What’s Coming In February 2021

February is looking great on the podcast. We have thrillers, literary fiction, middle grade fiction, western drama, poetry, memoir and non-fiction. The full line-up is below, plus lots of engaging content with the authors on our Patreon platform.

Feb 2     Otho Eskin’s “The Reflecting Pool” Is a Fast-Paced Crime Thriller Set in the Nation’s Capital

In this episode 180, we visit with lawyer and diplomat turned author and playwright, Otho Eskin, author of “The Reflecting Pool,” a crime thriller starring protagonist and D.C. homicide detective Marko Thorn.

New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry says: “Rough and ragged as the world it so vividly creates, The Reflecting Pool crackles with twists and turns, making for a fun and heady combination of suspense and intrigue.”

Jon Land, Providence Journal, says: “Otho Eskin’s The Reflecting Pool is the kind of crime-thriller Ross McDonald would have written if he were still alive today. That’s a high bar for any author to reach, but Eskin proves more than equal to the task… The Reflecting Pool is a crime-thriller constructed along classic lines, and in Zorn, Eskin has created the best crime hero this side of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch. Woven from the fabric of masters like John D. MacDonald and Robert Crais, this riveting page-turner is never afraid to cut its own cloth.”

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  Writing Thrillers With Otho Eskin

Feb 5    Susan Zurenda’s Vibrant Debut Transports Readers to Small-Town South Carolina in the 60s-70s, Where the Bonds of Love Prevail in the Face of Tragedy

In this episode 181, we visit with Susan Zurenda, author of “Bells of Eli,” a compelling coming of age story where culture, family, friends, bullies, and lovers propel two young people to unite to guard each other in small-town Green Branch, SC where love, hope, and connectedness ultimately triumph.

In 1959, three-year-old Eli Winfield has a horrible, preventable accident that leaves him permanently scarred and the victim of vicious bullying. His first cousin, Delia Green, becomes his fierce defender and advocate, and the pair develop an inseparable bond. As they reach adolescence, their relationship evolves into a deeper, more complex love. Bells for Eli is a lyrical and tender exploration of the relationship between cousins drawn together through tragedy in a love forbidden by social constraints and a family whose secrets must stay hidden.

Jill McCorkle, author of “Life and Life” says says Susan Beckham Zurenda’s “finely detailed, debut novel, paints a vivid portrait of Adeline Green who is growing up in the seventies and maneuvering class differences, peer pressure, and first love. The sexual confines of her southern town as well as taboo family secrets from the past, bring her face to face with life changing decisions and losses in ways both moving and profound.”

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  How to Create Genuine Emotion in Characters With Author Susan Zurenda

Feb 9   A Cardiac Surgeon’s Hand Tremor Led Dr. Charles Edwards to Dementia Care in “Much Abides: A Survival Guide for Aging Lives”

In this episode 182, we visit with Dr. Charles “Chuck” Edwards, author of “Much Abides: A Survival Guide for Aging Lives.”

When a hand tremor forced successful heart surgeon Chuck Edwards to re-evaluate his career, he concluded that he wasn’t ready to give up being a doctor. He loved helping patients, too much. But what could he do when he could no longer do what he had done at a high level for so many years. He could re-invent himself. That’s what.

The forces of change opened an interest for Chuck (almost an obsession) with aging that formed in his mind as he thought back to how he and his family struggled to preserve dignity first for their father, a World War II Veteran who was wounded on the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, who suffered dementia at the end of his life, and then his mother, who suffered from Alzheimers disease before she died. At age 65, he decided to go back to school at Johns Hopkins to study the disease before opening the Memory & Movement Charlotte that has grown to help more than 1200 patients and 3200 caregivers.

This book tells Chuck’s story and covers all aspects of aging, time left, what is under one’s control, factors that protect and factors that undermine our goals. Examples of successful aging are presented. A major theme is personal narrative and how one’s story, if valued , has the potential to change behavior and be the bedrock for aging with grace and purpose.

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  Life Transitions And How Writing, Reading and Creative Thinking Is Good for Your Aging Brain With Dr. Chuck Edwards

Feb 12   Bess Kercher Weaves an Adventure-Filled, Faith-Driven Middle Grade Tale in “Now and At the Hour”

In this episode 183, we visit with Bess Kercher, author of “Now and At the Hour,” a compelling middle grade novel which follows 12–year-old Albert Davidson through a challenging year in his life. With faith, compassion, love, adventure, and friendship, Albert tries to accept his mother’s cancer diagnosis, all while learning to let go of the secrets and lies he tells to protect her.

After saving a baby shark from the surf, a video of the event goes viral and Albert uses his newfound popularity to help his mother find a path to healing. A quieter adventure unfolds with the boys and a mysterious stranger, whose unsafe circumstances lead Albert to double down on his secrets and lies.

Kimmery Martin, author of “The Queen of Hearts” and “The Antidote for Everything” has this to say about the book “Bess Kercher’s debut novel brilliantly captures the singular world of a middle-school kid. Albert Davidson is an endearing, compelling hero, forced to navigate his mother’s distressing diagnosis and his own newfound celebrity at the most awkward and uncertain of ages. ‘Now and At the Hour’ is the best kid lit I’ve read in a long, long time.”

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  The Writing Community As An Affirming Balm With Bess Kercher

Feb 16    Aaron Gwyn’s “All God’s Children” Explores the Paradoxes of the early American frontier, a Place of Enormous Liberty and Terrible Bondage

In this episode 184, guest hosted by award-winning writer Paul Kurzeja, we visit with award-winning author Aaron Gwyn, whose latest book is “All God’s Children,” an enthralling novel set on the frontier of Texas in the period before the Civil War.

The New York Times says “Gwyn’s novel is a powerful depiction of the rough realities of frontier life, of the vicious influence of racism in a place where ‘men who didn’t dare look at you in daylight might burn you alive come sundown.’”

Booklist says that “Readers will relish these unforgettable characters and this expansive view of Texas’ wild ride to joining the Union” and Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal, observes that “Gwyn has couched his meanings within a swift and skillful western, which allows them to unfold with devastating power. [ . . . ] The very people who founded the American West, this bracing novel suggests, were those most desperate to be independent from it.”

Plus, exclusive Patreon episodeWriting the Historical Western Novel – with Aaron Gwyn

Feb 19   Wilnona Marie and Jade Dee Cope, Accept and Discover in “And I Thought Divorce Was Bad”

In this episode 185, we visit with authors Wilnona Marie and Jade Dee about their book “And I Thought Divorce Was Bad: With Other Life Lessons.”

When your life changes where do you find yourself? How do you find yourself? This is a collection of short stories and poems describing the journey of four women as they cope with life, accept the changes, and discover their new selves.

Wilnona and Jade call themselves the “And I Thought Ladies” and they burst with energy to help tell their stories and help others discovery their own. They say that wisdom is all around you if you are open to finding it and accepting it.

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  How To Expand Your Author Brand with Wilnona Marie and Jade Dee

Feb 23    Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone Uncovers Germany’s Dark Secrets in “The Kaiser’s Web”

In this episode 186, we visit with best-selling writer Steve Berry, author of “The Kaiser’s Web,” a Cotton Malone adventure in which a secret dossier from a World War II-era Soviet spy threatens to re-write history and forever alter the political landscape of Europe.

With a national election looming, these secrets of the past will determine who becomes the next Chancellor—a dedicated patriot or a usurper, stoking the flames of nationalistic hate. Cotton Malone must discover the truth about the past to guarantee the future.

John Land describes “The Kaisers Web as “his most ambitious yet, taking no prisoners in a nonstop roller coaster ride of thrills and spills, twists and turns, and shocks and surprises with nothing less than the very future at stake.”

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  How trial lawyer Steve Berry became a best-selling author whose books have sold 25 million copies in 51 countries

Feb 26   Kristen Rademacher Takes Readers on an Odyssey of Ill-Fated Love, Devastating Loss, and Resilience

In this episode 187, we visit with Kristen Rademacher, author of From the Lake House: A Mother’s Odyssey of Loss and Love, a memoir of resilience and hope in the face of a devastating loss. This achingly honest memoir explores issues of grief and identity as a woman gives up her dream of motherhood, and leaving an old life behind to forge something new.

Poignant and perceptive, “From the Lake House” explores the echoes of rash decisions and ill-fated relationships, the barren and disorientating days an aching mother faces without her baby, and the mysterious healing that can take root while rebuilding a life gutted by loss.

Carol Henderson, author of “Losing Malcolm: A Mother’s Journey Through Loss and Farther Along: The Writing Journey of Thirteen Bereaved Mothers,” describes the book as a beautifully written and poignant memoir, where “we learn that though people and dreams die, relationships don’t. If we’re attuned, the dead can transform our lives, offering enduring love and guidance–and hope.” Kirkus Reviews calls it “a poignant and painful remembrance with comforting messages for the grieving.”

Plus, exclusive Patreon episode:  Journaling As a Precursor for Writing, Plus Book Marketing for Newbies with Kristen Rademacher