The Watchung Booksellers Podcast

Watchung Booksellers' community of writers and readers dive deep into what they do for the love of books.

Watchung Booksellers is located in the heart of Montclair, NJ, a literary beacon filled with writers, journalists, publishers, and avid readers. Each year we host hundreds of author events and every day the most interesting and dedicated readers walk through our doors. Their insights and enthusiasm have inspired us to share our conversations with book-lovers everywhere. We invite you to listen and be a part of our community!

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The Watchung Booksellers Podcast

Episode 70: Writers' Groups

June 23, 2026 • Watchung Booksellers • Season 4 • Episode 70

0:00 | 50:36

In this week's episode of The Watchung Booksellers Podcast, authors Judith Lindbergh and Stephanie Cowell discuss their decades long writers' group, the importance of writing with other writers, and how to find your own writing community.

Judith Lindbergh’s award-winning new novel, Akmaral, about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppes, was called “crackling” by Publishers Weekly and “a gripping saga” by Christina Baker Kline. Her debut, The Thrall’s Tale, about women in Viking Age Greenland, was an IndieBound Pick praised by Pulitzer Prize winners Geraldine Brooks and Robert Olen Butler. She has published with the Smithsonian and provided expert commentary for History Channel documentaries. Judith received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the Founder/Director of The Writers Circle, a creative writing center based in New Jersey.

Stephanie Cowell has been an opera singer, balladeer, founder of Strawberry Opera and other arts venues including a Renaissance festival in NYC. She is the author of seven novels, including Marrying Mozart, Claude & Camille: a novel of Monet, The Boy in the Rain, and The Man in the Stone Cottage: a novel of the Brontë sisters. Her work has been translated into several languages and adapted into an opera. Stephanie is the recipient of an American Book Award. She has lived in NYC all her life.

Resources:

Writers Circle Workshop

Casey Kelly

Montclair Literary Festival

Books:
A full list of the books and authors mentioned in this episode is available here.

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The Watchung Booksellers Podcast is produced by Kathryn Counsell and Marni Jessup and is recorded at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, NJ.

The show is edited by Kathryn Counsell.

Original music is composed and performed by Violet Mujica. Research and show notes by Caroline Shurtleff.

Thanks to all the staff at Watchung Booksellers and The Kids’ Room!

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