Meet the LITERARY LOOKBOOK, a comprehensive but not exhaustive collection of 182 upcoming 2024 releases curated by Kelly Hooker and me. The Lookbook includes titles from January-May 2024 from a variety of genres and features cover designs organized by publication date. Buy it here: Literary Lookbook

Episodes

May 11, 2022

Elizabeth Barnhill - Book Club Recommendations

In this episode, Elizabeth and I chat about some great titles for book clubs.

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May 10, 2022

Interview with David J. Dennis, Jr. - THE MOVEMENT MADE US

In this interview, David and I discuss The Movement Made Us, his father's role in the Civil Rights Movement, getting his father's story down and how the format of the book came about, the hardest part of writing the book, …

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May 6, 2022

Mary O'Malley and Pamela Klinger-Horn - Their Favorite Summer 2022 Re…

Mary and Pamela join me to discuss their recommended reads for Summer 2022.

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May 5, 2022

Interview with Heather Lazare - Editorial and Publishing Consultant

In this interview, Heather provides an inside look at the editorial process and how she got started, what the job entails, the Northern California Writers' Retreat, her favorite and least favorite aspects of the job, writing a good query letter, …

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May 4, 2022

Interview with Erica Ferencik - GIRL IN ICE

In this interview, Erica and I discuss Girl in Ice, how she likes to "follow her fascinations," writing an arctic setting, hovering on the cusp of what is real and what is imaginary, her incredible research trip, the incident that …

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April 28, 2022

Interview with Adriana Trigiani - THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE

In this interview, Adriana and I discuss The Good Left Undone, writing an epic family saga, taking a jewelry-making class at Christie's and how it inspired portions of the book, her title's origin, creating Adriana Ink,, and much more.

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April 27, 2022

Interview with Delia Ephron - LEFT ON TENTH

In this interview, Delia and I discuss Left on Tenth, how she decided to write this book, her work with The Empathy Project which works to teach doctors empathy, combing through thousands of pages of her own medical records, the …

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April 26, 2022

Interview with Reyna Grande - A BALLAD OF LOVE AND GLORY

In this interview, Reyna and I discuss A Ballad of Love and Glory, shedding a light on a lesser-known time period, writing in a variety of genres and how they compare, her favorite character to write in this book, what …

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April 25, 2022

Interview with Michelle Huneven - SEARCH

In this interview, Michelle and I discuss Search, her inspiration for the story, the format for telling the tale, the characters that were the easiest and hardest to write, how her cover came about, the way her characters developed as …

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April 21, 2022

Interview with Kimberly Brock - THE LOST BOOK OF ELEANOR DARE

In this interview, Kimberly and I discuss The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare, the inspiration and historical background for this book, providing Eleanor Dare with her own story, writing about America's oldest known mystery, her gorgeous cover, and much more.

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April 20, 2022

Interview with Dolen Perkins-Valdez - TAKE MY HAND

In this interview, Dolen and I discuss Take My Hand, the inspiration for this book, her research, how she selected Civil's name, creating the court transcript, the hardest part about writing the book, and much more.

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April 19, 2022

Interview with Christine Simon - THE PATRON SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES

In this interview, Christine and I discuss The Patron Saint of Second Chances, her inspiration for this story, when she knew she wanted to be a writer, her unusual publishing journey, creating a tremendous sense of community in her book …

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April 15, 2022

Kelly Hooker - Best Books of 2022 (so far)

In this episode, Kelly and I chat about the best books of 2022 publishing in January through March.

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April 15, 2022

Interview with Ashley Winstead - FOOL ME ONCE

Ashley and I discuss Fool Me Once, how second-chance romance is her favorite trope, writing books in several genres, her fabulous cover, setting a book in the world of politics, weaving pop culture and humor into this novel, rom-com character …

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April 14, 2022

Interview with Mary Laura Philpott - BOMB SHELTER

Mary Laura and I discuss Bomb Shelter, her life changing moment, focusing on why loving someone is not enough to keep them safe, grappling with growing older and letting go, embracing the little feel-good things to keep anxiety at bay, …

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April 7, 2022

Interview with Fareeda Bullert - Senior Marketing Manager, Berkley

In this interview, Fareeda provides an inside look at marketing in the publishing world and discusses how she got started in marketing, her favorite part and least favorite part of her job, finding the right audience for each book, measuring …

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April 6, 2022

Interview with Tiffany and Leon Chen - IT'S NOT JUST COOKIES

In this interview, Tiffany, Leon, and I discuss It's Not Just Cookies, the fact that this is the first time that they are publishing any of their recipes, telling their story and sharing about the business and how much it …

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April 5, 2022

Interview with Landis Wade - DEADLY DECLARATIONS

In this interview, Landis and I discuss Deadly Declarations, the Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence, setting the series in a retirement community, his Charlotte Readers Podcast, using letters written between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, crafting an Author's Note, and much …

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April 5, 2022

Interview with Bonnie Garmus - LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

In this interview, Bonnie and I discuss Lessons in Chemistry, the event that inspired the story, why Elizabeth Zott is resonating with everyone, how the title came about, her amazing publishing journey, having Brie Larson star in the screen adaptation, …

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March 29, 2022

Kathleen West - HOME OR AWAY

For this special episode, Carol Ann Tack of Top Shelf at Merrick Library and I interview Kathleen West together. We talk about her new book Home or Away, the intensity of youth sports, the book's title, writing about #metoo, and …

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March 27, 2022

Tony Birch - THE WHITE GIRL

Tony and I discuss The White Girl, crafting strong female characters, the two sections of the book that were the hardest for him to write, why he created the fictional town of Deane, the strong sense of place in his …

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March 27, 2022

Azar Nafisi - READ DANGEROUSLY

Azar and I discuss Read Dangerously, how she selected the authors to include in this book, the reemergence of book banning, coming up with the format she used for the book, how curiosity leads to empathy, the importance of fiction …

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March 24, 2022

Interview with Rosie Walsh - THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Rosie and I discuss The Love of My Life, having her book selected as a GMA Book Club pick, the obituary writing business, the tortuous process she went through when writing this book, how book covers are selected and the …

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March 23, 2022

Interview with David Sipress - WHAT'S SO FUNNY?

David and I discuss What's So Funny? A Cartoonist's Memoir, how he started creating cartoons for The New Yorker, using cartoons to process his emotions, how writing this book was cathartic and helped him better understand his parents, trying to …

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