In EP. 65, host Holly Lynn Payne welcomes award-winning Bay Area author Nina Schuyler back to The Page One podcast to discuss Schuyler’s fifth novel, Open the Floodgates, inspired by real-world laws granting personhood to rivers. Schuyler discusses her choice to make the river a point-of-view character and to visually shape the text so it sways across the page to mimic water’s movement and the river’s disorientation with “clock time” and court. They explore the legal and psychological shift from treating nature as property to personhood, the book’s multiple viewpoints (humans, animals, trees, the river), and Schuyler’s craft approach—building connective tissue between perspectives, varying register, prioritizing rhythm and sentence music, revising pacing, and sustaining tension through the court case. Schuyler frames her recent work as climate-focused literary activism, cites influences including Virginia Woolf and Max Porter and praises independent presses like Reverberation Books for supporting experimentation in literature.

In EP. 64, I interview Icelandic author Margaret Ann Thors about her gripping debut thriller, FREYJA, set in Reykjavik and steeped in Icelandic folklore. Thors explains how the novel evolved through multiple iterations—from an early draft centered on a male protagonist shaped by her near-death experience (a 2010 stroke caused by a hole in her heart from birth) to a version unlocked by motherhood and a willingness to blend literary prose with suspense. We dig deep into using skepticism within the protagonist to integrate folklore without turning the story into fantasy, employing structure to sustain an 80,000-word arc, and how her willingness to embrace genre provided the “architecture” that enabled her creative freedom. I love how Thors discusses revision, describing it as essential discovery and she credits her agent Erin Harris for her patience in the years-long development of this stunning debut. This might be one of my favorite interviews of 2026 as we discovered so many parallels—suriving near death experiences at the age of 22 and choosing to write as single mothers of young children. Thors told me, “I feel I met a kindred spirit.” I could not agree more. I am so excited to introduce this debut novelist, and am so grateful she had the courage to leap from her background in non-fiction and into the wild, precarious and more daunting discipline—and art of fiction.

In EPISODE 63, I interview author Julie Carrick Dalton about her latest book, The Forest Becomes Her. I love this episode as it captures an uncommon conversation in traditional publishing about working collaboratively with both agent and editor. I rarely hear authors discuss how much they love the input of their publishing team, and that winning combination for Julie Carrick Dalton resulted in a wise decision to use three points of view in her latest novel.. Julie shares openly about revising nearly twenty drafts and how her editor encouraged her to ‘let the weird out,’ how to meet deadline strategies and the importance of accountability partners. We also dug deep into the process of finding the right agent. I hope you enjoy this episode and can check out The Forest Becomes Her, which bestelling author Lilly Brooks-Dalton calls “a lush, aching meditation on loss, transformation and the quiet power of women who refuse to be quiet.” Learn from a masterstoryteller and let me know what you think @hollylynnpayne.

In Episode 62, we rebroadcast what was Episode 23, an interview with Shelley Read about her breathtaking and captivating debut novel, GO AS A RIVER, published by Spiegel and Grau which was a international bestseller and has sold in 43 countries, and once compared to Delia Owen’s best selling debut novel, Where The Crawdad’s Sing. GO AS A RIVER was chosen as a March Indie Next Pick, an Apple Books Most Anticipated Book of 2023, a Barnes & Noble Most Anticipated Books of March, Buzz Books Editors Panel Pick, a Zibby Magazine Most Anticipated Book of 2023, and was named The Most Anticipated Historical Fiction of 2023 from Thoughts From a Page and also chosen as a Book Girls Guide Best Book Club Books for 2023. This is an extraordinary start for Shelley Read, a former professor of both writing and environmental studies, who waited three decades to write this gorgeous and captivating story, inspired by her roots as a 5th generation Coloradoan. In this special episode, Shelley Read shares the wonder and wisdom of waiting until her mid-fifties “to clear the space to say to the world, I've always wanted to be a writer, and now I am ready.” This interview is about becoming who we are meant to be. I hope you enjoy it.

In Ep. 61, host Holly Lynn Payne welcomes returning Page One guest Perdita Finn to discuss her new book, Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors. Finn explains she wanted the opening to make readers feel safe by redefining “mother” beyond modern, commercialized, patriarchal limits, emphasizing mothering as communal and inclusive of all genders, rooted in ancient meanings and pantheons of maternal figures. She connects mothers/daughters reconciliation to historical trauma, including the European witch persecutions. Finn describes writing the book on a nine-month deadline by climbing a mountain daily for guidance, writing fast without self-censorship, then collapsing with a severe, mysterious illness, using an imagined mountain-walk to endure and heal. The conversation explores calling on our ancestors and the dead for support and how writing very often is an act of remembering them.

In EP 60 of The Page One Podcast, Holly Lynn Payne talks with investigative journalist Scott Eden about his latest book, A Killing in Cannabis, the riveting story of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tushar Atre’s murder and the entwined legal and illicit cannabis economies in Santa Cruz, California. Eden reveals his inspired opening—to lead readers through the science of getting high through the point of view of cannabinoid receptors, a decision inspired after reading David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon. He details expanding from a magazine article to a highly literary, narrative non-fiction book after conducting more than 200 in-person interviews. Eden discusses world-building through history, culture, and vernacular, maintaining objectivity and his meticulous outlining and use of storyboards to map out the story. If you’ve ever been curious how to work with massive chronologies and infiltrate a world unknown to you, Scott Eden will not only inspire you but leave you in awe, eager to read this masterpiece in investigative journalism. Listen, learn and marvel at the haunting spirit of cannabis.

In EP 59 of the Page One Podcast, Host Holly Lynn Payne welcomes debut author and Peruvian-trained Shaman, Rob Somers, to discuss his book SHAMERGENCE, framed by his stage-four cancer diagnosis, miraculous survival, and a call to service centered on rebalancing divine feminine and masculine energies for personal and planetary healing. Somers explains these energies as elemental forces—masculine as logos, logic and doing; feminine as eros, love, wisdom and the collective compass—and warns of cultural imbalance, linking it to dis-ease within ourselves and the planet. He intimately recounts his earliest encounters with death as a child and decades later, undergoing the dark night of the soul during an egoic dissolution after the breakup of his popular band, The Samples, where he played rhythm guitar for more than a decade. Somer’s death as a rockstar birthed his miraculous new life as a steward of the land and a healer of those seeking to restore their own internal balance. Somers never considered himself a writer, but surrendered to the painstaking journey that he describes as his “daily appointment with Spirit.” Part Hunter Thompson + Don Quixote, Rob Somer’s voice offers a refreshing new perspective on faith and devotion.

Ep. 58 of the Page One Podcast. Crystal King on The Happiness Collector: Flow, Daily Practice, and Authors Helping Authors. Host Holly Payne welcomes novelist Crystal King back to the Page One podcast to discuss craft, momentum, and community while exploring King’s latest fantasy novel, The Happiness Collector. They talk about staying in creative “flow,” why long pauses can be damaging, and how a steady, repeatable writing practice—often a dedicated hour a day—keeps ideas and productivity moving, especially while balancing a full-time job. They also address modern publishing realities: trend-driven discovery, limited publisher marketing, and the need for authors to build direct relationships with readers through consistent newsletters or social channels. King emphasizes networking, cross-support, and community among writers to expand audiences and sustain visibility.

​​In episode 57 of the Page One Podcast, Janet Rich Edwards, a Harvard professor of epidemiology, discusses her debut novel, CANTICLE, a work of historical fiction that explores the 13th-century world of the Beguines and one young woman’s journey of faith. Janet shares her unique transition from being a scientist to a novelist, driven by a profound curiosity inspired by the stories of medieval mystics. She delves into the importance of revision, the invaluable insights from her editors and how a pivotal change in her manuscript strengthened her entire narrative. Edwards discusses the rich research into the often-overlooked Beguines community and how it led her on an investigation into the meaning of faith. I love how honestly she speaks about the power of perseverance as a late-bloomer writer. If you’re intrigued by the intersection of science and spirituality, this episode offers deep insights into the art of storytelling. I hope you enjoy the first conversation of 2026 about my favorite craft. Listen and learn!

How do you tell a story about the unimaginable loss of a child in a mass shooting—with hope? You cultivate a heart and an outlook like Arik Housley. In Ep. 56, we dive into a poignant and timely conversation with entrepreneur and public speaker Arik Housley about his debut memoir, Always November: Lessons in Loss, Love, and Resilience. Arik speaks with unflinching honesty about his journey facing the page for the first time to capture his journey of losing his 18-year-old daughter, Alaina, in a mass shooting and his journey through grief with an open heart. We discuss the creative process behind the book, the impact it has already had on readers, and the significance of showing up for each other in times of adversity. This episode is an uplifting exploration of using creativity and the written word to turn unimaginable pain into purpose, cultivate compassion, and grow your life bigger than grief.