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Author News & Interviews

Interview: Dave Barry, author of Swamp Story

May 11, 2023

Dave Barry is the author of more bestsellers than you can count on two hands, including LESSONS FROM LUCY, DAVE BARRY'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO GUYS, DAVE BARRY TURNS 40 and DAVE BARRY IS NOT MAKING THIS UP. SWAMP STORY, his latest Florida caper, is full of oddballs and more twists and turns than a snake slithering away from a gator. Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, was one of Barry’s publicists at G.P. Putnam’s Sons from 1996 to 2014, so he was thrilled to have an opportunity to catch up with him. In this interview, Barry explains why Florida has been the subject of so many comic novels over the past three decades, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of collaborating with other authors, and gives his two cents on the current state of the book industry.

Interview: Warren C. Easley, author of Fatal Flaw: A Cal Claxton Mystery

May 11, 2023

When greed runs rampant, murder can’t be far behind. That’s the intriguing tagline of Warren C. Easley’s ninth Cal Claxton mystery, FATAL FLAW, which finds the small-town lawyer up against two killers --- a ruthless murderer and a deadly virus. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Easley talks about the difference between writing this book and the eight previous installments, the writers whose novels inspired him to try his own hand at a mystery series, and his plans for Cal in book 10.

Author Talk: Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

May 4, 2023

When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed. That is the premise of Patti Callahan Henry’s latest historical novel, THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA --- which is an Indie Next pick for May, along with being this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites pick. In this interview, Patti talks about her extensive research for the book, what inspired her to center the novel on a bookstore, why she loves writing historical fiction, and the creation of “Friends and Fiction” --- a popular weekly web show, podcast and Facebook group that she founded with Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel and Kristy Woodson Harvey.

Interview: John Sayles, author of Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey

Mar 2, 2023

Spanning 13 years, two continents, several wars, and many smoke-filled and bloody battlefields, JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY is a thrilling historical and cinematic epic from independent film director, screenwriter, actor and novelist John Sayles. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Sayles talks about his extensive research for the novel, his writing process, the projects he’d love to work on if given the proper resources, the one book that made a huge impression on him as a young reader, and which format would work best for an adaptation of JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY.

Author Talk: Marie Benedict, author of The Mitford Affair

Jan 20, 2023

Probing the torrid political climate in the lead-up to World War II and the ways that seemingly sensible people can be sucked into radical action, THE MITFORD AFFAIR follows novelist Nancy Mitford's valiant efforts to stop the Nazis from taking over Great Britain, and the complicated choices she must make between the personal and the political. In this interview, Marie Benedict talks about why she decided to take a certain degree of liberty with this true story and add more action to it; the kinds of sources she consulted in order to learn more about the Mitford sisters and their world; which sister she found the most challenging to write about and understand; and why she believes that loyalty must have its limits.