21Feb/20

Naomi McDougall Jones

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February 21, 2020


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Naomi McDougall Jones as the guests on Episode 256 – When Women’s Foreheads Move!

Naomi McDougall Jones, award-winning actress, writer, producer and women-in-film activist, sparks an important conversation about equity in the film industry with her first book, The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood, published by Beacon Press.

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Bio:

Naomi McDougall Jones is an award-winning writer, actress, producer, and women-in-film activist based in New York City. Her second feature film, BITE ME, which she wrote and also starred in opposite Christian Coulson, Annie Golden, and Naomi Grossman premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival, followed by a 3 month, 51 screening, 40 city Joyful Vampire Tour of America that took the country by storm. Naomi’s first feature film, which she also wrote, produced, and starred in, was the 12-time award-winning Imagine I’m Beautiful. The film received a theatrical release and is now available on Amazon Prime. She is currently at work on her third feature film, a magical realism piece about a 7-month pregnant woman’s unexpected interaction with the brilliant, eccentric, and deceased inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr., and for which she received the honor of being the first artist in residence at the final home of Ernest Hemingway in Sun Valley, Idaho. Naomi is an advocate and thought leader for bringing gender parity to cinema. She gave a virally sensational TEDTalk, What it’s Like to Be a Woman in Hollywood, which has now been viewed over 1 million times and can be seen on TED.com. Naomi’s first book, The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood, published by Beacon Press, just released this month.

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07Feb/20

Ran M. Ekman

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February 7, 2020


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Ran M. Ekman as the guests on Episode 254 – Drawings Were My Safe Place!

Ran M. Ekman, Israeli author and illustrator living in Berlin, joins us to discuss the journey he went through to publish his first graphic novel, Over and Over!

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Bio:

Ran has always loved stories. At first stories by other people, and then he started telling stories to himself. It wasn’t until he was a “full grown-up” that he actually thought maybe someone else would enjoy his stories too. He loves writing about people, trying to really understand human behavior and hopefully saying something new. He also has a penchant for twists, even in supposedly simple stories, but only if it serves the story.

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31Jan/20

Megan Hart & Brenda Murphy

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January 31, 2020


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Brenda Murphy and Megan Hart as the guests on Episode 253 – Intimacy With My Imaginary Friends!

Brenda Murphy and Megan Hart join us to discuss their duology release, Soul Burn, and how the team-up happened thanks to a fun road trip!

Books mentioned in this episode:

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Bio:

Megan Hart writes books. Some of them might break your heart a little, but she promises you, it will all be okay.
She loves: glitter, zombies, rainbows, unicorns, breakfast, diners, singing, dancing, reading, movies, hummingbirds, SeaMonkeys, tattoos, bees, octopuses, breakfast, the ocean, whiskey, onion rings, roses and the smell of rain on the summer pavement.
Occasionally, she takes a selfie. Or ten. She also writes under the name Mina Hardy.

Brenda Murphy writes short fiction and novels. She loves tattoos and sideshows and yes, those are her monkeys. When she is not loitering at her local library and writing, she wrangles two kids, one dog, and an unrepentant parrot. She reviews books, blogs about life as a writer with ADHD and publishes photographs on her blog Writing While Distracted.

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03Jan/20

Tim O’Leary – Robert Rice

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January 3, 2020

It gives us great pleasure to welcome husbands Tim O’Leary and Robert Rice as the guests on Episode 249 – This Guy Turns Into A Demon!

Husbands Tim O’Leary and Robert Rice join us to discuss the creation, writing, producing and acting for their audio drama podcast “Uumbaji” AND their upcoming series, “Demonhuntr.” It’s a great, laugh-filled conversation to start off the New Year!

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Series Mentioned in this Episode:

Bios:

Tim O’Leary is a writer/director who began his writing career as a New York playwright, and his works have premiered in the New York International Fringe Festival and Gay Fest NYC. Following a SAG-produced reading of his pilot Wolf Island, Tim relocated to Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the UCLA Professional Program in Television Writing, and with his husband Robert Rice produced a pilot for the series Al Malone, Private Eye, starring Angela Lewis (FX’s Snowfall) and directed by Q Allan Brocka (The Eating Out series, Boy Culture.)

He was one of the co-creators of and appeared in the comedy series Moms Anonymous (Amazon Prime.) He is the creator of the upcoming audio drama podcast Uumbaji, starring J. Mallory McCree (Homeland, Good Trouble), produced by Raul Vega (Rose Drive), and recorded at famed film composer Hans Zimmer’s studio. He founded his production company Freaky Fighty Funny Films in order to create projects inspired by his love of horror, comic books, fantasy, kung fu movies, musicals, LGBT stories, mythology, and basically anything tied to geek culture from a queer perspective. He is the head writer, executive producer, and director of the first series under this banner, Demonhuntr, which is currently wrapping up principle photography.

Robert Rice is an LA-based actor and singer who spent several years performing in musical theater in New York City before moving to Los Angeles. He is a frequent guest artist on the Instagram series Wait What (@waitwhatcomedy) and makes frequent appearances in sketches by Youtube comedian David Spates. He and the rest of his barbershop quartet, The Accidentals, were recently featured in the national GEICO commercial A Barbershop Quartet Plays Basketball.

He has appeared on Pink Collar Crimes on CBS and Riggle’s Picks on Fox, as well as @Midnight and Mini-mocks on Comedy Central. He also recently performed alongside Vanessa Bayer and Jeff Goldblum on the Jenny Lewis On the Line telethon. Robert plays Harold, a gay telepath, in the upcoming series Demonhuntr. Robert is a producer on the board of Freaky Fighty Funny Films, and is dedicated to fostering new inclusive works in genre film.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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27Dec/19

2019 Authors Roundtable

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December 27, 2019

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Kim Fielding, LA (Lori) Gallagher Witt & FE Feeley Jr as the guests on Episode 248 – 2019 Authors Roundtable!

LA (Lori) Witt, Kim Fielding, Frederick Feeley, Jr, and SA “Baz” Collins are herded by Vance Bastian as they reflect on their careers, struggles writers face, and what we look forward to in the future. A great discussion for rounding out the year!

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Bio:

Kim Fielding has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and currently lives in California. She’s a university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full-time. She also dreams of having two perfectly-behaved children, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a house that cleans itself. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others.
Kim donates 100% of the royalties from her self-published stories and audiobooks to Doctors Without Borders.

L.A. Witt and her husband have been exiled from Spain and sent to live in Maine because rhymes are fun. She now divides her time between writing, assuring people she is aware that Maine is cold, wondering where to put her next tattoo, and trying to reason with a surly Maine coon. Rumor has it her arch nemesis, Lauren Gallagher, is also somewhere in the wilds of New England, which is why L.A. is also spending a portion of her time training a team of special ops lobsters. Authors Ann Gallagher and Lori A. Witt have been asked to assist in lobster training, but they “have books to write” and “need to focus on our careers” and “don’t you think this rivalry has gotten a little out of hand?” They’re probably just helping Lauren raise her army of squirrels trained to ride moose into battle.

F.E.Feeley Jr is married to his wonderful husband, John. Freddie is an avid reader of Mysteries, Horror, and Suspense, and biographies. He’s also a gamer. His favorites include Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Trek Online, Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, and Civilization Five. He LOVES to cook and dives into trying new recipes. He’s an avid music junkie from POPular music to Opera, to Showtunes, Gospel, Rock, Rap, and Hip Hop.

SA “Baz” Collins hails from the San Francisco Bay Area where he lives with his husband, and a kitten named Taki. A classically trained singer/actor (under a different name), Baz knows a good yarn when he sees it.
Based on years of his work as an actor, Baz specializes in character study pieces. It is more important for him that the reader comes away with a greater understanding of the characters and the reasons they make the decisions they do, rather than the situations they are in. It is this deep dive into their manners, their experiences and how they process the world around them that make up the body of Mr. Collins’ work.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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20Dec/19

Trebor Healey

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December 20, 2019


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Trebor Healey as the guest on Episode 247 – I Took All These Trips and I Didn’t Pay For Any Of It!

Trebor Healey shares his journey through Latin America, discusses his latest release, Falling, a collection of short stories, and touches on political, social, and economic issues and how they relate to queer life.

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Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Bio:

Trebor Healey is the recipient of a Lambda Literary award, two Publishing Triangle awards and a Violet Quill award. He is the author of three novels, A Horse Named Sorrow, Faun, and Through It Came Bright Colors; a book of poetry, Sweet Son of Pan; and two previous collections of stories, A Perfect Scar and Eros & Dust. He co-edited (with Marci Blackman) Beyond Definition: New Writing from Gay and Lesbian San Francisco and co-edited (with Amie M. Evans) Queer & Catholic.

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13Dec/19

Kit Thomas

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December 13, 2019


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Kit Thomas as the guest on Episode 246 – I Had My Own Parade!

Kit Thomas joins us for a deep discussion about growing up Native, finding art, the power of saying yes, creating works that fight for social justice, and a new project she is brainstorming to bridge the gap between Natives and Non-Natives via her art.

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Art Mentioned in this Episode:

Bio:

Kit Thomas is a Los Angeles based two-spirited visual artist, influencer, and drag performer. She has been honing her skills for the last decade. Her main focus is painting, and she also expresses herself through digital art. Marketing herself on social media has paved the way for many opportunities including showcasing with RAW Artists and being featured in a Jubilee Media video. As a two-spirit, Kit’s pronouns are she/her and he/him.

While dabbling with watercolor and acrylic, she has blended symbols from her indigenous roots and elements from her travels across the U.S. Kit is part of the wolf clan within the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of Akwesasne. As a member of the Haudenosaunee alliance, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, she grew up on the Akwesasne reservation located in both Canada and the U.S. Kit’s recent evolution from acrylic on canvas to digital art has given her another avenue for bringing awareness to important social issues.

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06Dec/19

Antoni Manwell

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December 6, 2019


It gives us great pleasure to welcome Antoni Manwell as the guest on Episode 242 – It’s Intentionally Trashy!

Antoni Manwell joins us for a humorous discussion about his new erotic release, Click Bait, gay culture, and his podcast Queer Bate!

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Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Bio:

Antoni Manwell is an American Writer and Podcaster and has always been a believer in the unbelievable. He imagined the world as he thought it could be, and fantasized of a love that looked like no other. Growing up in the south as an African American, he soon realized that his life did not look like most. He did what he could to experience all that life had to offer.

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03Dec/19

A Knife’s Edge by Eliot Parker

Review, , , , , , , , ,

To find out more about Eliot Parker’s latest work, check out Episode 219: Don’t Be Afraid; Be Proud!

This is Eliot Parker’s new novel featuring police sergeant Ronan Mccullough, who previously appeared in Fragile Brilliance. This story can be read as a standalone, although it follows on neatly from the previous book.

Bloody and gruesome in places, but not gratuitously so, this is a clever crime novel with definite noir undertones and lashings of corporate intrigue. Ronan is very believable as the cop trying to make sense of the murder of a mutual friend, but before that even happens, there is a spectacular crash which sets up the tone of the book, and introduces tension between Ronan and his nearest and dearest.

I struggled in places with the plotting, and felt the editing could have been tightened up a bit. At times my attention began to wander, which didn’t make it a book I felt the need to devour in one go. As plots and characters go, there was nothing really new here but it was a solid crime novel with some genuinely shocking moments, although I had clocked who was the real crime kingpin by the middle of the book. The writing was good and it felt as if the author knew what they were doing, even if the reader didn’t, which ultimately kept me reading until the end.

BLURB

Six months after a drug cartel infiltrated Charleston, Ronan McCullough continues to fight the drug war that plagues the city. His investigations are halted when the body of a mutual acquaintance, Sarah Gilmore, is found in the trunk of a burning car. In an investigation that takes him deep into the professional and personal life of the victim, McCullough discovers secrets lurking in her past, and a tangled web of personal and professional conflicts, suspicion, and betrayal. Was Sarah killed for those reasons or something larger? As Ronan seeks answers, his life and the lives of those closest to him are used as pawns in a deadly game that has no ending.

 

29Nov/19

SA Collins

Featured Guest, , , , , , , , ,

November 29, 2019


It gives us great pleasure to put SA ‘Baz’ Collins in the guest spot on Episode 244 – Beware Native Authors in Your Midst!

Join us for a Native American (specifically, the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois) culture discussion as our very own, SA ‘Baz’ Collins, presents his latest NineStar Press release, Beware Mohawks Bearing Gifts, Book One of the Cove Chronicles series. We also chat a bit about his other release, Before the Fall, the second book in his re-release of his Angels of Mercy series. And we wrap up with a brief chat about race/culture representation by non-PoC authors.

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Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Bio:

SA “Baz” Collins hails from the San Francisco Bay Area where he lives with his husband, and a kitten named Taki. A classically trained singer/actor (under a different name), Baz knows a good yarn when he sees it.

Based on years of his work as an actor, Baz specializes in character study pieces. It is more important for him that the reader comes away with a greater understanding of the characters and the reasons they make the decisions they do, rather than the situations they are in. It is this deep dive into their manners, their experiences and how they process the world around them that make up the body of Mr. Collins’ work.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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April 1, 2016

(Covers link to the author’s preferred store)
AoM_Phoenix_FINAL_2016_2x3pxAoMv2Cvr_Marco_Comp_ARe-size2x3sacollins-100dpi_RGBMaster2x3		 It gives us great pleasure to announce SA “Baz” Collins as the guest on episode 051: A Contrarian Life!
Join us as we discuss Baz’s Angels of Mercy evolution as writing performance art, the Violet Quill Gang and Baz’ homage to that prolific era of queer men’s writings, Queer Representation at the literary table – time to step into full equality = Mainstream, and new RFQs with SA Collins in the hot-seat.You can buy SA Collins’ work here:

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Author’s Note:
Angels of Mercy is first and foremost, a series of character studies. A great deal of it is inner-monologue. Elliot will pause the action, will break momentum as he grapples with his world – all the while flipping a finger to the fourth wall. He knows you’re there. It was far more important to me as its author (and a gay man) that the reader come away with the whys of Elliot’s choices in how he navigates his often tumultuous world. The same can be said of Marco (his jock boyfriend) who will pick up the tale with Volume Two.

I’ve read much queer literature and what I find rather interesting is that for the majority of it, very little is written about the character’s headspace. When you live in a world where you constantly have to be vigilant as you navigate through, it can make for some very powerful storytelling. That is my goal in writing these boys’ lives. I want the reader who may not be queer themselves to come away with what it might be like to be in a gayboy’s shoes – constantly polling and pulse-checking your world because your very survival depends upon it. All of that while you hope, you secretly pray, that you’ll find someone who will see you too and find they can’t live without you in their world. A small slice of happiness to call your own. And though you do everything to keep to yourself, you may still run into those who find your very existence threatens who they are and how they think the world should run. I pull no punches with this work. They are hormonally charged eighteen year old young men who are sexually active. While the sex is present in the work it is not gratuitous in that the main character does evolve from his physical intimacy with his high-profile boyfriend. It is not a genre romance read either, though it has a very strong romance threaded in the work. These elements bring a light to their relationship that attracts all the wrong attention.

In a time where more queer youth are coming out to their teammates and their loved ones, I find that work of this nature is both timely and necessary to tell. I hope you’ll find it as interesting and provocative a read as I believe it is.

Our Voices. Our Lives – as we live them.

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