Nineteen-year-old pianist Marie-Thérèse has dropped out of her prestigious conservatory in favor of becoming a nurse, much to her mother’s disappointment. As she begins her final year of study, Germany invades Belgium on its way to France. It’s 1914, and Marie-Thérèse’s world is upended by harsh rules and demands that students and staff spy on each other. < Back In the Fall They Leave: A Novel of the First World War Joanna Higgins February 21, 2023 Today I talked to Joanna Higgins about her new book In the Fall They Leave: a Novel of the First World War (Regal House Publishing, 2023). Nineteen-year-old pianist Marie-Thérèse has dropped out of her prestigious conservatory in favor of becoming a nurse, much to her mother’s disappointment. As she begins her final year of study, Germany invades Belgium on its way to France. It’s 1914, and Marie-Thérèse’s world is upended by harsh rules and demands that students and staff spy on each other. The matron of the school, who is based on the historical Edith Cavell, is a nurse whose courage saves numbers of Belgians. Her decision to secretly treat all who need help has consequences for everyone on the staff. Marie-Thérèse, while perfecting her ability to bandage wounds and treat patients, becomes friends with German soldiers, falls in love with the two little orphaned girls who’ve been living at the clinic, and risks her life to follow the matron’s courageous defiance of the German army. Joanna Higgins is the author of Waiting for the Queen: A Novel of Early America , a novel for young readers, as well as A Soldier's Book , Dead Center , The Anarchist , and The Importance of High Places , a collection of short stories. She grew up in a small northern Michigan town on Lake Huron, not far from where the young Ernest Hemingway spent summers and an occasional winter. Higgins received her PhD from SUNY-Binghamton, where she later studied under John Gardner, and she currently lives in upstate New York. When she’s not reading and writing, Joanna loves to hike with her family and cuddle her three rescue kitties. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

A Whipped and Sipped Mystery: Book 4 < Back Available from these sellers Click on the icon below to purchase a copy today Coming Soon! Be sure to check back for links and more info once it's available for preorder. Pounded A Whipped and Sipped Mystery: Book 4 Previous Next

Tania James' novel Loot (Knopf 2023) is about a young woodcarver who is ordered by Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in late 18th century India, to carve a large wooden tiger. < Back LOOT Tania James June 13, 2023 Tania James' novel Loot (Knopf 2023) is about a young woodcarver who is ordered by Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in late 18th century India to carve a large wooden tiger. The tiger seems to devour a life-sized European man. As the apprentice of an alcoholic French clockmaker, Abbas has a short time to create this gift for the sultan’s youngest sons after they return from being held captive by the British. Later, British forces attack Mysore, kill as many as they can reach, and ship everything of value back to England. Abbas survives the attack and then the sea and other adventures in order to reach Rouen, where his teacher’s teacher lives. Spanning 50 years and two continents, Loot is a hero’s quest, a love story, and an exuberant heist novel that traces the bloody legacy of colonialism across the world. Tania James is the author of the novels The Tusk That Did the Damage and Atlas of Unknowns and the short-story collection Aerogrammes . Her fiction has appeared in Freeman’s , Granta , The New Yorker , O, The Oprah Magazine , One Story , and A Public Space . Tania has been a fellow of Ragdale, MacDowell, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the Fulbright Program. She teaches in the MFA program at George Mason University and lives in Washington, D.C. When she's not writing, James likes to dance--whether it's the classical Indian dance form of kuchipudi or simply busting a move in her living room. Her favorite mode of transport is bicycle and her favorite place to chill is the terrace of the Martin Luther King Jr library. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

On May 1, 1982, eighteen-year-old Martin Oliphant watches a horse drown off the shore of Lake Michigan—the first of four equine corpses marking the trail that will lead Martin out of the small-minded small town of Pierre, Michigan, onto the open ranges of Elko, Nevada, and into the open arms, or at least open mics, of the cowboy poets who gather there to perform. < Back Four Dead Horses KT Sparks April 13, 2021 Today I talked to KT Sparks about her debut novel Four Dead Horses (Regal House, 2021) On May 1, 1982, eighteen-year-old Martin Oliphant watches a horse drown off the shore of Lake Michigan—the first of four equine corpses marking the trail that will lead Martin out of the small-minded small town of Pierre, Michigan, onto the open ranges of Elko, Nevada, and into the open arms, or at least open mics, of the cowboy poets who gather there to perform. Along the way, he nurtures a dying mother, who insists the only thing wrong with her is tennis elbow; corrals a demented father, who believes he’s Father Christmas; assists the dissolute local newspaper editor; and serves stints as horse rustler and pet mortician. For thirty years, Martin searches for an escape route to the West, to poetry, and to his first love, the cowgirl Ginger, but never manages to get much farther than the city limits of his Midwestern hometown—that is, until a world- famous cow horse dies while touring through Pierre, and Martin is tapped to transport its remains to the funeral at the 32nd Annual Elko Cowboy Poetry Confluence. KT Sparks is a writer and farmer whose work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Pank , and elsewhere. She received an AB in Politics, Economics, Rhetoric, and Law from University of Chicago, an MA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University, Brasenose College, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University in Charlotte, an educational grounding that matches her lifelong interest in everything and mastery of nothing. She spent twenty-five years in Washington DC, most of it in the US Senate, as a policy analyst and speechwriter and continues to be involved in progressive politics. When she's not reading fiction (all types) or trying to banish weeds from the vegetable garden, she practices Zen Buddhism, binges British detective series, and cooks stuff grown on the farm (or by her more talented neighbors). Her greatest passion is her large distended family, which includes children, stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, siblings, parents, in-laws, exes, and seemingly unending concentric circles of spouses, partners, fiancés, more exes, and more spouses—shining bright and swirling outward, like the rings of Jupiter, but less dusty. KT lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband, dog, a fluctuating population of barn cats, and no horses, dead or alive, waiting for the kids to come visit, or at least call for God’s sake. Four Dead Horses is her first novel. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Sarah Cartell, who grew up in a White Supremacist family controlled by a violent grandfather who preaches hate and violence, learns from books and a kind librarian that there’s another way to see the world. < Back White: A Novel Aviva Rubin Sarah Cartell, who grew up in a White Supremacist family controlled by a violent grandfather who preaches hate and violence, learns from books and a kind librarian that there’s another way to see the world. In White: A Novel (RE: Books 2024), Aviva Rubin’s protagonist starts researching her family’s history of intolerance and learns about a grandmother and aunt who ran away. She manages to get into college in Montreal, but rather than focusing on her studies, decides to infiltrate a Neo-Nazi gang and stop the hate crimes before they happen. The duplicity and other factors chip away at Sarah’s sanity until she ends up in a psychiatric ward wondering if she’ll ever escape the hate. Aviva Rubin is a Toronto-based writer of memoir, essays and social commentary. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Zoomer as well as numerous anthologies. She wrote a memoir, Lost and Found in Lymphomaland , that tracks her harrowing and funny trip (she doesn’t like the word journey) through a cancer diagnosis and treatment. WHITE is her debut novel. In her so-called spare time, Aviva bakes cookies, runs, argues and commiserates about the world with her super-senior parents, and passes somewhat informed judgement. She is the mom of two young adult sons who have math and science skills that seem to have bypassed her. For more information about Aviva, visit her website here . Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

In 1979 during her freshman year at Denver East High School in 1979, Suzanne’s mother was murdered by an armed robber while working in her record store. < Back Anyone But Her Cynthia Swanson October 1, 2024 Today I talked to Cynthia Swanson about Anyone But Her (Columbine York, 2024). In 1979 during her freshman year at Denver East High School in 1979, Suzanne’s mother was murdered by an armed robber while working in her record store. Suzanne has always sensed ghosts, so she’s not surprised when soon after, she hears her dead mother warning her about her father’s new girlfriend. Now it’s 2004, and Suzanne is back in Denver with her husband, a mouthy teenage daughter, and a nine-year-old son with behavioral problems. The old record store space is available, and Suzanne follows her dream of selling women’s art and craft, but she can’t stop feeling like someone is watching her. At the same time, she starts researching her family history to figure out if there’s a genetic component to her son’s behavior. Suzann is strong, but she’s challenged in this suspenseful mystery about relationships, fidelity, and family secrets. Cynthia Swanson started out in college majoring in Architecture, because she's always loved design, and she thought she needed to pursue a "practical" career. (She can hear all the architects in the room laughing.) But after a few years, she returned to her first love—writing—changing her major to English and becoming a technical and marketing writer. Today, she writes psychological suspense, freelance edits, and occasionally teaches writing classes and seminars. She is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the novels The Bookseller , The Glass Forest , and Anyone But Her , as well as the editor of the Colorado Book Award winning anthology Denver Noir . She lives with her family in Denver, where in addition to writing, editing, and scoping out creepy locales for future books, she raises chickens and grows an extensive vegetable garden. Find Cynthia online and follow her on Facebook (Cynthia Swanson, Author) , Instagram (cynswanauthor) , and Threads (cynswanauthor) . Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

I make this dish a lot because I usually have the ingredients in the house. I often use cooked, leftover boneless breasts... < Back Easy Skillet Chicken with Mushrooms, Scallions and Red Peppers January 1, 2020 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Serves: 4 Servings Tags: Entrees About the Recipe I make this dish a lot because I usually have the ingredients in the house. I often use cooked, leftover boneless breasts (which I freeze in anticipation of making this easy, quick dinner), in which case, microwave the chicken, cut into pieces, and sauté along with the vegetables. Fresh cut-up chicken pieces require about five minutes of sautéing before adding the vegetables. Once everything is simmering in the pan, the flavors will blend together. Taste before serving. From Smothered: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery Finally, the day sped by and Alene left, leaving Jocelyn in charge of closing. At home, Zuleyka reported that there’d been a lot of quarreling after the kids got dropped off, which happened nearly every time Neal kept them for two nights in a row, but they’d all gotten to their tennis lessons on time. For dinner, Alene made the Easy Skillet Chicken with Mushrooms, Scallions and Red Peppers that they loved to eat with pappardelle pasta, and a chopped salad. For a special treat, and to prove that she could be as fun as Neal, they ate sitting around the coffee table, watching an old movie about children sentenced to a juvenile detention facility who are forced to work for hours in the hot sun. It was filled with silly coincidences and had a happy ending, so everyone enjoyed it, including Cal. Ingredients 1 lb (3 or 4) boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed 2 TBSP good olive oil 1 cup mushrooms (I use white or baby bella) cut into pieces 2 or 3 scallions, chopped (or more if you love scallions) 1 small or medium red pepper, cut into pieces ½ jar or one 8 oz can of tomato sauce 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried tarragon 1 tsp dried basil (or a handful of fresh basil, if you have it) ½ tsp garlic powder 1 tsp salt ½ tsp pepper Preparation On medium heat, stir the chicken in olive oil until it’s cooked through and white, for about 5 or so minutes Stir in the cut-up mushrooms, scallions, red peppers and let simmer for another few minutes Turn the heat to low and add in the tomato sauce and all the herbs If you only have flavored tomato sauce on hand, hold off on the salt and pepper until the very end when you can taste it for flavor Let the sauce simmer for about ten minutes while you set the table, prepare a salad, cut up bread, or boil some kind of pasta. Previous Next

It’s 1895, and Tim Badger, who is quite familiar with the inside of a jail cell, and his intuitive friend Ben Watson, who is Black in a society that is weary of difference, are unlikely detectives. But Tim was once one of the Baker Street Irregular urchins who ran errands and spied for the great Sherlock Holmes, and the two young men are trying to be detectives. < Back The Isolated Seance Jeri Westerson July 18, 2023 Today I talked to Jeri Westerson about her book The Isolated Séance (Severn House, 2023). It’s 1895, and Tim Badger, who is quite familiar with the inside of a jail cell, and his intuitive friend Ben Watson, who is Black in a society that is weary of difference, are unlikely detectives. But Tim was once one of the Baker Street Irregular urchins who ran errands and spied for the great Sherlock Holmes, and the two young men are trying to be detectives. They’re struggling with their new detective agency when a potential client staggers in. Thomas Brent is being sought by police after his boss Horace Quinn is murdered during a séance in a closed room in his own house. The only other people in the room in addition to the dead man and his valet, Thomas, were the housekeeper, the maid, and the gypsy woman who led the séance. Thomas Brent hires Badger and Watson, who take turns telling the story. They get into a bit of trouble and occasionally find a clue, but Sherlock Holmes, Badger’s old boss, clearly wants them to succeed. He bails Badger out of jail, arranges a nice place for the two young detectives to live, and although Badger doesn’t realize it, sends clues about the case. Los Angeles native Jeri Westerson authored fifteen Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Mysteries, a series nominated for thirteen awards from the Agatha to the Macavity, to the Shamus. Jeri currently writes two new series: a Tudor mystery series, the King’s Fool Mysteries, with Henry VIII’s real court jester Will Somers as the sleuth and a Sherlockian pastiche series with one of Holmes’ former Baker Street Irregulars opening his own detective agency. She also authored several paranormal series (including a gas lamp fantasy-steampunk series), standalone historical novels, and had stories in several anthologies, the latest of which was included in South Central Noir, an Akashic Noir anthology. She has served as president of the SoCal Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, president, and vice president for two chapters of Sisters in Crime (Orange County and Los Angeles) and is also a founding member of the SoCal chapter of the Historical Novel Society. In her copious spare time, Jeri acts as butler to her senior cat Luna, and loves to travel with her hubby and Luna in her vintage RV. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Cynthia Sylvester's The Half-White Album (University of New Mexico Press 2023) is a collection of stories, flash fiction, and poems revolving around the journey of a travelling band, The Covers. < Back The Half-White Album Cynthia Sylvester January 30, 2024 Cynthia Sylvester's The Half-White Album (University of New Mexico Press 2023) is a collection of stories, flash fiction, and poems revolving around the journey of a travelling band, The Covers. The stories are songs on the album, beginning with “Live at the House of Towers,” about a woman’s memories of her mother and home. The story of Shima (and her husband Claude) begins with all of her six daughters being taken by missionaries. The 10-year-old youngest, whom she calls The Last One, and the missionaries call Ruth, keeps running away. Shima is afraid because the missionaries will teach them to forget the songs and stories of their people. In Live at the House at the Edge of the World, Ruth is grown and eating dinner with Albert. We meet Margarita, who was born with cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair and a parade of other characters who struggle to love, live, and survive in a harsh world. These are stories of hope and despair, family and banishment, based out west in what was once the wide-ranging country of native American tribes. Cynthia Sylvester is born into the Kiyaa’áanii Clan for the Bilagáana Clan and is an enrolled member of the Diné. She is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her work has appeared in numerous literary magazines. She received the Native Writer Award at the Taos Writer’s Conference. She graduated from the University of New Mexico and received her MFA in creative writing from the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Cynthia hosts Albuquerque DimeStories—3-minute stories written and read by the author. Hosting DimeStories is a way to give back and foster a writing community. A community of writers is at the core of what she attributes to her success, endurance, and joy in writing. Writing is a solitary endeavor. “So much of what we writers write never sees the light of day.” A DimeStorie, fiction or non-fiction, is a way to have an achievable goal each month (about 500 words) and provides a venue to read the work to a receptive audience. Having a community of writers is important because Cynthia, like many writers, works a “9 to 5.” Her profession for over thirty years has been physical therapy. She comes from a line of “medicine women.” Her mother and aunts were nurses, and she and her sister have health professions. Cynthia’s career in medicine is often reflected in her work as a writer. When not working as a writer or a PT, Cynthia loves to box, take walks with her wife and their dog, Zeus, hang out with friends and family and talk about writing, TV shows, movies, books, sports, what happened last week or last year, whatever if there is a story involved, Cynthia is in her happy place. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

It's 1917 during WWI, and Rand Brandt is living with two dangerous secrets, either of which could destroy him: 1) he can grow any plant or tree, but everything he grows will die within days, and 2) he is gay during a time when the army does not accept homosexuality. < Back Dry Land B. Platek October 3, 2023 Rand Brandt, a forester in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, discovers that his touch can grow any plant or tree. In this tale of Magical Realism, he dreams of using his gift to restore landscapes ruined by the lumber industry, but first needs to test his powers. Gabriel, his fellow forester, and secret lover, finds and saves Rand after he’s pushed himself by spending his nights sneaking into the forest instead of sleeping. It’s 1917 and the foresters are drafted to join in the fight in France. An old friend of Rand’s joins the press covering his unit and helps him cover his tracks. A commanding officer learns about Rand’s gift and demands that he grow forests for the wood needed to win the war, but Rand learns that everything he grows will die within days. Now, he’s keeping two major secrets, either of which, if discovered, could destroy him. Ben Pladek is associate professor of literature at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His first novel, Dry Land , appeared in September 2023 with the University of Wisconsin Press. He’s previously published short fiction in Strange Horizons, The Offing, Slate Future Tense Fiction, and elsewhere. As a colleague pointed out to him, his short fiction is often set in the near-future and his longer fiction in the near-past; other recurring interests include ecology, messy relationships, messier bureaucracy, and people feeling guilty. He’s also written an academic book called The Poetics of Palliation: Romantic Literary Therapy, 1790-1850, that came out from Liverpool University Press in 2019, as well as a number of articles on British Romanticism. Before getting hired at Marquette, he did his PhD at the University of Toronto and taught for a year in the fantastic Foundation Year Programme at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When he moved to Wisconsin, he fell in love with the landscape and the state’s fascinating history of conservation, including the writings of Aldo Leopold. Ben and his husband have hiked all over Wisconsin. They especially enjoy the Northwoods, Horicon Marsh, and the southwest “driftless” area. In Ben’s spare time you can find him reading, birdwatching, taking long walks around Milwaukee, admiring wetlands, eating peanut butter, and taking pictures of informational signs at historical monuments that he’ll never go back and read. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

The Pot Thief who Studied..... < Back J. MIchael Orenduff Author, The Pot Thief Mystery Series January 29, 2026 I met J. Michael Orenduff via email after a mutual author-friend gave me his name as a potential publisher. After some conversation, he was kind enough to offer to republish my series (another story), even though he’d retired and was hoping to sell the company. He was encouraging, informative, and I learned a bit about his life and career as a professor; he earned a PhD from Tulane, taught philosophy and mathematics, and served as a college administrator. I started reading one Pot Thief mystery after another, quickly breezing through over half the series: The Pot Thief who Studied : Pythagoras (2009), Ptolemy (2010), Einstein (2010), Escoffier (2010) D.H. Lawrence (2012), and Calvin (2025) . (Shame on me for not reviewing each one – I know how important it is to authors! Too late to remember, although my least favorite was Einstein.) I learned that Hubie Schuze, the protagonist, is as witty as Mike himself, that he adds an occasional sly nod to other legendary authors, and that if I ever need to escape illness or trouble, these can be my go-to mysteries. Although the meat-and-chili-pepper-focused food he describes doesn’t entice me, I loved diving into Hubie’s circle of close friends, his daily ritual of 5 pm margaritas with chips and salsa, and his passion for pottery. In the Pot Thief Mystery Series, villains are always revealed, and justice is served. More importantly, you get to spend time with Hubie Schuze and his quirky friends in Albuquerque and its environs. J. Michael Orenduff has won several awards, including a Lefty for best humor mystery and an Epic for best mystery/suspense. He’s also sold a ton of books; all infused with his love of New Mexico (even though he and his wife retired out east). In the Pot Thief series, the city of Albuquerque gets adoration, attention, and love, mostly from Hubie, who is filled with gratitude to live in such an exceptionally perfect place. Also, in chatting with the author, I learned that all the settings in his books are real except for 1) Hubie’s pottery shop and 2) the restaurant where Hubie and his friend Susannah meet for margaritas every afternoon at 5 pm. Previous Next

Neal bought her a beer and invited her to a Cubs game. That had been her first stout, and she thought it was so... < Back Cocoa-Bear Cake (AKA Dragon’s Milk Cake) July 30, 2019 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 50-55 Minutes Serves: 12 Slices of Cake Tags: Vegetarian, Cakes & Pies & Icing About the Recipe 173 Battered: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery Alene had gone off to college and forgotten all about Neal Dunn, until a summer day after her third year at Northwestern, when they had bumped into each other at a Wrigleyville bar. Neal bought her a beer and invited her to a Cubs game. That had been her first stout, and she thought it was so yummy she bought a six-pack and shared it with Ruthie, who went on to invent a stout cake. They changed “beer” to “bear” so as not to alarm the customers, and it worked. Ingredients For the Cake 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup packed dark brown sugar ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 tsp instant decaf or coffee powder 2 tsp baking soda ¼ tsp salt ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 1/4 cup Dragon’s Milk (room temp) or any dark beer ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips For the Icing 1 can full fat coconut milk ½ cup cocoa powder ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips ¼ cup dark brown sugar 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 tsp instant decaf or coffee powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon Pinch of salt Preparation Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease and sugar an 8” springform Combine dry ingredients in food processor Add wet ingredients except beer, pulse a few times Add beer and mix enough to blend well Pour batter into greased and sugared prepared pan. Bake 50-55 minutes until cake springs under pressure Cool before removing from springform pan Drizzle with icing (recipe below) While the cake is in the oven, mix the icing ingredients in a blender until it’s completely smooth Previous Next