Outliers Writing University Podcast Series

GET TO KNOW Desperate Deadly Widows

Outliers Get to Know guest host Tracey Devlyn sits down with Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie to talk about their newest collaboration—DESPERATE DEADLY WIDOWS, an Amazon Audible Original bestseller, now in ebook and paperback.
High heels. High stakes. Higher body count.
In 1987 Providence, four unforgettable widows are back—and when a honey-pot scheme goes sideways, they’re thrust into a scandal involving the city's sleaziest mayor, buried secrets, and explosive betrayals. With loyalties fraying and revenge in the air, these women must decide if friendship is worth dying for.
Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of suspense novels including The Paris Widow, The Marriage Lie, a Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Mystery & Thriller, and the co-authored #1 Audible Original, Young Rich Widows. Her books have been published in dozens of languages and optioned for film and television. https://www.kimberlybellebooks.com
Layne Fargo has a background in theater, women’s studies, and library science, so it’s only fitting that she now writes deliciously dramatic, unapologetically feminist stories for a living. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner, their pets, and an ever-expanding collection of books she’s definitely going to read before she dies. https://www.laynefargo.com
Cate Holahan is a USA Today Bestselling thriller/suspense author and screenwriter. A bi-racial Jamaican and Irish American writer, Cate is a member of Crime Writers of Color, Sisters in Crime, and The Authors Guild. She has an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts ’23 and a BA from Princeton University. She lives in Tenafly, NJ, with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs, and spends many a break in Jamaica, where she’s also a citizen. https://www.cateholahan.com
Vanessa Lillie is the USA Today bestselling author of Blood Sisters, which was a Target Book Club pick and GMA Book Club Buzz Pick, as well as a best mystery of the year from the Washington Post and Reader’s Digest. Originally from Miami, Oklahoma, she is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She hosts a weekly Instagram Live show, ‘Twas the Night Before Book Launch, where she chats with authors the night before their book is out in the world. https://vanessalillie.com

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Shirley Jump

Shirley Jump is an award-winning, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and USA Today bestselling author who has published more than 80 books in 24 countries, selling a combined total of more than 8 million copies. She has been published in romantic suspense, romance, women’s fiction, and young adult horror, as well as nonfiction, and also works as a ghostwriter for NFL players, TV celebrities, and top CEOs.
Her YouTube channel, Writing Compelling Fiction, is in the top 7% of all YouTube channels worldwide. A former reporter, she has a background in all aspects of writing, from hard news to publicity to fiction. She has spoken all over the world about the power of narrative and how to create compelling books. 
 www.ShirleyJump.com 

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Nita Prose

Outliers Get to Know guest host Tracey Devlyn sits down with New York Times bestselling author Nita Prose to chat about her new release—THE MAID’S SECRET.A stolen treasure. A hidden past. When a priceless heirloom disappears during a bold hotel heist, Molly Gray must uncover long-buried family secrets to solve the mystery—before looming threats become deadly. With help from her friends and her gran’s forgotten love story, she races to protect both her future and her heart.
NITA PROSE is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid, which has sold more than two million copies worldwide, The Mystery Guest and The Mistletoe Mystery. A Good Morning America Book Club pick, The Maid won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Fingerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Barry Award for Best First Mystery. The Maid was also an Edgar Award finalist for Best Novel. https://NitaProse.com 

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Alison Gaylin

Suspense Magazine’s Radio Podcast guest host Tracey Devlyn sat down with USA Today bestselling author Alison Gaylin to chat about her new thriller—WE WERE WATCHING.
USA Today and international bestselling author Alison Gaylin has won the Edgar and Shamus awards. Her work has been published in the US, UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Romania and Denmark, and she has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Macavity, Anthony, ITW Thriller and Strand Book Award.  In addition to her novels, she has published many short stories and collaborated with Megan Abbott on the graphic novel Normandy Gold (Titan/Hard Case Crime, 2018).

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Heather Graham

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Heather Graham, majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over two hundred novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, sci-fi, young adult, and Christmas family fare.
She has been published in approximately thirty languages and has written over 200 novels and has 70 million books in print. Heather has been honored with awards from booksellers and writers’ organizations for excellence in her work, and she is the proud to be a recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers and was awarded the prestigious Thriller Master Award in 2016. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight, and local television.
Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. She has hosted events to benefits to aid pediatric children’s hospital and 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf Region. She is also the founder of “The Slush Pile Players,” presenting something that’s “almost like entertainment” for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
https://www.theoriginalheathergraham.com/

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Brad Taylor

BRAD TAYLOR, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), is a twenty-one-year veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces, including eight years with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment—Delta, popularly known as Delta Force. Taylor retired after serving more than two decades and participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as classified operations around the globe. His final military post was as assistant professor of military science at The Citadel. He is a New York Times bestselling author of eighteen Pike Logan thrillers and is a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife and two daughters. 
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/into-the-gray-zone-brad-taylor?variant=42923640127522

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Katy Hays

Outliers Get to Know guest host Tracey Devlyn sat down with New York Times bestselling author Katy Hays to chat about her new literary thriller—SALTWATER.Sun-soaked paradise or a gilded cage of deception?A long-buried crime resurfaces, shaking a fractured family to its core. When the past refuses to stay buried, trust is shattered—and survival isn’t guaranteed. 
Katy Hays is a Californian, writer, and cake aficionado. She lives in the shadow of the Sierra with her husband and their dog, Queso. In addition to writing, Katy works as an adjunct Art History Professor teaching rural students from Truckee to Tecopa. She holds an MA in Art History from Williams College and pursued her PhD in Art History at UC Berkeley. When not writing (or eating cake) Katy is a skier, cyclist, trail runner, eastern Sierra enthusiast, and—well, reader. https://www.katyhays.com 
 

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Authors Nicholas Harvey and Douglas Pratt

Nicholas Harvey
A USA Today Bestselling author, Nicholas Harvey's life has been anything but ordinary. Race car driver, adventurer, divemaster, and since 2020, a full-time novelist. Raised in England, Nick has dual US and British citizenship and now lives nomadically wherever he and his amazing wife, Cheryl, choose to land for a few months. He is the author of the AJ Bailey Adventure and Nora Sommer Caribbean Suspense series, as well as multiple collaborations.
https://www.harveybooks.com
 
Douglas Pratt
Douglas Pratt, a best-selling action author hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, captivates readers with his unique blend of charm and intensity, reflecting his Southern roots. His works keep audiences on the edge of their seats, infused with a sense of adventure and exploration. Beyond writing, Pratt's personal interests lead him to sail the seas, exploring vibrant coral reefs and sunken shipwrecks, which fuel his imagination and inspire enthralling adventures in his stories.
Website:  http://www.douglas-pratt.com

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Chris Bohjalian

Outliers Get to Know guest host Tracey Devlyn sits down with New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian to chat about his new historical fiction—THE JACKAL’S MISTRESS.Torn by war. Bound by fate. 
A Confederate wife faces an impossible choice when she finds a wounded Union officer—risk everything to save him or let war take its course.
 
Chris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-four books, including The Lioness, Hour of the Witch, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which has been made into a MAX limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Red Lotus, The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; and The Double Bind. His novels Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers were made into movies, and his work has been translated into more than thirty- five languages. He is also a playwright (Wingspan and Midwives). He lives in Vermont.
 https://www.chrisbohjalian.com  

GET TO KNOW Author David "DL" Williams

David “D.L.” Williams is a thirty-year public safety veteran with assignments including paramedicine, patrol in high-need areas, helicopter rescue, mental health liaison, and violent crime investigations as a detective. The Fraternal Order of Police, Rotary Club, the Arkansas Psychiatric Society, and the American Legion have all honored Williams as Officer of the Year for his work with families and children in crisis, and he is a recipient of the Visionary Voice Award from the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault.  Williams is the bestselling author of Fighting for Her Life: What to do When Someone You Know is Being Abused and Textbooks, Not Targets: How to Prevent School Shootings in Your Community, and he teaches criminology at the University of Arkansas. 
https://www.davidlanewilliams.com