
Bookshelf Banter
By Heather Balog

Bookshelf BanterMay 19, 2022

Author Jackie Amsden
I had an amazing conversation with fellow writer and podcaster Jackie Amsden. Jackie Amsden worked as a fashion model in China, Japan, and Taiwan before retiring at the age of eighteen after one too many agent threats, nude photo shoot requests, and self-loathing-induced Pocky binges. If you’d like to learn more about her descent into the darker side of Asia’s candy-coated modeling industry sign up for free installments of her upcoming memoir and get updates about the sequel to The Tokyo Cover Girls at www.jackieamsden.com
Make sure you check out her podcast These Mums Write and follow her on Instagram.

Author JN Supermom
JN Supermom (Jessica Nielsen) is a poet, writer, and author born and raised in the British Columbia Kootenay’s.
A trained Healthcare Aide and mother of seven children who have a range of special needs, she creates her works from experiences and the world around her.
Always excelling with the love of writing; she perceives the world in simplistic and unique ways. She believes every person has something inspiring to share.
You also find her randomly writing on her blog and taking on a new project with a fellow mom to support others who support those with special needs.
You can find all her links HERE.

Author Autumn Bardot
Autumn Bardot is the author of stories about fearless women and dangerous passions. She writes historical fiction, historical erotica, and contemporary fantasy. Her 4-book urban fantasy series is written under the pen name LZ Marie.
She’s a wife, mom, grandma, and teacher. Because that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she has a YouTube channel and podcast for new writers with lots of writing tips, author tools, and inspiration.
Autumn writes best at home in her sunny Southern California backyard and while vacationing at the beach. She bakes great chocolate chip cookies, drinks too much coffee, buys too many shoes, and loves to write stories about courageous but flawed women who succeed despite the odds. And she always spices it with a healthy dollop of romance! Find Autumn on FB, IG, and all the usual social media platforms.
Get her books HERE
Check out Autumn's website HERE
Follow Autumn on Facebook
Follow Autumn on Instagram

Author ShaunTay/EnrichMom

Author K.M. West
K.M. West loves to write characters who explore their ancient traditions, cultures, and world with “humor-wrapped ruthlessness.”
An insatiable knowledge seeker, she’s likely to be found devouring books on myths and ghosts (both real and perceived) alongside research papers on serial killers, war, and mental illness.
As an IT professional, gym owner, yoga instructor, strength coach, mother, and partner, she spends any spare moment she has writing stories for people who want to believe in magic and love to have their hearts broken.
Get a copy of Wild Things Will Roam

Author Natalia Hooker
Natalia Hooker
Natalia has 20 years of writing and publishing experience, specializing in non-fiction. She is the author of LJ Hooker The Man, Flipped and the Misha The Traveling Puppy children's series. Natalia has bachelor's degrees from the Australian National University and the University of London, and a master's degree from New York University. Natalia was born in Sydney and has lived in major cities including New York, London, Milan, and Paris. She is now based in Barcelona.
She is the founder of Alaya Books, a one-stop shop for writing and publishing needs.

Author May Lark
May Lark is a writer and lover of the romance genre ever since she read her first Harlequin Romance from the 80s. Join me as I talk to May about her Vella stories, our collective imposter syndrome, and how social media has become a necessary evil. May is a bit of an enigma online, but you can follow May on Instagram and check out her Vella stories on Amazon.

Author Jan Kirchner
Jan Kirchner currently lives in Illinois with her husband, daughter, dog, two cats, and a gecko. As a debut author of Holes in Your Umbrella, she is a 2011 graduate of Olivet Nazarene University majoring in English with minors in Literature and Creative Writing.
Check out Jan's blog Pieces of Fractured Glass
Get Jan's books HERE

Author Sasha Blaine
Sasha Blaine is a mother, lawyer, and life-long learner who loves history, world cultures, found poetry, and journalism. She has been writing, largely unpublished, most of her life. Inspired by the real-life travel adventures of a friend of hers, she started writing non-fiction children's books about the many amazing places he has been.
Get Professor Ping Hangs with the Dead
Follow Professor Ping's adventures on Instagram!

Author Lesley Larosse

Author Michelle Pointis Burns
Michelle Pointis Burns juggles mothering her ten children, homeschooling (the oldest five have now graduated college), living her Catholic faith, and writing. She loves to research topics of all kinds, read British authors (especially Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), quote movies in regular conversation, and drink hot chocolate from elegant teacups. When asked how she manages it all, she has been known to reply, “Prayer, caffeine, and a sense of humor.”
Michelle has been a devoted member of the NY Chemung Valley Mothers of Twins Club (she has two sets of twins), and the Corning Area Writers’ Group. Born and raised in Queens, NY, Michelle currently lives in Upstate New York on a working goat and sheep farm with her husband and more than half of her children. Say Cheese and Murder is her first novel.
Pick up a copy of Say Cheese and Murder.
Learn more about Michelle on her BLOG.

Authors Dana Bowen and Chloe Brogan
Dana and Chloe grew up in rural Ohio and sparked a close friendship in the summer of 2019. When the Pandemic hit in 2020 they saw it as an opportunity to be adventurous. As two young moms, they spent months finding creative outlets through baking and art, but they were running out of things to do. So, when Dana came to Chloe one Friday over coffee and suggested they write a book — it seemed like the next logical step in their endeavors to use their time at home to pursue something they'd always dreamed of doing. The two discovered quickly that they made a great pair, and the story spun itself together almost overnight. The pair plan to keep up the momentum as Indie Authors, exploring all sub-genres of romance in their coming stories.
Get Chasing Catherine HERE
Discover the characters of Bethton Grove

Author Kathleen Aldworth Foster
Kathleen Aldworth Foster is the author of Doneraile Court: The Story of The Lady Freemason. She is a lover of history, travel and old houses. Listen to my interview with her to find out how the idea for Doneraile Court was born, who she is and isn't related to, and why her memoir will be entitled "Scrappy".
Get Doneraile Court HERE.

Author Pamdiana Jones
California Girl Pam was always spontaneous, but then a 3 month trip overseas turns into an epic journey as she backpacked around the world SOLO for 3 years. Her sarcasm and optimism got her into and out of trouble through Africa, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1990's.
Pre-internet days, Pam would sign her letters home as an homage to Indiana Jones and it stuck. For 25 years she's been told to write about her adventures, and it's finally here. Her debut book is a Comedy Travel Memoir called "When in ROAM" about all of her hilarious and dangerous mishaps.
She married her high school sweetheart after years apart, and they are parents to loving twins and a puppy.
Find out more HERE.

Author Katie Fabian
Katie Fabian is an author, illustrator, and the creator of “Cretaceous Fairytales”. You can follow her serialized fiction at https://www.ksfabiancreations.com/
Follow her on Instagram: @ksfabian_creations
Follow her on TikTok: @ksfabian_creations

Author Jennifer Walker
Jennifer Walker is a teacher and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She lives with her incredibly smart husband Ian, her hilarious and exceptionally sweet children Everett and Kennedy, and her floppy, impossible-not-to-love Bernedoodle puppy, Leo. When she's not teaching, writing, or reading, you can most likely find Jennifer in a yoga studio, in the kitchen baking muffins, or running off the calories of the muffins she's just baked. She's also famous for publicly embarrassing her family by singing terrible show-tunes and practicing 90's dance moves, and if this whole writing thing doesn't work out, she's pretty sure she could make it as one of the Wiggles.
You can find all of Jennifer's info HERE.

Author Stephanie Clemens
Stephanie K Clemens is known for many things: an author, photographer, dog mom, instagrammer, adventurer, teacher, lawyer, and more. When she’s not sitting behind her laptop she can be found on some adventure. Most of the time it’s a road trip with her two doggos, but recently it has been in the pages of a book.
You can find all Stephanie's information HERE. Make sure you follow her dogs' Insta @pupfrankie

Author Zee Lacson
Zee was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. She grew up with her dad, brothers, and grandparents. She currently lives in the North suburbs of Chicagoland, IL with her husband, twin sons, and fluffy dog. She is an engineer by education, a photographer by profession, an artist by practice, and a writer by soul. She drinks good coffee and appreciates fresh sushi. Just not together.
Reverie is her first published work of fiction and the first book in the Woolgathering Series. It is a finalist in the 2021 Soon-To-Be-Famous Illinois Author Project. Revenant is the sequel to Reverie.
Be sure to check out her social media pages and her books HERE.

Author Jessica Brown
Jessica Brown is the author of Something Sweet for Christmas and Staying Lost, Kindle Vella stories. Jessica gives me a lesson in the ins and outs of Kindle Vella, we wax poetic about the days of waiting for a commercial to pee, and I learn what her most prized possession is and why on this episode of Bookshelf Banter.
You can find all of Jessica's links below:
https://linktr.ee/JessicaBrownAuthor?fbclid=IwAR30i15O5tKf0vSo-bYiS8bHG7bbJ8KOOBBwcAiJ7gf611P3A3fGsnryvOk

Author Leani Lopez
Leani Lopez is a Puerto Rican writer from New Hampshire. Creating characters and stories has always been her passion ever since she wrote her first story. This passion led her to leave her long-time job to pursue writing full time. She writes romance and erotic thrillers in addition to ghostwriting and hosting her own writing podcast called “I Got Nothing”. You can find links to Leani's website and books HERE.

Author Whitney Dineen
Whitney Dineen is a rock star in her own head. While delusional about her singing abilities, there's been a plethora of validation that she's a fairly decent author (AMAZING!!!). After winning many writing awards and selling nearly a kabillion books (math may not be her forte, either), she's decided to just let the voices in her head say whatever they want (sorry, Mom). She also won a fourth-place ribbon in a fifth-grade swim meet in backstroke. So, there's that.
Whitney loves to play with her kids (a.k.a. dazzle them with her amazing flossing abilities), bake stuff, eat stuff, and write books for people who "get" her. She thinks french fries are the perfect food and Mrs. Roper is her spirit animal. She's won a ton of awards and has been a finalist as well, including Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017, Silver medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016, 2019, Finalist RONE Awards, 2016, 2018, 2019, Finalist at the IRFA 2016, 2017, Finalist at the Book Excellence Awards, 2017, Finalist Top Shelf Indie Book Awards, 2017
You can find Whitney's books on Amazon. Be sure to follow her on Facebook and Bookbub.
I loved talking to Whitney. She is as down to earth and hilarious in real life as she is in her novels. As promised, here is my review of Whitney's The Reinvention of Mimi Finnegan. while I did NOT actual recommend reading it while on the toilet, the implication is there.
At several points of this novel I found myself oh so delicately shooting water out of my nose. At my daughter's gymnastic class, a woman asked me to move because my random fits of laughter were scaring her infant. Mimi Finnegan is a major piece of work who kept me giggling the entire time I was reading. What's the plot? you ask. Characters? Oh no. I'm not going to ruin it at all for you. Go out and get this hilarious novel for yourself and make sure you've emptied your bladder before you start reading it.

Author Laura Heffernan
Laura loves connecting with readers. For news and update, click the Follow button to the left or sign up for Laura's newsletter at www.lauraheffernan.com. Also find her on Facebook or on Twitter, where she spends far too much time tweeting about reality TV and Canadian chocolate.

Author Monique McDonell
If you're a fan of contemporary women's fiction, you have to listen to this episode featuring author Monique McDonell! Find out how Monique comes up with wacky character names, her thoughts on "Wonder", why she doesn't write literary fiction, and that time she predicted Jamie Durie's career would take off on Oprah.
Monique McDonell is a USA Today Bestselling Australian contemporary women’s fiction author, who writes chick-lit, romantic comedies and sweet romance novels. She I lives on the beautiful East Coast of NSW in Australia with her husband as her gorgeous daughter has flown the nest and headed to university.
Follow Monique on Facebook, Twitter, and Bookbub. You can also find out more about Monique at her website, moniquemcdonellauthor.com. Be sure to sign up for her newsletter! And if you are an indie author interested in working with Monique to build your business, click here to find out more about Get Social Write Now.

Author Tracy Krimmer
Tracy Krimmer loves coffee, popcorn, Drew Barrymore, and the movie Saving Silverman. She enjoys reading great books (of course) and writing realistic characters for you to enjoy. When she listens to music she prefers the 80s and 90s music she grew up on. In a typical day you'll find her writing at one of her favorite spots-on the couch, at the kitchen table, or at her favorite hometown coffee shop.
You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. Find out all the latest news from Tracy by signing up for her newsletter at TracyKrimmer.com. Be sure to preorder the next book in her Rewind series, The Unfortunate Fall, coming October 26, 2020!

Author Kathryn Biel
Telling stories of resilient women, Kathryn R. Biel hails from Upstate New York where her most important role is being mom and wife to an incredibly understanding family who don't mind fetching coffee and living in a dusty house. In addition to being Chief Home Officer and Director of Child Development of the Biel household, she works as a school-based physical therapist. She attended Boston University and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from The Sage Colleges. After years of writing countless letters of medical necessity for wheelchairs, finding increasingly creative ways to encourage insurance companies to fund her client's needs, and writing entertaining annual Christmas letters, she decided to take a shot at writing the kind of book she likes to read: those with humor, heart, and happy endings. Kathryn is the author of multiple contemporary women's fiction, romantic comedy, and romance novels, including the award-winning Live for This, Made for Me, and Paradise by the Dashboard Light.
Check out her website Kathrynbiel.com for more info on her books and to pick up her merch!
Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest and Bookbub! Oh and be sure to listen to her playlists on Spotify!

Author Maida Malby
Author Maida Malby cooks up multicultural, foodie, international contemporary romance stories filled with sizzling heat, mouthwatering spice, and a whole lotta love. When not writing, reading, or reviewing books, Maida consults her husband on word selection, debates with her ten-year-old son regarding the Oxford comma, cooks the dishes she features in her stories, procrastibakes using Baileys as her secret yummy ingredient, and watches golf and food shows on TV.
Be sure to check out Maida's website at Maidamalby.com. Follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Bookbub, and Instagram.

Author Rich Amooi
Rich Amooi is the Amazon #1 Bestselling author of 15 romantic comedies, including It’s Not PMS, It’s You, Dying to Meet You, There’s Something About a Cowboy, and Madam Love, Actually. Over 500,000 downloads from readers around the world.
A former radio personality and wedding DJ, Rich now writes romantic comedies full-time in San Diego, California, and is happily married to a kiss monster imported from Spain. Rich believes in public displays of affection, silliness, infinite possibilities, donuts, gratitude, laughter, and happily ever after.For more information about Rich, visit his website richamooi.com. You can also find his books on Amazon. Be sure to follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Bookbub.

Author Renee Conoulty
This week I interviewed author Renee Conoulty. Renee is an Australian Air Force wife and mother of two. She writes stories of dance, romance, and military life including Heart Swings, Catching Onix, and Don't Mean a Thing.
If you run into Renee at the shops, make sure you wave to get her attention because she'll likely be listening to an audiobook or lost in a daydream.
Sign up for Renee's monthly newsletter and receive Cheek to Cheek for FREE!
You can find out more about Renee on her website, Heysaidrenee. Check out Renee's novels and audiobooks on Amazon.

Episode 1 All About Me
Welcome to the first episode of Bookshelf Banter! I'm your host, Heather Balog. I'm the author of 13 novels and 3 children's books that I wrote with my teenage daughter. I'm a wife, mom, school nurse, blogger, and audiobook narrator as well. On this podcast we'll be talking to some amazing Indie authors, specifically authors from the Rom-Com, Women's Fiction, and Chick Lit genres.
You can find me at Heather Balog, Author on Facebook, the_bad_mommy_books on Instagram, The Bad Mommy Diaries, or Bad Mommy Reads.
All of my books are exclusive to Amazon...visit my author page at Heather Balog.com or go directly to Amazon to find them. You can get your FREE copy of Amy Maxwell & the 10 Days of Quarantine HERE. https://mailchi.mp/612a3e09b927/amy-maxwell-free