It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 37 Interview: Timothy Jay Smith
Timothy Jay Smith joins us to share his upcoming gay-coming-of-age contemporary thriller: Istanbul Crossing. It leads to discussion of homosexuality in Muslim states and a young man trying to help others get to safety and freedom, a story that grew from Timothy’s own experiences helping refugees.
From a young age, Timothy Jay Smith developed a ceaseless wanderlust that has taken him around the world many times. En route, he’s found the characters that people his work. Polish cops and Greek fishermen, mercenaries and arms dealers, child prostitutes and wannabe terrorists, Indian Chiefs and Indian tailors: he hung with them all in an unparalleled international career that had him smuggle banned plays from behind the Iron Curtain, maneuver through Occupied Territories, represent the U.S. at the highest levels of foreign governments, and stowaway aboard a ‘devil’s barge’ for a three-day crossing from Cape Verde that landed him in an African jail.
Tim brings the same energy to his writing that he brought to a distinguished career, and as a result, he has won top honors for his novels, screenplays and stage plays in numerous prestigious competitions. Fire on the Island won the Gold Medal in the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel, and his screenplay adaptation of it was named Best Indie Script by WriteMovies. Another novel, The Fourth Courier, was a finalist for Best Gay Mystery in the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards. Previously, he won the Paris Prize for Fiction (now the de Groot Prize) for his novel, Checkpoint (later published as A Vision of Angels). Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.
Tim was nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize. His stage play tribute to Matthew Shepard, How High the Moon, won the prestigious Stanley Drama Award. His screenplays have won or placed in dozens of screenwriting competitions including those sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Capital Fund Screenplay Competition, WriteMovies, Houston WorldFest, Fresh Voices, and StoryPros.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 36 Interview – J.P. Jackson!
J.P. Jackson returns to share his latest releases: the dark erotic shorts Skin Sessions, the m/m paranormal The Magician’s Heart, and his story Medium Rare to appear in an upcoming collaboration! We discuss sex, dark magic, tarot, and ghosts.
J.P. Jackson is an award-winning author of dark urban fantasy, queer horror, and even paranormal romance stories, but regardless of the genre they always feature LGBTQ main characters.
J.P. works as an IT analyst in health care during the day, where if cornered he’d confess to casting spells to ensure clinicians actually use the electronic medical charting system he configures and implements.
At night, the writing happens, where demons, witches, and shapeshifters congregate around the kitchen table and general chaos ensues. His husband of 26 years has very firmly put his foot down on any further wraith summonings and regularly lines the doorway with iron shavings and salt crystals. Imps are most definitely not house-trainable. Ghosts appear at the most inopportune times, and the Fae are known for regular visits where a glass of wine is exchanged for a good ole story or two. Although the husband doesn’t know it, Diego and Jalisco, the two Chihuahuas, are in cahoots with the spell-casting.
J.P.’s other hobbies include hybridizing African Violets (thanks to grandma), extensive traveling, and believe it or not, knitting.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen/Watch Right Here:
July 29, 2022
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 7, Episode 30 – JP Jackson + Our Review of Dance of the 41!
JP Jackson returns to share his latest novels: A Tended Garden, Hood’s Ride is Red, Cursed, and Devil’s Due with us. Then Baz and Vance review Dance of the 41 and share who won the week for them!
Bio:
J.P. Jackson is an award-winning author of dark urban fantasy, paranormal, and paranormal romance stories that feature LGBTQ+ main characters. He works as an IT analyst in health care during the day, and lives with his husband of 24 years and his two Chihuahuas, Canela and Jalisco.
His other hobbies include hybridizing African Violets (thanks to grandma), extensive traveling, and believe it or not, knitting.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to welcome J.P. Jackson back as the guest on Episode 316 – We Have To Do This As A Threesome!
J.P. Jackson returns with his latest release, Summoned, and then we discuss his involvement in the FREE writers convention from NineStar Authors – IQARUS Book Con (online May 8th, 2021).
J.P. Jackson is an award-winning author of dark urban fantasy, paranormal, and even paranormal romance stories, but regardless of the genre they always feature LGBTQ main characters. He works as an IT analyst in health care during the day, where if cornered he’d confess to casting spells to ensure clinicians actually use the electronic medical charting system he configures and implements.
At night, the writing happens, where demons, witches and shapeshifters congregate around the kitchen table and general chaos ensues. His husband of 23 years has very firmly put his foot down on any further wraith summonings and regularly lines the doorway with iron shavings and salt crystals. Imps are most definitely not house-trainable. Ghosts appear at the most inopportune times, and the Fae are known for regular visits where a glass of wine is exchanged for a good ole story or two. Although the husband doesn’t know it, Canela and Jalisco, the two Chihuahuas, are in cahoots with the spell casting.
J.P.’s other hobbies include hybridizing African Violets (thanks to his grandma), extensive traveling and believe it or not, knitting.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen Right Here:
OR Watch on YouTube:
June 22, 2018
It gives us great pleasure to welcome J.P. Jackson as the guest on Episode 169 – Put Strange Things in Your Mouth!!
This week JP Jackson returns to the show to give us a behind-the-scenes on his new novel Magic or Die, explains the continued percolation of the apocalypse, and encourages you to try new things!
J.P. Jackson works as an IT analyst in health care during the day, where if cornered he’d confess to casting spells to ensure clinicians actually use the electronic medical charting system he configures and implements.
At night however, the writing happens, where demons, witches and shape shifters congregate around the kitchen table and general chaos ensues. The insurance company refuses to accept any more claims of ‘acts of the un-god’, and his husband of almost 20 years has very firmly put his foot down on any further wraith summoning’s in the basement. And apparently imps aren’t house-trainable. Occasionally the odd ghost or member of the Fae community stops in for a glass of wine and stories are exchanged. Although the husband doesn’t know it, the two Chihuahuas are in cahoots with the spell casting.
J.P.’s other hobbies include hybridizing African Violets (thanks to grandma), extensive travelling and believe it or not, knitting.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or right here:
July 7, 2017
It gives us great pleasure to announce J.P. Jackson as the guest on Episode 119: I Like Flirting with the Darkness!
This week JP Jackson joins us to discuss his first novel, what happens when you flirt with darkness, finding your genre, and the year of too many projects.
J.P. Jackson works as an IT analyst in health care during the day, where if cornered he’d confess to casting spells to ensure clinicians actually use the electronic medical charting system he configures and implements.
At night however, the writing happens, where demons, witches and shape shifters congregate around the kitchen table and general chaos ensues. The insurance company refuses to accept any more claims of ‘acts of the un-god’, and his husband of almost 20 years has very firmly put his foot down on any further wraith summoning’s in the basement. And apparently imps aren’t house-trainable. Occasionally the odd ghost or member of the Fae community stops in for a glass of wine and stories are exchanged. Although the husband doesn’t know it, the two Chihuahuas are in cahoots with the spell casting.
J.P.’s other hobbies include hybridizing African Violets (thanks to grandma), extensive travelling and believe it or not, knitting.
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 35 Interview – Mark Salzwedel!
Mark Salzwedel joins us to share his latest novel The Miraculous Life of Rupert Rocket! We discuss blend of magical realism vs urban fantasy, fairy curses and blessings, and the effects that can have on generations of family.
Mark Salzwedel is a gay performer, writer, and composer living in Brooklyn, NY, with his husband, fashion designer Jesus Soto. His science fiction and fantasy short stories have appeared in a variety of publications, and he has two novels published through the Queer Space imprint of Rebel Satori Press — THE LEVER, an LGBT sci-fi thriller published in 2022, and THE MIRACULOUS LIFE OF RUPERT ROCKET is epic LGBT urban fantasy published in April 2024.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 33 Interview – Nicholas George!
Nicholas George join us to share the release of his novel A Deadly Walk in Devon! We discuss the origin of his Walk Through England Mystery series, writing a cozy mystery with a gay detective, and being a Californian Anglophile writing about England.
Nicholas George is the author of the “A Walk Through England” mystery series, featuring retired police detective Rick “Chase” Chasen. Although a native Californian, Nicholas is an avid Anglophile (perhaps from listening to hours and hours of Beatles records as a teenager) and visits England regularly, usually to indulge in his other passion, country walking. Before taking up mystery writing, Nicholas oversaw communication programs for large corporate clients including Lockheed, Merck and Nissan. He lives in Pasadena, California, with his husband.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 32 Interview – H.N. Hirsch
H.N. Hirsch returns to share the release of the third novel in his Bob and Marcus series: Rain! We get to talk about the evolution of crime series, using location and real-world political climate, and the growth of character careers and relationships.
Titles for writers interested in learning to write crime fiction: Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver, Don’t Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerdan, Writing Mysteries edited by Sue Grafton, Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot by Jane K. Cleland
Bio:
Born in Chicago and educated at the University of Michigan and Princeton, Hirsch has taught at Harvard, the University of California-San Diego, Macalester College, and Oberlin, where he served as Dean of the Faculty and is now the Erwin N. Griswold Professor of Politics Emeritus. He is the author of The Enigma of Felix Frankfurter (“brilliant and sure to be controversial,” The New York Times), A Theory of Liberty, and the memoir Office Hours (“well-crafted and wistful,” Kirkus), as well as numerous articles on law, politics, and constitutional questions.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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December 29, 2023
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 54 Interview – H.N. Hirsch
HN Hirsch shares his Bob and Marcus Mystery series with us: Shade, Fault Line, and Rain coming next year. We discuss how the series follows the growth of the men and their relationship over the decades as they contend with murders set in the political climates of each book’s era.
Born in Chicago and educated at the University of Michigan and Princeton, Hirsch has taught at Harvard, the University of California-San Diego, Macalester College, and Oberlin, where he served as Dean of the Faculty and is now the Erwin N. Griswold Professor of Politics Emeritus. He is the author of The Enigma of Felix Frankfurter (“brilliant and sure to be controversial,” The New York Times), A Theory of Liberty, and the memoir Office Hours (“well-crafted and wistful,” Kirkus), as well as numerous articles on law, politics, and constitutional questions.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Once Chris Kim earned her MA in applied linguistics, she was left wondering, ‘What now?’ A desire for self-renewal led to her accepting a university teaching position in Daegu, South Korea. While there, she gained a new cultural perspective, particularly when she married into the Kim family. Her father-in-law gifted her with the name “Kim Sujeong,” translated as crystal (or, as she’s been told, “white quartz”). After six years, she returned to the Tampa Bay area with her family and now teaches English to immigrants.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 30 Interview – Tony Maietta!
Tony Maietta joins us to share the news about his documentary, Mary Pickford: A Blessing and A Curse, the news about projects springing off the book he co-wrote with Jerry Torre, The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens, and his film-review podcast with Brad Shreve, the Going Hollywood podcast!
Tony Maietta is a noted film and television historian, author and host. He has appeared in numerous film documentaries on classic Hollywood, including works on Vincente Minnelli, William Holden, Jack Lemmon, Billy Wilder, Ida Lupino, and the queer trailblazer, director Dorothy Arzner. The most recent, “Mary Pickford: A Blessing and a Curse”, just won the audience prize at the American Documentary Film Festival the past April. He appeared in the Emmy-nominated Turner Classic Movies documentary series, Moguls and Movie Stars as well as in his own television series, here’s Hollywood! in which he discussed classic films through an LGBTQ+ lens. He was the on-camera host for the CBS Home Video DVD releases of The Lucy Show and I Love Lucy, in which he interviewed such show biz luminaries as Lucie Arnaz, Carole Cooke, and Robert Osborne. In 2018 he co-wrote the award-winning book, The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens with the “Marble Faun” himself, Jerry Torre, which depicts Torre’s life with the two iconoclastic aristocrats, Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edie, from the documentary Grey Gardens. The book is currently being adapted into a limited dramatic series. His most recent project is the podcast, Going Hollywood, in which he and his co-host, Brad Shreve, discuss, debate, and often disagree about classic films and television from Hollywood’s “golden age”.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 29 Interview – Jerry Wheeler
Jerry Wheeler returns to share his 23-year project, the novel Mercedes General. We discuss the fact that though it’s framed as a series of short stories separated by years at a time, the thread follows the lives of his two main characters and their relationship!
Jerry L. Wheeler is an editor of gay fiction and erotica whose own fiction and essays have been awarded a spot on the shortlist for the Lambda Literary Award. He lives in Denver, CO where he maintains his review blog Out In Print, continues his editing business Write and Shine, and keeps writing.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen Right Here:
November 19, 2021
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Jerry Wheeler back as the guest on Season 6, Episode 46 – Google Maps & Jehovah’s Witnesses!
Jerry Wheeler returns to share his first full-length novel, Pangs. We discuss a new pantheon of vampire, being lost in darkness, and the ebb and flow of creativity.
Jerry L. Wheeler is the editor of seven anthologies of gay erotica. His own collection of short fiction and essays, “Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits” was awarded a spot on the shortlist for the Lambda Literary Award. He has also been Lammy-shortlisted for “Tented: Gay Erotic Tales From Under the Big Top” (2010) and “The Bears of Winter” (2014). He lives and writes in Denver CO, maintaining his review blog, “Out In Print: Queer Book Reviews” and his own editing business, Write And Shine. He’s recently published his first novel.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen Right Here:
OR Watch on YouTube:
May 29, 2020
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Jerry L. Wheeler back as the guest on Episode 270 – I Don’t Have Any Wisdom!
Author and editor Jerry L. Wheeler joins us to discuss his revamping of his back catalog, and how he’s trying to stay creative in this lockdown era.
Jerry L. Wheeler is the editor of seven anthologies of gay erotica for Bold Strokes Books, Wilde City Press, and other publishers. His own collection of short fiction and essays, “Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits” was awarded a spot on the shortlist for the Lambda Literary Award and has recently been re-published. He has also been Lammy-shortlisted for “Tented: Gay Erotic Tales From Under the Big Top” (2010) and “The Bears of Winter” (2014). He lives and writes in Denver CO, maintaining his review blog, “Out In Print: Queer Book Reviews” (https://outinprintblog.wordpress.com/) and his own editing business, Write And Shine (https://jerrywheelerblog.wordpress.com/).
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or right here:
February 10, 2017
It gives us great pleasure to announce Jerry Wheeler as the guest on episode 097: Going Down Editing Holes!
This week author Jerry Wheeler returns to talk about the re-opening of his review site Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews, the status of Queer literature in general, a bit about the life of the editor, and we have a good bit of fun.
Jerry L. Wheeler is the editor of the Lambda Literary Award finalist Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from Under the Big Top (Lethe Press, 2010) as well as Riding the Rails: Locomotive Lust and Carnal Cabooses, The Dirty Diner: Gay Erotica on the Menu, and is the author of Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits (Lethe Press, 2012), also a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He’s working on his first novel, The Dead Book.
He lives, works and writes in Denver CO, where he misspends time in fleeting encounters with men best described as trashy. Some on work release programs. Despite this, he heads a freelance editorial service, Write and Shine. Please feel free to contact him at his website, www.jerrywheeleronline.com.
Furry men with tats and shady backgrounds please step to the front of the line!
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or right here:
November 4, 2016
It gives us great pleasure to announce Jerry Wheeler as the guest on episode 082: Work For It!
This week author Jerry Wheeler pulls into the depot to talk about erotica vs romance, his role as an editor, his own writing and being a Lambda finalist, and his audio narration career.
Jerry L. Wheeler is the editor of the Lambda Literary Award finalist Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from Under the Big Top (Lethe Press, 2010) as well as Riding the Rails: Locomotive Lust and Carnal Cabooses, The Dirty Diner: Gay Erotica on the Menu, and is the author of Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits (Lethe Press, 2012), also a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He’s working on his first novel, The Dead Book.
He lives, works and writes in Denver CO, where he misspends time in fleeting encounters with men best described as trashy. Some on work release programs. Despite this, he heads a freelance editorial service, Write and Shine. Please feel free to contact him at his website, www.jerrywheeleronline.com.
Furry men with tats and shady backgrounds please step to the front of the line!
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
April McCloud is a 1% bionic human who worships her cat and hopes to be reincarnated as a red panda. A librarian, educator, and opinionated black belt, she hails from Rochester, NY and enjoys plotting, be it a book, vacation, or a heist at a GF bakery. She identifies as disabled, LGBTQIA+, neurospicy, and as a struggling practitioner of Zen Buddhism.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 27 Interview – Nathan Andres
Nathan Andres joins us to share the book that came from his exploration of the idea of resiliency, Your REAL Life: Get Authentic, Be Resilient, & Make It Count. We discuss how the REAL model is based on neuroscience and can be used to help anyone face the difficult situations in life!
Nathan Andres, M.A., is a coach, well-being and LGBTQ activist, and business leader. The drive to authentically serve others developed into a love of helping people, ultimately leading to a career in Human Resources where he’s spent over two decades so far.
Nate first earned a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Marquette University in 1995. He is a 2004 graduate of New York University’s Human Resource Management Graduate Diploma program. In 2015, Nate became a Certified Professional and Executive Coach through ICF and earned a Masters of Arts, in Coaching, Learning & Development from Middlesex University, London in 2017. He is a member in good standing of the ICF – International Coaching Federation.
A Columbus, Ohio (USA) native, Nate is truly a global citizen. He has traveled extensively around the world for business and pleasure. He is a popular public and online speaker having engaged audiences across four continents. Currently residing between Washington D.C. and Singapore, Nathan has been based in Asia-Pacific nearly 20 years; he lived twice in Tokyo, Japan and holds a permanent residency card in Hong Kong. Nathan is a four-time marathon finisher and enjoys tennis, yoga, strength training, meditation and movies. He is an avid Wellbeing & LGBTQ activist contributing to causes around the world. When off duty, Nathan and his husband spend endless hours playing with their dogs, Vivi & Coco.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 37 Interview: Timothy Jay Smith
