Imposter Meets Imposter (Again)

In this episode, award-winning crime writer Ed Lin takes us from his childhood growing up in his family’s Jersey Shore ‘hot sheet’ motel to becoming a journalist and the first author ever to win three Asian American Literary Awards. We talk about the strange path from feeling like an outsider to finding your voice, and how Ed learned to channel self-doubt into fiction. Along the way, he shares why humor matters, even in the darkest stories, and how the funniest moments can sometimes make the hardest truths land. From his literary debut, Waylaid, to his Robert Chow crime novels set in 1970s Manhattan Chinatown, to his acclaimed Taipei Night Market series, Ed has built a career around telling stories that are both entertaining and deeply observant. His latest novel, The Dead Can’t Make a Living, explores immigration, class, migrant labor, and the hidden hierarchies that shape our lives, all through the lens of a gripping crime story. Ed shares how his years in journalism taught him to pay attention to the details people overlook, and why he believes every great crime novel is, at heart, a social novel. It’s a conversation full of laughs, insight, and the reminder that sometimes the things that make us feel most like imposters are also the things that give us our unique perspective.

This week on Imposter Hour, Liz and Greg sit down with Danielle Girard to talk about perspective, how it shapes our writing, our ambition, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are allowed to be. Danielle joins us on the heels of her new novel, Pinky Swear, and opens up about what it meant to write into a new genre while navigating personal upheaval. We explore the creative risk of stepping outside reader expectations, the complexity of female rage and empathy on the page, and the strange truth that success does not inoculate anyone against imposter syndrome. This episode is about reinvention, creative courage, and the quiet power of shifting your perspective.

Liz and Greg press pause to look back on sixty conversations that turned a small side project into a creative lifeline. They talk honestly about what the show became, the strange math of the writing life, and how community keeps the doubt from taking over. It’s a soft landing, not a goodbye, full of gratitude for the guests, the listeners, and the chance to keep talking about the beautiful mess of making things.

Therapist and Broadway Production Stage Manager Larry Smiglewski joins Imposter Hour to make imposter syndrome feel less heavy and more workable as we trace his path from teaching in the Bronx to calling cues on Broadway to supporting clients in the therapy room. We talk about the surprising ways our theater educations gave us lasting life lessons we still use every day, how becoming a therapist later in life gave Larry grounded wisdom and perspective, and simple ways to spot triggers, follow the thread of self-doubt, and remember you are actually qualified. We also tackle the age-old question with a smile: who is more challenging to work with, fifth graders or Broadway divas? Larry works with individuals, couples, and families at Equity Therapy in NYC and is the Production Stage Manager for Mamma Mia! on Broadway.

In this episode, author–editor Rennie Dyball gets wonderfully candid about crossing genres and the imposter feelings that flare whenever she switches lanes, the craft mantra that unlocked her fiction, and how time in the saddle quiets her brain so ideas can land on the drive home. We dig into why picture books are deceptively hard, plus practical, ADHD-friendly focus tricks (short timers, one-task sprints, writing anywhere). Rennie also shares what’s new and what’s next, including a neurodivergent-friendly field guide and a spicy equestrian romance under a pen name. It’s an energizing, nuts-and-bolts conversation about creativity, confidence, and building a body of work across forms.

This week, we hang out with two brilliant weirdos who absolutely live for story: Christina Baker Kline and Anne Burt.  Their new novel, Please Don’t Lie, is our jumping-off point for a candid, generous, energizing conversation. We go inside their creative friendship, from late-night draft swaps to “trust falls” that make the writing braver. They discuss building a novel with joy and discipline, explore what immersive writing retreats entail, and examine how themes of grief and trauma shape the emotional spine of their work. We also get into the pull of self-help culture, the true-crime lens on modern narratives, and how to balance page-turning momentum with literary heart. If you love books, collaboration, and the messy magic of making art with your people, this one is a delight.

Liz and Greg sit down with novelist Cleyvis Natera, whose acclaimed debut Neruda on the Park was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and whose latest, The Grand Paloma Resort, released last month and is available everywhere. They talk impostor syndrome, perseverance after rejection, and how class and privilege shape her stories. Cleyvis opens up about building community, staying authentic while shifting genres, and why cultural commentary belongs at the heart of contemporary fiction. It is a candid look at craft, career evolution, and the personal growth that fuels great writing.

In this episode of Imposter Hour, Liz Keenan and Greg Wands sit down with crime writers Patricia Dunn, Deborah Levison, and Wendy Whitman to talk imposter feelings, writing about darkness, and the communities that keep us brave. They trace the winding paths that brought them to the genre, share candid truths about promotion and platform, and preview what’s next. It’s a smart, generous conversation about craft, confidence, and the complicated link between creativity and self-perception.

In this episode of “Imposter Hour with Liz and Greg,” we sit down with debut novelist and book publicist Lauren Morrow to talk about her just-published, buzzed-about debut, “Little Movements.” Lauren opens up about stepping through the publishing looking glass, balancing ambition with real life, and how personal truth fuels believable fiction. It’s an honest, practical conversation about the writing life, identity, and sticking with it. Tune in for craft talk, creativity, self-doubt, and the leap from behind-the-scenes to byline.

Imposter Hour is back. This week, in our first episode after the summer hiatus, Liz and Greg sit down with internationally bestselling thriller author Samantha Downing. We dig into her new novel, Too Old for This, starring Lottie Jones, a 75-year-old retired serial killer who refuses to go quietly, and we revisit the breakout that started it all, My Lovely Wife. The conversation hits craft, voice, and the business side of branding, then gets real about imposter syndrome in publishing. How success does and does not quiet the doubt, what still triggers it, and the habits that keep the words coming. If you love darkly funny crime and honest talk about the writing life, this week’s episode is your perfect reentry.