Authors Kiss podcast

AK25-38. Constanze Hawkins, Natures Poetry

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

An Authors Kiss with Sara troy and her guest Constanze Hawkins, on air from September 23rd

Inspirations is a collection of photographs, each accompanied by a poem depicting Constanze Hawkins’ love of the natural world. The poems capture the thoughts and wonder inspired by the photos. Constanze took all of the photographs herself, mostly near her Perth home on the grounds of the University of Western Australia. Even the photo of the peacock was taken at UWA, which has a few peacocks and peahens roaming freely in its gardens.
Inspirations offers an interesting, and at times thought-provoking, read as Constanze’s reverence for nature shines through in both image and verse.

Constanze discusses a wide range of themes found in her work. She often reflects on the challenges of handling loss, weaving emotion and experience into verse. She can also explore how the length of a poem influences the way readers engage with it, and how nature—its beauty, complexity, and timelessness—continues to inspire her writing. With her background in fashion, Constanze brings a unique perspective on how that world has shaped her creative voice. She also pairs her poetry with photography, offering a visual dimension that deepens the reader’s experience. Another recurring theme in her work is the lament for the loss of childhood, which she captures with poignancy and thought-provoking insight.

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Constanze Hawkins was born in Stuttgart Germany. Her family migrated to Melbourne Australia when she was four. Hawkins studied fashion at the Melbourne College of Textiles. She completed her studies after her marriage, and her young family’s move to Perth, Western Australia. She also earned a Graduate Certificate of Design from the Curtin University of Technology and worked in fashion as a pattern maker and grader until retirement. 

A recurring theme in the author’s first book, Eloise and Other Verses, is the inescapable human experience ‘Loss’. She became interested in loss when her father died, followed by the breakup of her marriage and then the death of her mother. Her experience of loss is that it is often dealt with alone — a theme that she explores in her poems. Inspirations is her second published book.

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She can be found on Instagram @constanzehawkins.  

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AK25-33. William Huhn’s “Bachelor Holiday”

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

An Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest William Huhn, on air from August 19th

William Huhn’s Bachelor Holiday is a bittersweet, multi-dimensional journey through memory, mystery, and metamorphosis—where past loves, philosophical obsessions, and shifting weather unfold in language as supple as it is dazzling. In a wonderfully natural idiom, Huhn emerges as something like the Ovid of our time, observing and tenderly participating in the quiet miracles that transpire all around us, if only our eyes were as keen as his. Here, ‘stuff’ rests confidently beside a ‘dew-pearled spring,’ and four-line poems pulse with the same vitality as seven-page meditations. Bachelor Holiday is a collection that leaves me not only grateful, but almost glad to be alive in this strange and beautiful havoc of a century.”

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William Huhn is a critically acclaimed, award-winning writer of poetry and narrative essays.

Huhn, the grandson of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Henrietta Seiberling, graduated from Vassar College with a degree in chemistry. He works for a testing and certification company, overseeing its East Coast laboratories. But despite the science side to him, he is really a creative artist at heart.

He studied classical violin from age five and then took up old-time fiddle. He played fiddle across Europe after graduating from college, hoping to raise enough funds to live as a poet. He wrote much poetry during that period and others, many examples of which were published in journals and magazines.

Now, years later, his debut poetry collection was released. Bachelor Holiday, which has been praised by Midwest Book Reviews, Literary Titan, and by notable award-winning writers. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review and the book was a finalist at American Book Fest’s 2024 Book Award for Poetry. It also was the winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award for Poetry.

He’s had numerous narrative essays published in American Literary Review, Sport Literate, Pembroke, Rosebud, and other publications. Eight of these essays were listed as “Notable Essay” in The Best American Essays series. His writings received two honorable mentions in the New Millennium Award (for nonfiction) and twice he received Pushcart Prize nominations for nonfiction.

His poetry has been published in Verse Daily, The Carolina Quarterly, Talking River Review, 34th Parallel, San Pedro River Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, Blue Moon Literary and Art Review, and elsewhere. BlazeVOX, his book publisher, is among the most prestigious independent literary presses in the nation. 

Born in Bryn Mawr, and raised in Devon, Pennsylvania, he also lived in Southern California and New York. He resides in a suburb of New York City with his wife and two young children.

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AK25-28. The Fire Concerto by Sarah Landenwich

Sara Troy

An Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Sarah Landenwich, on air from June 17th

THE FIRE CONCERTO (Union Square & Co.; June 10, 2025) is a riveting literary debut by Sarah Landenwich that blends mystery, music, and forgotten history. When Clara Bishop—a once-celebrated pianist now tending bar in Texas—receives a mysterious metronome from her estranged former mentor, she’s pulled back into a world she thought she’d left behind.

The metronome may be tied to her ancestor, famed composer Aleksander Starza, and the woman accused of murdering him, brilliant 19th-century pianist Constantia Pleyel. As Clara and her childhood rival Tony travel to Poland in search of the truth, they uncover dangerous secrets, lost compositions, and a narrative far more complex than the one history has recorded.

With echoes of generational trauma, artistic obsession, and redemption, THE FIRE CONCERTO is a lush, suspenseful novel that reclaims the voices of extraordinary women long erased from memory. Through pain, Clara must find beauty, and perhaps, a way back to herself.

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SARAH LANDENWICH is a writer, a writing instructor, and a classically trained pianist. Her debut novel, The Fire Concerto was inspired by her love of music of the Romantic period and pays tribute to 19th-century female musicians, artists, and scholars who have been largely forgotten. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and daughter. For more information, visit: 

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Your support also helps bring awareness to our Our Forgotten Seniors anthology—an important project that deserves to be seen and heard. Thank you!

AK25-25. Krystal Hille’s “Why” Book

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

An Author’s Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Krystak Hille, on air from June 23rd

Krystal has guided many a soul to writing their own book; now it is her turn, and she shares her tips and knowledge on becoming an author and why this path is so important to her.

Most aspiring authors never finish writing their book. But it’s not a lack of skill or ideas—it’s the inner journey that stops them.

In The Aligned Author, Krystal Hille reframes the writing process as a powerful rite of passage, mirroring the Hero’s Journey. As you move through the tests, trials, allies, and enemies that arise along the way, this book becomes both a compass and a companion for the soul-led author.

Blending neuroscience, ancient wisdom, and spiritual tools, this trauma-informed guide addresses the inner obstacles that derail even the most inspired writers—procrastination, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, and self-doubt.
Inside, you’ll learn how to:

  • Reclaim your time and create consistent writing momentum
  • Transform overwhelm into clear, structured progress
  • Break through resistance and write with authenticity and ease
  • Honour your story while navigating the emotional terrain of authorship
  • Align your writing with your purpose, so your message truly lands

Whether you’re just beginning or deep in the drafting stage, The Aligned Author offers the insights and tools to help you move from intention to completion. Not just a writing guide—this is an initiation into your next level of creative expression and thought leadership.

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With 30 years in leadership, a background in theatre directing, ancient Tantric practices and female empowerment, Krystal is a winner of the CREA Brainz Global Business Award 2021 and host of the Soul Leadership Podcast. Aware of her multi-dimensional self, pre-Covid, Krystal facilitated spiritual retreats to Egypt and ran temple nights across Australia.

She holds a BA (hons) in English Literature & Theatre Studies, a diploma in Life Coaching, NLP and TimeLine Therapy and is a certified Master Healer and Tantra teacher. She is a popular contributor to international festivals, summits and podcasts and has written two solo books and contributed to a further four anthologies.

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For a free gift, people can download my AI Guide for Authors with 21 prompts, including etiquette do’s and don’ts. They can find it here: https://hillehouse.org/ai-guide 

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All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniors anthology and help to bring this book to awareness.

AK25-06. Wendy Horwitz’s Milkweed and Honey Cake

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Wendy Horwitz, on air from February 11th

In Milkweed and Honey Cake: A Memoir in Ritual Moments, Wendy A. Horwitz shares essays about ritual can exalt ordinary moments and the best way to open a pomegranate.

Holidays delight – and disappoint. A couple marrying during the pandemic finds a surprise after a rainstorm and a topsy-turvy search for a gravestone that honors her ancestors. Horwitz serves pomp and circumstance on the front porch when a graduation is canceled. Through the shifting seasons of life, amid the scramble of pet guinea pigs and birthday parties, her children add wonder and comedy to tradition.

Horwitz explores how ritual can exalt ordinary moments and frame the extraordinary – a blue heron, an old cupboard’s scent, and the lingering feel of an engagement ring long gone prompt reflections laced with yearning and humor. Guiding us along a wooded path, to the kitchen table, in a messy garden, and under a tent reverberating with song, she traces the boundaries of ritual, considering what we do when ritual falls short, and how we might adapt to each other’s practices. And when the wider world seems broken, new rituals provide hope.

Lyrical and funny, thought-provoking and deeply moving, Milkweed and Honey Cake is at once a meditation on our desire for meaning and the story of a woman’s lifelong efforts to create it.

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 Wendy A. Horwitz’s essays have been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Afterimage, Neurology (Humanities Section), Jewish Literary Journal, Intrepid Times, and McClatchy-Tribune News Service, among others. Originally trained as a pediatric psychologist, she lives in Philadelphia, where she teaches writing and health, and humanities. 

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All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support; thank you. And please support Our Forgotten Seniors anthology and help to bring this book into awareness.