For the full interview with Maggie Smith, tune in to The Spark wherever you listen to podcasts.

📚 Recommendation for ravenous readers

Here is the recommended read for December.

All Our Ordinary Stories by Teresa Wong

Beginning with her mother’s stroke in 2014, Teresa Wong takes us on a moving journey through time and place to locate the beginnings of the disconnection she feels from her parents. Through a series of stories--some epic, like her mother and father’s daring escapes from communes during China’s Cultural Revolution, and some banal, like her quitting Chinese school to watch Saturday morning cartoons--Wong carefully examines the cultural, historical, language, and personality barriers to intimacy in her family, seeking answers to the questions “Where did I come from?” and “Where are we going?” At the same time, she discovers how storytelling can bridge distances and help make sense of a life.

I’m excited to announce that Teresa will be our guest author in January!

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✏️ Resource for wonderful writers

The Outland Publishing Fair spotlights creative publishing practices from Chinese and Sino-diasporic communities in London and worldwide. Bringing together leading practitioners and their works across various regions, the fair aspires to establish a vibrant network that catalyses the translocal and intercultural mobility of Sinophone publications. It is scheduled for 17–19 April 2026 at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham in South London.

👣 My moseying

I’m making progress with getting Staring into the Sun ready for ARCs (advance reader copies) and other marketing ahead of its publication by Ten16 Press in May 2026.

🎙️ Interview with Maggie Smith

I first heard Maggie Smith either on the podcast she hosts, Hear Us Roar, or being interviewed on The S**t No One Tells You About Writing podcast. After getting my deal with Ten16 Press, I got in touch with her to ask how it was working with the publisher and she was very generous with her feedback and sharing resources.

In a career that’s included work as a journalist, a psychologist, and the founder of a national art consulting company, Maggie Smith added novelist to her resume in 2022 with the publication of her debut, Truth and Other Lies. Her second novel, Blindspot, was published in May 2024. Maggie also hosts the weekly podcast Hear Us Roar, where she interviews debut authors about their novel and their path to publication. She blogs monthly on Substack and is a board member of Novel Book Camp and the Chicago Writer’s Association, where she serves as Managing Editor of their Write City Magazine. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband.

Books mentioned:

The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer

We Begin at the End and All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Maggie can be found on Substack as @maggiesmithwriter, on Instagram as @maggiesmithwrites, and at maggiesmithwriter.com.

Tune in to the The Spark podcast for the full interview.

📙 Where to find my writing

Staring into the Sun on Substack, weekly through the end of 2025.

"Things My Dad Told Me" in Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, The Hope Prize anthology published by Simon & Schuster Australia.Buy in US | Buy in UK

“Gold Mountain Diggers” in Issue 10 of Livina Press.Buy in US | Buy in UK

“His Bones” in Transformations, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize anthology.Buy in US | Buy in UK

Find out more about me and my writing, including press coverage, on my website: madelynpostman.com.

Most book links go to my Bookshop.org page, where sales are win-win-win, benefiting the authors, local bookstores, and my own writing—unlike using A-you-know-who.

You can listen to The Spark on your favorite podcast platform. On Substack, you can listen to the podcast and subscribe to the newsletter. Please take a moment to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it would mean the world to me. And please share it with your reading and writing friends!

Music and mixing by anthony@mercurycalling.audio.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit madelynpostman.substack.com

17 From Hybrid to Self-Publishing