In this week’s episode of The Bookshop at the End of the Internet, authors Claire Matturro and Penny Koepsel discuss their new book, Wayward Girls, a novel inspired by true events and their own experiences. Wayward Girls is the fictional story of a boarding school for teen girls labeled rebellious or delinquent by the adults in their lives and two former students who managed to survive the experience. The main characters must confront the scars left by their boarding school years and the memories that still haunt them, including the mysterious and tragic fate of one of their friends. The co-authors admit that their fictional school is loosely based on a boarding school they attended during their teenage years. However, Claire and Penny are quick to point out that their own experiences were much different from that of their characters. That being said, the story is inspired by the tragic real-life events that took place at a Texas wilderness school in the 1970s. In this episode, I’ll chat with Claire and Penny about their respective writing journeys, how the idea to co-author a book began at a boarding school reunion they attended together, and why the best part of writing this book was the deep, forever friendship the two authors developed along the way.

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In this week’s episode of The Bookshop at the End of the Internet, author Diane E. Keyes discusses her debut children’s picture book, Peas Let Her Be a Princess. Diane is a third-generation children’s librarian. She grew up surrounded by literature and writing and performing plays with her family. As a children’s librarian, Diane has written numerous puppet show scripts for kids. When a friend challenged her to write a book, she decided to give it a try, and Peas Let Her Be a Princess was the wonderful result. Diane has put her own spin on the well-known fairytale, The Princess and the Pea, presenting it in a new way to create humor and laughter for young readers. In this episode, I’ll chat with Diane about her writing journey, how her role as a children’s librarian is to nurture creativity in others, and how writing books now gives her the opportunity to foster her own creativity.

The Bookshop at the End of the Internet is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify and iHeartRadio. Subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode!