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Wilderness

Fiction, Nature, Suspense, Wildlife, Writers on Writing

Oct 08: Suspense Novel Inspired by Author’s Love of Wildlife

October 8, 2025

Alice Henderson’s A Ghost of Caribou

Alice Henderson’s Alex Carter series has a strong, smart female protagonist, whose career as a wildlife biologist gets her into the kind of trouble leading to suspense and murder.

We last talked to Alice about A Ghost of Caribou, the third in her series. Set in the in the Selkirk mountains of Washington State, what begins as a search for evasive caribou leads Alex Carter down a slippery dark road.

We discuss the story of A Ghost of Caribou, and how Alice developed her strong female protagonist. We also explore the increasing plight of wild caribou in our vanishing wilderness. And why reframing how we view climate change could help create the shift we need to see.

Meet Alice Henderson

A Ghost of Caribou is the third book in the Alex Carter series. The Vanishing Kind is the fourth in the series, and book five, Storm Warning, is expected in Spring 2026. A prolific writer with 26 books behind her, Alice Henderson is also a sanctuary monitor for the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, where she checks remote cameras, documents mapping, and delivers wildlife surveys to determine what species are present and that there’s no evidence of poaching. She’s surveyed for the presence of grizzlies, wolves, wolverines, jaguars, endangered bats, and more. Alice has also written media tie-in novels, including official novels for the TV shows Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While working at LucasArts, Alice wrote content for Star Wars video games.

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Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

NOV 10: Alice Henderson with A Blizzard of Polar Bears

November 10, 2021

Novel A Blizzard of Polar BearsAuthor of A Solitude of Wolverines

From writing official novels for TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural, to creating a strong female protagonist in wildlife biologist, Alex Carter.

Alice Henderson’s love of wilderness, wildlife, and science inspired the Alex Carter thriller series. Today we are transported to Churchill, Manitoba for her latest adventure.

We discuss how Alice’s diverse background led to her dynamic career as a wildlife researcher and novelist. How her character, Alex Carter, came to her. Alice’s favorite, and least favorite, scenes to write. Some of the research that went into developing A Blizzard of Polar Bears. And, yes, of course we talked about polar bears, climate change, and nature!

About Alice Henderson

The author of more than 13 books, Alice Henderson is a dedicated wildlife researcher. She uses a variety of methods, including bioacoustic studies, to identify species present on conservation lands. Using geographic information systems, she also designs wildlife corridors. Alice Henderson has surveyed for the presence of grizzlies, wolves, spotted owls, wolverines, jaguars, endangered bats, and more.

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Environment, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Memoir, Personal Development

JUN 17: Karen Auvinen’s Rough Beauty & Donald Altman Returns

June 10, 2019

Imagine a winter’s day alone in the mountain’s, the silence runs deep, the wind chills your bones, yet you feel the warmth of joy from this solitary moment.  Award-winning poet and author Karen Auvinen has spent decades living alone at 8500 feet, and shares her experiences in her new memoir, Rough Beauty: 40 Seasons of Mountain Living.

Karen is a mountain woman, life-long westerner, and accomplished writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Lithub, Real Simple, and Westword, as well as numerous literary journals.

Later, psychologist and former Buddhist monk Donald Altman returns to Conversations Live to share how love, kindness, and compassion help overcome fear and negativity.  Hear his original interview on mindful living here.

Donald is a psychotherapist, award-winning writer, former Buddhist monk, and teacher. He served as adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, and is an adjunct faculty member of the Interpersonal Neurobiology program at Portland State University.

 

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Fiction, Writers on Writing

APR 02: Jamey Bradbury’s The Wild Inside, Veera Hiranandani’s The Night Diary, &

March 22, 2018

Jamey Bradbury, winner of the Estelle Campbell Memorial Award from the National Society of Arts and Letters, debuts her electrifying novel set in the Alaskan wilderness.  The Wild Inside is a fusion of psychological horror and coming-of-age tale, based in the world of dog-sled racing.  John Irving praises it as an ” … unusual love story and a creepy horror novel … think of the Brontë sisters and Stephen King.”

Based in Anchorage, AK, Jamey’s work has appeared in Black Warrior Review (winner of the annual fiction contest), Sou’wester, and Zone 3.   The Wild Inside is her first novel.

Next, Veera Hiranandani calls upon her father and his family’s journey for inspiration in The Night Diary.  The partition of India in 1947 spawned vicious xenophobia and caused the upheaval of more than 14 million lives overnight in what is known to be the single largest human migration in history.

Veera is a former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute.

And we’ll also be joined by Matt Killeen to discuss Orphan Monster Spy, a tale of a blonde, blue-eyed Jewish girl in 1939 Germany, whose act of resistance is about to change the world.

Hailing from Vicki’s home town of Birmingham, England, Matt attempted to make a living as an advertising copywriter and music and sports journalist, and now writes for the world’s best loved toy company.

 

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