Today we interview Kayla Rae Whitaker about her new novel, RETURNS AND EXCHANGES. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to have a family business, this book is for you! We learn about Kayla’s inspiration to write RETURNS AND EXCHANGES and get her perspective on the complex characters and interrelationships she builds around the rise and fall of Baker-Taylor discount stores.

Kayla Rae Whitaker is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and New York University. Her first novel, THE ANIMATORS, was named a best book of the year by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and BookPage. She lives in Queens, New York.

We discuss Kayla's journey from English major to major author. She tells us just what she tells her students: if you want to see your name on the spine of a book, it's very possible.

Kayla tells us how homesickness and a trip to Sears gave her the shape of the story for RETURNS AND EXCHANGES.

Linny says she really liked the depth of each of the characters in RETURNS AND EXCHANGES. Kayla says she loves reading family epics, such as EAST OF EDEN. She wanted to write the kind of book she likes to read.

We loved talking about our many favorite characters and Kayla tells us the importance of writers loving all their characters: even Fred. Kayla likes to start with characters first and then find the stories around them.

We learn that Kayla loves to think about how birth order impacts her characters and we find out she is the youngest, just like Birdie, her easiest character to write!

EAST OF EDEN by John Steinbeck

George Saunders

Kayla’s Website

Kayla’s Instagram

After discussing the super fun time they spent together the week before, Linny and Nancy discuss RETURNS AND EXCHANGES by Kayla Rae Whitaker. This best-seller is the sweeping story of one Kentucky family’s tragicomic rise and fall throughout the 1980s. The plot revolves around parents Fred and Fran, they are the family behind the discount store chain, Baker-Taylor, that is expanding rapidly across the South and Midwest United States. The family values façade of the chain, and the family, starts to crack pretty early with an inter-company affair. Linny and Nancy relished the decade-long story of Fred and Fran’s four kids and their relationship with their parents, siblings, and the company. Both Linda and Nancy enjoyed the epilogue where several years have passed following the cataclysmic events of the story’s end.

Koco’s Pub in Baltimore

Sunrise Soap Company in York

We have a rollicking time with author Molly Fader. Her latest book, LADY X, became available on July 14. Molly is the author of four novels, including THE MCAVOY SISTERS BOOK OF SECRETS which is about two sisters from a small Pennsylvania hometown! Writing under the pseudonym, Molly O’Keefe, Molly Fader is the USA Today Bestselling author of over 50 contemporary romances. And Molly is a podcaster. Her podcast is called Day Drinking with Authors. She interviews authors, and others in the industry, about their recent releases, inspirations, and what’s happening next in publishing. And do it all while having a cocktail. Or three. She says!

We discuss how Molly's love of romance was borne from early tragedy. After a successful career as a romance writer, however, Molly decided she needed to write beyond that genre. It was a painful switch in agenting and publisher.

Molly tracing the inspiration for LADY X, including the incident in which she felt she poorly advised her teenaged daughter who was experiencing harassment.

Nancy reveals where she cried during the story and Linny and Nancy regale Molly with stories of their visits to 1970's New York on unchaperoned high school bus trips.

We talk about powerful men who abuse women and women who fight back. We also talk about how women sometimes enable the abuse of other women.

This is a gritty, realistic, clear-eyed look at female relationships from the 1970's to today. And, all three of us love ally Todd.

Molly’s podcast called DAY DRINKING WITH AUTHORS

Amy Clark’s podcast called the BOOK GANG

Kate Hilton’s CITY OF THE MUSE

The Women’s March in DC

Molly’s Website