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In today’s episode, Alex and Tara sit down with powerhouse author and podcaster, Bianca Marais.

A newly minted USA TODAY bestselling author who is also co-host of the popular writing podcasts, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, aimed at helping emerging writers get published, Bianca has penned several extremely successful books, such as The Witches of Moonshyne Manor, Hum If You Don't Know the Words, If You Want to Make God Laugh, and the Audible Original, The Prynne Viper.

Listen as they discuss her recent release, A MOST PUZZLING MURDER (June 2025), what it’s like interviewing her literary heroes, her writing process, how to differentiate between POVs, and her love and passion for cultivating community amongst writers.

Due to character limitations, please find a full version of the show notes with applicable content warnings and links on our website at: https://www.tarakross.com/podcast-1

→ Connect with Bianca on her Instagram or visit her website

→ Buy A Most Puzzling Murder HERE

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In today’s episode, Alex sits down with husband-wife powerhouse Dalton and Emily Bequette. With a meet-cute as beta readers, it is no wonder they went on to take their love beyond the page with their upcoming YA fantasy novel (out July 29th), FLAMEHEART. Emily is a high school English teacher, where she works to instill an appreciation for reading and writing in her students. A blue-collar man, Dalton works in heavy machinery, which allows him to brainstorm plot points and get his audiobooks in.

Listen as they discuss their meet-cute, how they manage to sound like the same person via their writing when not switching POVs, FLAMEHEART’s origin story, and what their characters have taught them about themselves that they didn’t know before the writing of this book.

Due to character limitations, please find a full version of the show notes with applicable content warnings and links on our website at: https://www.tarakross.com/podcast-1

→ Connect with Emily and Dalton on their Instagram or visit their website

→ Pre-order Flameheart HERE

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In today’s episode, Alex and Tara have a thought-provoking and wisdom-filled discussion with John Kenney, author of three novels and four books of poetry, including LOVE POEMS FOR MARRIED PEOPLE. His first novel, TRUTH IN ADVERTISING, won the Thurber Prize for American humor. He is a long-time contributor to The New Yorker magazine’s Shouts & Murmurs column and currently lives in Larchmont, NY.

Listen as they discuss what it’s like writing a darkly humorous book about death, the beauty and healing in confronting grief, the importance of writing realistic characters and stories, why he wanted to write fiction after being in advertising for years, who inspired the characters of I SEE YOU’VE CALLED IN DEAD, and how short fiction can help our long-form stories.

Due to character limitations, please find a full version of the show notes with applicable content warnings and links on our website at: https://www.tarakross.com/podcast-1

→ Connect with John on his Instagram or visit his column on The New Yorker's website

→ Buy I SEE YOU’VE CALLED IN DEAD HERE

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