BOOKS & BEYOND:
A PODCAST
Books & Beyond is a podcast for writers who are seeking inspiration for their stories, authors preparing to enter the query trenches, readers looking for their next comp title or read, and indie publishing hopefuls. At noon Eastern Daylight Time on every Saturday of each month, Mylee J. Miller and her co-hosts - Abigail Wadlington, Tali Shammas, or John W. Trevino - will dive into one of the four segments above and give listeners their tips about writing, querying, reading, self-publishing, and beyond.
Podcast Creator
Mylee J. Miller
Mylee is a Neurodivergent author of fantasy, retelling, mystery, and contemporary fiction novels. In all genres, she hopes to bring more representation from the marginalized communities she's part of into the fiction literary sphere. She's currently querying her debut epic fantasy novel featuring sea-heists and sea serpents, and has self-published the first book in a political fantasy series, entitled The Raincycle Trilogy. She's also the creator of the online writing pitch event called #PosterPit, and is the creative mastermind behind the idea of the Books & Beyond Podcast. When not writing, she can be found amid paint splatters, hiking trails, or anywhere there's a book to be read.
Podcast Co-Host
Abigail Wadlington
Abigail is a part-time dog daycare worker and a full-time daydreamer. Before earning her Bachelor’s in Creative Writing, she mentored under bestselling author Ridley Pearson and wrote a myriad of books that make her cringe now. She's represented at The Fogelman Agency by agent Rebecca Williamson for her upcoming novel, The Forgotten Realm. When not writing, she can be found painting book edges, filming dog TikToks, or playing cozy Switch games.
Podcast Co-Host
Tali Shammas
Tali Shammas is a lawyer and PhD candidate who teaches employment law. She completed a JD/MBA program in 2015 and was called to the Bar in 2016. Tali is passionate about educating writers on legal issues that may impact them and has delivered numerous talks on the topic. She is currently querying her debut novel, a romantasy, with the support of an incredible mentor.
Podcast Co-Host
John W. Trevino
John W. Treviño still doesn't know how he got here: nothing in his life prepared him to be a writer. He works in insurance regulation, praying that no one figures out his middle name; he once accidentally lit a workplace on fire by misusing a toaster; and he studied English murderers and their executions in school. John W. is not often invited to parties.
Season 1
Want to see what we have planned for Season 1 of the Books And Beyond Podcast?
Check out our guest and topic list, below!
"Writing Magic Systems: The How, The Why & The Consequences"
Leona Lach
Leona is a speculative fiction writer repped by Arianna Siddiqui at Fineprint Lit. She is based in the southern US, and enjoys incorporating lush adventures into harsh worlds while exploring family dynamics and one's self. When she isn't writing, she's acting like a movie critic, baking, and spending her time in the sun.
"Fiction From An Occultist's Perspective"
Daniela Ricchezza
By day, Daniela Ricchezza is a Canadian marketing coordinator in the life sciences industry, where she works to meld the worlds of drug discovery with storytelling to bring fresh perspectives to Canadians coast to coast. By night, she is an explorer of all things esoteric and occult.
"Publishing From A Hybrid Author's Perspective"
Lauren D. Fulter
Lauren D. Fulter has been creating fictional characters in her head (and getting scolded for daydreaming about them in class) for as long as she can remember. She published her first installment in her series "The Unanswered Questions" at age sixteen and hasn't looked back since. She's now an active member of SCBWI, and works as a Marketing Assistant for Whimsical Publishing.
"The Second Book Slump: Writing A Series"
Alexandra Roma
Alexandra Roma is an independent fantasy author of adventure and mystery. Raised on a gluttonous diet of stories, Alex self-published her first novel, The Wounds of Wisdom, in 2023. She lives in Minnesota with her best friend and three spoiled furbabies, where she is pursuing a full-time novel writing career.
"A Traveler's Guide to Worldbuilding"
Kate Drexel
Kate is a thriller and horror writer. She was born in Houston, TX and has lived in the East Coast most of her life including Rhode Island, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. When she's not traumatizing her characters, Kate can be found traveling the world as a travel blogger. She currently resides in Virginia, where she's either reading, browsing Barnes & Noble, writing, or rewatching Supernatural.
"The Importance Of Beta Readers & Working With Difficult Feedback"
A.T. Rainach
A.T. has been telling stories since she first learned to type on her mom’s old IBM. Her love of language grew into a passion for narrative poetry in college, and today she’s both a fiction author and published poet with a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing—plus an MBA and a career in analytics. When she’s not dreaming up fantastical tales or lyrical poems, she’s competing in barrel racing (a sport she’s pursued since age three), training her next horse, or wrangling her three feral kids.
"Writing Fictional Wars"
Amelia Thorne
Amelia is a North Yorkshire based writer focused (allegedly) on fantasy novels. Her current work in progress is a story about a society who accidentally killed a god and are trying to perfect the science of killing the others. When not writing she’s usually bugging her cat, reading under a blanket or making really, really bad jokes.
"Being a Non-Native English Speaker in the Publishing Industry"
Helena Bailach Adsuara
Helena is a fantasy writer based in Barcelona with a background in Literary Translation. She has published a Spanish translation of the classic novella Mathilda by Mary Shelley, and she’s actively querying miscellaneous fantasy novels featuring slow-burn romances, atmospheric settings, and stubborn female protagonists who will go to great lengths for the ones they love—or to commit mass murder. When not writing gothic and whimsical tales, she’s gaming or traveling the world.
"Crafting Original Worlds"
Cassandra Baggaley
Cassandra is a YA low fantasy author based in Southern Oregon. She has a Master's Degree in Deaf Education and works a day job as a Teacher of the Deaf. She has travelled to Iceland (twice), Denmark (twice), England, Wales, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. She uses her travels as inspiration for the worldbuilding in her stories. In her spare time, Cassandra devours every kind of book she can get her hands on, hosts dinner parties, and swims in circles.
"Indian Ethnicities in Publishing: Underrepresented Cultures & How to Make Space for them"
Aradhna K.
Aradhna K. is a Southeast Asian Indian writer and poet aiming to highlight and celebrate her culture and history via her words. Her first novella What Happened In Vegas came out in April 2024, and she has over 15 fiction pieces and poems up on her Ko-fi page. She can be found on Instagram at aradhnak and ara.openpages, and Bluesky at araopenpages and on her author website https://araopenpages.com.
"Nonfiction Topics in Children's Literature"
Carolyn Bennett Fraiser
Carolyn is the author of several educational books for children, including Moon Tree (Reycraft Books, 2022), a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection and SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner, and M is for Mason Jar, (Familius Books, releasing in August, 2025).
"Writing Unlikeable Protagonists"
Haley Aldrich
As a graduate from Fairleigh Dickinson's creative writing program, Haley is excited to write YA novels. She shares her passion for books with the teenagers at Darien Library, and works as an Acquisitions Assistant for SmashBear Publishing.
BONUS EPISODE
CAROLINE J. TRUSSELL"What to Do with Conflicting Industry Feedback and When to Consider It"
"Caroline J. Trussell has served as a literary intern and junior literary agent at Metamorphosis Literary for 3 years, a literary assistant for the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, and was a freelance reader for The Bent Agency. She has been in the industry for five years now. Caroline has her own editorial services, Tru Story Editing, where she helps authors create the best and truest version of their work."
Season 2
Want to see what we have planned for Season 2 of the Books And Beyond Podcast?
Check out our guest and topic list, below!
"Creating & Managing Pitch Events"Two-Guest Episode!
Florence Chien
Florence Chien is the author of the forthcoming political fantasy novel, The Revenant of Surolifia. An excerpt of her historical fiction, Hollow Whispers of the Wind, was a winner of Uncharted Magazine’s 2024 Novel Excerpt Prize. She is also a co-host of #SmallPitch, a pitch event centered around connecting authors with independent publishers. Florence was born in China and now resides in Toronto, Canada. Outside of writing, she is also a real estate lawyer, a connoisseur of coffee, and a fountain pen aficionado.
"Creating & Managing Pitch Events"Two-Guest Episode!
Millie Abecassis
Millie Abecassis is a writer of adult speculative fiction born and raised in France. She is the author of multiple novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories published with independent publishers. Beyond her writing, Millie is the founder of #SmallPitch and the co-founder of the Small Spec Book Awards, two initiatives aiming at supporting writers and independent publishers. Millie lives in San Jose, California with her spouse and their cats.
"Writing Unreliable Narrators"
Janna Horton
Janna ("Yah-na") Horton is an avid reader and writer of epic, romantic fantasy and sci-fi. An operating room nurse by trade, she lives in northern Georgia and is currently querying a space fantasy that has received 10 requests from agents. When not writing, she enjoys weight-lifting and spending time with her family and rambunctious golden-doodle.
"Co-authoring VS Writing Solo"
Lindsay Vena
Lindsay wrote her first story at six years old, so it was to no one’s surprise when she realized she wanted to pursue a career in writing. She likes to dip her toes into different genres, but with her current focus on her co-authored project ODE, she has fully embraced its fantasy and world building. She completed her BA in English & Creative Writing in 2023 at Seton Hall University.
"Juggling Querying And Publishing With Kids"
Rachel Blaine
Rachel studied writing at Florida State University and earned an MFA degree in Writing for the Stage and Screen from FSU’s College of Motion Picture Arts. She is currently querying a YA Dystopian novel and has a blog where she writes letters to her mother who passed away titled Sober Letters to Mom. Rachel currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two young kids. When she isn’t writing, she spends her time as a Personal Trainer and Pilates Instructor.
"Handling & Completing R&Rs"
Laura Galan-Wells
Lauren mostly grew up in Spain, Egypt, and South Africa, and came home to Texas every summer. She now lives in Austin, Texas with her hubby, kiddos, and cats. She has an Honors BSc in Psychology, and minors in English, Political Science, and Cognitive Science. She speaks Spanish fluently, and is ex-fluent in French. Her writing is often inspired by Mesoamerican mythology, and she loves blending genres, writing across Short Stories, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Novels in Verse, Poetry, and Comics.
"Love for All Things Fake: Why We Consume Books"
Dylan Patrick
Whether Dylan is making worlds unseen or gathering words unspoken, every one of his works are educated by his observations of the world. His listening to the discontentment of the masses, his pondering of the unknown, and his channeling of the pains and pleasures that colored his childhood. All of which he hopes will explain the unfathomable.
"Managing Writing & School: The Student/Author Dilemma"
Rebecca Leigh
Rebecca Leigh is a writer, artist, and university student who loves all things dark and spooky. When she isn’t working on her next novel, you can find her drawing her characters, fangirling over her favorite book or TV show, or studying ancient history.
"Persevering In Publishing: A Disabled Perspective"
K.T. Carlisle
K.T. Carlisle is the pseudonym for multi-genre indie author living in Southwest Florida. As far back as she can remember, Carlisle has dedicated her life to the written word. Earning her B.A. in Writing Arts with a concentration in Creative Writing in 2015 from Rowan University, Carlisle received the Excellence in Writing Arts Award. Out of more than 3,500 students, Carlisle was selected for the award based on her exceptional skill as a writer and teacher of writing.
"Integrating Identity: Finding Yourself in Fantasy"
Krystal Elkhoury
Krystal is a fantasy writer and professor of English. She is a citizen of the world—which is a fancy way of saying that she is a resident of whichever country has currently offered her a job. Hopping between America, Canada, and Lebanon over the last twenty years, she currently resides on the East Coast, teaching university students how to write essays, analyze literature, and write creatively.
"How Books Influence Society"
Drew McDowell
Drew McDowell is a multi-genre writer currently querying a sci-fi novel, A Fracture Within. He was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and currently lives there with his wife and son. He holds an MA in Sociology with an emphasis on social deviation. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring old ghost towns, gaming, and, of course, writing!
"The Digital Boom & Its Effects on Readers"
Chris Blows
Chris enjoys writing epic fantasy and being able to lose himself in a world of his own creation. He's currently working on his debut novel, which is a Percy Jackson X Avatar The Last Airbender epic fantasy with unique magical races and characters. The prologue of it is going to be published later this year in an anthology for Autistic writers. When not doing that, Chris is an avid skateboarder and videographer for bands local to his place of residence.
"Making The Decision: The Offer // New Agents VS Established Ones"Two-Topic Episode!
Marcela Marquez
Marcela Marquez is a Nicaraguan-American fantasy writer. When she’s not engrossed by a book or knee-deep into her own stories, she’s getting bullied by her two spicy, little female dogs, or drinking a cold beer and enjoying the sun. She loves to write stories influenced by her Hispanic culture and unique Miami upbringing, where she fell in love with Latino customs outside of her own. All her stories include LGBTQ characters and a hefty side of romance.
Season 3
Want to see what we have planned for Season 3 of the Books And Beyond Podcast?
Check out our guest and topic list, below!
"Art & Literature: How They Mix"
Percy Anthony
Percivale J Anthony, Percy for short, and PJs for sleep, considers themself a Philosophical Physicist. They're currently pursuing a History degree with a focus on Holocaust history, but had to put their academics on pause due to chronic illness. The intersection between science and magic have always fascinated them, and they like exploring that in fiction. The places where physics becomes philosophy, and history becomes fortune telling.
"From Zero To Hero: A Querying Unicorn?"
Helena Bailach Adsuara
Helena is a fantasy writer based in Barcelona with a background in Literary Translation. She has published a Spanish translation of the classic novella Mathilda by Mary Shelley, and she’s actively querying miscellaneous fantasy novels featuring slow-burn romances, atmospheric settings, and stubborn female protagonists who will go to great lengths for the ones they love—or to commit mass murder. When not writing gothic and whimsical tales, she’s traveling the world.
COMING SOON!
Want to see what our schedule looks like for the rest of Season 3?
Stay tuned and check back in soon for a full Season 3 schedule!