In the Lime Light with with E.L. Kaltenberg

Aug 27

August 27th, 2026

Some people dream of writing a book their whole lives. Marissa Malson wrote her first three chapters in her phone's Notes app after a yoga class and never looked back. This week we sit down with the author behind the cozy-adjacent Average Jane PI series to talk about writing on instinct, building an author business from scratch, and why indie publishing is so much more than finishing the manuscript.

Marissa's debut, The Not So Average Life of Average Jane, introduced Jane Smith, a private investigator whose greatest asset is being completely forgettable. Book two, The Consultants, is out now and sends Jane and her team to Spain to crack a cold case. Think Ocean's Eleven meets Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, with a mostly female cast and a whole lot of twists.

About E.L. Kaltenberg

Emily is a debut author writing dark, twisty psychological thrillers rooted in her home state of Wisconsin. Her first novel, The Care and Feeding of Dead Mothers, follows a disgraced author unraveling in the Northwoods as her buried past refuses to stay put. When she is not researching questionable topics that have almost certainly landed her on a list somewhere, she is dreaming up the next installment in the world of Margot Hale. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their two kids.

In This Episode

(00:00) Meet Margot Hale and the premise behind Dead Mothers
(03:00) Where the story came from, and how Emily's husband Michael talks her through plot logic
(04:40) The research rabbit hole: augers, flowages, and the best time of year to drown a body in Wisconsin
(10:00) How the book actually came together during pregnancy
(11:00) The publishing journey and finding the right writing coach
(16:15) Comp titles and read-alikes
(20:50) Launch details, personalized book boxes, and supporting indie authors
(23:40) Book two, and the Stephen King style twist of bringing Margot Hale to life as a real author
(29:00) Wrapping up

Get the book

Launch week runs August 24 through 30, with a 99-cent ebook deal.

Find it on Amazon, or order a personalized signed copy with book box extras directly from Emily's website. Local to Sun Prairie? Grab it at Prairie Pages.