Fiction, Writers on Writing

Oct 02: The Mapmaker’s Daughter & Lie to Me

She was one of the most remarkable women in history, yet her story is little known.  In The Mapmaker’s Daughter, debut novelist Katherine Nouri Hughes blends fiction with history, examining the desires and motives of a young Venetian girl who became wife to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Katherine, Iraqi-Irish by birth, attended Princeton University, receiving a Master’s Degree in Near Eastern Studies.  She currently serves her alma mater in an advisory capacity.

Also today, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J.T. Ellison writes domestic noir and psychological thrillers, and her latest, Lie To Me, combines grief, betrayal, jealousy, and murder, gradually destroying the facade of the perfect literary couple.

J.T. has written 17 critically acclaimed novels, is coauthor of the “A Brit in the FBI” series with Catherine Coulter, and co-hosts the Emmy Award-winning A Word on Words.

 

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Memoir, Travel & Adventure

Sep 25: One of These Things First & Razor Clams, Buried Treasure of the PNW

From his grandparent’s bra and girdle store, to a stint in one of the most fashionable psychiatric hospitals after a suicide attempt, Steven Gaines takes us on the tragically joyous ride of a 15-year-old Jewish boy in 1960’s Brooklyn.

One of These Things First includes conversion therapy and Broadway dreams, and an array of eccentric characters he met along the way. Steven is a noted journalist, bestselling novelist and biographer, whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, the New York Observer, and New York magazine, where he was a contributing editor for 12 years.

Also today, what has the power to draw thousands of people of all ages to the often blustery shores of Washington’s coastal beaches every year?

Seattle Times contributor and author David Berger shares the secrets of our regional razor clam phenomenon in Razor Clams:  Buried Treasure of the Pacific Northwest.  David Berger has worked as a visual arts critic for The Seattle Times, and started razor clamming when he moved to Washington.  You can see him at Third Place Books on October 5, at 7 PM.

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Journalism, Personal Development, Social Issues

Sep 18: Helene Segura Returns & Nomadland

National Procrastination Day is September 6th … shoot, we put this off by almost two weeks! Nevertheless, Helene Segura MA Ed returns to Conversations Live to help you reevaluate the way you prioritize your time — so no more putting off the things that are most important to you.

Helene is a time management consultant who combines neuroscience, educational psychology, and pop culture to teach clients and keynote/training audiences how to improve work-day efficiencies so they can have a life outside.  Her book is The Inefficiency Assassin.

You might dream about loading up an RV and living a road warrior’s life when you retire, but for some, van-dwelling is their last option.  Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century documents the stories of itinerant citizens who gave up traditional lifestyles to travel from short-term job-to-job, trying simply to survive.

Award-winning journalist Jessica Bruder spent months living in a camper to witness firsthand the “Workamper” lifestyle.  Jessica has taught at Columbia Journalism School for nearly a decade, and been published in numerous periodicals and newspapers.

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Inspirational, Personal Development, Self-help

Sep 11: Big Love & Two Minute Mornings

Scott Stabile parents were murdered when he was 14 years old. His brother died of a heroin overdose when he was 23. Rudderless, Scott found temporary refuge in a cult that dominated his life for 13 years, until he knew he had to escape.

Scott shares his journey in Big Love: The Power of Living with a Wide-Open Heart.  A frequent Huffington Post contributor, Scott has a huge social media following for his inspirational posts and videos, and conducts personal empowerment workshops around the globe.  Scott will be appearing at Third Place Book in Lake Forest on October 4, at 7PM.

Can you “win” your day, overcoming adversity before it even begins, in just two minutes every morning

NYT bestseller Neil Pasricha lays out the strategy to jump starting each day with a positive impact in Two Minute Mornings: A Journal to Win Your Day Every Day.  Neil is a Harvard MBA and is the Director of the Institute for Global Happiness, and has one of the most watched Ted Talks of all time.

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Biography, Fiction, Writers on Writing

Sep 04: Her Again: Becoming Meryl Steep & This is the Part Where You Laugh

Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep is the first thoroughly researched biography of the actress, providing an intimate look into the years that shaped her into the icon she is today.

Michael Schulman paints an indelible portrait of the artist as a young actress, leaving no stone unturned.  Michael has contributed to The New Yorker since 2006, currently serving as the arts editor.

From returning guest Peter Brown Hoffmeister comes an unforgettable account of growing up, making mistakes, and growing out of the shadow of drug abuse.  

This is the Part Where You Laugh chronicles his expulsion from three high schools, being homeless for parts of his sophomore and senior year,  and even living in a Greyhound Bus Station for a short while.  Peter is an author, rock climber, public speaker, outdoor expert, and athlete gear-tester for Ridgemont Outfitters.

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

Aug 28: Story Sparks & The Doll Funeral

Whether you have a treasure chest of ideas and a thimbleful of creativity, or the talent to compose riveting stories but the muse is absent, returning guest Denise Jaden can help!

Story Sparks: Finding Your Best Story Ideas and Turning Them Into Compelling Fiction is her guide to transforming your potential tales into captivating fiction, or getting “unstuck” if you have the dreaded writer’s block.  Denise is an award-winning author of young adult novels and has also penned several nonfiction books for those looking to explore writing.

Imagine a mystical world where ghosts of the past and the present, the living and lost, haunt the land of the living.  The Doll Funeral, Kate Hamer’s highly anticipated follow-up to The Girl in the Red Coat, uses her mastery of atmosphere and language to explore intense family relationships while drawing you into a world of paranormal specters.

In addition to her novels, Kate is a prolific and award-winning writer of short stories and has written articles for The New York Times, The Independent, and The Sunday Mail.

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Personal Development

Aug 21: ABC’s Dan Harris & Live An Authentic Life

Award-winning ABC anchor Dan Harris has covered wars and presidential campaigns, investigated human traffickers, and even been chased by wild elephants. But those professional challenges paled in comparison to a personal challenge: taming the voice in his head.

He explores his journey in his book 10% Happier:How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works—A True Story.  

Meriweather Group CEO and founder David Howitt demonstrates the power of ‘And’ in  Heed Your Call: Integrating Myth, Science, Spirituality and Business, proving life does not have to be an either/or affair, encouraging us to integrate our inner musician and computer programmer, our inner poet and scientist.

David is an accomplished entrepreneur with over twenty years of experience providing business strategy and brand counsel to startups and Fortune 100 companies.

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Inspirational, Personal Development, Writers on Writing

Aug 14: Insight Into Self-Awareness & Our Story Begins

Ninety-five percent of people believe they are self-aware, but approximately 10-15% actually are.  INSIGHT: Why We’re Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and In Life  explores the most common misconceptions about how to become more self-aware and focuses on how to make better career, love, and life choices through understanding our own values, aspirations, and impact on others.

Author Dr. Tascha Eurich is an organizational psychologist, researcher, and New York Times best-selling author.

Each of our stories finds its foundation in the honest and vulnerable years of our childhood.  Many of our thoughts and inspirations from those times are long since lost or forgotten, but for some, they remain a cherished look back at the shaping of our current and future selves.

In Our Story Begins: Your Favorite Authors and Illustrators Share Fun, Inspiring, and Occasionally Ridiculous Things They Wrote and Drew as Kids, compiled by award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman, we get a firsthand glimpse at the quirky and smart early drawings and writings of some of today’s  foremost children’s authors, revealing the evidence of their nascent talent in their most formative years.

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

Aug 07: Award Winning Summer Reads

The dog days of summer are upon us, and the cool evening breezes bring about the perfect time to settle on the back porch with a glass of wine and a good book.

Our first guest today delivers a compelling exploration of family, politics, and the fight for racial equality in her debut novel, The Talented Ribkins.  Author Ladee Hubbard won both the 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award and the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition in the Short Story category.

Glen Erik Hamilton’s debut novel, Past Crimes, was wildly successful, and he returns today to discuss the third novel in the lauded Van Shaw series, Every Day Above Ground.

Glen will also share his approach to living up to the lofty expectations set by his first two books, and what it takes to develop a realistic character who grows with the series.

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

Jul 31: The Essex Serpent & Tropic of Kansas

Today’s guest authors both created believable fictional universes — one gothic, one of a dystopian future. We’ll discuss what it takes to bring realism into fiction to help readers suspend their disbelief.

Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent delivers us into 1893 London, where an intrepid amateur naturalist sets out to prove a mythical, murderous beast, is actually an undiscovered species.  Sarah has turned her PhD in creative writing into a burgeoning career as a novelist, with The Essex Serpent, her second novel, winning the British Book Awards Book of the Year. 

Our second author, Christopher Brown, takes us into a haunting future where the United States has broken into warring territories and the center of the landmass is a ravaged wasteland known as the Tropic of Kansas.  Christopher is a lawyer and renowned short story writer whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.

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