Author Express Authentic Connections

On today’s episode, we get to chat with Marie W. Watts, a Women’s Fiction author with one crazy back story from which she draws heavily to create her quirky, well-developed characters facing and overcoming obstacles in life.
Her own journey began with what appears to be a perfectly normal middle-class childhood for the 1950s and 60s in Baytown, Texas. Two caring parents, a brother 18 months younger to fight with, a stay-at-home mom, vacations to interesting places, and a good education.
But it wasn’t normal…. During her preschool years, she knew the name of the stockbroker—Merril, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith—and watched her mother sit by the phone, smoke cigarettes, and talk to her broker. It wasn’t until 7th grade that Marie realized college was not mandatory!
The other strange thing that happened was that her parents, particularly her dad, had the same aspirations for both her and her brother. Apparently, her dad had lived a very sheltered existence until he was shipped to Europe in WWII and didn’t want that for his children. She remembers, as a small child, standing with him in a phone booth, rain hammering down, and, with his coaching, calling the operator and placing a call to her uncle to tell him the family’s arrival time.
Along with her brother, Marie learned to play ball, mowed the lawn, and was expected to excel at school. The rude awakening didn’t come until fourth grade when she stood on the sidelines, watching her brother try out for little league. One of the other boys attempted to catch a slow grounder but it rolled between his legs. Incensed, Marie realized she could play baseball better than half the boys but wasn’t allowed to try out because of her sex!
Time passed. Marie graduated from college, got married, had children (two fantastic girls who gave her three wonderful grandsons), and then came the divorce during Houston’s oil bust of the 1980s. Jobs were scarce, but she managed to land at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, investigating employment discrimination; eventually remarrying and moving to the private sector as a human resource manager and director. Later she opened her own business, focusing on encouraging diversity and preventing discrimination.
Her adolescent dream, however, was never far from her mind. She would envision life, dressed in her Girl Scout Camp uniform (white shirt, dark green shorts, and green knee socks), patrolling the borders of the island she owned. Occupation—writer.
Dreams never die; they just get postponed. She currently owns a 50-acre ranch in central Texas (her island), named Las Tortugas. And, although she can’t fit into her Girl Scout uniform anymore, she writes.
You can learn more about Marie and her blog, “Stories About Life” on her website www.mariewatts.com
Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Tough Trail Home at https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781685133917
A little about today's host-Kristi Leonard is a modern Renaissance woman deeply rooted in the book world. When she's not immersed in crafting novels, she's orchestrating writing retreats through her business, Writers in the Wild, or lending her voice to non-fiction audiobooks. She leads the Women’s Fiction Writers Association as the president of the board, and interviews her writer pals as one of the hosts of the Author Express Podcast. She will start querying her first book in 2024.
Beyond the realm of words, Kristi embraces the Florida sunshine by hiking with her writer-hiker group and leisurely walks on the beach. She and her husband juggle a couple side businesses and take turns sharing the couch with their goofy Golden-doodle, Maddie. Kristi enjoys travel adventures

Growing up as the son of author and composer BB Johnson AKA Joseph Greene (Together Brothers, Across the Alley from the Alamo) DaVon and Greene (the pen name of Jonathan Greene) knew writing was in his blood.
Drawn towards cartels, crime, and drugs DaVon and Greene completed his first serious undertaking in his early teens and gave it to his father's friend, Saul David (Director: Logan's Run and Fantastic Voyage) to get an honest critique. Saul was intrigued, but wasn't overwhelmed. His critique sent DaVon and Greene’s life into a whole other direction, putting down the pen and entering the world that he wrote about in an endless cycle that there was no escape from, ultimately leading to incarceration.
After jail, employment was hard to find, so when DaVon and Greene’s now wife offered him a job interview at a beer company he seized the opportunity. Working hard he rose through the ranks with promotion after promotion. Within six months DaVon and Greene was on a six figure salary.
Several years later, DaVon and Greene’s beer career came to a halt when the company was sold. So DaVon and Greene started flipping Real Estate which provided him with a life filled with fast cars, boats and houses, until the crash of 2007.
Not to be defeated, DaVon and Greene turned to insurance, then consulting before starting a successful trucking business. Resting in his truck at night gave DaVon and Greene time to write and finally fulfil his dream to become an author. Thriller, Laredo Nuevo, was published in 2021 and his fast-paced new book, Paladin launched in February 2024.
DaVon and Greene is father to eight children and five grandchildren. When he’s not writing or trucking across the country Jonathan can be found in California where he lives with his wife.
You can learn more about DaVon and Greene at www.davonandgreene.com/home and also follow him on Instagram @davon_and_greene.
A little about today's host-Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.
She offers a free 7 Steps to Perfect Your Podcast Title to anyone interested in launching a podcast. You can also follow her on Instagram-@ShawnaPodcasts, and learn more about the network and community at https://linktr.ee/37by27.

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast
Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books...

Michele Kwasniewski translated her career behind the scenes in entertainment into an award-winning young adult trilogy that shines a spotlight on the darker side of fame. Starting out as a set production assistant on movies such as INDEPENDENCE DAY and EVITA, Michele moved to the small screen and worked her way up the ladder to production manager, on television shows such as BIG BROTHER. A life-long southern California resident, Michele always dreamed of writing books despite almost failing seventh grade English grammar.
THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHART trilogy consists of books RISING STAR BURNING BRIGHT and FALLING STAR
About RISING STAR, Publisher’s Weekly said “…Kwasniewski deftly conveys nuanced family dynamics and interpersonal relationships from a teen perspective.”
Kirkus called BURNING BRIGHT, …”A realistic and absorbing look at a teen celebrity’s struggle with the pressures of success.”
Kirkus called the final installment of the trilogy, “eminently readable.”
You can learn more about Michele on her website https://www.michelekwasniewski.com/ and follow her on Instagram at @author.michelekwas
The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart trilogy is available at your favorite bookseller or on Amazon. or support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart trilogy at https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781950544363
A little about today's host-Author and musical composer Kathleen Basi is mother to three boys and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, follows a musician on an unconventional road trip. Bestselling author Kerry Anne King writes, “In a novel filled with music, heartbreak, and surprising laughter, Basi takes us on a journey that encompasses both unimaginable loss and the powerful resilience of the human heart.”
Meaty, earnest, occasionally humorous, and ultimately uplifting, Kathleen’s fiction highlights the best within ourselves and each other. She writes monthly reflections on life, writing and beauty on her newsletter. Subscribe at https://kathleenbasi.substack.com/. 

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast
Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -
https://linktr.ee/AuthorExpressPodcast

Jill Hannah Anderson first began writing in eighth grade when a friend gave her a large notebook with Donny Osmund on the cover. She started using it as a diary, and added several more diary notebooks over the years. She also started writing notes for stories in notebooks. Cruddy, haphazard plot ideas… but the writing bug had burrowed in.
Then “life” happened. Marriage, kids, owning a business, and a day job. She took a few writing classes, and in 2006, when she was at the busiest point in her life, she stumbled upon a women’s magazine that she wanted to write for. While working full-time at a Communications company, part-time bartending (to help with her eldest daughter’s upcoming wedding and three more kids in college), and training for her first half-marathon, Jill wrote the first of thirty articles/stories for the Minnesota women’s magazine.
A few years later, shortly after the last of the kid’s graduated college and Jill quit bartending, her best friend was dying of cancer, and it planted a seed of a story in Jill’s head. The idea of losing your support system when you need them most transpired to become Jill’s first book, The to Hell and Back Club. Jill hit the writing ground running, wisely quitting the magazine side job after ten years and focusing on books. The following year, Crazy Little Town Called Love was released, and in 2022, A Life Unraveled was published.
Closer to Home debuted in March, and by the time this podcast is live, Jill will have submitted her fifth book to her publisher. She has been a proud member of WFWA (Women's Fiction Writers Association) from its early stages before it was an association, back when it was a Yahoo email group!
You can learn more about Jill on her website: www.jillhannahanderson.com and follow her on Facebook, the best social media place to get book updates from her: https://www.facebook.com/jillhannah.anderson/
Get your copy of Closer to Home here: https://amzn.to/3VEqiLN
or
support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Closer to Home at https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781958231432
A little about today's host-Kristi Leonard is a modern Renaissance woman deeply rooted in the book world. When she's not immersed in crafting novels, she's orchestrating writing retreats through her business, Writers in the Wild, or lending her voice to non-fiction audiobooks. She leads the Women’s Fiction Writers Association as the president of the board, and interviews her writer pals as one of the hosts of the Author Express Podcast. She will start querying her first book in 2024.
Beyond the realm of words, Kristi embraces the Florida sunshine by hiking with her writer-hiker group and leisurely walks on the beach. She and her husband juggle a couple side businesses and take turns sharing the couch with their goofy Golden-doodle, Maddie. Kristi enjoys travel adventures with her twin sister and living vicariously through her grown children. You can learn more about her and connect at: https://linktr.ee/kristileonard.

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast
Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and

Tracey's journey pursuing the right words has been both straight-forward and circuitous. She wrote nothing but the facts as a journalist and has created worlds out of pure imagination as a novelist. Either way she loves telling stories because stories are connectors that bridge our experiences and help us understand each other better.
Tracey's story began in the bootheel of Missouri, but quickly moved to a little corner of western Kentucky called Paducah, a UNESCO Creative City which is home to the National Quilt Museum and the birthplace of Vice President Alben Barkley.
After she graduated cum laude with a degree in journalism from Texas A&M University, she returned to Paducah with her husband, Kent, also an Aggie. She worked as the editor of the lifestyle section of her hometown newspaper, where she earned awards like Best Feature Writer of Kentucky and Best Column from the Kentucky Press Association.
After having her second son, she decided to write from home and began freelancing. She eventually became editor of a nationally distributed health magazine. She also wrote dramatizations for the City of Paducah, and that's where many of the characters in Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace were formed.
Tracey's also an artist and ran a business for several years selling her watercolor and ink illustrations she called "flutterbies." But, even as an artist she included words in her paintings and collages. She's an author at heart.
She and her husband have two married sons, eight grandchildren, and a kooky little Corgi-Yorkie mix that's still frisky at age 16.
You can learn more about Tracey on her website, www.traceybuchanan.com.
You can also follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TraceyBuchananAuthor/ and Instagram: @tracey_d_buchanan. Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace is available from her publisher, Amazon
or
support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace at https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781646033379
A little about today's host-Author and musical composer Kathleen Basi is mother to three boys and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, follows a musician on an unconventional road trip. Bestselling author Kerry Anne King writes, “In a novel filled with music, heartbreak, and surprising laughter, Basi takes us on a journey that encompasses both unimaginable loss and the powerful resilience of the human heart.”
Meaty, earnest, occasionally humorous, and ultimately uplifting, Kathleen’s fiction highlights the best within ourselves and each other. She writes monthly reflections on life, writing and beauty on her newsletter. Subscribe at https://kathleenbasi.substack.com/. 

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast
Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -
https://linktr.ee/AuthorExpressPodcast

This week on Author Express we welcome upmarket women's fiction author Heather Dixon from outside Toronto, Canada. Heather has published three novels filled with compelling themes of family, friendship, and secrets. Discover the incredible story behind her debut novel, "Burlington," and how the setting of the book ties into a thought-provoking metaphor that reflects universal experiences among women. We'll also explore the intriguing plot of her latest book, "The Summerville Sisters," as Heather explores the complexities of sisterhood and the enduring bond of forgiveness. Discover the intricacies of writing, the publishing process, and the joy of staying true to the art of storytelling despite the uncertainties of the publishing journey. Join us this week to explore the vulnerabilities, inspirations, and unexpected similarities in the writing processes of authors from both sides of the border.
Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of The Summerville Sisters at https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781805083207
A little about today's host-Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.
She offers a free 7 Steps to Perfect Your Podcast Title to anyone interested in launching a podcast. You can also follow her on Instagram-@ShawnaPodcasts, and learn more about the network and community at https://linktr.ee/37by27.

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast
Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -
https://linktr.ee/AuthorExpressPodcast