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Author News & Interviews

Author Talk: J.P. Smith, author of If She Were Dead

Jan 15, 2020

“Amelie and Janet are in love with the same man: Janet's husband. One knows it; the other doesn't. Or does she?” That’s the intriguing setup for J.P. Smith’s eighth novel, IF SHE WERE DEAD, a psychological thriller that, according to Booklist, “compels attention to the final line.” In this interview, Smith talks about unreliable narrators, the art of slowly building suspense that grows until it’s almost unbearable, writing from the perspective of a female protagonist, and why he doesn’t read many thrillers.

Interview: Matt Coyle, author of Lost Tomorrows: A Rick Cahill Novel

Dec 3, 2019

Matt Coyle revived the Raymond Chandler hard-boiled PI model, set in today’s fancy (and seedy) side of San Diego. LOST TOMORROWS finds protagonist Rick Cahill returning to Santa Barbara --- the city of lost tomorrows --- where, 14 years ago, he was charged with but not convicted of his wife Colleen’s murder. He attends the funeral of Police Sergeant Krista Landingham, his only alibi, who remained silent. Rick’s investigation into the deaths of Krista and Colleen is as intertwined as Napa Valley grapevines. In this interview, Coyle chats with Bookreporter.com’s Dean Murphy about his appointment as the 2020 Left Coast Crime Convention Toastmaster, the deaths of Rick’s friend and wife, and the next Cahill adventure.

Author Talk: Tim Maleeny, author of Boxing the Octopus: A Cape Weathers Mystery

Oct 25, 2019

Tim Maleeny is the author of the award-winning Cape Weathers series of mysteries and the bestselling comedic thriller JUMP. His short fiction appears in several major anthologies and has won the prestigious Macavity Award for best story of the year. In this interview, Maleeny explains why he took such a long break (11 years, to be exact) between his last Cape Weathers novel, GREASING THE PINATA, and the latest installment, BOXING THE OCTOPUS. He also talks about his decision to give Cape a sidekick like Sally, a trained assassin who brings a whole other dimension to the detective game; why he thinks the first book in the series, STEALING THE DRAGON, got such a positive response from the mystery community; and the three classic crime writers whose work he would want in his possession if he was ever stranded on a desert island.

Author Talk: Alice Hoffman, author of The World That We Knew

Sep 25, 2019

In 1941, during humanity’s darkest hour, three young women must act with courage and love to survive. This is the premise of Alice Hoffman’s spellbinding new novel, THE WORLD THAT WE KNEW, which is set mainly in France during the Nazi occupation. In this interview, Hoffman discusses her inspiration for the book; how she used magic to reach the emotional heart of such a cruel time in history; the research she conducted, which included traveling to France and visiting the chateaus where Jewish children were sent when they were separated from their parents; the character in the novel who moved her the most; and her next project, which is sure to excite readers of her Practical Magic series.

Interview: Nefertiti Austin, author of Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America

Sep 25, 2019

In MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE, an unflinching account of her parenting journey, Nefertiti Austin examines the history of adoption in the African American community, faces off against stereotypes of single, Black motherhood, and confronts the reality of raising children of color in racially charged, modern-day America. Austin talks to Carol Fitzgerald, the president and co-founder of The Book Report Network, about her decision to write a book that focuses on her path to becoming a mother, her shock and disappointment over the lack of parenting books for Black women who choose to adopt like her, the advice she would give to a single mother looking to adopt, and her outlook regarding the prospects for her two children and other Black youth growing up in America at this time.