Listen to a podcast, please open Podcast Republic app. Available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
In candid conversations with bestselling authors, Why Authors Write goes behind the covers to get inside creative minds and find out what propels these authors to keep on writing, from inspiration to publication.
Join Mary J. Cronin and co-hosts Kristie Dickinson, Sara Standon, and Becca Cronin as we dive into the personal backstories that make a writer’s work unforgettable. Follow along on the path that authors travel, from that irresistible spark of an idea, through overcoming frustration and sometimes tear-your-hair out writer's block, to finding the confidence and flow to get a book over the finish line.
We dig deep to ask the questions you are curious about: Where do your best plot ideas come from? Is that villain based on a real-life character? How long does it take you to get from the book’s starting line to publication? And much, much more.
If you want to find out what inspires your favorite authors to keep on writing, subscribe now so you won’t miss out on a single episode.
Looking for more details on your favorite authors and interviews? Visit Mary’s website: 4QCatalyst for Why Authors Write show notes, author clips and quotes, and previews of future episodes.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
Eric Jay Dolin on Surviving "The Wreck of the Mentor"
|
Aug 21, 2026 |
|
Senaa Ahmad on Twisting History in "The Age of Calamities"
|
Aug 07, 2026 |
|
Yu-Mei Balasingamchow on "Names Have Been Changed"
|
Jul 24, 2026 |
|
Julie Dalton on Loss & Hope in "The Forest Becomes Her"
|
Jul 10, 2026 |
|
Benny B. Peterson on "The Maidenheads"
|
Jun 26, 2026 |
|
Ellery Adams on "Invasive Species"
|
Jun 19, 2026 |
|
Anthony Tardiff on AI and "The Final System"
|
Jun 12, 2026 |
|
Emily Franklin on "Love & Other Monsters"
|
Jun 05, 2026 |
|
Susan Donovan Bernhard on "Westerly"
|
May 29, 2026 |
|
Kyleigh Leddy on "Worse Than Strangers"
|
May 22, 2026 |
|
Jessica Keener on Evening Begins the Day
|
May 15, 2026 |
|
M.L. Rio's Wild Trip Writing "Hot Wax"
|
May 08, 2026 |
|
Chrisopher Mirabile on The Washashore and Its Hero
|
May 01, 2026 |
|
Chloe Howarth on Heap Earth Upon It
|
Apr 24, 2026 |
|
Lori Gold on Crafting Kiss, Marry, Kill
|
Apr 17, 2026 |
|
Ben Shattuck on The History of Sound
|
Apr 10, 2026 |
|
Julie Dobrow on Love and Loss After Wounded Knee
|
Apr 03, 2026 |
|
Marriage and Monuments: Writing About Lives in Chaos
|
Mar 27, 2026 |
|
Daphne Kalotay and Short Story Power in The Archivists
|
Mar 20, 2026 |
|
Why Eric Dolin Preserves the Shocking Reality of Left for Dead
|
Mar 13, 2026 |
|
Why Leah Cohen's "To & Fro" Meets in the Middle
|
Mar 06, 2026 |
|
Why and How Chris Castellani Wrote Last Seen & Leading Men
|
Feb 27, 2026 |
|
Premee Mohamed Writing Fantasy, Horror, Magic & More
|
Feb 20, 2026 |
|
Annie Hartnett, The Road to Tender Hearts
|
Feb 13, 2026 |
|
The Cat's Meow, Jonathan Losos
|
Feb 06, 2026 |
|
Kantika: Gripping Immigration Story and Unforgettable Novel
|
Jan 30, 2026 |
|
All the Reasons WHY
|
Jan 29, 2026 |