BookSpeak Network

The topic of gun violence in the United States is a highly-charged and emotional issue. As part of an effort to discuss the issue, an eclectic group of award-winning authors come together to craft American Roulette, a novel that brings eight people to a mall food court, on a day they think will be like any other. The collaborative efforts of these writers takes a different tack to examine the tens...

Artist Brandon Colyer joins the Brown Posey Press Show to discuss his work, including his debut children's story, "Ferdinand, the Gnome Knight." Ferdinand is a fearless and standout knight, who seeks adventure and will charm readers of any age with what he gets up to! Colyer discusses growing up in a family of gamers, and how comics and video games were a part of his early life. He...

Shawn McLain creates characters that are not always all-powerful, nor are they perfect. He works toward the relatable, even when delving into fantasy, horror and his other interests. In "Thorn," McLains kicks off a new series in which a young elf seeks adventure, but also, freedom in a world where elves and men are segregated due to prejudice. A chance meeting with a half-elf girl leads...

All Josh wants is to have one final weekend getaway with his high school buddies before they have to get serious about life. A spooky October camping trip in rural Appalachia fits the bill...what could possibly go wrong? Kyle Alexander Romines returns with the latest of his thriller series, "The Vengence of the Crows" on the Sunbury Press Books Show. Dr. Romines, we should say--a physici...

Author Ronald T. Waldo returns to the Sunbury Press Books Show with the latest in a series of detailed looks back at the "Deadball Era" of baseball, in Days of Reckoning: Players Punching Their Ticket Out of Pittsburgh During the Barney Dreyfuss Era. The book focuses on the Pittsburgh Pirates and the years 1900 to 1932, during the ownership of Barney Dreyfuss. A powerhouse of the Nationa...

Philadelphia, 1837. Twelve-year-old tomboy heroine Rian Krieger has successfully escorted "self-emancipated" slaves from Philadelphia to their next station on the Underground Railroad. When her father, Otto finds out, he renews his plans to send Rian off to a finishing school in Switzerland. This, however, Rian will not have--she would have to wear dresses all the time! For Rian, the Phi...

A teacher's quest to investigate a horrific murder leads Hannah Stein and her students into an adventure and shadows of her past in "The Class Assignment is Murder." Author Carolyn Kleinman draws on her own life and experiences as a teacher to bring this, her second novel for Sunbury Press Books. Hannah discovers her move to Parkerville, a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvani...

The life of Francis Kalnay is deconstructed by Katherine Fennelly in her new Sunbury Press work, "Family Declassified--Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to Children's Book Author."Kalnay's tale sounds like something out of a John LeCarre or Ian Fleming novel--a Jewish Hungarian immigrant who arrived in the United States more than a century ago, he rose to become...

Inspired by real events, author and educator Jon Volkmer takes readers back to his native Nebraska for his new novel, "Brave in Season." What happens when an African-American railroad crew is dropped off in a tiny, close-knit rural farm community? Will friction build up to an all-familiar tragedy, or will a game of baseball possibly inspire hope and understanding? On this episode of the...

"Shadow Lands" is a collection of black and white photos taken over a five-year period through the lens of photographer Gabriel Spangler. Self-taught, but with influences that included his creative parents and film, Spangler turned to cinematography and later stills. This collection of candid/documentary street photos shows what has been described as Spangler's film noir style. Span...

The groundbreaking, and controversial work of educator Jane Elliott is one that continues to draw attention today. For more than five decades, Elliott put forth the question: What if, by eight years old, children could possess the mechanism to disrupt prejudicial tendencies? In "Shades of Brown: The Official Biography of Jane Elliott and the Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes Exercise," Todd Mealy ex...

 "Life in Appalachia is like a kid standing in the center of a seesaw. It’s a fragile balance, somewhere between the old world and the new, flat-broke or getting by, rooted in place or getting out. Sometimes, folks here lose footing, lean too far one way or another. If one end of the seesaw comes down hard, it knocks them right off. "This is a description of "In The Cut," Micha...

One of the most talked about serial killers was the infamous Jack the Ripper, who terrorized the Whitechapel section of London from 1888 to 1891. At least eleven murders were attributed to the Ripper, who did not merely kill his victims, but mutilated and tortured them. The Ripper's identity has been the subject of speculation for over a century, and author Michael L. Hawley believes Scotland...

A collection in seven parts, "The Deepest Part of Dark" is an exploration by Dr. Anne Elezabeth Pluto, which taps into themes of family, love, death, and spirituality. Written in a sparse, yet direct style, these poems have been gathered together to make a redolent experience for the reader. They delve into aspects of human nature and emotions and find hope even in the darkest areas. Ann...

The coming of age of Annie Shea is documented in two novels by Caitlin Hicks. Set in 1963 California, "A Theory of Expanded Love" finds a young Annie, desperate for attention in a family of 13 kids, a military father and a strong Catholic faith. With the passing of Pope John XXIII, a family friend stands to be the first American to be his successor. Annie seizes the moment to create a we...

Circumstances cannot be contrived. While researching the long-closed Irving College, Sunbury Press founder and presenter Lawrence Knorr discovered the master's thesis of Chad Leinaweaver, which for the first time is in book form, with "That Our Daughters May Be As Cornerstones."Founded in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1856, Irving Female College was created at a time when education...

The career of Scottie Miller is one that cannot be confined...the Minneapolis, Minnesota native is a three-time inductee of the state's Blues Hall of Fame. He has toured the world with a long list of famous artists, including the likes of Bo Diddley, and currently with multiple Grammy nominee Ruthie Foster. His songs have been recorded by Foster and the Blind Boys of Alabama. In addition, Mil...

The term "Renaissance Man" is used far too often today, but if anyone is a contender to hold the title, John LaCasse could be one. A 25-year career as a Seattle yacht broker brought him in contact (and in business) with money people, magnates, politicians, actors, members of royalty, and a certain organized crime boss, but that was not all for LaCasse. Years of good living, fine homes, s...

As Alzheimer's Disease robs Elizabeth Bodien's brother Pete of his ability to speak, she finds she can still communicate with him, even after he has passed on. How is this possible? Elizabeth Bodien appears on the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss her relationship with her brother, which travels beyond the physical plane in "Bigger Pete: Conversations Between Life and Afterlife,&q...

John "Doc" Holliday was many things in his short life. It may surprise readers to learn that Holliday graduated from The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia, with his doctoral thesis on Diseases of the Teeth. While he practiced in various locations, Holliday was also a keeper of gaming tables and was involved in the events that surrounded the famous 1882 shootout at th...

Jeffrey Frazier has made it his life's work to collect accounts, legends and tales of Keystone State history and culture. "Pennsylvania Mountain Landmarks, Volume 1" offers an armchair journey to some of the most unusual and inaccessible landmarks in the state. These include treks to the Devil's Dining Room, Indian Steps and Umbrella Rock, among others, in this book, released o...

Nancy Hayes Kilgore brings to life a small town in Vermont at a time of great change, and the fears of what this may bring in her second novel, "Wild Mountain." Mona Duval runs the local general store, and when the nearby covered bridge is destroyed in a flood it is just one more matter that weighs on her. It is 2008, and Vermont is facing the potential shift to permitting gay marriage,...

In a tale of love and marriage looked down upon by early 20th century mores, Anna, a middle class English girl elopes with Charles, a Greek immigrant as they set off to build a life together. Making their way to Boston, their lives are pulled apart in 1913. Stricken with tuberculosis, Charles is sent off to a sanitarium, leaving Anna and their child to fend for themselves. Anna must face being ost...

The sister of author Nathaniel Hawthorne drowns in 1852...but was it an accident? Hawthorne's cousin, John Stephens Dike has left Massachusetts for Ohio and is a successful businessman. A traumatic past long behind him is brought back in 1883, through a bequest from his cousin, Elizabeth Hawthorne. Within this, a collection of papers reveals a love affair between his father, the late John Dik...

The story of four brothers, bound for America from Sicily in the early 1900s is told through the eyes of one, and in a series of short stories, poetry and prose in "Final Touchstones."In her Sunbury Press debut, author Linda Romanowski tells of her maternal grandfather and his journey, from the age of three onward, about his experiences in the New World and the decision he took that woul...