It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 15: Del Blackwater!
Del Blackwater shares her novel: Dead Egyptians. Her lifelong love & pursuit of Egyptology has lead her to writing about Egypt in 1902, and a gay British Egyptologist who was there when the Egyptians began to take back their country, plus mysticism, reincarnation, and porch time!
Bio:
Del Blackwater is a novelist and travel writer based in Wisconsin.
Her life vacillates wildly between a quiet existence in the country and a feverish, risk-centric existence when on the road. Her travels have taken her to four continents, and she makes questionable decisions in all of them.
While Egypt is inevitably the high-water mark of both her travels and her writing, she tries to spend time in other places as well.
Del is the author of Dead Egyptians, a historical fantasy series set in the Edwardian era. She is also published many times over as a board game and tarot deck designer, notably as the creator of Playlist Wars, a music game.
When not keeping busy, she unwinds by taking care of a menagerie of critters and enjoying something she calls porch time.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 14: Scott Terry!
Scott Terry shares his novel: The Gift. We discuss fiction exploring the intersection of racism and homophobia under the certainty of religious superiority.
Bio:
Scott Terry (also writing under Scott M. Terry) was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, and spent his childhood praying for God and Armageddon to heal him of his homosexual thoughts. At the age of sixteen, he escaped from home and was riding bulls in the rodeo as a gay cowboy.
Scott’s memoir, (Cowboys, Armageddon, and The Truth) was named one of the Top 20 Must Read Books of 2013 by Advocate magazine. It was named one of the best LGBT releases of 2012 by Out In Print and Band of Thebes book lists, and was a double-award winner of the Rainbow Book Awards (Best Gay Debut, and Best LGBT Non-Fiction, 2013). Scott’s new novel, The Gift, is a work of fiction and released in Spring 2025. Scott has written often for the San Francisco Chronicle, and his essays has been featured in the Huffington Post and Alternet Magazine, amongst others.
Scott’s rodeo gear, clothing, and championship buckles are in the permanent collection of the Autry Museum of the American West (Los Angeles), and are currently on display in the museum’s Imagined Wests exhibit. He and his husband operate an organic farm in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 13: Jim Provenzano!
Jim Provenzano shares the audio revival of his novel: Now I’m Here. We discuss writing love story arcs and perspectives, and the art of producing an audiobook.
Bio:
Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels Finding Tulsa, Now I’m Here, PINS, Monkey Suits, Cyclizen, the 2012 Lambda Literary Award winner Every Time I Think of You, its sequel Message of Love (a Lammy finalist), the stage adaptation of PINS, and a short fiction collection, Forty Wild Crushes. He edited and published his late uncle John Rigney Jr.’s 1950s novel, The Lost of New York, in 2022. His latest work is the YA novella, Lessons in Teenage Biology, out June 1, 2024.
Degrees include a BFA in dance from Ohio State University and an MA in English from San Francisco State University. Born in New York City and raised in Ohio, he lives in San Francisco.
A journalist in LGBT media for three decades, and the guest curator of Sporting Life, the world’s first gay athletics exhibit, he also wrote the award-winning syndicated Sports Complex column for ten years. He is the Arts Editor with the Bay Area Reporter.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 12: Elizabeth Costello!
Elizabeth Costello joins shares her debut novel: The Good War. We discuss writing feminist, noir, coming-of-age fiction, and then introduce Portland’s Ekphraestival, bringing writers and visual artists together.
Bio:
Elizabeth Costello is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. Her publications include the poetry chapbook RELIC and arts and culture writing for SF Weekly and 7×7. She works (remotely) as an editor for UC Berkeley and co-founded the ekphraestival, a generative exchange among visual artists and poets that culminates in readings and exhibitions in April, national poetry month. Her debut novel, The Good War, is out now from Regal House and was described by Publishers Weekly as “dark and intense…lyrical…Moody and atmospheric, this gritty tale is worth a look.”
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 11: Marshall Moore!
Marshall Moore returns to share his books: Sunset House and The Scholarship of Creative Writing Practice. We enjoy some laughs while talking about writing a book of essays, and the idea of creative practice.
Bio:
Marshall Moore is the author of four novels, four short-fiction collections, and the memoir I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing. His work has appeared in The Southern Review, Litro, Storgy, Passengers Journal, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Asia Literary Review, The Barcelona Review, and many other journals and anthologies. He is also the co-editor of three academic books on the pedagogy of creative writing and publishing. He holds a PhD in creative writing from Aberystwyth University. A native of eastern North Carolina, he lives in Cornwall, England.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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March 31, 2023
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 14: Marshall Moore + our “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” review!
Marshall Moore shares his memoir, I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing. We discuss everything from cosplaying normalcy, to his upcoming projects, to driving around Penzance. We then review Brooklyn Nine-Nine and share what won our weeks!
Marshall Moore is the author of four novels and three short-fiction collections. He is also the co-editor of three academic books on the pedagogy of creative writing and publishing. His work has appeared in The Southern Review, Litro, Storgy, Passengers Journal, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Asia Literary Review, The Barcelona Review, and many other journals and anthologies. He holds a PhD in creative writing from Aberystwyth University. A native of eastern North Carolina, he lives in Cornwall, England, and teaches creative writing and publishing at Falmouth University.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 10: Wayne Scott!
Wayne Scott joins us to share his memoir: The Maps They Gave Us. We scrutinize society’s expected marriage script, and unveil how accepting one’s self and working with your spouse to craft the new story of your marriage can lead to having an unconventional family based on love.
Bio:
Wayne Scott’s writing has appeared in The Sun, Poets and Writers, The Psychotherapy Networker, Huffington Post, and The Oregonian, among others. His New York Times essay, “Two Open Marriages in One Small Room” (January 2020) was adapted for the Modern Love podcast and read by Edoardo Ballerini (summer 2021), then “dutchified” for Modern Love (Amsterdam), the television series, in 2022. Some of his more notable tweets are included in Tolstoy Together: 85 Days of War and Peace (A Public Space Books, 2021). He was a Tin House Fellow in 2019. He is a writer, psychotherapist, and teacher in Portland, Oregon.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 9: Donna Minkowitz!
Donna Minkowitz joins us to share her first fiction novel: Donnaville. We discuss backdrops of the mind, growth of the self through the parts of self, character struggles, and yes… there are authoritarians who are trying to bring about a stricter society.
Bio:
Donna Minkowitz is a writer of fantasy, memoir, and journalism lauded by Lilith Magazine for her “fierce imagination and compelling prose.” Science fiction great Terry Bisson called her writing “rich and wild, dark and funny, as fearless as her legendary journalism and as scary as a fairy tale.” And she’s proud that Kirkus has praised the “defiant and playful energy” of her work.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 8: Robert Bruegmann!
Robert Bruegmann joins us to share his first fiction book: Roman Ivory – A Novel. We discuss men loving men in the 19th century. It leads to a discussion of coded signals, generational discover, the author’s expertise in art & architecture, and the backdrop of murder.
Bio:
Robert Bruegmann is an historian of architecture, landscape and the built environment. He received his BA from Principia College in 1970 and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. In 1977 he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he is currently Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art History, Architecture and Urban Planning. He has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia College of the Arts, MIT and Columbia University. He is author or editor of numerous award-winning non-fiction books and articles and a novel, Roman Ivory.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 7: Lewis DeSimone!
Lewis DeSimone joins us for the first time with his book: Exit Wounds. We discuss middle age, the disappearance of gay touchstones in culture, and jury duty as a lens for seeing life.
Bio:
Lewis DeSimone has supported his writing habit through a long career in marketing and academic publishing. His debut novel, Chemistry, investigated the impact of mental illness on a gay couple. In subsequent works, The Heart’s History and Channeling Morgan, he tackled subjects as diverse as AIDS, drag, cults, and the celebrity closet. At the core of all of his work is the hard and necessary struggle for self-knowledge and acceptance. As his latest novel, Exit Wounds, demonstrates, that effort doesn’t end at some magical point of “maturity,” particularly in turbulent periods like the present, when cultural shifts happen so quickly we don’t have time to fully grasp what we’re losing in the process.
A frequent panelist at the Saints and Sinners Literary Conference, Lewis has published fiction and nonfiction in the Advocate, Christopher Street, Chelsea Station, and a range of other journals and literary anthologies.
Lewis grew up in Boston and earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard. He also has a master’s in creative writing from the University of California, Davis. After spending 25 years in San Francisco, he retired to Minneapolis, where he lives with his husband.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 5: Rob Osler!
Rob Osler returns to share the first book in his Harriet Morrow Investigates series: The Case of the Missing Maid. We discuss the parallels between the Progressive Era (1890-1920) and current events, writing an exemplary and queer woman in a historic setting, and the unfolding of the series.
Bio:
Rob Osler writes traditional mysteries featuring LGBTQ+ main characters. Believing that relatability is as important as representation, he strives to showcase our shared humanity across individual identities. Rob’s just-released historical novel THE CASE OF THE MISSING MAID is a USA Today Bestseller, earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and is an Amazon Editors Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. His other work has been a finalist for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, Lefty, and Macavity Awards, a CrimeReads Best of the Year, and a winner of the Mystery Writers of America Robert L. Fish Award. After living in Boise, Chicago, and Seattle, Rob resides in California with his husband and a tall gray cat.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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March 8, 2024
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 10 Interview – Rob Osler
Rob Osler returns to share his latest Hayden & Friends Mystery, Cirque du Slay! We discuss the importance of characters living their authentic lives and the growth of the “quozy” genre!
Rob is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Authors’ Guild, Sisters in Crime, and Queer Crime Writers. He is a graduate in philosophy from the University of Puget Sound and earned a master’s degree in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School.
After many years living in Chicago and Seattle, he resides in California with his long-time partner and a tall, gray cat.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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May 12, 2023
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 20: Rob Osler + Our Review of And Then We Danced!
Rob Osler brings his energy to the show to discuss his “quozy” mystery, Devil’s Chew Toy. He shares his 2-minute pitch poem and we discuss what it means to be queer in the cozy genre. Then Baz and Vance discuss the foreign film And Then We Danced, followed by who won their weeks!
Bio:
Rob writes traditional mysteries featuring LGBTQ+ main characters. His novel Devil’s Chew Toy was a 2023 Left Coast Crime Finalist for Best Debut Mystery and an Agatha Awards Finalist for Best First Novel and named a 2022 Year’s Best by Crime Reads, BOLO Books, PopSugar, and Book Riot. The sequel to Devil’s Chew Toy, titled Cirque du Slay, comes out March 9, 2024. His first publication, Analogue, (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine), won the 2022 Mystery Writers of America Robert L Fish Award for best short story by a debut author as part of the Edgar Awards. Forthcoming works include Miss Direction in Ellery Queen’s September/October edition, and Red Shoes in the Brutal and Strange, an anthology based on Elvis Costello songs from Down & Out Books, Jan 2024. Also on the horizon is The Case of the Missing Maid, book one in a new historical series featuring a queer female detective in Chicago in the Progressive Era from Kensington Books.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 15: Del Blackwater!
