SURPRISE! It’s a Bonus Episode.   Yes, I am officially on summer vacation, working on my novel, and the podcast is on a summer hiatus. So, why am I back in your podcast feed? Because I have a special bonus episode for you!    I want to introduce you to a literary podcast I love to listen to called Black & Published. Hosted by author Nikesha Elise Williams, Black & Published features interviews with novelists, nonfiction writers, poets and playwrights every week. For today’s bonus episode, I’m running a recent episode from Black & Published that I loved. This episode features an interview with award-winning author, Vanessa Riley. An engineer turned historical romance writer who always centers women of color in her best-selling books, Vanessa Riley has an incredible story of how she started her writing career, and an even more impressive story of how she got the mainstream publishing industry to take her historical romance stories seriously.  This episode centers on her recently released novel about Haiti’s only queen, Marie-Louise Christophe. The book sounds amazing, and this episode is equally amazing.   I hope you enjoy and continue listening to Black & Published wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you want to learn more about Vanessa Riley, visit her website.   If you’re looking for more creative writing inspiration, and useful resources for your literary life, visit ReedWriteandCreate.com.   Sign up for the monthly, Reed, Write, & Create newsletter for literary resources and opportunities delivered right  to your inbox.   Don’t buy your books on Amazon, support indie booksellers and shop online at the Reed, Write, & Create bookshop for a list of curated titles by BIPOC authors.    If you’re looking for a better way to organize your writing manuscripts, fiction and nonfiction, consider trying Scrivener. I’ve recently become a Scrivener fan and am using it to write my current novel. Feel free to use my affiliate link to purchase Scrivener and receive 20% off by using the code REEDWRITE.