Laura Buchwald and the Stories That Stay With You| S5 EP230: Book Banter Podcast
- Dianne Burckhardt
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Laura Buchwald discusses paranormal fiction, ghostly encounters, and when characters ignore the outline.
Hello My Happy People,
Every once in a while, you sit down to record a podcast interview and realize you are talking to an author who just gets it. That was exactly what happened when I sat down with New York City author Laura Buchwald to discuss her latest novel, The Book of Reservations, the second installment in The Ghost Table Trilogy.
Laura is a writer and editor based in New York City. Her first novel, The Coat Check Girl, was published in October 2024, and The Book of Reservations continues the story of Josie Gray, a woman who believes her restaurant, Miss Sylvie’s Bistrot, can be a sanctuary for both the living and the dead. Josie can communicate with spirits, but her gift creates real tension in her life, especially as the restaurant struggles to survive and the people around her begin to unravel in their own ways.
In this second book, Josie is pulled deeper into the unfinished stories of both the living and the dead. She has messages to deliver, truths to uncover, and relationships to protect, all while trying to figure out what she owes to others and what she owes to herself. The book explores grief, the afterlife, haunted places, restaurants as gathering spaces, and the way certain locations seem to hold onto the stories of the people who pass through them.
Since I am currently writing my first paranormal romance, it was so much fun talking with another author writing in the paranormal genre. My story is based on actual ghost hunting adventures I went on while I was in college, so it was fascinating to talk with Laura about paranormal experiences, research, and the way unexplained events can find their way into fiction.
One of the things I enjoyed most was being able to talk openly about those kinds of experiences. You never know how someone is going to react when the subject of the paranormal comes up, so it was nice to sit down with another author who has had similar experiences and could talk about them as part of the writing process.
I also loved finding out that my writing process is not nearly as unusual as I sometimes think it is. Laura talked about her outline being very fluid, and I could completely relate to that. I have attempted outlines in the past, but then the characters in my head will basically say, “That’s cute, but we’re not doing that.” Then the story goes in a completely different direction.
There are times when you are writing story and you wonder if you are doing anything right. Then you talk to other authors and realize that a lot of us have very similar experiences. Sometimes the characters behave and do what you want. Then again, sometimes they take over and dictate the story and you just have to try to keep up.
In our conversation, Laura and I talk about The Book of Reservations, The Ghost Table Trilogy, her writing process, paranormal research, New York City, haunted locations, and how real-life experiences can become unforgettable stories. We also wrap things up with Five Quick Questions, where we get into New York pizza, bookstores, Broadway, and more.
Don't wait, go listen now to the full interview. Just click the purple microphone below.
Enjoy,
Dianne
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