Writers Talk on Michigan Avenue Media · Marsha Casper Cook

Author Interview - Host Marsha Casper Cook -Guest Kathryn Lane Part 2

January 27, 2026·41 min·3 clips

Kathryn Lane reveals how her global career at Johnson & Johnson inspired her detective character Nikki Garcia.

An ad lands first. The episode opens with a Shopify spot in Italian before the host and guest return to part two of the conversation. From there, Nikki Garcia takes over. The guest talks about Nikki, a private investigator who travels the world solving cases, as one of her favorite characters. The connection is personal. Nikki's movement across countries comes out of the guest's own work with Johnson & Johnson and the life that came with it. The host keeps the exchange warm, and that gives the conversation room to wander without losing its thread. They talk about how characters can keep handing an author more books, more cases, and more reasons to stay with a series. Fans matter here. The guest says reader encouragement is real, and it means something when people spend time with her books. Audiobooks get a gentle push, too. The host says some people still refuse to try them, even though she loves the feeling of being right there with the author. Nobody turns the craft talk into a lecture. The writing-life questions come through ordinary back-and-forth. Then the business side sharpens the conversation. The guest separates writing for family, which she calls a beautiful opportunity, from writing as a business. The market feels crowded. She says book choices are overwhelming now, with research estimates ranging from 3,600 to 11,000 books published per day in the U.S. She links the surge to independent publishing and to people writing at home during COVID. Quality worries follow, with her describing a market flooded by books that are not researched before the excerpt cuts off. The goodbye stays casual, with thanks, a link mention, a Chicago weather joke, and the Shopify ad returning in English.

As heard by us

A loose, candid conversation about character-building, publishing pressure, and the work of staying visible as a writer.

This episode keeps its focus on how a character gets built from memory, work, and lived experience. Catherine Lane's read on Nikki Garcia, a private investigator who moves around the world and carries a job history that mirrors that mobility, gives the conversation its cleanest…

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a loose, writerly chat about one detective and the business of books.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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