Bookshop Interview with Author Becky Dean, Episode #220
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Release Date: 10/02/2024
Bookshop Interview with Author Zaq Baker, Episode #243
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Zaq Baker discusses his debut novel, Unspectacular. This family dramedy is about young people trying to balance a music career with family struggles and everyday life. The story is told in two primary narratives: Mae, a twenty-year-old music student who doesn’t really want a career in music but who is expected to be next big thing; and Ajay, a software engineer and skilled drummer who struggles to balance the job at which he is expected to excel with the music career he desperately wants. Zaq Baker has written what he knows. He’s been singing and writing songs since he was...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Mima Tipper, Episode #242
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Mima Tipper discusses her debut young adult contemporary romance novel, Kat’s Greek Summer. Rising high school freshman, Kat, is dragged off to Greece for a vacation to meet her extended family, ruining Kat’s own summer plans of training for the cross-country team and preparing for a successful transition into high school. Mima describes Kat’s Greek Summer as high-stakes odyssey for her main character—one of pursing dreams, discovering love, owning her heritage, and finding her own voice. For this story, Mima drew upon her own memories of the summer following her eighth-grade...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Richie Billing, Episode #241
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Richie Billing discusses his new fantasy novella, Together We Rise, a story about revolution against a corrupt government in a world were life has become a fight for survival. Richie took inspiration from real-world events and the plight of many around the globe. This story is told from multiple points of view—workers, healers, children, police officers, criminals, and so on. Each chapter follows a different character, and the story unfolds like a baton relay race, with each character handing off to the next, chapter by chapter, until we see the entire story unfold. Richie also used...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Liz Alterman, Episode #240
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Liz Alterman discusses her new book, Claire Casey’s Had Enough. Claire Casey is a forty-something year old mom of three who is recently separated from her husband and is facing the decision of whether to reconcile or file for divorce. The book follows Claire through one thirteen-hour day in which her life feels like its spinning out of control. When an old flame gets in touch and asks Claire out on a date, she is forced to revisit her hopes and dreams and things that took a back seat to marriage and family, all while trying to deal with the everyday chaos of being a suburban mom. As...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Sara Winokur, Episode #239
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Sara Winokur discusses her two new novels—Double Blind: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders, and Ivory Bones: The Lewis Chessmen Murders—both set in Iceland and featuring a forensic geneticist who uses her knowledge and skills to solve mysteries. In both novels, Sara blends Nordic noir mysteries with history and real-world intrigue. Sara was a genetics researcher for twenty-five years, and she manages to include genetics into her stories in a light-handed way. She also likes to weave in historical events and mysteries. As a result, Double Blind features mysterious medieval...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Brandi Bradley, Episode #238
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Brandi Bradley discusses her new novel, Pretty Girls Get Away with Murder. Brandi knew she wanted to write a murder mystery set in a small Southern town like the one she grew up in. Pretty Girls Get Away with Murder is a Southern noir novel set in a small Kentucky town in which a young entrepreneur is murdered, and everyone suspects his “crazy ex-girlfriend” of killing him. The story revolves around three women: the victim’s ex-girlfriend, his best friend, and the detective tasked with investigating his suspicious death. In this small town, secrets and gossip run rampant, but...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Lola Reid Allin, Episode #237
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Lola Reid Allin discusses her new memoir, Highway to the Sky: An Aviator’s Journey. Lola wanted to write a book that was not just about aviation but also about her experience as a female pilot at a time when it was extremely rare for women to be commercial pilots. While the industry has changed since Lola started out as a pilot, women still make up a very small percentage of the world’s commercial pilots, and many of the problems she faced in her career are still ongoing. Her book details Lola’s career in aviation, but it also addresses issues of motherhood, divorce, single...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Mark Mustian, Episode #236
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Mark Mustian discusses his new Southern Gothic novel, Boy with Wings. In this work of historical fiction, a boy named Johnny Cruel is born with wing-like appendages on his back. Is he a miracle, or is he cursed? Johnny ends up in a freak show traveling through the South in the 1930’s. While he bares his back for the entertainment of onlookers, he finds that the very thing that shocks people also gives him power. Mark had long wanted to write a book about “odd people,” and he knew he finally had something special when he struck upon the idea of Johnny Cruel, the boy with wings....
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Bookshop Interview with Author Patsy C. Robertson, Episode #235
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Patsy C. Robertson about her debut novel, A Concoction of Lies. As an avid reader, Patsy was frustrated by the lack of representation of older people as main characters. In A Concoction of Lies, Patsy’s characters range from their 40s to their 70s, and she places them in a thrilling, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse. In this story, a former FBI cybersecurity specialist becomes a cybercriminal, hacking the bank account of a notorious Guatemalan cartel member. He is kidnapped, smuggled into Guatemala, and manages to escape to the Belize border. During his escape, he crosses paths...
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Bookshop Interview with Author Keith G. McWalter, Episode #234
The Bookshop at the End of the Internet
Author Keith G. McWalter discusses his new science fiction novel, Lifers, in which the solution to extending human life has been found and is secretly unleashed upon the world’s population in the form of an airborne pandemic. When people stop dying, the pressures of an ever-increasing population create a whole host of political and socio-economic ramifications. Keith admits that he didn’t need to make up much of the science in Lifers. The creative part was imagining what would happen if suddenly, overnight, people lived for an additional hundred years or more. What would be the effects...
info_outlineAuthor Becky Dean discusses her new young adult contemporary romantic comedy, Hearts Overboard. Set on a cruise ship bound for Alaska, this novel follows Savannah Moore, who is still reeling from a public breakup with her boyfriend and being nicknamed “Moore the Bore.” In an effort to heal her heart and her reputation, Savannah vows to do one new thing each day. Stepping out of her comfort zone is far from easy, and it’s made all the more challenging because her long-time nemesis, Tanner Woods, is also on the ship. Tanner offers to help her with her plan to try new things, and, as it turns out, she may not dislike him as much as she thought.