My guest this week is author J.T. Ellison. J.T. is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels of psychological suspense, including the Taylor Jackson series, the Samantha Owens series, and numerous acclaimed standalones. She is the Emmy Award–winning cohost of A Word on Words, the literary television series on PBS.

Over a twenty-year career, her work has earned widespread critical recognition, with titles optioned for television and published in thirty countries, and millions of copies in print worldwide.

A dedicated voice in the writing community, she also publishes The Creative Edge, a newsletter and blog for writers navigating the craft and business of fiction.

My guest this week is author Holly B. Gutwillinger. Holly is an author and podcaster from a small northern Ontario town. Her debut novel, North of Broken & Furever Home, launches February 14, 2026, exploring a woman's complex relationship with her rescue dogs.

Holly's writing is shaped by her deep love of family—she is the proud mother of two adult sons—and her commitment to the animals who enrich our lives.

She holds a certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies and is currently completing her MFA in fiction at the University of King's College. Holly serves on the board of her local writers' guild and volunteers with the Women's Fiction Writers Association.

My guest this week is author Chris Underwood. Chris started seriously writing back in 2012 when his concerns of a power grid failure began to creep into his mind. His concerns festered into a storyline that continued to bug him until he got it on paper. It took five years of honing his craft to get the first book out, but it has been fun sharing the secret.