She Took a Surf Camp at 50-Something to Write This Book — Mary Ellen Taylor on THE SKY BENEATH HER
About this episode
Mary Ellen Taylor discusses her latest novel, THE SKY BENEATH HER, and shares insights into her writing process and the inspiration behind her story.
In this episode of the Fresh Fiction podcast, Samantha Tennant is reunited with a friend she’s known for more than a decade: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary Ellen Taylor, whose more than 40 novels span women’s fiction (under her own name) and suspense thrillers (as Mary Burton). Their conversation centers on Mary Ellen’s latest release, THE SKY BENEATH HER, a dual-timeline women’s fiction novel set on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. In 1942, passengers board a vessel near Trinidad knowing the Atlantic is crawling with German U-boats. In the present, Tula — a scuba diver who hasn’t touched the ocean since a diving accident killed her mother seven years ago — is drawn back to the water to explore the wreck of that very ship. Mary Ellen and Samantha go deep on: • How a history book about shipwrecks sparked the entire story • Why the Outer Banks is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic • What it actually feels like to get slammed by a wave (research via surf camp) • Her seven-draft process — from sloppy copy to polished manuscript • How she juggles two pen names and two very different creative headspaces • The cookie-baking flash of insight that cracked open her…
More episodes of The Fresh Fiction Podcast
- How Real Government Psychic Research Inspired Jayne Castle's Harmony World
- Big Family, Bigger Love Stories: Amy Award on The Cocky Kingmans
- Summer Reads, Road Trips & Real Talk: Four Authors on the Books That Belong in Your Beach Bag
- Love, Books & Battle of the Sexes: Sheila Roberts on Her Boldest Rom-Com Yet
- Scientist, Artiste, Hoodoo Conjurer: Andrea Hairston on Genre, Afrofuturism, and Writing Like a Director
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Fresh Fiction Podcast podcast page.