Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight

In this episode of Historical Happy Hour, host Jane Healey chats with bestselling author Eliza Knight about her newest historical fiction novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen. Set in 1960s New York, the book follows Bernadette Swift, an ambitious copy editor aiming to become the first female CEO of a publishing house—alongside her endearing Great Dane, Frank. Jane and Eliza delve into the inspirations behind Bernadette’s character, including real-life editorial trailblazers, the feminist undertones of a secret book club, and writing from a dog's perspective. They also explore the challenges women faced in the workplace during the early '60s, the joys of historical research, and Eliza’s meticulous writing process, all while offering laughs, heartfelt stories, and sharp writing insight.

Transcript

Jane: 0:02

Welcome to Historical Happy Hour, the podcast that explores new and exciting historical fiction. I'm your host, Jane Healey, and in today's episode, we welcome bestselling author Eliza Knight to discuss her latest novel Confessions of a Grammar Queen. Welcome, Eliza. Thank you so much for doing

Eliza: 0:18

this. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so thrilled to be here with you and to chat about this book.

Jane: 0:24

Yeah. I'm so thrilled to meet you too.'cause I feel like we have a lot of mutual people

Eliza: 0:29

in common. Yes, we definitely do. And a lot of things in common with books and wine and history and all of that. Exactly.

Jane: 0:35

I'm gonna do a quick bio on you and then we'll jump. Sure. Um, Eliza Knight is the award-winning u award-winning USA today and international bestselling author of Confessions of a Grammar Queen, an avid history buff. Her love of history began as a young girl when she TRAs the halls of Versailles. She also writes contemporary women's fiction. Under the pseudonym Michelle Brandon Eliza is the creator of the historical blog history, undressed and co-host of the History Books and Wine podcast. She lives on the Suncoast with her husband, three daughters, a dog and a turtle. We were both dog lovers and I have lots of questions about that as well. Love dog. Talk about the premise of this wonderful novel and how you came up with it.

Eliza: 1:17

Alright, so Confessions of a Grammar Queen takes place in 1960s New York City, and the main character of the book is Bernadette Swift, who is a young copy editor at the fictional Lennox and Park Publishing house. And she has aspirations of working her way up to being this first female CEO of a publishing house. Um, along the way she has a wonderful set of friends who she meets after hours at the New York Public Library for their little book club. And they all empower each other in every aspect of their life, whether it's employment, marriage, dating, friendship people that are being mean to them, whatever it may be. They really empower each other. And then also we have a special point of view from her dog Frank, who is a great Dane. And, um, he's sort of what I imagined to be like the mayor of the borough that they lived in. And just, he is a great comic relief. And also her, you know, wonderful companion that. Keeps her safe.

Jane: 2:15

I loved it. I love Frank. I have questions about him later. Do you have a, what? Do you have a great Dane? What kind of dog do you have?

Eliza: 2:21

So, I don't have a great Dane Frank is actually based off of a real dog that I met. Do you want me to share that story? Sure. Yeah. So I, I was, um, visiting my oldest daughter at the time. She was, uh, at college, at the Ohio State University. I always had the d in there for the Ohio State people, they, they've gotta have it, but we were doing like a little bar crawl. One of the bars we were at this Great Dane walked through the front door alone and people were like, Hey, Frank, good to see you tonight. And like, oh, are you thirsty? Like giving him some of their water. Do you wanna fry? And I was mesmerized because this dog was clearly a regular at this bar. So, um, we asked questions and of course it turned out he did have an owner and the owner was in the out. Side courtyard part with the other Great Dane who was working that crowd. Um, but we just fell in love with Frank. I have a picture of my daughter playing with him on the ground, and we were like, I, I just, I had to use him as a character at some point because I've never seen a dog more confident in my life.

Jane: 3:20

Amazing. Amazing. Yes.

Eliza: 3:21

But I have. Oh, go ahead. I was just gonna say, I have a half Newfoundland, half lab and she's so adorable. But most of Frank's personality is actually based on my Newfoundland who passed away earlier this year, and she was just such a character. So you get to see a bit of her and Frank.

Jane: 3:39

Oh, that's amazing. I have a, um, teacup goldendoodle. So a little bit smaller. Oh yeah, only 20 pounds. Yeah. You big cuddler. Yeah, totally. So Bernadette, I wanna talk about her as a character'cause she's essentially a composite of a few powerful women in the publishing world, including Anna Wintour. Talk about the women that inspired this ca character and how you came up with Bernadette.

Eliza: 4:04

Okay, sure, no problem. So, um, the first person that I discovered, I mean, obviously we all, well, most of us know who Anna win is with, uh, the Devil Wears Prada and being the editor of Vogue and all of that. And she was an amazing person still alive who just has taken, you know, a magazine publishing by storm and everyone admires her. I was looking for more historical women that I could also base Bernadette off of. And I found two. Um, one is Eleanor Gold Packard. She is she was known as the grammarian of the New Yorker magazine, and that title is something that I gave to Bernadette at. You know, the thing, one of the names that she puts on her headband with some glitter. And she was just, you know, the, one of the most famous copy editors there ever was. And her origin story is one that really inspired Bernadette Bernadette's character. And also I just found to be a total mic drop moment that had to be shared. So apparently when she applied for the job in the, at the New Yorker in the fifties. They rejected her application and she was not gonna take no for an answer. She knew she was talented and she had dreams of working for the magazine. And so she took a published copy of The New Yorker off of a newsstand and she took it home and she copy edited, uh, an article or two and then brought it back. And she basically said, Hey, I've copy edited this. Do you wanna gimme the job now you guys already published this and look at what I've found here. And of course they said, yes, absolutely, you can work here. I love that. That's

Jane: 5:33

such a power move so good.

Eliza: 5:35

Seriously. Like you can't even make that up. It's so good. And so she, yeah, she, she got the job and her edits at the magazine were known as Gold Proof, and that was her maiden name when she first started working there. And that's another thing I kind of borrowed for Bernadette's. Her edits were known as Swift Proof, and the woman is, uh, Phyllis e Grant. She was the first female CEO of a publishing house, uh, not till 1987. And, um, she worked there until she retired. So she's, she's still alive today as well.

Jane: 6:05

Excellent. So interesting. I, I mean obviously like you said, everyone knows and Winter Bo Yeah. The other names I kind of vaguely heard but didn't know. And so it was fun to read your author interview at the end of the book to like find out more about those two. I know we've already talked about Frank. I won't go like too deep into Frank, but I, I love dogs and I, the last I was trying to remember, I think the only other book I've read that has a dog cha, like chapters from a dog's perspective is lessons in chemistry. Like I, and I loved that. And I was like, oh my God, and you nailed it. I'm just like thinking about it. I'm like, how? I love the comic relief. I love the dog's perspective. Did, was that a challenge for you? Was it a like nice break for you? Like how'd you do it?

Eliza: 6:47

First of all, that book is a great book. I love lessons in chemistry. So I, my first book, uh, that had a dog point of view is actually the Queen's Faithful Companion, and that came out last year and it's about Queen Elizabeth II and her Corgi. Susan, who she was gifted on her 18th birthday. And I had had so much fun writing Susan's point of view and getting into the mind of a dog that I was like, okay, next book, I'm doing the same thing. And when I met the real Frank, I was like, okay we're putting, we're doing this. So yeah, I, uh, I had so much fun. Like the thing with dogs is like, they're just so much more basic than we are, and they like, they can sense our emotions, they can sense how we're feeling and they really play off of that a lot of the time. Mm-hmm. So taking out all of, you know, the drama that goes on in human lives and just really getting down to the basics and what people are thinking and how to make people feel good or, to understand'em is really how I got into the mindset of the dog. And then also to remember that like. The points of the dogs in the, the books are, you know, to give a little comic relief, but also to give an insight into their human. Mm-hmm. Um, that we're not gonna see from the human's perspective. And then, you know, for example, in confessions, there's only the point of view of Bernadette and the dog. So you're not gonna see what other people think of her, and he kind of provides that as well.

Jane: 8:03

Totally. So good. So one of the elements you mentioned already is this secret feminist book club that takes place in the New York Public Library. I hadn't been in, in the New York Public Library for a while and I went and around Christmas time and it's just such a special place. Like, I forgot like how much I loved it. And they actually, at the time, I don't know if it's still on, and they had a, um, a New Yorker exhibit, which was amazing. Like a little, like, I don't know if you saw that. So. Talk about this secret feminist book club is, did you just come out, like, did you hear about anything like this? Or did you come up with that on your own? I, and you know, talk about the New York Public Library too.'cause it, it's such a cool setting.

Eliza: 8:43

Yeah, sure. So, uh, when I was plotting out this book, I knew I wanted Bernadette to have a group of friends that were empowering her. And being in like the book industry, I wanted it to be book related. And um, I was also visiting New York at the time and I did like a tour of the New York Public Library, which I agree. It's one of the coolest places ever. And there was this long hallway that had, um, it was like gated off, but it was like this old fashioned, like wooden gate. And I can't even tell you exactly where it was. I have a picture of it. And I was like, oh, I wanna go back there. Wouldn't it be cool? Like cool to like sneak back there? That was kind of like in the back of my mind. So when I knew I wanted her to have a book club and they were gonna be chatting about books that weren't necessarily things that husbands or parents or anyone would necessarily agree with or the conversations they were having, I thought, well, maybe they could sneak back there where, where people aren't allowed. Um, and so I have, you know, the janitor opens up the door for them after hours, which is like. A really fun little touch. And I don't know if you noticed that one of the characters that is in the book club is named Ruth and I based her off of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. So she has her history and background. Oh, I wanted the friends to all come from like different walks of life. So you've got nurses, you've got artists, you have the young lawyer, you have a stay at home mom, um, you've got Bernadette and her girlfriends from the publishing industry. And I just, I thought it would be so fun to have like. A group like that where women could really just talk about things that weren't really being talked about in public or weren't considered polite conversation. Um, and I know whenever I go to my book club, like that's exactly what we do. So I was like, this is, a lot of people's book clubs are like that. And I thought it would be just the perfect spot for it. Didn't, I don't know if book clubs were happening back then. I'm certain they were like, I feel like since books have been around, people have talked about it and women have been talking about, oh my gosh, have you read this book? You know, in Secret, or they were, you know, sneaking each other little volumes or whatever it was back in the day. So, I, I just, I thought that was like a really fun aspect to put in there.

Jane: 10:48

Really fun. Yeah. I always say like, I talk to a lot of book clubs and I'm like, you know, if book clubs ran the country, we'd be a lot better off. They're so good. So I wanna talk about setting, you've written a ton of historical fiction. This starts in 19 six. In New York City love New York. What kind of research did you do to capture time and place and was there anything that surprised you?

Eliza: 11:13

Yeah, so the fun thing about setting it in 1963 for me was that there was so much. Like documentation, like maps and, and real photographs and even some video and things like that, that I was able to actually watch and see the city come to life during that era. Normally I write stuff that takes place a lot earlier, so, um, that it makes it a little bit more difficult. And also like having known people that lived in New York City during that time and chatting with them about how, you know, the city, you know, what the atmosphere was and the vibe. That was really awesome. So the research was a little bit different for me in that it was. You know, a new era and one that was a little bit closer to modern time. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I really just tried to capture the atmosphere of the city, but also digging into a little bit more about what was happening in the world during that time period. So in 1963, we have the Equal Pay Act come out, and that was one of the reasons I chose to set it during the time period because. We've got Bernadette who wants a promotion at work. She wants to become the first female, CEO. And finally there's a law that says women can be paid equally. They should be offered these promotions. And so it kind of felt like it fit right in there. Also, we have like the civil rights acts going on, um, we're, we haven't fully gone into Vietnam yet, but we're dipping our toes. Mm-hmm. And then also, I didn't wanna set it, um. After or during the assassination of JFK, because I didn't want that to overtake the story itself. So August of 1963 seemed like the perfect time, uh, to dig in there. Um, so yes, then I had to research like different things that women were able to do, um, when I first started writing. Uh, Bernadette had rented her apartment on her own, and then come to find out during research and being a little bit surprised, she wouldn't have been able to rent an apartment on her own. So her brother helps her out with that because her parents don't necessarily agree with her living in the city on her own. And then also again, surprised that women couldn't have credit. And I was talking to a reader recently and she remembered being at a, a store and, uh, a department store and her mom. Wanted to open a credit card for the store and they said, actually, here's the application, but you need to have your husband fill it out and then you can come back and we'll give you the credit card. And her mom was furious and I can't even imagine. Going to like the mall right now and being like, oh yeah, give me the Victoria's Secret credit card, or whatever. And them being like, sorry, you have to come back with your husband for that. That would slay me inside. I, I just couldn't even handle it. So there was a lot of surprises like that. And, and also at the same time it was such a great time for women too, because they were really coming out and saying, no, we want these rights. We've got, you know, the birth control pill head. Just been brought out recently. And so they were starting to have a little bit more autonomy with their birth, uh, control situation and all this stuff. So I loved that time period and found a lot of things to be surprising in that they were pretty depressing and then, but also surprising in an exciting way of how it was bringing women together to really push for those right.

Jane: 14:09

Yeah, it was a real time of change for sure. Yeah. I mean, my mom still talks about like not being able to have your own credit card or checking account or own property. Like it's crazy that it was not that long ago. Right? Like it just, yeah.

Eliza: 14:22

Like there it's, you know, history, historical fiction, whatever, but people are still alive from that time period. So it's real. Like, it's not that long ago at all. It drives me crazy.

Jane: 14:30

I know. It is. It's maddening. Yeah. Um, I wanna talk about, uh, so Bernadette is a grammar genius, basically, uh, as a writer. Do you have any, uh, it was funny, I was on TikTok, like doom squirreling or whatever, but there's this writer on there who was talking about all her grammar pet peeves that make her crazy. Like, do you have any grammar pet peeves?

Eliza: 14:51

Um, I don't know if I necessarily have any pet peeves. I do love the Oxford comma. So every book I've signed, I've written like, with admiration in Oxford, commas like xo, because I just, I feel like, you know, they save lives. Like that one comma could save your life. Um, so I think that's one of my, my biggest pet peeves. And then also when I'm editing myself or like critiquing for a friend, uh, repetitive words, like I really pick up a lot on repetitive words. Yes. Don't know why, but they just like. Pop out of the screen for me. But I wouldn't necessarily call myself a grammar queen. I know when I was writing this book, I did so much research into copy editing and like grammar, just because one, it's Bernadette's character. I had to know those things and I confused myself so many times. I was like, I don't know how any of this, like, thank goodness I have like an actual copy editor that's gonna look through this afterwards. But, um. Also just like, because I knew I was writing a grammar queen book. I wanted it to be super clean and also reflect some of those grammar queen things. I had a lot more fun coming up with some of the puns that are in there than anything. Yeah.

Jane: 15:59

Oh, those were good. Yeah. And I, I'm not a grammar queen either, and every time I hand in a manuscript I'm like, oh my God. Copy editors are like the rock star. They're rock stars. Like, I don't even know how they do it. They're,

Eliza: 16:10

yeah. Yeah. And, and the copy editor for this book. Wow. So I got the copy edits back and my editor, like the message basically said, um, if you need a little bit more time with this, you know, that's okay. And I was thinking, oh no, what's it gonna look like? And the, the copy editor took her job so seriously. That's awesome. They didn't normally take their job seriously, but I felt like she went the extra mile this time around.

Jane: 16:33

Yeah. Yeah.'cause God forbid you get anything wrong in a book called Right For Queen. Yeah, exactly. So funny. Uh, I wanna talk, I always ask writing questions, writing related questions or generally general questions. So talk about your writing process. Are you a plotter? Are you a pants or is it a combination of the two?

Eliza: 16:56

I think a lot of people would probably call me like an extreme plotter. I am a. Queen of the spreadsheets, I guess you could say. Everything I write is done on spreadsheets, so, I have all my character breakdowns, my historical research, my timelines the arcs of the, the different, plot points and the acts of the story and all the chapters are all broken down onto a spreadsheet before I start and, the theme of the novel and then, you know, links to everything. So it's pretty intense. But the other thing is I also know like while I'm writing that things will change. So I'm not so rigid in that I can't change something while I'm going. But um, yeah, so I'm calling myself like an extreme plotter. I think,

Jane: 17:38

I think you and I are are pretty similar that way and it's nice to meet someone who's like that.'cause I'm pretty, I'm pretty obsessive when it comes to like plotting things out before I like I love that. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, I feel like my. Outline is almost like a super messy first draft. I like to say that. Yeah, I

Eliza: 17:53

could see that. Like you probably could do the same thing from mine because like it's so ridiculous on the spreadsheets that you could just, I mean, that's how I do my, um, pitches and everything,

Jane: 18:02

awesome. Now, do you do use Scribner at all or just like Excel and Microsoft Word? Like what do you use? Yeah.

Eliza: 18:09

So I don't use Scrivener. I'm like a total like Excel and Microsoft Word girl. I do like Google Docs, so, um, my spreadsheets are oftentimes on Google Docs, actually. Because I can use'em on my computer or I can access it from my laptop if I'm traveling, which happens a lot. And because I use Apple products and I'm not affiliated with apples, that's not a plug. But I can, I can do the, um. I have the Google spreadsheet app on my phone too, so I can pull up my plot. Like if I'm out at the grocery store, I'm like, oh, I wanna add this real quick. I can pull up my spreadsheet for my phone. And I love that.

Jane: 18:43

Oh, that's a nice feature. Yeah. Yeah, because then it's not like everything's all over the place. Like all your notes and different, yeah, exactly. That's nice. Yeah. So you write contemporary stories as well as historical, which is super impressive. And you write under the name Michelle Brandon, and you just released a contemporary called Rush Week. Yeah, I keep on wanting to call it Greek week. It's rush week. Tell everyone about the premise of that story and, and do you have a preference in terms of genre? Like that's amazing that you write in both.

Eliza: 19:12

Thank you. So the pre, uh, the preface of rush week is for sorority sisters and when they were in college together, they sort of ruled their sorority and they had these spill the tea parties where they would, um, have everyone basically confess their darkest secrets into the spill book. And they were not all good girls, especially the four main characters. I like to call them sort of like my anti heroines. And they did some pretty bad stuff. You know, so they've marked it down in this bill book. It's buried in a time capsule that's not supposed to be, you know, dug up for a hundred years. So they figure no one's gonna find out about the stuff we did except that they end up digging it up early for an event and now someone has. Stolen it and is seeking revenge through blackmail. And so they have to come back to college after they've graduated to sort of, hash out their friendship that fell apart. And then also make sure the s spill book doesn't get out so that people don't find out what they did. And it's kind of like a revenge fiction, uh, I'm calling it these days. Um, it was really, really fun to write and for me, I felt like. It's sort of like, I don't know if I wanna call it like a palate cleanser or just like a way to make my brain work in a different way. So between the historical fiction novels, writing like this revenge suspense was just a fun way to like, play and, and have my brain work in a different like way, I guess. And I really, really enjoyed that so much. So I don't have a preference. I've been doing both. I have two coming out next year, another historical and another contemporary. So I've just had so much fun like. Doing both. I don't know if I could stop now.

Jane: 20:46

Amazing. So impressed. Yeah. Very, very cool. What part of the writing process do you love and what part do you find the most challenging?

Eliza: 20:55

So the thing I love the most, and I'm definitely in the minority here, is editing. The editing part of the writing process is my absolute favorite. I feel like that's where the magic happens. You know, the words are already down, and now I just get to make them look prett, or I get to add in, some rhetorical devices and metaphors and things like that are exciting. And tweak things like, I love that part. The drafting part is not my favorite. Oh, no. I love like plotting it and editing it. The middle part where I actually write it, that's the hardest part.

Jane: 21:23

Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's like I always say, it's like getting that movie in your head onto the page is like blood from a stone every time. Every time. Yeah.

Eliza: 21:34

And I like sometimes have to bribe myself. Like finish, you can go get that really good coffee that you wanted. Yep. Brown sugar latte. Yeah, exactly.

Jane: 21:46

In your future, just get going, right? Uh, when you're in deadline, what's your writing routine like?

Eliza: 21:54

So, um, I have figured out over the years that my best writing time is around seven in the morning. And so I'm pretty strict about that. When I'm on deadline, I'll sit at my desk at seven and I won't do anything else until I finish. And if I can get to my desk at seven, which I'm pretty good about,'cause I'm also like super type A, like follow my own rules. Um, I can finish my words for the day, like around 10, which is good because at that point it starts slowing down. Um, what I normally tell people is if I can get my word count done in that period of time, if I tried to switch that to a different time of day, it takes me twice as long. Wow. And it's a waste of my time. And like, as you know, like when you're writing, you are also doing other things. So you have to promote whatever you've got coming out or already out, or you've got edits maybe coming in, or maybe you're working on a pitch or like you're editing your podcast, whatever, you know, interviewing someone. So there's always. So much that has to get done in a day. So I tried to figure out what are the optimal times for each of those things so that I can really like, focus and get it done. Or else I think I would go crazy. So that's pretty much like my, my, my writing process is getting up in that, at that the right time and getting to the computer at the right exact time and really honing in and focusing, like turning off the internet, turning off my cell phone and. Well, I don't exactly turn off my cell phone. All my family's on the emergency override, so if they need something, they can catch me. Yeah.

Jane: 23:20

But anyone else has to wait. I got it. Yeah, no, that's, that's good. And that actually leads me to my question next question'cause that's good advice for any writers is having a routine and being able to shed out the world and all that. But, um, what's the best advice you have for writers about writing and about getting published? So it's like a two part question, obviously. Yeah. Very different.

Eliza: 23:41

Totally good. So my best advice for writers who wanna get started is to just start, like, even if it's crap, set a goal, like, I'm gonna write one paragraph today, or I'm gonna write one sentence, or I'm gonna write one page or one chapter. Whatever that goal is, do it. Every day, or at least five days a week. I don't work on the weekends, so I would never want someone else to work seven days a week. But, it's just making it a habit. And I think, like I said, finding those right times that are good for you. But also something that I've found, you know, early on in my writing career and what a lot of people that are starting out is that, or even people who've been writing for a long time, I guess. Is that not everyone will always respect that time, and so you really have to set your boundaries and say I am working on my book from this time to this time. Do not disturb me. And like,

Jane: 24:34

oh, you just froze. Uh oh.

Eliza: 24:37

First part is if you have kids.

Jane: 24:39

Are you there? Yeah. Okay. You're back. Sorry.

Eliza: 24:42

Sorry.

Jane: 24:43

I dunno what happened there.

Eliza: 24:45

Yeah. Probably a storm probably or something. I'm in Florida, so it's always storming down here.

Jane: 24:50

Yeah.

Eliza: 24:50

So if you have kids, those are the hardest ones, I think, to get them to understand like, you can't just walk into my office and talk to me like while I'm mid writing. Like it totally pulls you out. Oh yeah. Setting those boundaries is the most important. And then about getting published is really polish that work. But don't stop at that one single thing. You know, once you've finished and you're going out on submission start the next project. Because a lot of times if they don't want your first project, they might want the second one or they might want two, or they might say, what else do you have? And you wanna be able to have something else. So I think that's the, the best advice I could give.

Jane: 25:29

Excellent advice. Do you I have any input, this is a random question into co I just love the cover. I love, I'm always fascinated with cover design. I love, pink is my favorite color. That's probably part of the reason I love the color. So did you have any input into this, um, or do you in general in your cover design.

Eliza: 25:48

So normally they send me a couple different covers. For this book, I think it was four different ones that they sent, and then they all took a poll and I took a poll amongst like my family and friends and gave the numbers. That was my favorite, and that was generally the favorite of most people. There was another favorite that the publisher had. And so they did this like test marketing thing to see what the public thought, and then they ended up going with the pink one. So I was so happy'cause that was my absolute favorite one. And Nice. Yeah. And my other publishers, I've, uh, it's the same sort of experience like. Sometimes I get, you know, four, sometimes I get eight different comps to look at. And then there have been a couple times where they've sent me, this is the cover, what do you think? And I'm like, great. Or like, Hey, can we tweak this a little bit? And they're usually pretty receptive to stuff like that.'cause we're working as a team. It's not a blanket like this is it. You can't say anything.

Jane: 26:40

They want you to be happy

Eliza: 26:41

too. Yeah, exactly.

Jane: 26:43

Are you ready to share what you're working on next?

Eliza: 26:46

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm doing edits right now. I on two different books, but I'm trying to pace it so they're not doing it on the same day because I can't, my brain won't do that. Um, but the first one is lost in the summer of 69, and that comes out next year on June 9th. And it is another historical fiction and it is a generational story. So it's one, timeline. It's nine, the summer of, uh, 69. And there's a grandmother, a mother and a college age daughter. And the grandmother has recently been diagnosed with dementia. When she was young, she was known as the bell of wartime music, but she gave up her career to have a family. And so now that she's found out that she is gonna be slowly losing her memories she has decided to have one last great summer where she gets to play music. And there's all these. Music festivals happening that summer, so she takes off to go follow her dreams. The only thing is she forgot to tell anyone she was leaving. So when her daughter goes to pick her up for her birthday dinner, she's gone. And there's a few clues as to where she might have, uh, gone off to. So, the daughter requests that her college age daughter summer before going off to Yale. We'll go with her on this road trip to find grandma. And as they're going along trying to find her they find out she's been named the dam of rock and roll and is all over the news playing at all these festivals. So it's like a fun, quirky story, but it's also very heartwarming and it's a lot about following your dreams and figuring out who you are and who you wanna be. And I had so much fun and. I'm reading through it now, just like falling in love with it all over again. So I hope people like that. And the next one is the Michelle Book. That is a trad wife. And, um, I'm editing that right now too. And it's also a multi POV and it's about a community of tra wives where we've got a lot of drama and juiciness going on. Sort of like rush week. Uh, we've got a a mean girl. Trad wife, who's not a real trad wife. She's sort of faking it. And then we've got a dead body too. So there's, there's a lot going on there. It's a, it's a fun sort of revenge thriller, uh, novel again.

Jane: 28:51

I feel like tread live fiction is like coming around. Joe Piazza just came out with one.

Eliza: 28:57

I'm so excited about it. Yeah, there's so many'em out there and people keep being like, oh, have you read this one? I'm like, no, I'm not reading any of them until it's completely turned in. And no more edits. No more copy edits. I'll read them next year. Exactly. Yeah. But there's been like some fun, social media's going crazy over Tribe Lifes too. So I've been enjoying watching all those videos and then I watched, what was it? Well, it wasn't necessarily a trad wife, but it was, uh, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and I thought that was such a great show too. I haven't

Jane: 29:25

watched it, but I've heard Yeah, my daughter was telling me about it actually. So it's the juicy one. So funny. How can readers best stay in touch with you?

Eliza: 29:37

So I'm really, really active on Instagram is probably the best one, and that's at Eliza Night Fiction. I'm also on Facebook, Eliza Night Fiction there as well. And I have a website, eliza night.com and a newsletter on there as well. Um, and also there's an events link, so if they want to come to any of the events, I, I usually have. A bunch going on throughout the year. So, oh, and then I have a podcast, um, history books I was gonna

Jane: 30:00

say, and you have your podcast. Yeah. So tell everyone a little bit about that before we wrap up, so if you Sure can check it out. So

Eliza: 30:06

yeah, the podcast is history, books and wine. And, um, during season, it's a weekly podcast of historical fiction authors. Sometimes I have other fun people come in like. I had a Somali egg on. I've had a historian on things like that, and we just chat about history and books and wine, and it's like a fun, you know, 30 minute show and just get to kind of geek out on all those things.

Jane: 30:28

Awesome. So this was delightful. It's like I said, I feel like we know a lot of people in common and it's so nice to meet you and I'm so, congratulations on the success of your two latest books that came out like within a month of each other. I'm just so impressed with you in all the ways in your prolificness and you know, you're the type of writer that inspires me, you know? So thank you for coming on. I really appreciate it.

Eliza: 30:50

It's my absolute pleasure. It's so good to finally chat with you, and I'm really enjoying your book too. Oh, thank you. And we'll try it again soon about my books.

Jane: 30:58

Absolutely. Which is

Eliza: 30:58

awesome. Yes, we definitely will.

Jane: 31:00

Thank you. That's a wrap. I have a number of new episodes coming out this month while I'm on book tour for the Women of Arlington Hall, and I'll have some exciting announcements coming up in the fall. Thanks so much everyone, and have a great, afternoon. All right. Take care, Eliza. Nice to meet you. You too.