What happens when history repeats itself and the global balance of power shifts overnight? In this episode, host Terry Shepherd sits down with Dr. Ralph DeFalco, the "Renaissance man" and author behind the chilling political thriller, The Counterfeit. Ralph discusses the historical patterns and current geopolitical trends that inspired his vision of a fractured, post-conflict America. We explore a world where the United States has been economically crippled and politically compromised, forcing its citizens to navigate a new reality of desperation and foreign influence.

Dr. Ralph DeFalco takes us inside a future where the U.S. has been defeated and economically dismantled. It’s a chilling look at what happens when history and current trends collide.

Hear the convo: tinyurl.com/49rxyhfj
Get the book: tinyurl.com/446w734w
Read my Substack Essay: tinyurl.com/ynxskdcs

In a world that scrolls fast and forgets even faster, the gentle, decades-long story of #TheArchers everyday life in Ambridge still finds a way to gather listeners and trend.

Sometimes characters we’ve grown with over years, even generations, can matter more than anything squeezed into 30 seconds.

Jim Whittaker, Seattle native and first American to summit Everest, dies at 97 Celebrated mountaineer Jim Whittaker has passed away at the age of 97 in Port Townsend. He was the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1963 and inspired generations of climbers. He was also an 82-year member of Seattle-based club, The Mountaineers. Kim Malcolm spoke with Tom Vogel, the current CEO of The Mountaineers, about Whittaker's life and legacy.

Celebrated mountaineer Jim Whittaker has passed away at the age of 97 in Port Townsend. He was the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1963 and inspired generations of climbers.

@lilmudda.bsky.social @docmurphydog.bsky.social @anneserling.bsky.social @kellycarlin.bsky.social @journeyled1.bsky.social @getyourfoxyback.bsky.social @rubicon1313.bsky.social @sixfeetofcandy.bsky.social @mslaura.bsky.social @zim2918.bsky.social

What happens when a legal case cracks open a wound a man has kept sealed his entire life? In this episode, award-winning broadcaster Terry Shepherd dives deep with legendary trial lawyer, radio host, and author Mike Papantonio to discuss his latest legal thriller, A Death in Arcadia. From the brutal reality of Florida’s youth detention centers to the high-stakes world of corporate litigation, Papantonio shares the real-life inspirations behind his fiction. He reveals how a 100-year history of abuse at a North Florida facility and a candid conversation with Paris Hilton led him to write this powerful story.

Legendary trial lawyer, radio host, and author Mike Papantonio joins me to discuss his latest legal thriller, "A Death in Arcadia."

Hear the conversation: tinyurl.com/yeaz5tcu
Get the book: tinyurl.com/39pjyy6h
Read my Substack essay: tinyurl.com/ycx73cw7

My 88 All Time Favorite Books:
77. The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion (2017).
Punk Fantasy/Horror/Anarchist fiction/LGBTQ+.
Author: Margaret Killjoy.
#booksky #novella #punk #anarchism #horror #fantasy @margaret.bsky.social

1926 = 2026 KIRKWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 100 One Author, One Kirkwood One Author, One Kirkwood is a yearly community read for the people throughout our St. Louis community. All events are free and open to the public. Limited quantities of Kashana Cauley's latest book, "The Payback," will be available free to attendees on a first come, first serve basis. Get Free Tickets

I’m thrilled that the Kirkwood Public Library (just outside St Louis) picked me as this year’s One Author, One Kirkwood selection. I’m doing a free event there one month from today, Wednesday 5/6 that’s also The Payback’s paperback release party (it’s out on 5/12!) kplmo.org/oneauthor/

On April 8, 1961, President John F. Kennedy hosted author and activist Helen Keller in the Oval Office to discuss disability rights.

Way to go, Cavan!

The Horse-Sized Crow Kirsten reveals that the book originated from a single, startling dream of a crow the size of a horse. While the image was jarring, she felt curiosity rather than fear, leading her to create a female "mad scientist" protagonist—a rarity in a genre typically dominated by male figures like Frankenstein. Logic, Longing, and Motherhood The conversation explores the character of Agnes, a scientist who begins the novel having lost her parents, her job, and her child. Kirsten explains how Agnes’s scientific mind attempts to "solve" her daughter Mina’s birth defect through a breeding program, inadvertently crossing the line between care and control. Key Discussion Points: Generational Inheritance: How Agnes is shaped by her mother’s poetic journals and her father’s history in the Vietnam War. The Isolation of the Pandemic: How writing during the global lockdown informed the book's themes of solitude and scientific obsession. The Voice of Science: Kirsten describes the effort of developing Agnes’s scientific tone and the use of a journal format to sustain tension. The Art of Revision: Why Kirsten views the first draft as "vomiting the clay" and revision as the essential "sculpting" of a story. "The things that we bury do not stay dead." For readers who seek the "pleasurable dread" of the dark and the unsettling, this interview offers a deep dive into the craft of a writer who isn't afraid to get "close to the bone". Connect with Kirsten Kashock: Website: kirstenkashock.com

Poet and dancer Kirsten Kashock discuses her unsettling new novel, "An Impossibility of Crows," a story examaning the haunting boundaries of devotion, inheritance, & control.

Hear the conversation: tinyurl.com/ycyemv76
Get the Book: tinyurl.com/3mxrfjyt
Read my Substack Essay: tinyurl.com/2nvrz6dd

Truth!

I've always liked the idea that writing is a form of travel. - Rick Riordan ~ Background photo shows a fog filled mountain fjord, water and trees found below the mountains. The deep fog gives the photo and fjord a painting type of feel.

Sometimes you have to put blinders on and just focus on writing or creating today. Not tomorrow. Not next year. Make Something. Create Something. Act in defiance of the world around you, and things stopping you. - Wrtr #AmWriting

#Writing #Writer #Author #BookSky #AuthorSky

Gareth in a dark suit, smiling into the camera

Having a great time at #eastercon in Birmingham, catching up with friends and colleagues. Thanks to everyone who came to listen to me reading the prologue to Jitterbug this morning.

#author

If you're a YA fan, check out @alisakmichaels.bsky.social. You'll love the Siren Series!

Psychotherapist to creatives, Dennis Palumbo celebrates a new audio book and offers a prescription for thriving in today's "interesting times."

Hear the conversation: tinyurl.com/5fx3y2pt
Order the audio book: tinyurl.com/47d4pf6w
Read my Substack essay: tinyurl.com/3az6unw9

There is a new book by an Indigenous author pretty much every time I go to the bookstore, in all sorts of genres, and I can't possibly keep up and read them all, which is the most wonderful problem to have. We absolutely rock.

An American Genius.
Musician, Author, Educator.
#GilScottHeron

In this episode of In Conversation with Terry Shepherd, Terry dives deep into the writer's craft with author and artist Karen Ann Phillips to celebrate the release of A Deadly Hook, the third and final installment in her popular Rocky Nelson series. What happens when a peaceful weekend in the Sierra Nevadas is interrupted by a Bigfoot sighting and a shocking murder? Karen shares how her protagonist, Raquel "Rocky" Nelson—a retired boxer with a soft heart and a knockout punch—navigates a sinister mystery that leaves one of her own friends as the prime suspect. Inside This Episode A Different Kind of Sleuth: Why Karen chose to make her protagonist a 55-year-old boxer instead of a traditional bakery owner to set her apart in the "cozy" genre. Art Imitating Life: The autobiographical elements behind Rocky, including Karen’s own boxing lessons and her "money pit" experience owning a vintage trailer. Handling Heavy Themes: How Karen weaves sensitive topics like suicide and sibling rivalry into a traditional mystery while maintaining a "heartfelt" tone and a happy ending. The Romantic Tussle: Rocky’s ultimate choice between the "hot firefighter" and the "handsome detective". The Writing Process: Karen’s transition from short stories to novels, her use of "sprints" for discipline, and the mentors who helped her along the way. About Karen Ann Phillips Karen Ann Phillips is a novelist and a professional cover designer. She is an active member of the writing community, including Sisters in Crime and Capital Crimes. While A Deadly Hook wraps up Rocky’s journey, Karen is already at work on her next project: The Mother Daughter Detective Agency. Connect with Karen: Website: karenaphillips.com Featured Book: A Deadly Hook Mentioned in this Episode Sisters in Crime & Capital Crimes (Sacramento Chapter) Eight Weeks to a Complete Book by Becky Clark Writing mentors: Cindy Sample and Penny Warner

With "A Deadly Hook," Karen Ann Phillips has written not just a mystery, but a quiet meditation on resilience, disguised as a story you pick up simply to see what happens next.

Hear the convo: tinyurl.com/4d5zwbyp
Get the Book: tinyurl.com/2k4kek3c
Read my Substack Essay: tinyurl.com/5n7mjw9y

I wonder how may authors just have their therapist read their book…

#writing #author #writingcommunity #reading #books #writersky #booksky #writesky

The Write Stuff Featuring Contemporary Women's Fiction and Literary Fiction Author, Leonora Ross Interviews with Amazing Authors!

Last day to read for #Free!

This week on The Write Stuff we are chatting with Contemporary Women’s Fiction and Literary Fiction Author, Leonora Ross!

#author #booksky #authorlife #interview 📚💙📚💙📚

open.substack.com/pub/lawrence...

Can a head-strong journalist and her best friend editor find love while facing a day that keeps repeating? Hopefully they get it right.

Four Past Midnight by L. D. K. Johnson.
Available everywhere.

#London #author #writer #booklover #reader #Romance #BookSky #MomSky #MomLife #ReadingCommunity

Front cover of "Talking Classics" by Mary Beard.

EXCITING NEWS!

We'll be getting SIGNED copies of "Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old" by Professor Mary Beard @wmarybeard.bsky.social

It explains why the deep past does really affect us all.

It's out next month book fans!

Order HERE.

www.biggreenbookshop.com/signed-copie...

Front cover of Sharon Blackie's new book "Ripening".

We're getting SIGNED copies of "Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now" by the awesome Sharon Blackie.

‘Stories are spells; they change things … fairy tales matter because at the heart of every one of them is transformation.’

Out on May 7th

ORDER HERE

www.biggreenbookshop.com/signed-copie...

The hallways of the Department of Justice suggest permanence. The floors shine with the sort of institutional polish that implies continuity rather than creativity. One imagines ambition moving briskly there, not imagination. Yet for Chad Boudreaux, who reported to Main Justice on September 10, 2001, the building would become less a monument to order than an antechamber to narrative possibility.

Chad Boudreaux's Mob Justice, takes us into modern Chicago, where Justice Department attorney Blake Hudson confronts a criminal empire far more dangerous than its Hollywood reputation.

The Convo: tinyurl.com/35a57y6y
The Book: tinyurl.com/bdd8axa9
My Substack Essay: tinyurl.com/36zud99s

When a respected judge is killed, three unlikely heroes — a young lawyer, a theology doctoral candidate, and a quirky tech genius — have just 72 hours to decode the clues buried in his computer. What they uncover sends them on a desperate chase across Florida, hunted by a relentless killer, and ultimately face-to-face with a secret that could change the world. Gary shares the remarkable journey behind the book: from poetry and songwriting as a kid, to careers in tech and law, to 15 drafts over 20 years before finally publishing his debut. He talks about the spiritual concept of "the Words" — his belief that creativity connects us all — and why themes of human destiny, interconnectedness, and justice run through every page. You'll also hear his surprisingly chilling take on artificial intelligence, what Henry VIII has to do with the future of political freedom, and why Joshua Sutton — his protagonist — will be back for a sequel.

Gary Fields explores his globe-spanning, time-bending novel, "The Book of Judges" which is already drawing comparisons to The Da Vinci Code.

Hear the conversation: tinyurl.com/ycxj4j7v
Get the book: tinyurl.com/ybxr3y56
Read my Substack Essay: tinyurl.com/2pxujj4x

Morning Jaye

Helen Keller meets Anne Sullivan, her teacher and 'miracle worker' | March 3, 1887 | HISTORY Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing as a baby. The two women woul...

www.history.com/this-day-in-...

The candy heir vs. chocolate skimpflation The grandson of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups creator has launched a campaign against The Hershey Company, which owns the Reese's brand. He wants them to stop skimping on ingredients.

The grandson of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups creator has launched a campaign against The Hershey Company, which owns the Reese's brand. He wants them to stop skimping on ingredients. n.pr/3N2lYUx

Ten Longbarrow hardbacks, arranged diagonally, spines facing outwards.

Special offer from Longbarrow Press: any 3 hardbacks for £32. Includes collections by Steve Ely, Angelina D'Roza, Rob Hindle, Peter Riley, Nancy Gaffield, Mark Goodwin, Matthew Clegg, Chris Jones, Fay Musselwhite, 'The Footing' anthology, and more

longbarrowpress.com/current-publ...

n her powerful new memoir, Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience, Mimi takes us back to September 6, 1970. She was twenty years old, returning home to New York from a summer on a kibbutz in Israel, wearing a green mini-dress, expecting an ordinary flight and an ordinary landing. Instead, her plane was hijacked by armed members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and forced into the desert of Jordan. For six days, passengers were trapped in sweltering heat without running water or flushable toilets, caught in fear, uncertainty, and the relentless pressure of survival. Most were eventually released. But Mimi, falsely accused of being an Israeli soldier, was held along with thirty-one others in Amman as violence exploded around them, and the reality of what could happen at any moment settled in.

Mimi Nichter's memoir, "HOSTAGE: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience," reveals not just the frightening experience, but the lessons learned.

Hear the Conversation: tinyurl.com/383smwr7
Get the book: tinyurl.com/vykpbrbe
Read my Substack Essay: tinyurl.com/5az77m7h