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Author News & Interviews

Author Talk: Philippa Gregory, author of Tidelands

Aug 22, 2019

Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Her latest book, TIDELANDS, kicks off her Fairmile series, which spans 250 years and three continents. In 1648 England, the king and parliament are at war. Alinor, a poor woman from the marshlands of the southern coast, is among those trying to find peace during this difficult time. But when she meets a stranger named James, her life takes an unexpected turn for the better. In this interview, Gregory talks about what drew her to Cromwellian England as the setting for this new series; the research she conducted, especially as it pertains to the scene between James and King Charles; why she decided to write TIDELANDS from the third-person perspective, as opposed to her novels about royalty, which are told in the first person; and how her wonderful charity, Gardens for The Gambia, was born.

Author Talk: Mary Anna Evans, author of Catacombs: A Faye Longchamp Mystery

Aug 15, 2019

Mary Anna Evans is the author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, which have received such recognition as the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Mississippi Author Award, and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. The 12th and latest installment in the series, CATACOMBS, revolves around an explosion at a historic Oklahoma City hotel that leads to the discovery of the bodies of three children buried deep beneath the city. In this interview, Evans talks about the importance of the story’s Oklahoma setting, the Faye book that elicited the most responses from readers, the two mystery/thriller authors she admires the most, and the research she conducted on Oklahoma’s history (which was so thorough that it even caught the attention of law enforcement!).

Author Talk: Richard Russo, author of Chances Are...

Aug 8, 2019

CHANCES ARE… is Richard Russo’s first stand-alone novel in 10 years, since 2009’s THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC. Here, we are introduced to three men who were college friends in the '60s as they gather on Martha’s Vineyard to reminisce about life, including the disappearance of a woman on this island back in 1971. In this interview, Russo explains his decision to set the book on the Vineyard, the profound mystery at the heart of the story and why it was so challenging to write about it, how the Vietnam War informs this novel of friendship and secrets, and why he finds reunions with old friends to be a terrifying experience (at least at first).

Interview: Rob Leininger, author of Gumshoe Rock

Aug 8, 2019

Rob Leininger revived the hardboiled PI genre somewhat modeled after Travis McGee and Sam Spade, but in a humorous vein wide as the Truckee River, which flows through Reno, Nevada, the setting for his Gumshoe novels. GUMSHOE ROCK, the fourth installment in this laugh-riot-with-a-message series, finds Mort again in the clutches of the IRS, an organization he left to take on a career as a novice private investigator. Only now, the FBI is involved. In this interview, Leininger chats with Bookreporter.com’s Dean Murphy about his latest Mortimer Angel adventure, the ladies (Maude Clary, Lucy Landry) in Mort’s world, and a typical day in Leininger’s life.

Interview: Joshilyn Jackson, author of Never Have I Ever

Jul 31, 2019

Joshilyn Jackson’s latest book, NEVER HAVE I EVER, is a twisting novel of domestic suspense in which a group of women play a harmless drinking game that escalates into a war of dark pasts. In this interview, conducted by Bookreporter.com reviewer Rebecca Munro, Jackson talks about the seductive, manipulative beauty at the heart of the story and what makes her so intriguing to the people with whom she comes into contact; explains her decision to have scuba diving be a major passion of her protagonist, small-town housewife Amy Whey; discusses why themes of class, redemption and paying dues to the universe figure so prominently in the plot; and gives us a sneak peek at her next book, TWO TRUTHS AND A LIAR, which is currently in the works.