Author News & Interviews

Interview: Matt Coyle, author of Blind Vigil: A Rick Cahill Novel

Dec 2, 2020

Matt Coyle, whose books are set in contemporary San Diego, has revived the Raymond Chandler hardboiled PI model. In 2019’s LOST TOMORROWS, Rick Cahill solved the murders of his wife Colleen and cop friend Krista Landingham. He was shot in the face by the perpetrator and blinded by inflammation caused by bullet fragments.

In BLIND VIGIL, Rick returns to San Diego from Santa Barbara, the city of lost tomorrows. Though blind, he is engaged by PI pal Moira MacFarlane to aid in the investigation of Shay Sommers, estranged chum Turk Muldoon’s girlfriend. Heightened audio and olfactory senses aid Rick in his pursuit of justice, and lead to an astounding and credible conclusion.

In this interview, Coyle chats with Bookreporter.com’s Dean Murphy about the blind PI plot, his appearance as Left Coast Crime Toastmaster, and his writing life amid a pandemic.

Interview: Andrea Carter, author of The Well of Ice: An Inishowen Mystery

Nov 13, 2020

Set on the Inishowen Peninsula, in Ireland’s northwest County Donegal, Andrea Carter revived the Agatha Christie amateur sleuth genre, in the younger incarnation of barrister Benedicta “Ben” O’Keeffe. Ben swims against the current and encounters a shoal of red herrings in her quest to solve murder and mayhem mysteries. In THE WELL OF ICE, Ben confronts Luke Kirby, who killed her sister and is now paroled. But nefarious events --- including arson and murder --- occur in Glendara while Luke is in Dublin. Who is responsible for this criminality? In this interview, Carter chats with Bookreporter.com’s Dean Murphy (Ó Murchadha) about her career, future books, the Inishowen Peninsula and the television adaption of her novels.

Author Talk: Christie Tate, author of Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life

Oct 29, 2020

GROUP is November’s Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick. Here, Chicago-based writer and essayist Christie Tate details how she reluctantly chose to get psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers --- her psychotherapy group --- and in turn found human connection, and herself. In this interview, Tate discusses what inspired her to share her daring, exhilarating, painful and hilarious journey with the world; how her fellow group members have reacted to being featured in the book; her evolving relationship with her eccentric therapist, Dr. Rosen, and how she would encourage skeptical readers to embrace some facets of his unique approach; why she considers her memoir to be a bildungsroman; and her decision to end GROUP with a “Ten Years Later” update rather than with her wedding.

Author Talk: Alice Hoffman, author of Magic Lessons: Book #1 of the Practical Magic Series

Oct 22, 2020

Alice Hoffman traces a centuries-old curse to its source in MAGIC LESSONS, which unveils the story of Maria Owens, who is accused of witchcraft in Salem and is the matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in PRACTICAL MAGIC and THE RULES OF MAGIC. In this interview, Hoffman talks about her decision to return to the Owens family in the form of a prequel; the most fun part of her research for the story, which is rich with historical details; the two special ladies in her life who have inspired her the most; and her next novel, which likely will be the conclusion to the Practical Magic series.

Interview: Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies

Sep 16, 2020

Ayad Akhtar is a novelist and playwright who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play “Disgraced” and whose debut novel, AMERICAN DERVISH, was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012. His highly anticipated second work of fiction, HOMELAND ELEGIES, is about an immigrant father and his son who search for belonging --- in post-Trump America, and with each other. In this interview, conducted by Bookreporter.com reviewer Harvey Freedenberg, Akhtar talks about one of the book’s most powerful scenes --- Ayad’s description of his experience in Manhattan on 9/11 --- and how he went about recreating the terrible sights and overwhelming emotions of that day; what he thinks it will take for those who harbor suspicions about Muslims to view them with less hostility; and the pivotal role that dreams play in the novel.