After her mother dies in a tragic accident, Anna cleans out her closet and finds a striking painting that she’d never seen before. She also finds a trove of letters from Stefan Terre, a name she’s never heard. < Back After the Barricades Jessica Stilling May 23, 2023 Today I talked to Jessica Stilling about her new novel After the Barricades (DX Varos, 2023). After her mother dies in a tragic accident, Anna cleans out her closet and finds a striking painting that she’d never seen before. She also finds a trove of letters from Stefan Terre, a name she’s never heard. She travels to Paris for work and also to learn more about her mother, Bethany, who studied at the Sorbonne in 1968. That was a year of student protests and labor strikes by students and workers demanding better pay, workplace safety, and a more equitable society. Bethany never told Anna about her affair with Stefan, a Romanian Jew who survived the Holocaust, became a painter, and was working as a waiter when she met him in Paris. Now it’s 2019, and Anna wants Stefan to tell her about how her mother once wanted to change the world. Jessica Stilling earned a BA from the New School and an MFA in Creative Writing from the City University of New York. Before she published After the Barricades, she published The Weary god of Ancient Travelers, Between Before and After, The Beekeeper’s Daughter (Bedazzled Ink Press), Betwixt and Between (IG Publishing), Nod, and the Hugo Award nominated young adult Pan Chronicles Series (D.X. Varos). Her short stories have appeared in The Warwick Review, The Hawaii Pacific Review and Wasifiri, and her nonfiction has appeared in The Writer Magazine, Ms. Magazine, and Tor.com. She has worked as an editor at The Global City Press and The Global City Review and has taught creative writing at both high school and university level. She has published young adult fantasy under the name J.M. Stephen, lives in southern Vermont, with her family, which includes a dog, a cat, and many chickens, whose squawking sounds exactly like a T-Rex if you listen closely enough. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Garnett Kilberg Cohen’s 4th story collection is about people of all kinds who confront past failures, previous mistakes, or moments they wish they could do over. A man recalls a fall that changed his family’s life, a woman thinks about an abortion that went bad, an aging hippie confronts the death of his best friend – these are detailed, well-told, poignant stories that will stay with you. < Back Cravings Garnett Kilberg Cohen February 13, 2024 Garnett Kilberg Cohen’s fourth short story collection, Cravings ( University of Wisconsin Press, 2024), contains twelve beautifully-written tales. They each start simply before delving into universal human struggles of love, aging, repercussions, and community. Characters mull over or confront decisions and recognize or bemoan past mistakes. A little girl’s life changes while she’s sneaking olives from the pantry, a woman is plunged back in time while attending the book release of her ex, parents of a disabled child struggle as their marriage frays, the daughter of an ex appears on television, and a woman destroys the reputation of her only friend. The collection is about cravings of one kind or another, but also covers a range of complex emotions that arise over the course of a lifetime. Garnett Kilberg Cohen was born and raised in Ohio and feels a strong connection to the Midwest, a place in her memory that is replete with farms, small towns, car factories and fields of corn and purple clover. As a child, she was paid one cent for every five dandelions she ripped by the roots from her family’s yard. Her favorite drink was a cherry phosphate sipped while twirling on a stool at the marble counter of the village drug store. Yet, she was aware of the secrets and trauma often just below the surface. Cravings is Cohen’s fourth collection of short stories. She has also published a poetry chapbook, Passion Tour and multiple essays in such places as Rumpus, Antioch Review, The New Yorker online and Michigan Quarterly Review . Her honors include The Crazyhorse Fiction Prize, four awards from the Illinois Arts Council, and two Notable Essay citations from Best American Essays . In addition to writing and reading, she enjoys drawing, taking long walks, theater, museums and travel. In recent years, she has been fortunate to travel to far-flung places such as Taiwan, Australia, Laos, Tanzania, Iceland and Mexico. She believes that observation is often the key to understanding and inspiration for writing—even if the travel is just to a new neighborhood in the city where she now lives, Chicago. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

19-year-old Anna’s parents won’t pay her college tuition if she studies art, the one thing she loves most. She’s been drifting from one class to another, one boyfriend to another, and can’t stand being stuck in Milwaukee. < Back At the End of the World, Turn Left Zhanna Slor June 7, 2022 Today I talked to Zhanna Slor about her novel At the End of the World, Turn Left (Agora Books, 2021). 19-year-old Anna’s parents won’t pay her college tuition if she studies art, the one thing she loves most. She’s been drifting from one class to another, one boyfriend to another, and can’t stand being stuck in Milwaukee. When she receives an online message from a woman in Ukraine claiming to be a long-lost sister, Anna responds despite all the warnings that she’s being scammed. She also meets a handsome ‘train-hopper’ who lures her into his risk-filled life. Anna’s sister Masha, a linguist who has been happily living in Israel, receives a one-way ticket from her father when it becomes apparent that Anna has disappeared without leaving a message. Masha hacks into Anna’s computer and starts following the trail – had she flown to Ukraine? Hopped a train with her blue-haired druggie boyfriend? And why was she wanted for questioning by the police? This is a novel about linguistics, identity, and the meaning of home, especially for the children of immigrants. Zhanna Slor was born in the former Soviet Union and moved to the Midwest in the early 1990s. She completed her undergraduate degree at University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and her master’s degree at DePaul University. She has been published in many literary magazines, including Ninth Letter, Another Chicago Magazine, and Michigan Quarterly Review, as well as contributing to the popular news publication The Forward. Her debut novel, At the End of the World, Turn Left, was called "elegant and authentic" by NPR and named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Crime Debuts" of 2021. Her second novel, Breakfall, a mystery/thriller set in Chicago, is due out in Spring 2023. When she’s not writing, Zhanna spends most of her free time chasing her three-year-old daughter or doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

It's so delicious! You can use fresh dill or fresh mint for this perfect dip! < Back Zucchini Dip/Sauce September 17, 2019 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Serves: 30 Servings Tags: Dips and Sauces, Vegan, Vegetarian About the Recipe p.227 Battered: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery The community room was the size of two full apartments, so it was a great place to take children when it was too cold or hot to play outside. Noah was already on his fourth trip around the room. She let him watch one more crack of lightening and make one more run around the room before announcing that it was time to go back home to prepare dinner. An hour later, the smell of tomato pesto soup and fresh bread filled the apartment as Quinn set the table, Noah poured the water, and Sierra placed the butter plate and a bowl of zucchini-dill dip on the table. They all sat down, and Alene was happy to get through dinner without a single argument. The kids finished quickly as usual, and Alene stayed at the table to keep her father company. It took him a long time to eat his meal. “Dad,” said Alene, “do you remember hearing anything about Gary hiding money that Joan embezzled from her company? Ingredients 1 small or medium zucchini, cut into pieces w/skin 2 or 3 cloves garlic Olive oil spray for the pan Juice of ½ small lemon (about 2 TBSPs) ¼ cup water (if you want to use this as salad dressing, use EVOO instead) 1/3 cup golden raisins (you can use honey, agave, or brown sugar – don’t use dark raisins) 2 TBSP tahini (or use 1 TBSP sesame seeds + ¼ cup water) ¼ tsp each: salt, pepper ½ tsp each: cumin, coriander, turmeric 1 tsp dried basil 1/2 oz (about a handful) of fresh mint Preparation Sauté zucchini and garlic in hot, sprayed pan until lightly browned (5-7 minutes). Add everything to blender and process until smooth. Season to taste (add more salt or if you like it sweeter, add 1 tsp of honey or agave. Makes about 1 ½ cups (serve with everything!) Previous Next

Andrea Camilleri: Inspector Montalbano Mysteries < Back Andrea Camilleri Author of The Inspector Montalbano Mysteries June 21, 2019 I adore Inspector Salvio Montalbano, a food-loving, honest detective unlike any other who struggles to bridge Sicilian and Italian cultures. He also loves his meals. The gruff inspector was created by Andrea Camilleri, one of Italy’s most famous writers. His books have sold over 65 million copies around the world. Even in translation, Camilleri’s books are complex, well-written, and according to those in the know, manage to maintain some of the blending of the original Italian and Sicilian. The Potter’s Field, #13 in the Inspector Montalbano series, received the Crime Writers’ Association’s International Dagger for best crime novel translated into English. It was great, but not my favorite of the series (so far). Inspector Montalbano is head of a fictional town’s police precinct, relishes a good meal eaten in silence, and knows how to talk to people from all walks of life. After reading through one of his extraordinary meals, I often surprise my husband by suggesting an Italian dinner out. In a nutshell, Inspector Montalbano has learned how to dance with the mob while battling corruption and crime in Sicily. There’s an ongoing (since 1999) television adaptation available with subtitles on Amazon. Andrea Camilleri (1925-2019) was born in Porto Empedocle, Sicily. He was known as a heavy smoker of cigarettes and a non-militant atheist. He began publishing poems and stories while studying at the Faculty of Literature, which he left. Then he studied stage and film direction and later worked as a director and screenwriter. Neither of his first two novels enjoyed much popularity, but in 1992 he published La Stagnione della Caccia (The Hunting Season), which was a best-seller. In 1994 he introduced Inspector Montalbano in La Forma dell’Acqua (The Shape of Water), which I loved, and he wrote 28 novels in the Inspector Montalbano series. I read that Camilleri’s hometown, Porto Empedocle has changed its official name to Porto Empedocle Vigata, which is the name of the fictional town in the series. There is apparently a food tour based on the books, as if there weren’t enough reasons to want to visit Italy and Sicily! Previous Next

The recipes uses 2 bananas and a whole small seed apple. < Back Gluten-Free/Nut Free/Vegan Banana Bread January 28, 2020 Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 75 Minutes Serves: 1 loaf of bread Tags: Muffins and Breads, Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Baking, Vegan About the Recipe p. 8 Smothered: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery “Would you like a pot of chamomile tea, Julian?” Alene, who also drank water with vinegar every morning, scowled at Olly and smiled at Julian. “The banana muffins and ginger molasses cookies are still warm.” Edith said, “Or you can have smoothies made with flax, hemp and chia, goji, maca powder, romaine lettuce, and fruit. I think drinking smoothies makes me feel much better despite the serious head injury I suffered recently.” Edith needed to mention the attack at least once a day. Ingredients 2 TBSP flax seeds ½ cup water 1 small apple (I use Gala) 3 ripe bananas 1TBSP apple cider vinegar ½ packed dark brown, coconut, or monk fruit sugar ¼ cup canola or olive oil 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp coriander (adds complexity but you won’t taste it) 2 cups gluten-free flour 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt Preparation Preheat oven to 325 Prepare a standard loaf pan by spraying oil and dusting w/sugar In a small bowl combine water with flax seeds – it will thicken In processor blend water, apple, cider vinegar and sugar Add oil, vanilla and cinnamon, pulse until mixed In small bowl stir gluten-free flour with baking soda and salt Add to processor and pulse until everything is blended Pour batter into prepared loaf pan Bake 70 – 75 minutes until toothpick comes out clean Cool in pan until you can remove the pan and cool cake on a rack Leftover loaf will be denser the following day, but it’ll still taste great! Previous Next

Quinn and a friend are driving from New York City to Pennsylvania when she sees 9-year-old Lulu sitting on a trucker’s lap, smoking a cigarette. At the truck stop for her friend to score drugs, Quinn takes an astounding picture and then leaves, disappointing Lulu, who thinks maybe people will see the picture and help her. Quinn goes on to live the heady life of a successful photographer while Lulu is confronted with various kinds of abuse and dysfunction. Despite the differences in their lives, both women experience moments of great joy, and significant amounts of despair This is a novel about haves and have-nots, those who find love and those who don’t, how the AIDS epidemic fractured New York’s gay community, and the confusing world of art. < Back Tell Me One Thing Kerri Schlottman February 7, 2023 Today I talked to Kerri Schlottman about her new novel Tell Me One Thing (Regal House Publishing, 2023). Quinn and a friend are driving from New York City to Pennsylvania when she sees 9-year-old Lulu sitting on a trucker’s lap, smoking a cigarette. At the truck stop for her friend to score drugs, Quinn takes an astounding picture and then leaves, disappointing Lulu, who thinks maybe people will see the picture and help her. Quinn goes on to live the heady life of a successful photographer while Lulu is confronted with various kinds of abuse and dysfunction. Despite the differences in their lives, both women experience moments of great joy, and significant amounts of despair This is a novel about haves and have-nots, those who find love and those who don’t, how the AIDS epidemic fractured New York’s gay community, and the confusing world of art. Kerri Schlottman’s writing has placed second in the Dillydoun International Fiction Prize, been longlisted for the Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction, and was a 2021 University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize semifinalist. For the past 20 years, Kerri has worked to support artists, performers, and writers in creating new projects, most recently at Creative Capital in New York City where she helped fund projects by authors Paul Beatty, Maggie Nelson, Percival Everett, and Jesse Ball. Previously, Kerri has been a factory worker, a massage therapist, and taught art to incarcerated youth. Kerri was born and raised in Southeast Detroit where she earned her graduate degree in English from Wayne State University. She lives in the New York City area with her husband and dog and enjoys running, yoga, and meditation. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Lea Roback was a feminist and labor activist who was raised in a large Jewish family in Quebec, Canada. < Back Lea Ariela Freedman May 10, 2022 Lea Roback was a feminist and labor activist who was raised in a large Jewish family in Quebec, Canada. In the novel Lea (Linda Leith Publishing, 2022), Ariela Freedman describes a strong, vibrant woman whose life spanned the 20th century. Lea Roback spoke four languages, and wherever she was in the world, she fought for workers’ rights, votes for women, access to contraception and abortion, pay equity, social housing and free education. She was often in the center of world history—in Berlin during the rise of Nazism and Moscow during Stalin’s reign of terror. She was intelligent, passionate about equality, and ultimately worked in factories as a union organizer. The real Lea is remembered by the work of the Lea Roback Foundation, which offers scholarships to women, the Lea Roback Research Centre, which focuses on inequality and public health; and the Maison Parent-Roback, which links community organizations that advance women's rights and social justice causes. Ariela Freedman was born in Brooklyn and has lived in Jerusalem, New York, Calgary, London, and Montreal. She has a Ph.D. from New York University and teaches literature at Concordia's Liberal Arts College in Montreal, where she lives with her family. Her debut novel, Arabic for Beginners (LLP, 2017), was shortlisted for the QWF Concordia University First Book Prize and won the 2018 J. I. Segal Prize for Fiction. Her second novel, A Joy to be Hidden (LLP, 2019), was shortlisted for the Segal Prize in 2020, and was a finalist for the The Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. When she isn’t reading, writing or teaching, Freedman loves riding her bike, hiking in the countryside, and wandering through the city. For the last two years, she has deeply missed travelling. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

“July 25, 1969 12:41am Hunts Landing. Acrid sulfur from the fireworks faded with the nighttime breeze. Dr. Theodore Wexler held up his glass-red flashes from the police cars on the Quad pulsed chestnut in the bourbon. Pulse. Pulse. The cadence matched his heartbeat, steadier now, settled after this disrupted day of jubilee.“ < Back The Dead Won't Tell S.K. Waters (aka Sue Arroyo 1966-2024) December 6, 2022 In The Dead Won't Tell (Camcat Books, 2022), Abbie Adams is hired to write an article about an unsolved murder that took place in a small southern college town on the evening of the Moon Landing in 1969. She’d almost completed her doctorate but was derailed at the end, and instead became a journalist. She’s widowed with two teenagers, and the faculty advisor who’d refused to pass her dissertation seems to be connected to the crime. She’s forced to speak to him for the first time since he derailed her career, but he refuses to tell her anything. So, in addition to hosting an old college friend with his own journalistic quest, Abbie seeks out the few living witnesses in order to piece together the events of that evening. When two of those witnesses are murdered and another is pushed down the stairs, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the truth coming out. Abbie’s friends rally to protect her as she rushes to meet either her deadline or her downfall. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

"Starling is 19 and was raised in a camper van by a strong-willed mother who cut them off from their community of fellow travelers. Starling, who has never gone to school or to the dentist, knows the nomadic life of trapping rabbits, foraging for food, and getting kicked out by local police." < Back Starling Sarah Jane Butler December 20, 2022 Today I talked to Sarah Jane Butler about her novel Starling (Fairlight Books, 2022). Starling is 19 and was raised in a camper van by a strong-willed mother who cut them off from their community of fellow travelers. Starling, who has never gone to school or to the dentist, knows the nomadic life of trapping rabbits, foraging for food, and getting kicked out by local police. When her mother suddenly leaves one morning, Starling has to figure out a way to survive in a harsh world, on her own. She walks until she connects with an old friend from another traveling family and starts to consider settling into a more conventional way of life, but first, she needs to figure out who she is. Sarah Jane Butler grew up on the edge of Southborough Common in Kent. She studied languages at university and spent time living in France and Spain. Her short stories (some published under the name SJ Butler) have appeared in literary journals and anthologies, and her story ‘The Swimmer’ was included in Best British Short Stories 2011. She has twice won the 26 Project Writer’s Award, most recently in 2021 for her poem ‘Flow’, and has performed her work in pubs, a festival tent and a disused light vessel. Starling is her debut novel. As well as writing fiction, she is a copywriter and communications consultant. She lives in Sussex with her husband and two children. Sarah enjoys seeing the world around her, and often walks around fields and woods to try and identify and learn about local wildlife – she has also set up a small village wildlife group for those who share her interest. She has swum in her local river for many years and has kayaked and canoed on it all her adult life. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Today I talked to Lisa Williamson Rosenberg about Mirror Me (Little a, 2024) < Back Mirror Me Lisa Williamson Rosenberg December 3, 2024 Eddie Asher has always lost chunks of time, and the novel opens as he checks himself into a psychiatric hospital, fearing that during one of his lapses, he murdered his brother’s fiancée. Eddie would never harm Lucy – he loves her and feels a special bond with her – but he thinks he’s being manipulated by another voice inside him. We meet that other voice, who calls himself Pär, Eddie’s pre-adoption name. Pär feels like it’s always been his job to protect Eddie. At the hospital, Dr. Montgomery helps Eddie unravel the truth of his history and identity. Lisa Williamson Rosenberg is a former ballet dancer and psychotherapist specializing in depression, developmental trauma, and multiracial identity. She is also the author of Embers on the Wind (2022; Little A). Her essays have appeared in Literary Hub, Longreads, Narratively, Mamalode, and The Common . Her fiction has been published in the Piltdown Review and in Literary Mama , where Lisa received a Pushcart nomination. A born-and-raised New Yorker and mother of two college students, Lisa now lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband and dog. When Lisa isn't reading, writing, or seeing clients, she loves spending time with her family and friends. Though Lisa hasn't been in a ballet studio for years, she loves attending ballet performances almost as much as she enjoys bookstore events. You can visit her online at lisawrosenberg.com . Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood has created a swiftly mutating story about a woman who is either a loving mother, a famous artist, or a teacher. < Back Constellations of Eve Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood May 3, 2022 Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood has created a swiftly mutating story about a woman who is either a loving mother, a famous artist, or a teacher. Constellations of Eve (Texas Tech University Press 2022) portrays deviations from an initial story that revolves around Eve, Pari, Liam, and a child named Blue. Eve meets Liam, a tall, gentle man who is either philandering husband, a kind partner, or a scheming benefactor. Eve’s best friend is Pari, who is either her best friend and college roommate, a stunning model, or mentally fragile and suicidal. Eve loves, obsesses over Pari, or encourages her to hang herself. Liam is good or not, loving or not, solid, or not. We don’t know if Eve is kind-hearted or crazy, loving or obsessive. We watch these three people weaving around each other, and the child, Blue, has something to say in each iteration of Eve’s life. Eve needs to figure out which part of herself is going to dominate, and who or what is going to control her destiny – will it be love, motherhood, or art? Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood is a Vietnamese and American author who earned an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. After having spent 20 years in the U.S, she is now a reverse immigrant living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Her short fiction and essays can be found at TIME Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Salon, Cosmopolitan, Lit Hub, Electric Lit, Catapult, Pen America, BOMB, among others. In 2019, her hybrid writing was featured in a multimedia art and poetry exhibit at Eccles Gallery. Her fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best American Short Story 2020. Her debut novel If I Had Two Lives won first place in the Writers Workshop of Asheville Literary Fiction contest. Excerpts from Constellations of Eve were finalists in the 49th New Millennium Writing Award, and the Sunspot Culmination Award. She currently serves on the graduating thesis committee at Columbia University. She is the founder of Neon Door , an immersive literary exhibit. When she isn’t reading or writing, Abbigail spends time with her pets, listens to crime podcasts, lifts weights, and enjoys unstructured free days when she can binge watch reality TV with her husband. She also loves a good snowstorm and staring into a burning fire. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next