Today's Guest: Alexander McCall Smith, novelist, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Alexander McCall Smith is having a pretty good career. And it’s about to get even better. McCall Smith is the author of the popular series of novels relating the Botswana-based adventures of Precious Ramotswe and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. There... Continue Reading →
Don’t let your favorite fem novelist fall in the Booby Trap! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Sue Ann Jaffarian, novelist, Booby Trap (The Odelia Grey Mysteries) Someone is killing beautiful blondes all over Laguna Canyon and once again, plus-size paralegal Sue Ann Jaffarian—I mean Odelia Grey—is called upon to figure out who is behind the serial killings. I guess I became confused because there are so many uncanny... Continue Reading →
Mama insisted I interview first time novelist Deborah Sharp! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Deborah Sharp, novelist, "Mama Does Time." In Himmarshee, Florida. And Mama’s middle daughter, Mace, an animal trapper, is pissed. That’s all you need to know to get interested in the first novel by my old friend Deborah Sharp. It’s titled Mama Does Time, and boy, does she ever. Deborah was a long-time... Continue Reading →
Romance writer Jodi Thomas likes ’em Tall, Dark and Texan! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Western romance novelist Jodi Thomas, author of Tall, Dark and Texan. We’ve never met, but somehow Jodi Thomas has written the story of my life in her latest novel, Tall, Dark and Texan. As long-time listeners will know, I grew up in the 1800s on Whispering Mountain in Texas. I was tall,... Continue Reading →
Novelist Michele Cameron shares her Moments of Clarity! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Michele Cameron, romance novelist, Never Say Never, Moments of Clarity Romance is the top genre in fiction with more than $1.47 billion dollars in sales for 2007. The average romance reader is voracious and goes through 6-7 books per month. Within the genre, there are many specializations, including tonight’s topic: romance novels... Continue Reading →
John Darnton leaves NYT, turns Black, White, Dead All Over! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: John Darnton, ex-New York Times reporter, novelist, Black and White and Dead All Over The great pleasure of being a novelist is that you can praise your friends and carve up your enemies by changing a few names and details to protect the innocent and fend off the guilty and, at the... Continue Reading →
Legendary cartoonist Jules Feiffer explains his Explainers! PODCAST INTERVIEW
The word that comes to mind when I think about the comic strips of Jules Feiffer is this: My Microsoft Word dictionary - hey, it's convenient! - defines it as “the act of speaking while alone, especially when used as a theatrical device that allows a character’s thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to... Continue Reading →
Don’t fight! It’s Jeff Kreisler’s My Wall Street Journal now! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Today's Guest: Jeff Kreisler, comedian, author, Get Rich Cheating Joining me today is one of the executive editors of My Wall Street Journal - which he will insist is a parody, but seems true enough to me. Jeff Kreisler’s name may not be familiar to you, but if you’re a fan of comedy, you’ve... Continue Reading →
Kristin Harmel teaches Mr. Media The Art of French Kissing! PODCAST INTERVIEW
Kristin Harmel’s new novel, her fourth, in fact, is titled The Art of French Kissing. It’s a sweet, surprisingly gentle story of a young boy-band publicist, who’s a woman from Orlando, whose life there collapses, and she goes to Paris to escape and maybe find herself again. It’s chick-lit for sure, but I enjoyed... Continue Reading →
Novelist James Sheehan gets The Law of Second Chances! PODCAST INTERVIEW
I met James Sheehan at a St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading event back in 2005. I was there promoting my new biography of Will Eisner and he was riding a wave of excellent reviews for his first novel, The Mayor of Lexington Avenue. As we got talking, however, we realized we had met... Continue Reading →