Tag Archives: fiction

16Aug/24

H.N. Hirsch

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August 16, 2024

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.

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Mentioned in this episode:

  • Rain at Amazon
  • 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.

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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.

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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.

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09Aug/24

Chris Kim

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August 9, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 31 Interview – Chris Kim

Chris Kim joins us to share her novel Shaman of Heaven and Hell, which leads to discussions about trauma, Korean mysticism, and a library ghost!

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Bio:

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.

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12Jul/24

April McCloud

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July 12, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 28 Interview – April McCloud

April McCloud joins us to share her debut novel, The Switch. We discuss disability, bionics, humanism, and spiderbots with hats!

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Bio:

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.

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28Jun/24

Terry Wolverton

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June 28, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 25 Interview – Terry Wolverton

Terry Wolverton joins us to share her novel Season of Eclipse. We discuss how her hero goes from living a life of privilege to being in witness protection and having to confront the issues of her own identity. We also go into how Detroit shapes that journey and introduces people into her life that she didn’t know she needed.

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Bio:

Terry Wolverton was born in Cocoa Beach, Florida. When she was just a year old, she left Florida with her mother and moved to Detroit, where she grew up and started college before transferring to the University of Toronto where she majored in Theater and Women’s Studies. Ever since then, she’s been both a student of and strong voice for feminism and the arts.

After moving to Los Angeles, Terry was instrumental in several endeavors including the Lesbian Art Project, the Incest Awareness Project, the Great American Lesbian Art Show, and a white-women’s anti-racism consciousness-raising group.

In 1982, Terry established a consulting business, Consult’Her, working with nonprofits, small businesses, and individual artists on issues related to vision, planning, resource development, marketing, and human resources. In 1997, she founded Writers At Work, a creative writing center where she continues to teach several weekly workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and to provide creative consultations to writers. She is also Affiliate Faculty in the MFA Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles.

She’s authored eleven books and is a certified instructor of Kundalini Yoga.

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22Mar/24

Rob Rosen

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March 22, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 12 Interview – Rob Rosen

Rob Rosen returns to share his novel, D.B. and Me, sparking conversation about the growth of queer literature, and fictionalizing the later life of a real person!

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Bio:

Multi-award-winning and best-selling author/editor/anthologist Rob Rosen is the author of Sparkle: The Queerest Book You’ll Ever Love, Divas Las Vegas, Hot Lava, Southern Fried, Queerwolf, Vamp, Queens of the Apocalypse, Creature Comfort, Fate, Midlife Crisis, Fierce, And God Belched, Mary, Queen of Scotch, Ted of the d’Urbervilles, Sort of Dead, Genie in a Vodka Bottle, Bobby Ray Breaks the Universe, and D.B. and Me. His short stories have appeared in more than 200 anthologies. You can read some of his best ones in Short Spurts, Short Spurts 2, and Short Spurts 3. He is also the editor of Lust in Time: Erotic Romance Through the Ages, Men of the Manor, Best Gay Erotica 2015 and Best Gay Erotica of the Year, Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oau8XkX0rFY[/embedyt]

July 14, 2017


It gives us great pleasure to announce Rob Rosen as the guest on Episode 120: Utopian Society of Drag Queens!

This week Rob Rosen joins us to discuss his latest novel, the changes and growth of gay writing and erotica over time, why he writes in many genres, and his love of working to get other writers published.

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Bio:

A native New Yorker, transplanted to the South, Rob has a B.S. in Biology from Emory University in Atlanta, where he worked for eight long years as a clinical biochemist. When he turned thirty, he packed it all in, sold his car, broke his lease and moved to the land of his dreams, San Francisco – where he plans on staying until he retires to Palm Springs, hopefully sooner rather than later.

He lives with his incredible husband, Kenny, who he loves more than anything in the world. On average, he writes two novels a year, and has also had short stories published in over 200 anthologies. He also contributed erotica to MEN and Freshmen magazines for over five years.

 

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15Mar/24

Gary Pedler

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March 15, 2024

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 11 Interview – Gary Pedler

Gary Pedler returns to share the journey of his novel, Gaydonia, from post-travel idea, to screenplay, to stage play, to publication!

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Bio:

Gary Pedler was raised in the Napa Valley when it produced as many plums as grapes; studied at UC Santa Cruz when it was still small and kooky; and made his home in San Francisco before it was annexed by Silicon Valley.

Gary’s publishing credits include the Middle Grade novel Amy McDougall, Master Matchmaker); the comic novella Gaydonia; and the travel memoir Couchsurfing: the Musical. His shorter works have appeared in The Missouri Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, The Smart Set, the anthology Outer Voices, Inner Lives, and other publications.

Gary is currently single and has no children, though he did once have a cat he was very fond of and still dreams about with intense feeling.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FztvI-guM4[/embedyt]

June 30, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 28: Gary Pedler + our “The Stroll” review!

Gary Pedler joins us to share his middle-grade novel: Amy McDougall, Master Matchmaker. We talk about being a queer parent, adopting, dating, and libraries. Then we review the documentary The Stroll, and share what’s won our weeks!

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Bio:
Gary was raised in the Napa Valley when it produced as many plums as grapes; studied at UC Santa Cruz when it was still small and kooky; and made his home in San Francisco before it was annexed by Silicon Valley.

Gary’s publishing credits include the middle-grade novel Amy McDougall, Master Matchmaker; the comic novella Gaydonia; and the travel memoir Couchsurfing: the Musical. His shorter works have appeared in The Missouri Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, The Smart Set, the anthology Outer Voices, Inner Lives, and other publications.

Gary is currently single and has no children, though he did once have a cat he was very fond of and still dreams about with intense feeling.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Bw-Y4-WXs[/embedyt]

 

 

21Apr/23

J. Marshall Freeman

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April 21, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 17: J. Marshall Freeman + Our Review of Titans!

J Marshall Freeman returns to share his narrated-by-the-author release of The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood! We then go in-depth on his process in audio storytelling, followed by our review of the final season of Titans, and finally share what won our weeks!

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Bio:

J. Marshall Freeman is the author of the young adult fantasy novels, The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood (2020) and Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City (2022). He is one of three authors in the YA novella collection, Three Left Turns to Nowhere (2022), along with Jeffrey Ricker and ’Nathan Burgoine. Freeman is a two-time winner of the Saints+Sinners Fiction Contest. He is currently writing two novels: an adult magic realist tale of Toronto’s queer community in the early ’80s, and a middle-grade science fiction novel about evil trillionaires and brave dogs.

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

 

July 22, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 7, Episode 29 – J. Marshall Freeman + Our Review of The Umbrella Academy!

J. Marshall Freeman returns to share his latest novel: Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City with us, and we then discuss how to make inactive adults believable in YA, as well as diversity and father/son themes. Then Baz and Vance review The Umbrella Academy and share who won the week for them!

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Bio:

J. Marshall Freeman is the author of the young adult fantasy novels, The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood (2020) and Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City, which came out in May. He is one of three authors in the YA novella collection, Three Left Turns to Nowhere (2022), along with Jeffrey Ricker and ’Nathan Burgoine. Freeman is a two-time winner of the Saints+Sinners Fiction Contest. He is currently researching and writing The Yonge Line, a novel set in Toronto’s queer community in the early ’80s. Freeman lives in Toronto, Canada with his husband.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMoLK2-4mm4[/embedyt]

April 22, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Jeffrey Ricker, J. Marshall Freeman, and ‘Nathan Burgoine as the guests on Season 7, Episode 16 – Oooh, Nerd Hot!

Jeffrey Ricker, J. Marshall Freeman, ‘Nathan Burgoine tag-team the show to introduce their latest work, Three Left Turns to Nowhere. Each has written a novella about a young man on his way to a sci-fi convention when Fate intervenes and strands them in Hopewell where they find that thing they didn’t know they needed. These three authors are so much fun, and it’s easy to see how well they worked together!

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Bios:

Jeffrey Ricker is the author of Detours (2011) and the YA fantasy The Unwanted (2014). His stories and essays have appeared in Foglifter, Phoebe, Little Fiction, The Citron Review, The Saturday Evening Post, and others. A 2014 Lambda Literary Fellow and recipient of a 2015 Vermont Studio Center residency, he has an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and teaches creative writing at Webster University.

J. Marshall Freeman is a writer of novels, short stories, and poetry. He is the author of the young adult fantasy novel The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood (2020) and the upcoming YA adventure Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City (May 2022). He is a two-time winner of the Saints+Sinners Fiction Contest (2017 and 2019), and lives in Toronto, Canada, with his husband and dog.

’Nathan Burgoine grew up a reader and studied literature in university while making a living as a bookseller. His first novel, Light, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Triad Blood and Triad Soul are also available from Bold Strokes Books, as is his YA novel Exit Plans for Teenage Freaks and his first collection, Of Echoes Born. For novella lovers, In Memoriam, Handmade Holidays, Faux Ho Ho, Village Fool, and A Little Village Blend are shorter queer romances (often with a dash of speculative fiction). A cat lover, ’Nathan managed to fall in love and marry Daniel, who is a confirmed dog person. They live in Ottawa, Canada—with their rescued husky, in case you were wondering how the cat-dog thing turned out.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0eWRLS54is[/embedyt]

November 20, 2020

It gives us great pleasure to welcome J. Marshall Freeman as the guest on Episode 295 – Coming Out As a Novelist!)

J Marshall Freeman shares his latest release, The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood. We talk about the evolution of the book and real, self-discovering queer characters in a world with dragons!

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Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Bio:

J. Marshall Freeman is a writer of fiction and poetry, a musician, and graphic designer. He is a two-time winner of the Saints+Sinners fiction contest (2017 and 2019). In 2019, he published “Arthropoda,” a chapbook of poetry.

In December 2020, his young adult fantasy novel, The Dubious Gift of Dragon Blood, will be published by Bold Strokes Books. Upcoming work includes the young adult adventure novel, Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City, and the climate change science fiction novel, Cicada Rises from the Earth.

He lives in Toronto, Canada with his husband and dog.

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05Aug/22

Ellie Johnson

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August 5, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 7, Episode 31 – Ellie Johnson + Our Review of The Lake!

Ellie Johnson shares how her experience on a 450 mile canoe trip lead to writing The Barrens with her father, Kurt Johnson. We discuss a bit about coming out, co-writing with a family member, and the importance of storytelling. Then Baz and Vance review The Lake and share who won the week for them!

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Bio:
Ellie Johnson paddled the 450-mile Thelon River with three other women at the age of seventeen. The novel is based in part on that canoe trip as well as her real-life experiences growing up as a gay woman. Ellie is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota and lives in St. Paul.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S4b04CAPb8[/embedyt]

13May/22

Greg Howard

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May 13, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Greg Howard as the guest on Season 7, Episode 19 – Greg Howard + Our Review of Latter Days!

Greg Howard joins us to share his recent novels, Middle School’s A Drag, You Better Werk! and The Visitors. We talk about writing for early adolescent readers in a way that opens conversations about life topics like self-discovery, racism, homophobia, bias, and forgiveness. Then Baz & I share our review of the older film “Latter Days.”

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Bio:
Greg Howard was born and raised in the South Carolina Lowcountry where his love of stories blossomed at a young age. Following his songwriting dream to Nashville, Greg spent years producing the music of others before returning to his childhood passion for writing stories. His critically acclaimed, debut middle-grade novel, The Whispers was nominated for an Edgar Award and is currently being adapted for film. His second middle-grade novel, Middle School’s a Drag, You Better Werk! is being adapted for television by Harry Potter producer David Heyman, Heyday Television, and NBC/Universal.

Greg writes for and about LGBTQ youth, creating the kind of books he wishes he’d had access to as a young reader. When he’s not writing books, Greg enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, and spending time with friends. He lives in Nashville with his two rescued fur-babies—Molly and Riley.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOhqQS2i0O0[/embedyt]

29Apr/22

Todd Shewchuk

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April 29, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Todd Shewchuk as the guest on Season 7, Episode 17 – A Conversation Sparker!

Todd Shewchuk joins us to share his upcoming novel, A Family Divided. Baz and Vance also give their reviews of Our Flag Means Death, and then share what they’re reading, watching, and listening to!

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Bio:

Todd Shewchuk was raised in a very Catholic household in Waukegan, Illinois, which was the inspiration for his novel, as he and his father have butted heads over the years about his homosexuality. The novel started off as a play in 2012. After meeting his now fiance Lee Pulaski, he was inspired to take the story deeper and turn it into a novel. Still in the editing process, Todd hopes to have the book out by this fall. Todd also has a small craft business called Creations By TS, you can also find him on Facebook, promoting health and wellness after a very dramatic 130 pound weight loss.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmVfmfhwu8k[/embedyt]