Coffee & Ideas
K.M. Herkes writes across multiple genres, from Science Fiction and Fantasy to straight up good contemporary literature. She started as a novelist first, oddly enough, then moved to short stories. We read and squeed over her new book “Relics from a Traveling Show”, and dug gleefully through the wide variety of stories in this, her first collection. … Continue…Episode 213 – Interview with K.M. Herkes
L. Douglas Garrett takes us back to his “Remember the Trade” series of professional operatives, and we sit down with him and his editor Nicky Robinson to chat about their compilation of Remember the Dead. Join us to learn along with “Dave” as he becomes the operative we know and love through a new novella and two prequel short stories. … Continue…Episode 212 – The Operative Returns – welcome back L. Douglas Garrett
I hope you all remember Richard Sparks, author of New Rock, New Role. We’re here to squee with enthusiasm at the next in the series that just dropped in November, called New Rock, New Realm. We pick up right where the first book ended, so join us! … Continue…Episode 211 – Rocking Out with Richard Sparks
Come meet Karen Nelson, one of the masterminds behind Writing by Writers workshops and author of The Sunken Town. It’s a story about a girl who suddenly inherits property from her birth mother, the narrative dancing gracefully between concepts of adoption, identity, and the consequences of the choices we make. Enjoy! … Continue…Episode 210 – Interview with Karen Nelson
We welcome back Martin Treanor to ask that most interesting of questions: what do fairies want? In his new book, Curiosity and the Cat, a girl who finds herself without much adult influence commits a crime that makes her feel guilty, but happy. But what has she unleashed? What is that cat, really? … Continue…Episode 209 – Martin Treanor’s Cat
Garrett Hutson writes upmarket mysteries and historical spy fiction, with a cast of characters that reflect the diversity and variety of their respective eras. We caught up with him to get his definition and ideas about what upmarket means, talk about his approach to historical fiction like in his Gray Paree, and hear more exciting things about the pre-launch of his piratical LGBT buccaneer adventure novel. … Continue…Episode 208 – Interview with Garrett Hutson
We have chatted with many memoirists, but this vision of the past is new and startlingly original. Alma Alexander’s newest book takes us through her life in stages via the description of the written word that impacted her so profoundly over the years. From childhood to adult, she describes the books she was reading with a glorious review, taking the reader either back to their own experience reading the author or poet, or sending them right out to the library to find a new delight. … Continue…Episode 207 – The Literary Memoirs of Alma Alexander
The Queen of Swords Press is “an independent small press specializing in swashbuckling tales of derring-do, bold new adventures in time and space, mysterious stories of the occult and arcane and fantastical tales of people and lands far and near.” Which really sums up why we love all the books they’ve put out, without even mentioning their wide variety of protagonists that increase representation for all of us. But how does an indie press work? Constantly, as this interview with Catherine Lundoff demonstrates! … Continue…Episode 206 – Indie Publisher focus – The Queen of Swords Press
We are delighted to introduce you all to Anne Montgomery: Sportscaster, referee, journalist, teacher, and author of six published novels. Your Forgotten Sons, inspired by a true story, touched us deeply as Anne taught us about a vital but unsung group of heroes in every war. In this book, set in WWII, we follow Bud Richardville through his younger years into the Army where he becomes a Sergeant in the Graves Registration Service. We sigh with Bud over his wife at home as well as his wistful sweetheart in Europe. Join us to hear more about this well-told tale of WWII historical fiction based on the letters a Sergeant in this service sent home to his family, which they collected and shared. … Continue…Episode 205 – Interview with Anne Montgomery
Dawn’s first novel, “Pono & Aloha vs the Zero-Sum Game”, was just released and available on Amazon — and we’re delighted to meet her to chat about it! It’s a fascinating coming of age story of a young girl in Hawaii who discovers the spirit world and her place in it while trying to solve the historically challenging conundrum of saving the past vs helping the present and future. It is a novel of examining the unintended consequences of all our actions, whether we mean them for the best or no. There are trigger warnings, but it’s a very worthy book that many women of all ages can relate to. … Continue…Episode 204 – Interview with Dawn Akemi