry Persun was a recipient of one of our two best overall podcast awards for everything he brought to the show. So much here, including his amazing book knowledge, helpful writing process, and great sense of humor. Stroll down memory lane with us as we revisit his in depth interview about writing across different genres, his inspiration practices of meditation and poetry to help free up his mind for the writing process, and how to have deeper conversations on social media, plus so much more.

This week we were excited to talk with Vaun Murphrey, an amazing author who is the recipient of our Most Inspired Storytelling Podcast award.  Vaun details her recent book launch of The Blood Key and some of the strategies she used for this and previous launches including using Net Galley for reivews. Other selling strategies she uses are selling books at Comic Con events, submiting short stories for awards, and attending conferences. Don't miss Vaun's other interview last year and her foray into last weeks Blooper Reel. 

We are taking a break from our usual podcast format to bring you our one and only Blopper Show! Ever wonder what is left on the cutting room floor when we air a podcast? Here is a peek at some of our goofier moments. Join us and our amazing guests, Vaun Murphrey, Jody Smyers, Mark Sadler, Nicole Waggoner, Barbara Sissel, Joey Pinkney, Gisela Haussmann, Thelma Adams, David Estes, Nicole Persun, Kerry Schafer, and Elie Alexander, as we go behind the scenes at Blondie and the Brit.