Oct 17, 2018

Book titles are a bit deceiving. I received Cristina Alger’s third novel, The Banker’s Wife, and figured it would literally be a thriller about a banker’s wife. And it is – to a point. But I came away from it excited about the story of a female journalist, Marina Tourneau, who is far more interesting and pivotal...

Oct 3, 2018

The life of young adult novelist Sara Zarr has changed dramatically in the last three years, following publication of her first book, Story of a Girl. That book led her to be a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. She didn’t win, but as I told her in our first interview, the...

Aug 13, 2018

We’ve never met, but somehow Jodi Thomas has written the story of my life in her latest novel, Tall, Dark and Texan. As long-time listeners will know, I grew up in the 1800s on Whispering Mountain in Texas. I was tall, dark and mostly silent, scaring off small children and even hardened criminals until I found the...

Aug 13, 2018

Romance is the top genre in fiction with more than $1.47 billion dollars in sales for 2007. The average romance reader is voracious and goes through 6-7 books per month. Within the genre, there are many specializations, including tonight’s topic: romance novels written by and for African-American readers. My guest is...

Aug 9, 2018

If you’ve ever thought about writing novels, you might want to think about envying YA novelist Sara Zarr’s career. Her first, best-selling, young adult title, Story of a Girl, was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Awards. Book two, just released this month, is Sweethearts. It has earned glowing reviews and --...