Category: Writing

Ep. 135: Alena Dillon on the Unknown Stories of Female Pilots in WWII and the Costs of Unfulfilled Ambitions

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Today Alena Dillon is back on the podcast to discuss Eyes Turned Skyward, an unforgettable dual timeline novel about a daughter discovering her mother’s past as a female pilot during World War II, while also starting a new chapter in her own life.

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“Eyes Turned Skyward is a powerful examination of the cost—emotional, familial, generational—when women are denied their right to soar… Alena Dillon’s poetic prose and complex characters will linger long after the last page is turned!” — Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

About the Author:

Alena Dillon is the author of Mercy House, a Library Journal Best Book of 2020, The Happiest Girl in the World, a Good Morning America pick, My Body Is A Big Fat Temple, a memoir of pregnancy and early parenting, and Eyes Turned Skyward. Alena’s work has appeared in publications including The Daily Beast, LitHub, River Teeth, Slice Magazine, The Rumpus, and Bustle. She teaches creative writing and lives on the north shore of Boston with her husband, children, black lab, and lots of books. Learn more: https://www.alenadillon.com

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 134: Lynne Reeves on Developing Domestic Suspense You Won’t Be Able to Stop Thinking About

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This week, Lynne Reeves is on the podcast to discuss Dark Rivers to Cross, an emotionally charged thriller that explores long-buried family secrets and the deadly reckoning that follows their explosive reveal.

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“A heart-in-your-throat page-turner that shines a compassionate light on the injustices surrounding domestic violence and the failures of our mental healthcare system.”
—Julie Carrick Dalton, author of Waiting for the Night Song

 

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Lynne Reeves Griffin is a nationally recognized expert on relationships and family life. Writing as Lynne Reeves, her novel of domestic suspense, The Dangers of an Ordinary Night was described by The New York Times as “a sensitive examination of a dysfunctional family and a full-of-secrets community that claims to be seeking the truth.” 

Lynne is also the author of the acclaimed novels, Girl Sent Away (SixOneSeven Books, 2015),  Sea Escape (Simon & Schuster, 2010), and  Life Without Summer (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). She’s written the nonfiction guides Let’s Talk About It: Adolescent Mental Health (SixOneSeven Books, 2015) and Negotiation Generation: Take Back Your Parental Authority Without Punishment (Penguin, 2007).

Lynne has taught family studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and has acted as the visiting scholar of education at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore and consulted with schools in China about preventive mental health. She teaches writing at Grub Street Writers, and is a developmental editor for writers of fiction and nonfiction.

Lynne has acted as the prose writer-in-residence at the Chautauqua Institution, moderated panels at national conferences such as the Muse & The Marketplace Conference, the Boston Book Festival, and the 2020 & 2022 Key West Literary Workshops.

Her short stories, essays, are articles have appeared in Cognoscenti, Solstice Literary Magazine; Chautauqua; The Drum Literary Magazine; Brain, Child; The Writer; School Library Journal; Parenting; Boston Globe; Writer Unboxed; Boston Herald; Psychology Today; Huffington Post, and more.

She lives outside Boston, Massachusetts with her family.

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 133: Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch Demystifies the World of Classical Music

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Today my guest is Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch, author of Declassified: A Low-Key Guide to the High-Strung World of Classical Music.

In a starred review, Booklist says of Declassified, “Cue vigorous applause and a standing ovation because Declassified is an enchanting and exhilarating tour de force.” 

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Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch earned a Bachelor degree and Master of Music from the Juilliard School and has performed as a classical violinist in top venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and the Ravinia, Verbier (verbiay), La Jolla (la hoya)  Summerfest, and Aspen Music festivals. She has toured with such legendary artists as jazz trumpeter Chris Botti (bow-tee) and Sir James Galway. Declassified is her first book. Learn more: https://www.ariannarauch.com/

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 132: Marie Benedict on Unearthing the Stories of Fascinating Women in History

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This week, Marie Benedict is on the podcast to discuss The Mitford Affair, an explosive novel of history’s most notorious sisters.

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“In her latest book The Mitford Affair, Benedict plunges readers into a world of glamorous, charismatic young British debutantes and then turns that shiny world on its head. I was blown away–learning this true story of the Mitford sisters and the roles they played for and against the Nazis was nothing short of astonishing. Benedict delivers with all that readers have come to love and expect from her: nuance, elan, and the most delicious storytelling.”
― Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

 

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

​Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues. Marie’s novels have been translated into twenty-nine languages. Learn more at https://www.authormariebenedict.com/

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 131: Lisa Unger on Crafting Bestselling Thrillers

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Lisa Unger is on the podcast this week to discuss Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, a chilling locked-room thriller in which three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway.

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“In Unger’s 20th terrifying thriller, DNA ancestry kits lead to revenge when siblings, spouses and friends vacation in an isolated luxury cabin. As a dangerous storm threatens, creepy anonymous texts and a menacing presence twist the tight-knit group’s alliances. Dark personal secrets emerge from the tension, showing that family vacations can be murder. Keep the lights on.”
—People Magazine, Book of the Week

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty novels, including SECLUDED CABIN SLEEPS SIX, LAST GIRL GHOSTED, and CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 — now in development at Netflix, starring Jessica Alba. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.

Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honor held by only a few authors, including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family. Learn more at https://lisaunger.com/

 

Browse Books Mentioned On A Bookish Home:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 128: Lynda Cohen Loigman on Writing as Comfort, Seeking the Whimsy in History, and Finding Inspiration in Unexpected Places

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Lynda Cohen Loigman joins me today to discuss her new novel, The Matchmaker’s Gift, a heartwarming story of two extraordinary women from two different eras who defy expectations to utilize their unique gift of seeing soulmates in the most unexpected places.

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“Loigman’s latest is a gem. A scrappy Jewish teenager newly arrived in 1920s New York struggles to follow her calling as a matchmaker––seventy years later, her cynical divorce-attorney granddaughter realizes she has very inconveniently inherited the family gift for matching soulmates. Both funny and moving, The Matchmaker’s Gift made me smile from start to finish.”—Kate Quinn

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Lynda Cohen Loigman grew up in Longmeadow, MA. She received a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. Her debut novel, Two-Family House, was a USA Today bestseller and a nominee for the Goodreads 2016 Choice Awards in Historical Fiction.

Her second novel, The Wartime Sisters, was selected as a Woman’s World Book Club pick and a Best Book of 2019 by Real Simple Magazine. The Matchmakers Gift is her third novel. Learn more at https://lyndacohenloigman.com/

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 127: Henriette Lazaridis on Secrets, Suffrage, and a Race to the South Pole

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This week my guest is Henriette Lazaridis, author of the new novel, Terra Nova, a haunting story of love, art, and betrayal, set against the heart-pounding backdrop of Antarctic exploration.

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“From Viola, willing to risk all for women’s suffrage, to her husband—traveling with her secret lover—who risks all to be the first to reach the South Pole, this novel is an intelligent, literary page-turner of the best type.”—B.A. Shapiro, NYT bestselling author of Metropolis

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Henriette Lazaridis is the author of The Clover House, which was a Boston Globe bestseller. Her short work has appeared in ELLE, The New York Times, New England Review, The Millions, and more, and she has earned a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Grant. She is a graduate of Middlebury College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and the University of Pennsylvania. Having taught English at Harvard, she now teaches at GrubStreet in Boston. She founded The Drum Literary Magazine and currently runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece. She writes the Substack newsletter The Entropy Hotel, at henriettelazaridis.substack.com. For more, visit henriettelazaridis.com.

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep 126: LaToya Watkins on Method Writing and the Evolution of Her Debut Novel, Perish

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This week my guest is Latoya Watkins, author of the powerful debut novel, Perish, about a Black Texan family, exploring the effects of inherited trauma and intergenerational violence as the family comes together to say goodbye to their matriarch on her deathbed.*

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“With Perish, Watkins joins a tradition of Southern writers who delve into the taboo and grotesque to expose a dark past and a dim, backtracking present. . .Like Walker’s The Color Purple and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Perish lures readers past the pain with a spellbinding, buoyant use of language.”—Texas Monthly

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

LaToya Watkins’s writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun, McSweeney’s, Kenyon Review, The Pushcart Prize Anthology (2015), and elsewhere. She has received grants, scholarships, and fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, and A Public Space. She holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas. Perish is her debut novel. Learn more here.

 

*Perish delves into some really difficult topics including the trauma of sexual abuse so if that’s not something you’re in a mental space to hear discussed you might want to switch to another episode.

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 125: Kamila Shamsie on Capturing the Complexities of Lifelong Friendship

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This week my guest is Kamila Shamsie, author of Best of Friends, a moving and surprising story of a lifelong friendship and the forces that bring it to the breaking point. We discussed how to tap into your teenage years, the magic of 2am writing, creating unforgettable characters, and much more.

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“A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces.” —Madeline Miller

 

 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Kamila Shamsie is the author of several previous novels, most recently Home Fire, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, was longlisted for the Booker Prize, and was a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa Novel Award, and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, among other honors. She was raised in Karachi and lives in London. Learn more here.

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.

Ep. 124: Connie Berry on Crafting a Cozy Mystery That’s Perfect for Anglophiles

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Author Connie Berry is on the podcast this week to discuss a new book in her Kate Hamilton mystery series, The Shadow of Memory, about an American antiques dealer who uncovers a dark secret buried in Victorian England.

 

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“A seamlessly plotted mystery for fans of English puzzles.”

— Library Journal starred review

 

 

You can also listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

 

About the Author:

Like her protagonist, Connie Berry was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. During college she studied at the University of Freiburg in Germany and St. Clare’s College, Oxford, where she fell under the spell of the British Isles. In 2019 Connie won the IPPY Gold Medal for Mystery and was a finalist for the Agatha Award’s Best Debut and she lives in Ohio. Learn more https://connieberry.com/

 

Browse Books Mentioned On This Episode:

Looking for a book mentioned on the podcast? Want to browse books by past guests? Visit A Bookish Home Podcast’s Bookshop.org page.

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Happy Reading and Listening,

Laura Szaro Kopinski

ABookishHome.com

*A Bookish Home is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org. At no extra cost to you, we receive a small commission if you purchase something through the Bookshop.org links provided.