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Author Interview

Essays, History, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Jan 10: Mystery Superfan & Foodie Turns Author

January 10, 2024

Recipes for Murder, 66 Dishes Celebrating Agatha Christie

Recipes for Murder with author Karen Pierce

Karen Pierce knew when she turned author that her book would somehow include food and mystery. She came up with the perfect solution in Recipes for Murder: 66 Dishes that Celebrate the Mysteries of Agatha Christie.

Karen shares what sparked the idea for her debut nonfiction book, sharing a peek into the life of Agatha Christie and the times she lived in. For example, did you know that when Christie went to cocktail parties, she only drank cream? And what about the burning question that many consider an unanswered mystery: What really happened when Christie herself mysteriously disappeared?

Superfan Karen Pierce did intense research for Recipes for Murder, and shares her insight on that and more today.

About Karen Pierce

Karen Pierce is a detective-fiction doyenne, food lover, and Agatha Christie Superfan. She’s made pilgrimages to Torquay and Greenway House, Christie’s hometown and home. Karen Pierce also attended and volunteered at several Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Conventions. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

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Health & Wellness, Non Fiction, Personal Development

Jan 03: Make 2024 A Change Your Life Year … in Just 3 Minutes a Day

January 3, 2024

Dr. Richard Dixey’s Rx for gaining clarity, expanding creativity, reducing stress

Three Minutes a Day with author Richard Dixey

Yes, it’s really possible, says scientist Richard Dixey to transform your life by incorporating his short, valuable practice into everyday life.

Dr. Richard Dixey explains how just three minutes of your time can turn your life around. He shares a direct path to gain clarity of mind, relieve stress, calm anxiety, sharpen thinking, improve concentration, and enhance creativity.

And his practice can be followed from anywhere, anytime, no matter how busy you are.

About Dr. Richard Dixey

Richard Dixey, PhD, is a scientist and lifelong student of Asian philosophy. He runs the Light of Buddhadharma Foundation in India with his wife Wangmo, the eldest daughter of Tibetan lama Tarthang Tulku. He is a senior faculty member at Dharma College in Berkeley, and divides his time between California and India. His new book, Three Minutes a Day: A 14 Week Course to Learn Meditation and Transform Your Life.

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Career, Creativity, Personal Development

Dec 28: Breaking Through Creative Blocks with Patti Dobrowolski

December 27, 2023

Get Unstuck, Visualize New Possibilities, Create

Creative Genius You, the Equation that Makes You Great with author Patti Dobrowolski

In Creative Genius You, The Equation That Makes YOU Great! Patti Dobrowolski outlines a simple formula that helps you tap into your unique genius and creativity.

Today Patti shares the subtle math behind goal achievement. What it means to give yourself permission to listen to your inner voice. We discuss imagination, curiosity, and intuition. How sketching (yes, even for non-artists) can help release blocks and accelerate the creative process. And, the Desire + Love + Sweat equation.

About Patti Dobrowolski

Three-times TedX speaker, Patti Dobrowolski, is a critically acclaimed comic performer, international keynote speaker, writer, and business consultant. She has taught innovative visual practices to Fortune 500 companies, NGOs, and small businesses. In an earlier podcast you can hear about Patti Dobrowolski’s first book, Drawing Solutions: How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your Life.

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Health & Wellness, Inspirational, Memoir

Dec 20: Accepting Alzheimer’s Without Losing Yourself

December 20, 2023

Rebecca Chopp’s career was derailed but her life took on a new direction empowering others

Activist, Author, Scholar Rebecca Chopp on Alzheimer’s Disease

As chancellor at the University of Denver, Rebecca Chopp had no plans to retire. She still had many things she wanted to accomplish. But in 2019, a routine visit to her doctor derailed those plans when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Rebecca now spends her days empowering others through her work with Voices of Alzheimer’s. Today she shares how she coped with the devastating news. Why she kept her diagnosis private for several months. How and why she went public, and why she cofounded Voices of Alzheimer’s. And how she managed to write her upcoming book, Still Me.

Most importantly, Rebecca Chopp shares how she held on to her identity and finds ways to live well with friends and family.

About Rebecca Chopp

Rebecca Chopp, PhD, is an Alzheimer’s activist and educator. Chopp co-founded Voices of Alzheimer’s and serves as a member of the  Board of the National Alzheimer’s Association, and is a member of the board of the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She is a frequent speaker and writer on timely diagnosis, research for a cure, access and affordability of drugs, and lifestyle interventions for those with Alzheimer’s. Chopp’s book, Still Me, will be published in 2024. Before Chopp’s diagnosis with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s in 2019, she was a widely published author, editor, and renowned academic in the fields of education, philosophy, religion, and feminism. 

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

Dec 13: Lesley Crewe with Recipe for a Good Life

December 13, 2023

A story of loneliness & belonging. A love letter to the women who’ve kept kettles warm & neighbors fed in rural Cape Breton.

Recipe for a Good Life with author Lesley Crewe

National bestselling, award winning author Lesley Crewe says if she hadn’t moved to a remote island off Novia Scotia she may never have become a writer. Today, Lesley joins us to to talk about her 15th book – Recipe for a Good Life.

We discuss how Lesley adapts ordinary moments and celebrates everyday things. How she develops her characters and who inspires them. What island life is really like, including community, connection, belonging, humor, and how Cape Breton features in her storytelling. And, of course, we share Lesley’s point of view on writing and what it means to be a writer.

About Lesley Crewe

Lesley Crewe is the Globe and Mail–bestselling author of 13 novels, including Nosy Parker, named one of Indigo’s Top 100 Books of 2022; The Spoon Stealer, longlisted for Canada Reads 2022; and Relative Happiness, which was adapted into an award-winning feature film. She has also published two collections of essays, the Leacock-longisted Are You Kidding Me?! and I Kid You Not! Lesley lives in Homeville, Nova Scotia. Recipe for a Good Life is Indigo Book’s 2023 Award Winning Book of the Year.

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Memoir, Non Fiction

Dec 06: What it Means to Be a Twin with Helena De Bres

December 6, 2023

How to Be Multiple: The Philosophy of Twins Explores Twinhood & What It Can Tell Us About Being Human 

How to be Multiple with author Helena De Bres

Wait, which twin are you? Who is the evil twin? Have you ever switched partners? Can you read each other’s mind?

Twins get asked the weirdest questions by strangers, loved ones, even themselves.

As a twin and professor of philosophy, Helena De Bres takes an indepth look at what it means to be a twin from personal and philosophical perspectives, including positive and negative stereotypes.

About Helena De Bres

Helena De Bres is Professor in the Wellesley College Department of Philosophy. Currently, she is researching the nature and value of memoir, and the question of what makes life meaningful. Earlier work in philosophy was on distributive justice in global politics. She has a major interest in creative writing, public philosophy and the intersection between the two. Lisa De Bres, Helena’s twin, drew all of the illustrations for How To Be Multiple.

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Fiction, Short Stories, Writers on Writing

Nov 29: Kelly Sather Award Winning Author of Small in Real Life

November 29, 2023

Winner of 2023 Drue Heinz Literature Prize – Short Story Debut Author

Small In Real Life with author Kelly Sather

Some say short-story formats are impossible to publish. Kelly Sather proves that wrong with her first book: A beautiful collection of nine stories – and winner of the 2023 Drue Heinz Literature Prize – Small In Real Life.

Kelly Sather’s characters face desire, regret, betrayal. They make false choices. Look for love and belonging with the wrong people. And ultimately face the consequences of the unsavory business of being human.

Kelly discusses her work, compiling the stories for this collection, and the challenges involved in the writer’s life.

About Kelly Sather

Kelly Sather is a writer, former entertainment lawyer, and screenwriter. Her stories and reviews have appeared in Santa Monica Review, J Journal, Pembroke Magazine, PANK, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. She grew up in Los Angeles and lives in Northern California. 

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Essays, Memoir, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Books, Stories, Poems, Writers, & Life with Best American Short Stories Author, Peter Orner

November 22, 2023

Still No Word from You: Notes in the Margin

Podcast with author Peter Orner

Peter Orner is a storyteller. He’s a writer’s writer … a novelist, short story master, and prolific essayist. What he really wants to accomplish with his writing, is to connect — especially with readers who can’t not read.

In Peter’s seventh book, Still No Word from You: Notes in the Margin, he shares intimate stories from a life of living and reading. We discover how Peter’s stories are often built around small moments that may otherwise seem insignificant. We discuss how he identifies moments that will make a great story. What it means to live the writer’s life, and the challenges that presents.

About Peter Orner

The author of two novels and several story collections, Peter Orner‘s work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and more. His previous essay collection, Am I Alone Here? Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Peter Orner is a 3-time recipient of the Pushcart Prize and has received numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Fulbright in Namibia. He is currently the director of creative writing at Dartmouth College.

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Health & Wellness, Memoir, Non Fiction

Roll Back The World: A Sister’s Memoir with Deborah Kasdan

November 8, 2023

A Family Living with an Eldest Child’s Mental Illness, Searching for Answers and Forgiveness

Roll Back the World with author Deborah Kasdan

When her eldest sister Rachel was hospitalized for the first time, young Deborah Kasdan had no idea what was happening. While her parents didn’t discuss Rachel’s problems, or why they occurred, Deborah certainly felt the stigma, shame, trauma, and depression around the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Today Deborah Kasdan discusses her search for the truth, examining how each family member reacted and coped as family dynamics were impacted. What Deborah learned after Rachel died. Family dynamics and how her perspective on her own relationship with her mother changed while writing Roll Back The World. And what Deborah wishes she’d known when her sister was first “sent away”.

About Deborah Kasdan

Deborah Kasdan had a 35-year career writing about business and technology before retiring and joining Westport Writer’s Workshop to make her personal stories come alive. She served on the board of directors of Under One Roof, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for Southwest CT.

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Health & Wellness, Non Fiction, Self-help

The Food-Mood Connection with Mary Beth Albright

October 25, 2023

 Eat & Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being

Podcast with Mary Beth Albright

Drawing on the most recent science, food expert Mary Beth Albright shares how food has the power to nourish your mind and support emotional wellness. Eat & Flourish is not a diet book. It’s a whole system, whole living explanation of how nutrition, environment, psychology, biology — and even pleasure — work together to alleviate depression, anxiety, and stress.

Mary Beth redefines emotional eating and discusses the food-mood connection. The power of the gut microbiome. And the importance of understanding your gut-brain connection.

About Mary Beth Albright

Mary Beth Albright began her research while working at the Surgeon General’s office, with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. She’s now a correspondent and editor at The Washington Post, writing for Health/Science, Food, Travel, and Book World (as she says – the things that make life good). She’s also a public health attorney with two award-winning video series, including Secret Table and Teach Dave to Cook.  Her latest book, Eat & Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-being.

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