In this deeply moving and unexpectedly warm conversation, Blair and Alana sit down with Emmy-nominated television producer and ghostwriter Samantha Rose to talk about grief, suicide loss, creativity, and the complicated ways we stay connected to the people we love after they die.

Samantha opens up about writing her award-winning memoir, Giving Up the Ghost, which chronicles the loss of her mother to suicide and the surreal, tender experience of channeling her mother’s voice while writing the book. What started as a way to survive grief became a path to reclaiming her own voice after years of helping others tell their stories.

Together, the three explore the strange overlaps between grief and creativity, the pressure to “do grief correctly” (spoiler: there is no correct), and the quiet magic that shows up when we give ourselves permission to listen.

Yes, they also talk about signs from beyond, vivid dreams, spiritual tattoos, ghostwriting secrets, and that unforgettable moment they all met at a grief conference involving a sound bath and a choking incident. Because grief is heavy, but laughter still finds a way in.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

1. What it’s like to write a memoir after losing a parent to suicide
2. How channeling a loved one’s voice can be healing, grounding, and terrifying
3. The complicated identity shift that happens when your parent dies
4. The emotional intimacy of ghostwriting and why it mirrors grief work
5. Vivid dreams, spiritual experiences, and staying connected after loss
6. Gentle, honest advice for anyone grieving a parent lost to suicide

This episode holds space for the complexity of suicide grief with care, honesty, and compassion. If this topic feels tender for you, please listen gently and take breaks as needed.

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who needs permission to grieve out loud, write it out, or trust the voice that’s been quietly waiting inside them.

Grief changes us. Stories help us survive it. And sometimes, giving up the ghost is exactly how we find ourselves again.

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About the Guest:

Samantha Rose is an Emmy award-winning television producer and a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling ghostwriter of nearly twenty titles, some that have been selected as Reese’s Book Club and Target Bookmarked Picks and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Oprah.com and Harper’s Bazaar. She is the principal of Yellow Sky Media, an editorial agency in Petaluma, California, where she lives with her son. Her newest release, Giving Up the Ghost, was awarded “Best Memoir” at the 2025 San Francisco Book Festival, and is her first book written under her own name.

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