Tag

Writing

Narrative Nonfiction, Non Fiction, True Crime

OCT 28: #1NYT Bestselling True Crime Author Gregg Olsen with Ordinary Wife – America’s Forgotten Serial Killer

October 28, 2026

She was beautiful. Charming. An excellent cook and … a killer.

Ordinary Wife – True Story of America’s Forgotten Serial Killer with Gregg Olsen (coauthored with Morgan Olsen)

Imagine frontier Idaho in the early 1900s. Men naturally swarmed around Lyda Trueblood. They also died around her … rather unnaturally.

Six deaths in five years. A 1921 trial that made her a national sensation. And a nickname that newspapers of the day could not resist: Lady Bluebeard.

How did an Ordinary Wife become one of America’s most chilling, and overlooked, serial killers? One of America’s best known true crime writers joins us to shed light on the story behind the headlines.

We discuss why Gregg Olsen some of the challenges of digging into the past and writing historical narrative nonfiction. The ethics around telling true stories. Why father and daughter collaborated on this. And much more.

Meet Gregg Olsen

Gregg Olsen is the #1 New York Times, #1 Amazon Charts, #1 Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 crime books. Based in rural Washington State, Olsen is a two-time Edgar Award-nominated author whose work has been honored by the Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. Gregg’s latest book, coauthored with debut author Morgan Olsen, is Ordinary Wife – The True Story of America’s Forgotten Serial Killer.

Morgan Olsen is the daughter of Gregg Olsen. She and her twin sister spent their childhood tagging along on interviews, answering collect calls from prison, and learning early how not to become a “Dateline Girl.” Morgan is a second-grade teacher by day. An avid runner by night. And the person everyone wants on their side when there’s a mystery to be solved.

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Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Writers on Writing

Oct 21: Brad Meltzer – The Thrill Master Who Never Fails to Thrill

October 21, 2026

The Viper, A Zig & Nola Novel.

The Viper – A Zig & Nola Novel with Brad Meltzer

He writes the thrillers that keep you up at night. And hunts down the secrets history hoped you’d never find.

Brad Meltzer is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, the mind behind The Inner Circle and The Escape Artist. He’s also the host of Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and Lost History, and the creator of the Ordinary People Change the World series, which teaches kids that heroes are made, not born.

So what drives a man to chase conspiracies, crack historical codes, and inspire the next generation?

This week on Conversations Live, Vicki St. Clair sits down with Brad for a conversation about storytelling, curiosity, and the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And of course, Brad’s latest thriller, The Viper.

Meet Brad Meltzer

Emmy-nominated Brad Meltzer is #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod, The Escape Artist, and 11 other bestselling thrillers. He also writes non-fiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, and the Ordinary People Change the World kids book series, which he does with Chris Eliopoulos. In addition to his fiction, Brad is one of the only authors to ever have books on the bestseller list for Non-Fiction (The Nazi Conspiracy), Advice (Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter), Children’s Books (I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln) and even comic books (Justice League of America), for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award. As the host of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History and Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, Brad is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag.

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Craft of Writing, Fiction, Thriller, Writers on Writing

Oct 07: Beyond Honor, A Thriller with K. B. Brodsky

October 7, 2026

He started the story. She helped finish it. The story behind the story.

Beyond Honor with K.B. Brodsky

Writing as K.B. Brodsky, husband & wife team Karen & Bill Brodsky discuss their debut thriller, Beyond Honor.

In the early morning hours, before anyone else woke, Bill Brodsky began writing a novel. As the story took shape, he shared it with Karen, inviting her to join him as coathuor.

What followed was a true creative partnership, with all the give and take that comes with developing a manuscript, while maintaining a happy marriage.

In this candid conversation, the couple take us behind the scenes: What sparked the idea for Beyond Honor, how they shaped characters (and who are their favorites). What they learned about teamwork, the writing process; and what they discovered about themselves and each other along the way.

Whether you’re a reader, a writer, or simply curious about what happens when two people create one book, this is a conversation worth hearing.

Meet K. B. Brodsky

K. B. Brodsky is the pen name of Karen and Bill Brodsky, a husband-and-wife writing team based in New York and Colorado. Beyond Honor is their first book, and the first novel in a three-book series. #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says Beyond Honor fuses the DNA of the great old-school espionage novels, with today’s modern action thrillers.

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Fiction, Mystery, Writers on Writing

Sep 29: The Dying Light with Bestselling British Author Ann Cleeves

September 30, 2026

A Matthew Venn / Two Rivers Crime Novel

The Dying Light with Ann Cleeves

A sweltering heatwave. A local music festival. A politician’s holiday home. And a death that unravels a quiet English village.

Anne Cleeves created three highly successful detective series, and all three have become major TV dramas – Vera, Shetland, and the Two Rivers/Matthew Venn series.

With her sharp eye for detail, masterful storytelling, and unforgettable characters, Cleeves has captivated readers and viewers for decades. In fact, she’s the only British author to have two crime series airing on TV at the same time.

Today we discuss the latest book in the Matthew Venn series, The Dying Light, which is out today. We explore her journey from a young woman working odd jobs to becoming one of Britain’s most celebrated crime writers. And, we look at what’s coming next.

Meet Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves is a bestselling crime writer who’s won numerous major honors, including the CWA GOLD Dagger, and the CWA Dianond Dagger – the highest honor in British crime writing. Ann has written close to 50 books and has more to come. The three TV adapations of her three detective series have been aired on TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. Ann joins us from her home in the northeast of England.

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Suspense, Thriller, Writers on Writing

Sep 23: New Thrills in Target Down – A Matthew Redd Thriller

September 24, 2026

Aaron Decker needs to collect on a 20-year-old debt, and Matthew Redd races to the challenge.

Target Down – A Matthew Redd Thriller with Ryan Steck

Ryan Steck returns to discuss Target Down, the craft of writing, and what a decade-plus of storytelling has taught him.

Aaron Decker faked his own death twenty years ago to protect his family. Now someone’s found him, and the only man he trusts to help is former Marine Raider Matthew Redd, a man who doesn’t leave debts unpaid. That’s the spark behind Target Down, the fifth entry in Ryan Steck‘s Matthew Redd series, blending military-thriller tension with the soul of a modern Western.

We dive into the full story, how Redd and this cast have evolved across five books, and the instincts Ryan has sharpened over more than a decade in the thriller world. We also learn why connections are important to authors, and why Ryan says his “bosses” are his readers.

Meet Ryan Steck

Ryan Steck is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Real Book Spy, one of the thriller genre’s most trusted voices, and author of the bestselling Matthew Redd series, including Fields of Fire, Lethal Range, Out for Blood, Gone Dark, and now Target Down. He also continues the late Ted Bell’s iconic Alex Hawke series, most recently with Warmonge; and has launched a new series with The Second Son. Ryan lives in Michigan with his wife and six children.

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Fiction, Thriller, Writers on Writing

Jul 29: #1 NYT Bestselling Author Brad Meltzer with The Viper

July 29, 2026

Brad Meltzer returns with his most personal thriller yet.

The Viper – A Zig & Nola Novel with Brad Meltzer

In The Viper – the third installment in his acclaimed Zig and Nola series – Brad Meltzer sends his favorite characters back into the field to untangle a secret buried deep enough to kill for. The trail runs through the guarded corridors of Dover Air Force Base, into the shadow world of witness protection, and straight into the wounds veterans carry home.

Classic Meltzer, The Viper is meticulously researched, emotionally charged, and impossible to put down.

In this conversation, Brad takes us behind the curtain – how he builds characters that readers can’t stop thinking about, the surprising research that shaped The Viper, what it’s like moving fluidly across genres, and how he decides which story gets told next. And after all the twists, the danger, and the darkness his characters navigate, Brad leaves us with something a simple piece of wisdom for making sense of this chaotic world.

Meet Brad Meltzer

Emmy-nominated Brad Meltzer is #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod, The Escape Artist, and 11 other bestselling thrillers. He also writes non-fiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, and the Ordinary People Change the World kids book series, which he does with Chris Eliopoulos. In addition to his fiction, Brad is one of the only authors to ever have books on the bestseller list for Non-Fiction (The Nazi Conspiracy), Advice (Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter), Children’s Books (I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln) and even comic books (Justice League of America), for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award. As the host of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History and Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, Brad is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag.

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Craft of Writing, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Uncategorized, Writers on Writing

Jul 15: A Mother’s Reckoning – Kate White on Her 19th Novel, I Came Back For You

July 15, 2026

What it takes to write a page-turning psychological thriller.

I Came Back For You with Kate White

Unwilling to let her daughter Melanie’s murder stay buried, Bree begins unraveling a past that turns out to be far more complicated – and far more dangerous – than she ever imagined. The deeper Bree digs, the more she’s forced to question everything she believed: About the crime, the killer, and the daughter she thought she knew inside-out.

Kate White joins us to talk about what it really takes to build a psychological thriller, from plotting and pacing, to the art of the slow-burn reveal.

Kate also takes us behind the scenes of her own remarkable story: Her years as editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, her life now in Uruguay, her passion for eco-tourism. And advice from a fellow author that changed how she approached writing novels. It’s a conversation about craft, reinvention, and the courage it takes to keep chasing the truth – on, and off, the page.

Meet Kate White

Although she loved her magazine career, Kate White decided to leave it behind 12 years ago to concentrate full-time on another passion: Writing suspense fiction. She is now the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 19 novels of suspense: 11 standalone psychological thrillers, including the latest I Came Back for You and eight Bailey Weggins mysteries. A former Glamour magazine Top Ten College Women Contest winner and cover girl, Kate had a long career in the media world, which included running five national magazines. For 14 years she was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, which under her leadership, became the most successful magazine in U.S. single-copy sales.

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Animals, Conservation, Memoir, Non Fiction, Wildlife, Writers on Writing

Jul 07: Award-winning Nature Writer Takes Us Inside A Season of Flight & Wonder

July 8, 2026

David Gessner celebrates 25th anniversary edition of Return of the Osprey.

Return of the Osprey with David Gessner

David Gessner spent his career chasing wild things with a pen – from ospreys, grizzlies, and hurricanes, to a red-tailed hawk named Flaco who captivated the hearts of New York. But it’s the osprey that changed him.

For six months, Gessner traded his desk for a bike, a kayak, and binoculars, fully immersing himself in one nesting season on his home turf of Cape Cod. The result is Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder, part memoir, part natural history, part love letter to a bird once called the very symbol of the New England coast.

We discuss the near-extinction of the osprey, what saved them, and why – even after their remarkable recovery – their fight for survival isn’t over. We also unpack the writer’s side of the story: How you take six months of notebooks, obsession, and raw wonder and shape it into a book so beloved it’s been reissued in a 25th-anniversary edition, with a new foreword from Helen MacDonald.

Meet David Gessner

David Gessner is the author of 14 books that blend a love of nature, humor, memoir, and environmentalism, including the New York Times bestselling, All the Wild That Remains, Return of the Osprey, Sick of Nature and Leave It As It Is. A professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine, Ecotone, his writing has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Audubon, Orion, and more. Awards include a Pushcart Prize and the John Burroughs Award for Best Nature Essay for his essay Learning to Surf. In 2017 he hosted the National Geographic Explorer show, The Call of the Wild.

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Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery, Writers on Writing

Jul 01: Joanne Harris Returns to the World of Chocolat with Vianne

July 1, 2026

Secrets, love, betrayal, magic, & storytelling

Vianne – A Novel with author Joanne Harris

Few writers have woven magic into everyday stories quite like Joanne Harris. The multiple award-winning, internationally bestselling author, enchanted millions with her signature blend of magical realism – including the revered Chocolat, the novel that introduced the world to Vianne Rocher.

In Vianne, Harris returns to France where it all began. Her long-awaited prequel leads us on a journey into the untold origins of one of contemporary fiction’s most unforgettable characters.

On this episode, Joanne talks craft: How she builds characters that linger long after the final page, what it takes to move fluidly across genres without losing her voice, and the storytelling instincts that have defined a career spanning decades. Plus, we learn a few surprising, fun facts about the woman behind the magic.

Meet Joanne Harris

With a French mother and English father, maybe it was a given that Joanne Harris (OBE, FRSL) would blend both worlds to create magic. While teaching fulltime Joanne published three novels, including Chocolat (1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche.

Since then, she has written more than 20 novels, plus novellas, short stories, game scripts, the libretti for two short operas, several screenplays, a stage musical (with Howard Goodall) and three cookbooks. Her books are published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards.

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Adventure, Biography, History, Journalism, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

May 27: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue with Buddy Levy

May 27, 2026

“Gripping account of a fatal polar adventure.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

Realm of Ice and Sky with author Buddy Levy

National Outdoor Book Award winner Buddy Levy returns to Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair, and takes us somewhere few people have survived to describe.

Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue isn’t just a polar adventure. As Buddy explains, this is the history of an idea. The audacious, dangerous dream of reaching the North Pole by airship. If it worked, it would mark a seismic shift in exploration – out with dog sleds and frostbitten toes, and in with airborne travel.

Spoiler alert: The Arctic had other plans.

We explore a nearly forgotten chapter of history: A dramatic 19th-century rescue mission that pushed three extraordinary explorers to the edge of human endurance. We follow their journeys, hubris, heartbreak, and barely-believable heroism. And Buddy shares how he stitched these lost stories together into narrative that reads like a thriller.

P.S. Hear our previous conversation on Buddy’s earlier book, Empire of Ice and Stone here.

Meet Buddy Levy

Buddy Levy is the author of nine books. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NPR, and USA Today. TV audiences may know him from 25 episodes of HISTORY Channel’s Brad Meltzer’s DECODED, or as an on-camera expert in The Frontiersmen: The Men Who Built America, the four-part HISTORY series executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

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