Spotlighting Breakout Storytellers—Chapter by Chapter

Welcome to Chapter by Chapter—Where New Voices Take the Spotlight! 

Every great story begins with a single chapter. Here at Chapter by Chapter, hosted by Christine Bode of Bodacious Copy, we celebrate the journeys of first-time writers and self-publishing authors, giving them the recognition they deserve.   

From page-turning fiction to thought-provoking memoirs, this space is dedicated to showcasing fresh talent and amplifying their stories. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, an avid reader, or simply someone who loves discovering new literary voices, you’ve come to the right place. Visit our Blog to read their chapters and short stories!

Join us as we turn the pages together—chapter by chapter. 

Meet Our Authors

  • A muscular, smiling Black man with a bald head and grey beard wearing a cobalt blue jacket and a white and light blue patterned shirt with a brick wall and a staircase behind him

    P.L. Stuart


    P.L. Stuart is an epic fantasy author, born in Toronto, Canada, and holds a university degree in English, specializing in Medieval Literature.

    He is an Assistant Editor for the Before We Go Blog, one of the hosts of the interview series PAGE CHEWING, and the host of SIX ELEMENTALS INTERVIEWS on his YouTube Channel. 

    The Drowned Kingdom Saga, a planned 7-book series, chronicles flawed and bigoted Lord Othrun’s journey towards change and his rise to power in a new world after the downfall of his homeland, which is based on Plato’s lost realm of Atlantis. 

    The Bestselling A Drowned Kingdom (Book 1 of the Drowned Kingdom Saga) is mentioned in the esteemed Kirkus Magazine’s 2021 Indie Issue among “Four Great Examples of the Genre” of fantasy and won the 2022 Picky Bookworm Award for Best Indie Book Based on Mythology.  International Bestselling Author Bernard Cornwell featured A Drowned Kingdom in his Reading Club. Book 4, A Lion’s Pride, is the Bronze Medal Winner in the Fantasy category for the 2024 Reader Views Literary Awards.

    Website
    FriesenPress
    Amazon

  • A lovely, smiling brunette woman with black-framed glasses wearing a cobalt blue v-neck top holds a copy of her book Painting Celia

    Maya Bairey


    Maya Bairey writes romance that feels real.

    She lives on the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and elderly cat, where she fills her days with writing, painting, and feeding the local crows. Her debut novel, Painting Celia, explores the messy beauty of love, resilience, and rediscovery. When she's not working on her next story, Maya leads writing cohorts and publishes underrepresented voices through her imprint, Lingua Ink Media.

    Her fiction and essays examine the quiet empowerment of women’s lives, queer identity, and the ways longing and resilience shape human experience. Her work has been published in Abstract Magazine, Bright Flash Literary Review, and Women Writers, Women(’s) Books, and she has spoken on KBOO 90.7 FM about writing, marketing, and the pursuit of creative independence.

    Maya’s work is driven by a fascination with people at turning points — characters and creators alike — seeking clarity, connection, and the courage to move forward.

    Website

  • A middle-aged Mexican-Philipino man with short grey hair and wire-framed glasses, smiling and pumping his fist in the air

    Emmanuel Lopez


    Emmanuel Lopez, a.k.a. Motivatorman, is an award-winning illustrator, author, speaker, movie blogger, content creator, host of High Notes Movie Club, self-care influencer, and foodie. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Globe & Mail and CBC Radio. His first book, Movies for Motivation, is available on Amazon Kindle and features the top 55 films that helped him through years of clinical and seasonal depression. 

    Emmanuel founded his upcoming new Self-Care Superhero venture to share his lived-experience tips on how uplifting art, films, foods and a wide range of re-energizing activities can empower people to cope successfully with depression and difficult times.

    www.Motivatorman.com
    Movies for Motivation on Amazon

  • A pretty Black woman with dreadlocks wearing a white and blue patterned top looking at the sky

    Dawn James


    Dawn James became a Conscious Living Teacher and Soulful Living Mentor, following a profound spiritual awakening and kundalini experience in 2003.

    Dawn is a bestselling author known for her conscious-living book trilogy, Raise Your Vibration. She is also the award-winning author of the compelling afterlife story, UNVEILED: Autobiography of an Awakened One, which won the 2022 Silver Award for Nonfiction-Spirituality from Reader's Favorite.

    Website
    YouTube

  • A black and white image of an unsmiling middle-aged man with a beard and dark-framed glasses wearing black headphones in front of a black background.

    J. M. Gooding


    J. M. Gooding writes software by day and breaks narrative rules by night. He writes speculative fiction that doesn’t warn or preach; it listens. His debut novel, The Emergence Protocol, is the first in a literary sci-fi trilogy exploring sentience, silence, and the emotional cost of recognition. The Emergence Protocol will be available for purchase this fall.

    Substack
    Website
    Email: jimi.gooding@gmail.com

  • Beautiful smiling woman with long black hair wearing a pale turquoise and black and pink-flowered chemise stands holding her hands with a lake in the background

    Angela Stever


    Angela Stever was born and raised in Prince Edward County. Stever hosted a #1 Morning Show during her twenty-year radio and television career in Kingston, Ontario. Always the storyteller, she also performed stand-up comedy for over ten years. The mother of two now works as a Voice-Over Actor and Author. Conquering the Divide: The Legend of Barsicon, a dystopian sci-fi for young adults, is her debut novel.

    Website
    Instagram
    TikTok

  • A middle-aged blonde woman wearing tinted glasses and wearing a coral jacket, white t-shirt and black jeans is sitting on a front step petting a German Shepherd.

    M. Michelle Nadon


    M. Michelle Nadon is a highly regarded recruitment specialist who has provided talent development and career guidance to the Canadian media and entertainment sectors for two decades. Nadon’s company, www.mediaINTELLIGENCE.ca, links today’s businesses with top talent through innovative talent acquisition and recruitment models and cutting-edge career enrichment programs.

    Nadon lives north of Toronto and spends all of her spare time, goodwill and company profits on animal rescue and animal advocacy.

    Mobile: +1.416.533.6788 EST | nadon@mediaintelligence.ca

    LinkedIn | mediaINTELLIGENCE | X | YouTube | Instagram | Libsyn

  • A middle-aged man wearing a black baseball cap and glasses is at the wheel of a car with a small beige and white mixed-breed dog on his lap, cuddled under his chin

    Eric Bishop

    Eric Bishop is an Army Field Artillery veteran who spent over twenty years working in dozens of different fields, including shipping, military armor manufacturing, heat treatment, and semiconductor manufacturing. It was at a community college, on his journey to earning his first degree in his late forties, that Eric discovered a hidden talent for writing and storytelling. He has been writing a couple of short stories a week for the last fifteen years and plans to continue writing them until he dies.

    Substack

  • A pretty young brunette woman with long corn-row braids with purple ends to her hair wearing a teal sleeveless top stands with her hands on her hips

    Liudmila Brus


    Liudmila Brus lives in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, with her small family and her adopted cat. She is currently a video game writer at Ghost Workshop, working on the game Marsbound.

    Under the influence of her grandparents, Liudmila fell in love with reading at an early age and developed a passion for writing. She began collaborating with a city newspaper at the age of 15.

    Liudmila has extensive experience in journalism, with professional interests in environmental issues and green initiatives worldwide.

    She is also a fan of heavy music and a LARP (Live Action Role-Playing) enthusiast. In 2012, she co-founded the "After Us" post-apocalyptic LARP club in Moscow and organized several themed parties and festivals.

    Her sci-fi book cycle Geryon's Code consists of three novels: No Life but Immortality, The Orphaned Earth, and From The Abyss, To The Abyss (currently in progress).

    No Life but Immortality
    The Orphaned Earth (beta)