On today’s show, we get to revisit our previous conversation with Sarah Branson to celebrate the one year anniversary of Author Express! Sarah is a former nurse-midwife who now writes cross-genre action/adventure, speculative, and women’s fiction for both adults and teens/tweens that involves air-borne pirates three hundred years in the future. Her stories are set against the backdrop of an Earth changed by fires, floods, and pandemics, but are firmly rooted in the strength and resiliency and hope of the human spirit.

A little about today's author -

Sarah first started conjuring stories of pirates when her family hopped a freighter to Australia when she was seven. She has since grown up, traveling extensively across the US and the globe. She raised her family in Michigan and still longs to swim in the bays of Northern Michigan. She worked as a receptionist, retail clerk, writing tutor, business owner, and certified nurse midwife. She also taught science and history to middle school and high school students in the U.S., Brazil, and Japan. Through these myriad experiences, she developed a deep appreciation for people’s strength and endurance and fully believes that badass women will inherit the earth and the Earth will be better for it.

An indie author, she draws on all of her experiences when creating stories about strong and determined people finding adventure, love, and their paths in worlds that are constantly changing.

Pirates of New Earth is her first series

Book 1: A Merry Life,

Book 2: Navigating the Storm

Book 3: Burn the Ship

Book 4: Blow the Man Down

A Million Ways: Stories of Motherhood, an anthology of short stories, and her YA spin-off, Unfurling the Sails, are available now with a middle-grade spin-off coming in February. And her protagonist, Kat Wallace, is insisting on another adventure, so stay tuned for that story later in 2024. Sarah lives with her husband in Connecticut.

You can learn more about her at www.sarahbranson.com

A little about today's host-

Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.

She offers a free