January 2024 Lineup

January 2024 Lineup

Episode 372 – January 2

In this episode, we focus on strategies for promoting one’s writing in 2024 and to help us do so, we are joined by Lauren Harr who has worked in the book world for twenty years. Lauren has been a bookseller in Asheville and Albuquerque, an assistant at literary nonprofits in Santa Fe, an intern at Graywolf Press, and a marketing assistant and publicist at Coffee House Press. She spent eight years at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café in Asheville where her passions were connecting readers and books and assisting the events program. She holds an MFA from Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing and helped build Gold Leaf Literary, a company that serves clients with author assistance, social media, author branding, manuscript critique, and submissions support.

Episode 373 – January 9

In this episode, we feature multi-talented Charlotte author Molly Grantham, who returns to the podcast to share Practice Makes… Progress, the third and final book in her series of essay collections. This book records her experiences with everything from giving birth at the height of the pandemic and reporting tragedies on television, to savoring beach time with family and navigating her toddler’s quirky obsessions. The Charlotte Observer says that in her writing, Molly proves “she is as gifted at telling tales about motherhood as she is at delivering the news on television every night.”

Episode 374 – January 16

In this episode, we feature New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci, who is back on the podcast for the third time with the next book in his praiseworthy 6:20 Man Series featuring ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine who, in this book, is dropped into a small town in Maine to solve an unexplained mystery. Kirkus calls the story: “A complex, high-powered thriller that will keep the reader guessing . . . a winner from a pro.” David is a global #1 bestselling author, whose books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide.

Episode 375 – January 23

In this episode, we feature David Madden, author of eighteen works of fiction, including Cassandra Singing, Bijou, and two collections called The Last Bizarre Tale, and Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh. Most recently, he released a memoir about his mother’s life, written through his interpretation of her memories, called Momma’s Lost Piano. His stories have been published widely, including in numerous college textbooks and Best American Short Stories.

Episode 376 – January 30

In this episode, we welcome back Charlotte novelist Mark de Castrique, author of 23 novels, where we focus on his novel, Dangerous Women, the latest in his series featuring Ethel Fiona Crestwater, a seventy-five-year-old retired FBI agent who now rents rooms to active agents and is the smartest and most fearless of anyone in her household. Publishers Weekly gave Dangerous Women a Starred Review, calling it “A bewitching political thriller,” and Library Journal, with its own Starred Review, says: “Politics and climate issues are entangled in a complex case that still has moments of humor.”