The Bookcast

After graduating high school in the small town of Brunswick, Georgia, Kimberly Hamilton prays that her future in Atlanta will bring something interesting and not-so-perfect. Moments after graduation, Kim finds herself at the crossroads of life and eternity. But accepting God’s offer to continue her life on earth leaves her body capable of things she’s only seen in movies. In C.S.R. Calloway‘s fantasy adventure “Peculiar, INC” Discovering several similarly powered individuals, some mysterious and some malevolent, Kim and her friends set out, from the streets of Atlanta to the skies above Annapolis, to discover what it means to be blessed, cursed, or maybe just…peculiar. More below the media player. Listen to C.S.R. CallowaySimilar Posts:Trapped Between Life and Death – What Will She Do?A Child Learns to Pay It ForwardFinally a YA Novel Written By a Real YAWho Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?A Battle for Survival On a Hostile Planet The post Her Superpower – From God appeared first on The Bookcast.

Beautiful wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car one night while walking home, and is left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself back in her own bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well. Then, in Melissa Pearl‘s novel “Betwixt” things take a turn for the weird when Nicole discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her broken and bruised body is lying in the forest, while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded. Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car beat Dale there and finish Nicole off before anyone finds out? More below the media player. Listen to Melissa Pearl The Indie Author Life Even someone like Melissa Pearl, who gets rave reader [...]Similar Posts:Solving a 40-Year-Old Murder Case Might Prove DeadlyA Hitman’s Last ChanceShould This Woman Kill Her Mother-in-Law?Who Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?It’ll Take All Her Power to Defeat This Demon The post Trapped Between Life and Death – What Will She Do? appeared first on The Bookcast.

Dr. Marie Bartek is struggling. She is trying to learn how to gain control over the new psychic abilities she encounters while attending a veterinary conference in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In Robin Murphy‘s mystery “Secret of The Big Easy,” these recent visions prompt Marie to work with local police back home in South Carolina, along with members of the Sullivan’s Island Paranormal Society, or SIPS, to help solve a succession of heinous satanic murders. And Marie is fighting a demon that is bent on taking over her mind. Can Marie and the SIPS team help the police before they lose one of their own? More below the media player. Listen to Robin Murphy The Indie Author Life So much of the author’s job is to present enough detail to put the reader in the moment – the sights, the sounds, the aromas. And in “Secret of the Big Easy” in particular, Robin Murphy explores the concept of “triggers,” which can be those same sights, sounds, and aromas, that make us recall something from our past. In a recent blog post, Robin reveals the triggers she met not long ago, just watching an old movie on TV: I [...]Similar Posts:Sweet Revenge. And Irony. And Humor. And Sarcasm.Are They Evil? Or Do They Just Not Understand?Trapped Between Life and Death – What Will She Do?Solving a 40-Year-Old Murder Case Might Prove DeadlyShould This Woman Kill Her Mother-in-Law? The post It’ll Take All Her Power to Defeat This Demon appeared first on The Bookcast.

Imagine creating the perfect drug – all of the highs, none of the lows. No side effects, no painful physical withdrawal, no drawbacks. Or are there? Iain Cosgrove‘s thriller “The Storm Protocol ” takes us deep into the Louisiana bayou, Thomas Eugene O’Neill, a.k.a The Street, is an Irish immigrant mob enforcer, waiting patiently with his gun amidst the sweltering heat of a southern storm. His employers, Italian American druglords Guido and Ernesto Mancini, have a guaranteed formula to create the perfect narcotic and Thomas knows too much. But he is also not alone. Detective Charles Roussel, ex hot-shot city lawyer turned small town Louisiana lawman, and Dale Foster, unorthodox New York DEA agent, are also set on paths that will lead them to the same inevitable destination; Ireland. And for Thomas, the middle-aged hit man, all roads seem to lead back to Cork; the city of his birth, and to the ghosts of his past. More below the media player. Listen to Iain Cosgrove The Indie Author Life In a recent blog post on Goodreads, Iain Cosgrove ruminates on “What makes a work timeless?” Is it the quality of the writing that makes it timeless? Is it the lack [...]Similar Posts:Trapped Between Life and Death – What Will She Do?Are They Evil? Or Do They Just Not Understand?The Ghost and Mr. TrafficWho Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?Solving a 40-Year-Old Murder Case Might Prove Deadly The post A Hitman’s Last Chance appeared first on The Bookcast.

Aspen Falls, Colorado harbors secrets. Secrets within a community. Secrets within a family. In Peg Brantley‘s thriller “The Missings,” Detective Chase Waters faces the task of finding out who is killing young men and women whose horribly mutilated bodies are turning up all over town Are those mutilated bodies the result of a cult .. or commerce? Detective Waters finds himself working the most interesting case of his career, but it’s also one that comes closer to home than he could ever imagine. More below the media player. Listen to Peg Brantley The Indie Author Life On her blog Peg Brantley wrote recently about self-publishing, allowing that when she was starting to write, she “never would have considered self-publishing .. I was going to be traditionally published and agented.” After eight years, however, she relented and allowed herself to join the indie author life – with the promise to herself that she would “do it right.” And she offers other writers the benefit of her earned wisdom: Write your first draft. (I love, love, love that Anne Lamott gave me permission to write a shitty first draft. Sometimes I forget that it really is okay, but that doesn’t mean she [...]Similar Posts:A Young Wannabe Rapper’s Quest to Find His DaddyRide the Indie Author Wave At The BookcastWhat a Pain It Is, Being a MessiahTrapped Between Life and Death – What Will She Do?Forced To Grow Up (Finally) The post Who Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls? appeared first on The Bookcast.

Who’s telling the story of your life, you or your brain? Searching for reasons her promising life had crumbled into obsessive thoughts and deep depression, Karen Lawrence uncovered an enigmatic past filled with deception, religious fanaticism and abuse. Now in her book “What My Heart Saw,” Karen merges fragments of childhood memory, current scientific research and insights gleaned from practicing mindfulness.to produce a deeply personal account of how our brain-stories can run our lives without our conscious awareness. Her persistent belief that she was not, in fact, doomed to a life of coping with mental illness is a poignant example of what science now knows — yes, we can change our stories, and yes, we can heal our brains. More below the media player. Listen to Karen Lawrence The Indie Author Life What was the turning point for Karen Lawrence, in her desperate quest for answers about her memory, her past? On a page on her website, Karen writes: Years of emotional but unproductive excavation began to take a turn in 2007 when Karen visits family and attends her 30th high school reunion. Listening to an intuitive prompt that arises while practicing mindfulness, Karen rediscovers a journal written in her [...]Similar Posts:Forced To Grow Up (Finally)The Astonishing Power – In An Old SuitcaseA Stunning Story of Two Women and the Bond They ForgeA Child Learns to Pay It ForwardGreek Myth Brought to New Life The post How Our Brain-Stories Can Run Our Lives appeared first on The Bookcast.

You hear her every time you listen to an interview on The Bookcast ….. And now, in response to requests we’ve been getting for more details about our “voice,” we’d like to introducer her to you. Our announcer’s name is Krystal Woody. And she and I go way back. I mean, WAY back. Krissie is my daughter, and has had a front-row seat to my nearly-30-year, nearly 10-thousand-interview career of interviewing authors. I asked her if she would mind if I interviewed her. And she graciously agreed. Listen to Krystal Woody As you’ll hear in our interview, Krissie has a very successful YouTube channel called “Krissie Speaks.” Here’s one of her video commentaries:Similar Posts:A Personal Note from Bill ThompsonWhy I’m So Enthusiastic About the Indie Authors I…A Big Week AheadWe’ve Hit 100!Big News Coming The post Meet The Voice of The Bookcast appeared first on The Bookcast.

Fourth-grader — almost fifth — Shelby Summers lives four houses down from Mr. T. Shelby’s mom and dad, and Mrs. T, are very active, but when Mr. T becomes sick with cancer he wants to do something to give back to his community. And Shelby will be the perfect person to help him!Similar Posts:Her Superpower – From GodWho Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?Trapped Between Life and Death – What Will She Do?How Our Brain-Stories Can Run Our LivesA Hitman’s Last Chance The post A Child Learns to Pay It Forward appeared first on The Bookcast.

For generations, the Folken have lived in total isolation. A self-contained society, they worship Bluegrass music and the legendary banjo picking of Jesus. For the Folken, the outside world inspires fear, not curiosity. In William Hrdina‘s novel “Agharta,” Sarah Throckmartin is a typical 12-year old, living a typical Folken life — until her runaway dog, an old grudge, and a false prophecy combine to exile her and her brother Eddie from the Folken and everything they know. Together, Sarah and Eddie travel out into the wider world, discovering new genres of music at every turn. Making friends — and enemies – along the way, brother and sister find themselves drawn into a dangerous quest to find music’s source, a mystical city known as… AGHARTA. More below the media player. Listen to William Hrdina The Indie Author Life Do authors pay attention to reviews? How about reviews of other books? Or movies, or restaurants? William Hrdina admits, on his blog, that…. I’m sorta fascinated by the way we let reviews influence our decisions. For example, I really HATED the book of Life of Pi (can’t say how I feel about the movie- haven’t seen it yet). Yet, it garners huge critical [...]Similar Posts:Yes, The Governor Deserved To Die. True Story.Are They Evil? Or Do They Just Not Understand?War, Holocaust, Rebellion – and Dragons and RunicsA Life Told Via Facebook UpdatesDeath, Prison, and a Son’s Desperate Search For… The post What a Long, Strange Journey, To Find The Music appeared first on The Bookcast.

In 1999, T.R. Locke was a successful college administrator and real estate investor in Chicago who had dreams of pursuing his lifelong passion of screenwriting. The following year he wrote a screenplay that nearly won the Chesterfield Film Festival Writer’s Film Project sponsored by Stephen Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Paramount Pictures. Within weeks he was flying out to Hollywood for meetings with agents and negotiating deals with producers to buy his screenplay. Fired up by this initial success, he moved his family to Hollywood. Within two years, he had a literary agent and manager and his writing had been praised by everyone from readers to producers to the Presidents of Columbia and Universal Pictures. He even got acting jobs. But then …. Well, his book “What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood ” is a fun, honest and entertaining look at how it all went to hell in a handbasket. Luckily for us the book is not just about how it went wrong, but why and what he learned from it all. More below the media player. Listen to T.R. Locke The Indie Author Life According to the bio page on his website, T. R. Locke’s first [...]Similar Posts:A Professional Tour Guide’s Best Hollywood StoriesWhat a Pain It Is, Being a MessiahGiving Indie Authors Their DueIn Johnson, Ohio a Star is BoredSweet Revenge. And Irony. And Humor. And Sarcasm. The post Don’t Let Hollywood Kill Your Dream appeared first on The Bookcast.

Maitland “Mai” Fisher is a spy because her parents died as spies. She has a legacy to fulfill, and she intends to do that by maintaining her principles. What may conflict with that is the fact she believes in achieving justice by any means. Alexei N. Bukharin defected from the Soviet Union because the Communist system caused the death of his young first wife. He is also a member of an internal cabal whose aim is to bring down the Soviet Union from within, and with the help of the United Nations Intelligence Directorate. In Phyllis Anne Duncan‘s collection of stories “Spy Flash,” Mai and Alexei make an unusual partnership — and an unlikely couple. From the deserts of Egypt, to Parisian markets, to the Balkans, “Spy Flash” gives you brief glimpses (both personal and professional) into the lives of these two covert operatives. More below the media player. Listen to Phyllis Anne Duncan The Indie Author Life Can’t get enough Mai and Alexei? There’s plenty more in the works from Phyllis Anne Duncan, according to a post on her blog, called “Works in Progress“: Book One, End Times: A botched raid on a religious compound stockpiling guns leads the [...]Similar Posts:A Life Told Via Facebook UpdatesWho Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?War, Holocaust, Rebellion – and Dragons and RunicsWhat a Long, Strange Journey, To Find The MusicThis Thief Steals Her Way Almost to Death The post Unusual Partnership, Unlikely Couple appeared first on The Bookcast.

“Look at me and I’ll kill you!” Those are the words Jennifer Wheatley-Wolf heard as she entered her bedroom on the morning of August 21, 1988. An unknown assailant had climbed onto the balcony and entered a sliding glass door, waitingfor her in the dark. When he grabbed her and pulled something tight around her throat, Jennifer was sure her life was over. Assaulted and raped, Jennifer lived through every woman’s worst nightmare. Having never seen her assailant’s face, she was sure he would never be caught. She spent two decades wondering who and where he was, and when he would strike again. Finding this rapist would take 20 years and the tireless efforts of an investigator who refused to let her case go unsolved. Jennifer now writes about her ordeal and the years of waiting for justice with the candor and fortitude that helped her survive, in a book called “One Voice Raised.” More below the media player. Listen to Jennifer Wheatley-Wolf The Indie Author Life In our interview, Jennifer Wheatley-Wolf described how confronting the man who raped her, in a courtroom, returned the power to her. It’s a point she made earlier, writing on The Huffington Post. Jennifer [...]Similar Posts:What a Pain It Is, Being a MessiahThe Ghost and Mr. TrafficA Young Wannabe Rapper’s Quest to Find His DaddyGreek Myth Brought to New LifeWar, Holocaust, Rebellion – and Dragons and Runics The post Her Long Wait for Justice appeared first on The Bookcast.

A stolen bag of cheese puffs. A battered Aerosmith cassette. A quest to write the baddest rap of all time. Todd Jenkins, formerly a server at Cracker Barrel, will investigate these and other mysteries in his journey to seek out his real father: “Family Matters” star Reginald VelJohnson. In Robert Chatham‘s novella “Noisome Beasts,” Todd’s journey will lead him to disgusting all-you-can-eat buffets, morality conventions, and a horrific future featuring terrifying robots. Todd and his best friend Edgar embark on a terrifying adventure across the American midwest, into darkest nightmares and brightest dreams. More below the media player. Listen to Robert Chatham The Indie Author Life Secrets revealed! In a recent blog post Robert Chatham says he’s been fielding a lot of questions from book clubs. So he offers some answers: I am Todd. Rebecca is definitely Edgar. I used to really like Wilson Phillips and Phil Collins. When I think back on it, I wonder what was wrong with my parents. Why did they let me do that? I am the worst on road trips, because, like Todd, I have to go to the bathroom frequently. The More You Know! The truck stop is a real place where I [...]Similar Posts:Conspiracy. Assassination Plot. Intrepid Reporter. Go!Five Moons Craving a HeroWho Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?What a Pain It Is, Being a MessiahStealing The Box Was The Easy Part The post A Young Wannabe Rapper’s Quest to Find His Daddy appeared first on The Bookcast.

In the world of social media “status updates” where “friends” can follow your every move, how is Madeline supposed to get out of the hole she’s created? In Emily Craven‘s novel “The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire” Madeline has achieved her dream – acceptance into world-famous photographer Jason I’Anson’s exclusive college in New York. Like many people of her generation who travel overseas, she turns to Facebook as a means of passing on news and keeping in touch with family and friends. But her move from sleepy Adelaide to New York City doesn’t exactly turn out as she expected. From her first meeting with her chain-smoking, club-crazy housemate and his superhero Mexican chameleon, Duncan, she knew she was in for an interesting time. Add an abusive umbrella, pizza deliveries to porn sets, and being pulled in by the FBI for questioning and things move from the interesting to the ridiculous. More below the media player. Listen to Emily Craven The Indie Author Life Emily Craven is also author of a book for writers called “E-Book Revolution.” In a recent post on the book’s companion blog, Em shared ideas on how to balance writing, marketing – and life: I [...]Similar Posts:She’s Trying, Very Hard, to Live – Happily Ever…War, Holocaust, Rebellion – and Dragons and RunicsA Stunning Story of Two Women and the Bond They ForgeWhat a Pain It Is, Being a MessiahGreek Myth Brought to New Life The post A Life Told Via Facebook Updates appeared first on The Bookcast.

Are you … Disenchanted with your current job? Contemplating a career change? Considering a “dream” gig? Experiencing mid-life frustrations? Planning to continue working in your later years whether you “want to” or “have to”? Larry Portzline‘s book “Follow Your Enthusiasm: How 12 Ordinary Men Discovered Extraordinary Encore Careers,” by Larry Portzline, features a dozen fascinating men of varying ages and backgrounds who launched satisfying second careers, some of them much later in life. Each of the book’s 12 chapters is a first-person narrative of the guys’ own heartfelt stories, exploring their life experiences and challenges, and how these factors led them to pursue successful “encores.” “Follow Your Enthusiasm” is an informative, inspirational, easy-to-read and highly relatable account of 12 men, from all walks of life, who discovered brand new beginnings no matter how old they were. More below the media player. Listen to Larry Portzline The Indie Author Life One of the dozen “encore” men whose story is told in Larry Portzline’s book is Gid Pool, who became a standup comedian at age 61. Here’s Gid Pool at McCurdy’s Comedy Club:Similar Posts:Guaranteed: You Won’t Read Another Book Like This All…The Treasure Hunt That Will Change Her LifeAn Adventure Story for the AgesWar, Holocaust, Rebellion – and Dragons and RunicsA Life Told Via Facebook Updates The post Why Settle For Just One Career? appeared first on The Bookcast.