Episodes

We discuss their new book The Personal Librarian, bringing Belle de Costa Greene to life, portraying Belle’s internal struggle, using the first person POV to tell a more personal story, writing partnerships, their July GMA book club selection, and much more.

Elizabeth and I discuss The Ride of Her Life, crafting this grand adventure story, how she learned about Annie Wilkins and her incredible journey, the manner in which the automobile and interstates revolutionized the United States, what surprised her while writing this book, and much more.

Stephanie and I discuss her new book Fatal Family Ties, the complexity of researching individuals who fought in the Civil War, her favorite secondary characters to write, how her title came about, how the theme of second chance ended up winding through this book, and much more.

Danielle and I discuss her job as a Publicity Director at Harper Collins and what her role entails, her road to becoming a book publicist, how publicists at William Morrow are assigned to books, how each book campaign is unique to that book, the book she is an evangelist for, her reading recommendations, and more.

Pamela, Mary and I discuss working as booksellers and what their roles entail, the book club event they are organizing and hosting in September called the Book Club Buffet, what surprises them the most about the book world, the genres they like to read, their reading recommendations, and more.

Adam and I discuss Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training, how psychiatry differs from other medical fields, imposter syndrome, how he handled the legal issues related to his book, positive changes to the medical industry resulting from the pandemic, the value of personal connection, and much more.

Jamie and I discuss Blush, paying homage to the books that have stayed with her for decades, what Jackie Collins’ daughter thought about Blush, the unfortunate push to categorize books by women and how men’s books are not treated the same way, how art cannot be judged in the moment, and much more.

Vanessa and I discuss Island Queen, bringing Dorothy Kirwan Thomas to life, why she created her fabulous Author’s Note, how the stunning cover came about, the importance of uncovering stories hidden to history, and much more.

Riley and I discuss Survive the Night, how he enjoys making the reader scared, setting a story over the course of one evening in a car, using a screenplay format for the chapter headings, converting from a plotter to a hybrid pantser, switching up his cover, and much more.

Lyn and I discuss The Tiger Mom’s Tale, what she wants readers to take away from her book, bringing Taiwanese culture and food to life, how her Instagram blooper Reels came about, her unusual publishing journey, and much more.

Chantel and I discuss Instamom, the world of Instagram influencers and how individuals now make careers of out being influencers, the term childfree and how it better reflects not having children, her book recommendations, and much more.

Elizabeth and I discuss the books that have captivated us in 2021 so far, why we organized them by publication date, and more.

Amy and I discuss Lady Sunshine, how Woody Guthrie and Fleetwood Mac inspired her book, crafting the lyrics for the songs included in Lady Sunshine, taking someone’s art and finishing it, her unique Covid writing spot, and much more.

John and I discuss Bad Moon Rising, the inspiration for Heidi Kick, weaving timely issues into his mysteries, connecting his community in rural Wisconsin with the bigger themes and conflicts in culture, the most challenging part of writing for him, how the pandemic upended his next book’s storyline, and much more.

Saumya and I discuss What a Happy Family, wanting to focus on mental health and the ways we do and do not talk about it, how memories are filtered through our own experiences, the origins of the title, balancing two careers and a young child, and much more.

Alka and I discuss The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, providing Malik with his own story and his popularity with readers, finding the balance between wearing her reader hat and her writer hat while writing, the inspiration for the Royal Jewel Cinema, launching her Reimagine series on Instagram, and much more.

Clare and I discuss Hostage, the idea that it is far more terrifying when you do not know where a threat is coming from, landing a plane herself at a flight simulation center (listen to learn if she successfully landed), tackling radicalization, how her copy editor saved her from making a mistake regarding the airplane seat configuration, and much more.

Emma and I discuss Songs in Ursa Major, how the relationship between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell inspired her story, crafting the lyrics for the songs in the book, growing up with music as a language in her house, what she learned from writing the screenplay for Songs in Ursa Major, and much more.

Sarah and I discuss We Are Satellites, what happens when a medical technology developed for one condition is used for another purpose or has a commercial application instead, how she chose to tell the story from four POVs, the ethical and moral issues related to using technologies in new and cutting edge ways, making sure her medical device would be realistic, and much more.

Kristan and I discuss Pack Up the Moon, how reading books about other people’s grief provides a safe way to cry over the things in your own life, why she chose to incorporate letters into her book, providing a story for a group of people who don’t often get their own story, the origin of her title, her own experience with a medium and much more.

Jess and I discuss Americanon, the way these thirteen books shaped culture, gender roles and beliefs in the U.S., evaluating American identity in terms of a different canon of books, looking into what books were owned in any given era, how she decided which books to include in Americanon, and much more.

Philip and I discuss The Appalachian Trail, crafting the history of the trail from the perspective of the people who built it and how and why they did so, the difficulty of knitting together a very long and narrow space that traverses many landscapes, Bill Bryson and his impact on the Appalachian Trail, and much more.

Pam and I discuss The Woman with the Blue Star, looking for the gasp in a story, her struggle to write this book, how publishing during a pandemic is like learning to walk all over again, how each one of her books reflects a time in her life, the types of characters she identifies with, and much more.

Jeff and I discuss Attachments, crafting a story about relationships, his personal connection to the novel, how watching soap operas helped him write this novel, creating Sleepless in Seattle and behind-the-scenes details about its development, and much more.