Coming Full Circle

My Guest Appearance On Mulling It Over with Brandon Mull

A few weeks ago, I had the immense privilege of being a guest on a podcast. This happens from time to time. Us podcasters get around. But this lovely invitation brought around an unusual situation for me – this was a podcast with Brandon Mull, author of Fablehaven, a series that I fangirl over.

But this also gave me an interesting realization, and Brandon unknowingly, was apart of it. So many years ago, it’s embarrassing, I attending a Writing For Charity event. This event, that has sadly disappeared and replaced by other charitable events, gathered writers and authors together. Us young, starry-eyed writers had mentoring opportunities by authors and talk with them candidly. I had written a manuscript at that time in my life and had no idea what to do with, besides dream of it being published.

Brandon was at this event. I very much remember him. And I also remember being too timid to talk with him (that’s how much of a fangirl I was at that time). He was there at a moment in my life before this crazy writing life happened. And how I wish that shy, little writer me would have been brave enough to talk with him.

Now, I’m twelve published works deep as an author, and here I am sharing my own journey on HIS podcast. How did this happen? And let me just state that I feel I am a very average height of 5′ 4″ and I felt like a Smurf next to these giants.

The podcast Mulling It Over with Brandon Mull and Jason Conforto is a fun, conversational dive into writer-y topics. We recorded this episode at the Quills Writers Conference in August 2025, hosted by the League of Utah Writers.

I share so much of my writing journey and my brush with greatness on this podcast. It is a great time, and you should all take a listen. But, it also has some very great advice in it, not just from Brandon, but Lisa Mangum also joined us on the podcast. Lisa has a huge presence in the Utah publishing scene, being not only a published author, but also the acquisition editor at Shadow Mountain, the publisher of Brandon’s books.

If you wanted to explore publishing, attending writing conferences, or discovering your path as a trad or self-pub writer, this episode has both perspectives. Jason Conforto, co-host with Brandon, asked about my publishing journey, and I didn’t shy away about stating I went with a small press and how that journey ended with me getting my rights back. I talk a lot about doing the right thing when it comes to taking on your own works. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Check out the episode and all their episodes here!

If you are a fan of Brandon Mull’s magical worlds in the Fablehaven or Beyonders series, you may love the magical world found in my fantasy series, Vivatera. I have signed copies available in my Square store. It might look perfect in your library. Ebooks and Audio are also available.

Find Brandon’s newest release, The Tales of Newel and Doren here as well.