Episodes

Historical Fiction

Interview with Laura Spence-Ash - BEYOND THAT, THE SEA

In this interview, Laura and I discuss Beyond That, the Sea, exploring how someone moves forward when they can't quite figure out who they are and where they belong, telling the story through multiple points of view and why she selected the people she did to tell the story, the source of her title, the timeline in the footer, and much more.

Historical Fiction

Interview with Jennifer Rosner - ONCE WE WERE HOME

In this interview, Jennifer and I discuss Once We Were Home, exploring the nature of bonds and how they locate a person in a home, how her experience as a parent of deaf children helped her tell this story, her research, examining the theme of identity, and much more.

Interview with Kristen Bird - I LOVE IT WHEN YOU LIE

In this interview, Kristen and I discuss I Love It When You Lie, writing a Southern story, mirroring her own family life, creating a mystery where the reader doesn't know who died, and much more. Support the podcast by becomi...

Interview with Balli Kaur Jaswal - NOW YOU SEE US

In this interview, Balli and I discuss Now You See Us, how she decided to write this story, having her book selected as Marie Claire's March Book Club pick, tempering some of the stories she learned to keep the book from bein...

Historical Mystery

Interview with Deanna Raybourn - A SINISTER REVENGE

In this interview, Deanna and I discuss A Sinister Revenge, her Veronica Speedwell title generator, Killers of a Certain Age and its success, weaving prominent people from history into her stories, her book covers, Stoker's brothers, and much more.

Nonfiction

Interview with Laura Cathcart Robbins - STASH

In this interview, Laura and I discuss Stash, why she decided to write this book, how tricky memory is, overcoming her addiction to Ambien, providing input on her book's cover, her podcast The Only One in the Room, and much more.

Speculative Fiction

Interview with Julie Carrick Dalton - THE LAST BEEKEEPER

In this interview, Julie and I discuss The Last Beekeeper, all of the world building she did for this book, why she chose bees, her own beekeeping experiences, the book's stunning cover, the font created just for this book, maintaining hope, and much more.

Mystery/Thriller

Interview with Jessa Maxwell - THE GOLDEN SPOON

In this interview, Jessa and I discuss The Golden Spoon, setting the book during a baking competition, the hardest part of writing the book, her stunning cover, crafting a story where the reader does not know who dies until the end, and much more.

Mystery/Thriller

Interview with C.J. Box - STORM WATCH

In this interview, C.J. and I discuss Storm Watch, weaving together two central mysteries into each book, how there is now more fiction focused on the outdoors than there used to be, the Joe Pickett TV series, incorporating a political element into his books because of the large amount of public land in Wyoming, crypto-mining, and much more.

Behind The Scenes

Interview with Davina Morgan-Witts - Founder and Publisher, BookBrowse

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Davina and I chat about her role as Founder and Publisher of BookBrowse, how she came up with the idea to create the website, curating books for readers and book clubs, BookBrowse's membership options, how reviewers are selected, deciding which books to review for the site, and much more.

Historical Fiction

Interview with Shelley Read - GO AS A RIVER

In this interview, Shelley and I discuss Go as a River, the kernel of inspiration that sparked the story, her love of nature and wilderness, grief and how she explores it in her writing, connecting with others through grief, her title and cover, and much more.

Historical Fiction

Interview with William Kent Krueger- THE LEVEE

In this interview, Kent and I discuss The Levee, using Faulkner's novella The Old Man as a jumping off point, the booming audiobook market, writing an audio original versus a book, why he focuses on the themes of the power of nature and the complexity of humans, and much more.

Historical Fiction

Interview with Cheryl A. Head - TIME'S UNDOING

In this interview, Cheryl and I discuss Time's Undoing, basing the story on her family history, setting Time's Undoing in Birmingham and Detroit and the similarities in the cities, how the earth below a city holds its secrets and history, reviewing old newspapers from the 1920s, the American flag, and much more.

Historical Fiction

Interview with Lynn Cullen - THE WOMAN WITH THE CURE

In this interview, Lynn and I discuss The Woman With the Cure, writing a book about the polio pandemic during another pandemic, how our culture is dictated by advertisements, her research, her goal to present the science necessary in the book in a basic and readable format, the creation of Candyland, and much more.

Mystery/Thriller

Interview with Amy Tector - THE FOULEST THINGS

In this interview, Amy and I discuss The Foulest Things, writing a series and mysteries as a pantser, why she created the fictional Dominion Archives, incorporating art theft into her story, and much more.

Historical Fiction

Interview with Sadeqa Johnson - THE HOUSE OF EVE

In this interview, Sadeqa and I discuss The House of Eve, how she was inspired by her family's history to write this story, colorism in the Black community, what she learned while writing this novel, her stunning cover, finding the right title for the book, and much more.

Nonfiction

Interview with Christie Tate - B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found

In this interview, Christie and I discuss B.F.F., all of the book's great pre-publication press, why friendships were so hard for her, social media's impact on relationships, how the title and cover came about, how her family responded to this book, and much more.

Contemporary Fiction

Interview with Sally Page - THE KEEPER OF STORIES

In this interview, Sally and I discuss The Keeper of Stories, how she collected the stories for the book, why she started writing fiction, the importance of intergenerational relationships, how truth is stranger than fiction, and much more.

Contemporary Fiction

Interview with Alison Wisdom - THE BURNING SEASON

In this interview, Alison and I discuss The Burning Season, her inspiration for this book, her fascination with cults as well as the wider world's fascination with them, infertility, writing from a first person point of view, and much more.

Contemporary Fiction

Interview with Audrey Burges - THE MINUSCULE MANSION OF MYRA MALONE

In this interview, Audrey and I discuss The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone, how she came up with the idea for the story, the fascination with miniatures, how her fabulous cover came about, choosing the book's locales, the Thorne Miniature Rooms at The Art Institute of Chicago, her inspiration for connecting the miniature house with the full size house in the story, and much more.

Mystery/Thriller

Interview with Grady Hendrix - HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE

In this interview, Grady and I discuss How to Sell a Haunted House, his decision to write about dolls and puppets, how he started writing horror, world building, and much more.

Nonfiction

Interview with Erika Bolstad - WINDFALL

In this interview, Erika and I discuss Windfall, how she decided to write this book and the ways it changed over time, how everyone yearns to know where they come from, her internal conflicts about her family's inheritance, her book cover, climate change, her visits to North Dakota, and much more.

Interview with Jenna Blum - THE KEY OF LOVE

In this interview, Jenna and I discuss her new serial audio drama The Key of Love, creating this story, how she approached writing it and how it differed from writing a traditional book, the process for creating the audio dra...

Mystery/Thriller

Interview with Sara Rosett - High Society Lady Detective series

In this interview, Sara and I discuss her High Society Lady Detective series, how she decided to write the series, how it has changed over time, why she chose the indie author route, her recent Kickstarter campaign, her podcasts, and much more.