Monthly Archives: May 2024

31May/24

Gayleen Froese

May 31, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 21 Interview – Gayleen Froese

Gayleen Froese returns to share her latest novel, The Dominion, a travel guide to a magical city-state that isn’t as safe as you might imagine. We then preview her upcoming release, The Man Who Hated Clouds, the latest in the Ben Ames mystery series.

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Bio:

Gayleen Froese is an LGBTQ writer of detective fiction living in Edmonton, Canada. Her novels include the Ben Ames detective series, the superhero novel Lightning Strike Blues and urban fantasy The Dominion from DSP Publications, and Touch and Grayling Cross from NeWest Press.

Gayleen has appeared on Canadian Learning Television’s A Total Write-Off, won the second season of the Three Day Novel Contest on BookTelevision and, as a singer-songwriter, showcased at festivals across Canada. She has worked as a radio writer and talk show host, an advertising creative director, and a communications officer.

A past resident of Saskatoon, Toronto, and northern Saskatchewan, Gayleen now lives in Edmonton with novelist Laird Ryan States in a home that includes dogs, geckos, snakes, monitor lizards and Marlowe the tegu. When not writing, she can be found kayaking, photographing unsuspecting wildlife, and playing cooperative board games, viciously competitive card games, and tabletop RPGs.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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Or Listen Right Here:


April 14, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 16: Gayleen Froese + Our Review of Only Murders in the Building!

Gayleen Froese returns to share her upcoming novel, The Man Who Lost His Pen. We talk about using setting to shape the story and geek out about languages a bit. We then review seasons 1 & 2 of Only Murders in the Building and share what won our weeks!

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Mentioned in this episode:

Bio:
Gayleen Froese is an LGBTQ writer of detective fiction living in Edmonton, Canada. She has appeared on Canadian Learning Television’s A Total Write-Off, won the second season of the Three Day Novel Contest on BookTelevision, and as a singer-songwriter, showcased at festivals across Canada. She has worked as a radio writer and talk-show host, an advertising creative director, and a communications officer.

A past resident of Saskatoon, Toronto, and northern Saskatchewan, Gayleen now lives in Edmonton with novelist Laird Ryan States in a home that includes dogs, geckos, snakes, monitor lizards, and Marlowe the tegu. When not writing, she can be found kayaking, photographing unsuspecting wildlife, and playing cooperative board games, viciously competitive card games, and tabletop RPGs.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Apple PodcastsGoogle PlayiHeartRadioSpotifyStitcherTuneIn

Or Listen Right Here:

OR Watch on YouTube:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaQmSny_juo[/embedyt]


December 9, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 7, Episode 49: Gayleen Froese + Our Review of Christmas at the Ranch!

Gayleen Froese shares her novel, The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out, which leads to talk about the disparity between the way M/M vs M/F romances are viewed in detective novels, and the importance of authentic locations. Then M.D. Neu joins us to review Christmas at the Ranch!

Follow and support Gayleen:

Mentioned in this episode:

Bio:
Gayleen Froese is an LGBTQ writer of detective fiction living in Edmonton, Canada. She has appeared on Canadian Learning Television’s A Total Write-Off, won the second season of the Three Day Novel Contest on BookTelevision, and as a singer-songwriter, showcased at festivals across Canada. She has worked as a radio writer and talk-show host, an advertising creative director, and a communications officer.

A past resident of Saskatoon, Toronto, and northern Saskatchewan, Gayleen now lives in Edmonton with novelist Laird Ryan States in a home that includes dogs, geckos, snakes, monitor lizards, and Marlowe the tegu. When not writing, she can be found kayaking, photographing unsuspecting wildlife, and playing cooperative board games, viciously competitive card games, and tabletop RPGs.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Apple PodcastsGoogle PlayiHeartRadioSpotifyStitcherTuneIn

Or Listen Right Here:

OR Watch on YouTube:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHkDdm4Qvwk[/embedyt]


24May/24

Alan Lessik

May 24, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 20 Interview – Alan Lessik

Alan Lessik shares his novel, Make The Dark Night Shine, a story of family heritage and discovery. We discuss the inspiration for the story, as well as Alan’s love of figure skating, how novels preserve queer culture, and a look into Zen Buddhism for queer folks.

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Bio:

Alan Lessik is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle, Zen practitioner, amateur figure skater and queer activist. His debut novel The Troubleseeker was short-listed for the Publishing Triangle’s 2017 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. His non-fiction works and essays have been published by Lambda Literary, the Bay Area Reporter, Advocate and San Francisco Bay Guardian. For three years, he moderated panels on queer fiction at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conferences and served on the Board of the LGBTQ Writers Caucus.

His second novel, Make the Dark Night Shine, was awarded by Literary Titan and is a Kirkus Review recommended book.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Apple PodcastsGoogle PlayiHeartRadioSpotifyTuneIn

Or Listen Right Here:

17May/24

Terry Connell

May 17, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 19 Interview – Terry Connell

Terry Connell returns to share his latest work, Lost Soles, a collection of images and essays inspired by the discarded shoes he saw while on long walks during the pandemic. We discuss the odd turns life takes, as well as the importance of being open to everything that comes your way.

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Bio:

Terry has a degree in Elementary Education from Penn State University, and after a year of teaching he earned his Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Temple University. He worked as a therapist for a few years, until his partner Stephan died from AIDS complications. With his life at this turning point, he heard about an acupuncture clinic in Boston called AIDS Care Project (ACP). He moved to Boston in the middle of a blizzard, enrolled in the New England School of Acupuncture, and new he’d found his path. A month after graduation, he started working at ACP. After ten years, he opened a private office where he treats a variety of conditions. He published first published in 2011, his memoir titled Slaves to the Rhythm, and has continued with an award-winning collection of short stories, three screenplays, and the collection of essays in his latest work, Lost Soles.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Apple PodcastsGoogle PlayiHeartRadioSpotifyTuneIn

Or Listen Right Here:


April 17, 2020


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Terry Connell as the guest on Episode 264 – There Are No Shoulds!

Terry Connell discusses his new collection of short stories entitled, A Little Chatter, and then shares some wellness ideas for the safe-at-home era.

Books mentioned in this episode:

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Bio:

Terry has a degree in Elementary Education from Penn State University, and after a year of teaching he earned his Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Temple University. He worked as a therapist for a few years, until his partner Stephan died from AIDS complications. With his life at this turning point, he heard about an acupuncture clinic in Boston called AIDS Care Project (ACP). He moved to Boston in the middle of a blizzard, enrolled in the New England School of Acupuncture, and knew he’d found his path. A month after graduation, he started working at ACP. After ten years, he opened a private office where he treats a variety of conditions. He first published in 2011, his memoir titled Slaves to the Rhythm.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Apple PodcastsGoogle PlayiHeartRadioSpotifyStitcherTuneIn

Or right here: