THE VIRGIN AUTHORS WISH ALL OF YOU A HAPPY 2024!

JJ  ELLIOTT is an advertising copywriter with a degree in English from  UCLA. She lost her mother to suicide as a teenager, and spent over two  years volunteering on the suicide hotlines in LA. One of the reasons she  wanted to write this book is because she finds herself increasingly  frustrated by the way suicide is treated in print and on-screen, as a  mystery to be solved rather than a multi-layered, complex mental health  situation that can rarely be boiled down to one specific "reason."

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A  native of Northern California, JJ now lives in the San Francisco Bay  Area with her husband, two teenage kids, and two poorly trained  bulldogs. She loves to read, drink wine, play tennis, and eat cheese.  There Are No Rules For This is her first novel.

We are so fortunate to have Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press & SparkPress, and author of Write On, Sisters!, & Green-light Your Book. She shared in depth secrets on how to Green-light Your Manuscript.

Brooke started her publishing career in 2000, and worked for traditional  publishers for thirteen years. In 2012, she became the co-founder of She Writes Press with Kamy Wicoff, founder of SheWrites.com. You can follow her story of why she left traditional publishing in my TEDx talk: “Green-Light Revolution.”

Brook is a powerhouse and offers writing coaching to writers and authors, which involves: 
• accountability
• refinement of ideas and positioning of work
• developmental editing and shaping of scenes and manuscript
and so much more!

  Julie Barton is the author of the wonderful New York Times bestselling memoir: Dog Medicine–How My Dog Save Me From Myself. She has a B.A. from Kenyon College, an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and an M.A. in Women’s Studies from Southern Connecticut State.

Julie is widely published; her credits include Brain Child Magazine, Louisiana Literature, Two Hawks Quarterly, and The Huffington Post, among others. She’s also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Currently, she lives in Northern California with her husband Greg, two children, and a small menagerie of pets.

Meghan Riordan Jarvis, is a clinical psychotherapist, author, podcast  host, TEDx speaker, and sought-after consultant with over twenty years  of experience in the fields of trauma, grief, and loss.  Meghan’s forthcoming memoir follows her experience of deteriorating  mental health after her father's and mother's deaths in short  succession, eventually receiving the same therapeutic support she offers  her clients. The End of the Hour is a touching story of how unresolved  trauma can threaten the security of all that is held dear.  Meghan is part of the Virgin Authors' exciting collaboration with Zibby  Books. Watch it here or on the   Virgin Authors' Facebook Live.

Despite Emma Grey's vast experience as a feature writer, photographer,  professional speaker and accountability coach, she wrote her first adult  novel, The Last Love Note, in the wake of her husband’s death. It’s a  fictional tribute to their love, an attempt to articulate the magnitude  of her loss and a life-affirming commitment to hope.  Emma is part of the Virgin Authors' exciting collaboration with Zibby  Books.

  Noelle Salazar  is our very first RETURNING guest! We loved talking about her latest novel, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily, which debuts in October, 2023. She also shared invaluable information about how she  RESEARCHES MATERIAL for her novels.  To remind our viewers, Noelle Salazar was a Navy recruit, a medical  assistant, and a NFL cheerleader before she became the USA Today and  international bestselling author of The Flight Girls. Her second novel,  Angels of the Resistance, released November 2022, and, again, her latest  book, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily, is due to come out on October,  2023. We obviously LOVE Noelle and we're so grateful for her returning  to the show.

Today we talked with two amazing writers about their books and the world  of non-fiction writing:  Katie Russell Newland is the author of A Season With Mom: Love, Loss,  and the Ultimate Baseball Adventure, which is a story of her journey to  visit all 30 Major League Baseball parks in a single season to fulfill  her late mother’s dream. She is based in Austin, Texas with a Ph.D. in  Language and Literacy.  

Anne R. Keene is the author of The Cloudbuster Nine, which is a story  about a baseball team that helped us win World War II. Anne has  published works in The New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, the  Raleigh News & Observer, and the Saturday Evening Post. The  Cloudbuster Nine was recognized by Newsday as one of its “Top 12  Baseball Reads for the Season.” A graduate of the school of Journalism, and also resides in Austin, Texas.

We were so honored to talk with Nina Schuyler, who is the author of  AFTERWORD. Her amazing non-fiction work... HOW TO WRITE STUNNING  SENTENCES offers amazing tools and is a must-have. We spent a fast 1/2 hour talking with her about this book in particular... it's perfect for our fellow Virgin Authors.  She teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco,  Stanford Continuing Studies, AND MORE! 

Jane Delury 's first book, The Balcony, a novel-in-stories, won the Sue  Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and  Letters. Her prize-winning short stories have appeared in multiple  publications, including The Southern Review, The Yale Review, and  Narrative Magazine.  HEDGE, her next book, is  due out in June, 2023 and we had fun discussing the mechanics and her  inspiration behind this beautiful, intense book.  Jane is part of the Virgin Authors' exciting collaboration with Zibby  Books.  

Brenda Janowitz is the author of seven novels, including THE GRACE KELLY DRESS,  which has been optioned for film by Hallmark/ Crown Media. Her eighth  novel, THE AUDREY HEPBURN ESTATE, will be published by Harper Collins/  Graydon House on April 18, 2023.

March 16, 2023 - TESS THOMPSON is the USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of  contemporary and historical Romantic Women’s Fiction with nearly 40  published titles. She shares how to successfully write series! After the Virgin Authors celebrated their 1st Year of INCREDIBLE SHOWS with some past guests and good friends, we managed to learn some fascinating tips from Tess on how she plans out her series (she has 10 different successful series published. TRULY AMAZING LADY and we were so grateful for her patience with our tiaras and celebration. Fun show with valuable info shared! Thank you Tess and everyone who took the time to be with us for this special show!

February 16, 2023 - REBECCA OLMSTEAD is an accomplished, award-winning author who shares how she writes in different genres. From inspirational, short story, cozy mysteries & essays.  She's been a personal friend of all three of the Virgin Authors and we are THRILLED to have her on our show.