My 17-page 2025 Winter Reading Guide is live! The guide contains 45 recent and upcoming releases plus new titles in book series, fiction/nonfiction pairings, stellar mystery series and some anticipated spring and summer releases. All of these will make great reads for this winter and many are books you won’t see many other places; I strive to find those under-the-radar gems. If you are interested, fill out the Google form and submit a tip of your choosing.

Episodes

Feb. 14, 2023

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.

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Feb. 10, 2023

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.

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Feb. 7, 2023

Interview with Christie Tate - B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost an…

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.

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Feb. 3, 2023

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.

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Feb. 1, 2023

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.

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Jan. 24, 2023

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…

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Jan. 20, 2023

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.

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Jan. 17, 2023

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.

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Jan. 13, 2023

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...

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Jan. 10, 2023

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.

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Jan. 5, 2023

Interview with Christopher Lin - Art Director, Dutton

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Christopher and I chat about his role as Art Director at Dutton and what it entails, how his department has changed since he started at Dutton, the step-by-step process for designing a book cover, his favorite part of the design process, how visiting local indie…

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Jan. 3, 2023

Behind the Books

In this special Behind the Books episode, Kelly Hooker interviews me about the podcast and how it has evolved, my reading life, my literary salon, how I got started in the book world, and much more.

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Dec. 23, 2022

Pam Lamp - Her Blog Plus Cookbook Recommendations (Originally Aired 8…

Pam and I chat about her blog Who I Met Today, how and why she started it, what she has learned from the blog, our shared love of reading and books, the cookbooks she uses regularly and recommends, and much more. Want to subm...

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Dec. 20, 2022

Bonus Episode: Elise Hooper and Lynda Cohen Loigman Chat Books

In this bonus episode, authors Elise Hooper and Lynda Cohen Loigman recommend books about women with unusual careers. Elise's selections: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Finley Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano The Cart...

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Dec. 16, 2022

Mary Webber O'Malley and Pamela Klinger-Horn - Their Winter 2023 Reco…

Mary and Pamela join me to discuss their recommended reads for Winter 2023.

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Dec. 13, 2022

Reminiscing about Some of My Favorite Episodes

In this episode, I reminisce about some of my favorite podcast episodes.

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Dec. 9, 2022

Kelly Hooker - Our Favorite Books of 2022

In this episode, Kelly and I chat about our favorite books of 2022.

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Dec. 7, 2022

Interview with Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman - THE THREAD COL…

In this interview, we discuss The Thread Collectors, how Alyson and Shaunna met and decided to write this book together, what their writing process looked like, the research behind the book, the book's original title and how they decided on The Thread Collectors, and much more.

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Dec. 3, 2022

Amy E. Reichert - Holiday Traditions and Reads

In this special holiday episode, Amy and I discuss her family's holiday traditions and her recommended holiday reads, what makes a good holiday rom-com, tropes in the romance genre, fairy food, the allure of holiday music, and much more.

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Dec. 1, 2022

Interview with Kevan Lyon - Literary Agent, Marshal Lyon Literary Age…

In this Behind the Scenes interview, Kevan and I chat about her role as a literary agent, forming her own agency, what she is looking for when is pitched by writers, how the manuscript submission process works, the importance of blurbs, the Lyonesses, and much more.

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Nov. 30, 2022

Interview with Marcia Smart - DINNER IS DONE

In this interview, Marcia and I discuss Dinner Is Done, how she got started in the culinary world, the process for creating the cookbook, her focus on easy weeknight meals, how she decided to structure the cookbook and why, and much more.

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Nov. 25, 2022

Elizabeth Barnhill - No Way It's Nonfiction! (originally aired 8/23/2…

Elizabeth and I discuss our favorite narrative nonfiction books, our auto-buy nonfiction authors, categorizing the genre, the categories we gravitate toward, and more.

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Nov. 22, 2022

Interview with Elly Griffiths - BLEEDING HEART YARD

In this interview, Elly and I discuss Bleeding Heart Yard, the inspiration for the story and title, how her writing process has changed over her career, dark academia and its appeal, how working in the publishing industry affected her writing process, her recent Miss Marple short story, and much mo…

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Nov. 20, 2022

Interview with Tori Whitaker - A MATTER OF HAPPINESS

In this interview, Tori and I discuss A Matter of Happiness, her personal interest in bourbon and craft cocktails, what the car in her book symbolizes, her gorgeous cover, the revisions she made while writing the book, how she chose her characters' names, and much more.

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