The Banderpod

Carolyn Clare Givens interviews Andrew Osenga about his newly-released writing project, The Quiet Hours , a new liturgy with old prayers in modern vernacular. They discuss the many differences between song writing and writing for books. Mentioned in this episode: • Andrew Osenga - Andrew Osenga’s Substack • The Quiet Hours - Andrew Osenga www.thequiethours.com Click to learn more about Bandersnatc...

Rachel Donahue interviews Kate Gaston ( That Middle Distance Substack), who is well-known for her incisive and witty writing of all kinds. Rachel and Kate chat all about motherhood, homeschooling, bravery in art, Gary Larson, the ‘spiritual gift of awkward hugs’ and her two upcoming books “The Inconvenient Kingdom” (Rabbit Room Press) and “Days Like This” (InterVarsity Press). Everyone’s awed and...

Frank Ewert (owner of Work With Words, LLC and author of Embrace Your Writer’s Block ) appears on the Banderpod to chat with Annie Beth Donahue all about the ins and outs of developmental editing, how spaghetti sauce relates to writing, and of course, hockey! Frank Ewert is a writer who loves to edit. Or perhaps an editor who loves to write? (He’s never sure which comes first.) Mentioned in this e...

Matt Mellema (author of Red Rex & the host of the Believe to See podcast) returns to the Banderpod to chat with Carolyn Clare Givens all about his upcoming sequel to Red Rex , titled Quetzo Dawn . Then the conversation wanders into dream narratives! (“Quetzos” are the nicknames of his Quetzalcoatlus ( flying dinosaurs) in the book!) PREORDER QUETZO DAWN Mentioned in this episode: • Red Rex - Matth...

Annie Beth Donahue interviews Krista Lynn Weeks about the upcoming release of The Birding Tree on Jan. 19th, 2027 ( preorders open soon). Krista discusses how a hobby of birdwatching combined with rediscovering a childhood idea for a story in one of her old notebooks to make the seed of the idea for her new book. As Krista pondered her old idea, she realized it still had immense potential as a Mid...

Carolyn Clare Givens chats with Betsy Farquhar the Editor-in-Chief of Redeemed Reader , a bookish review site for all types of books. She discusses the origins and mission of Redeemed Reader, along with thoughts on various book prizes, the dangers inherent in reviewing book series before they’re done and the trickiness of navigating social media as a book person. Then Carrie shares her conspiracy...

Carolyn Clare Givens chats with David Kern about all sorts of bookish topics, including but not limited to, David’s local bookstore ( Goldberry Books ); his publishing wing with wife, Bethany ( Lumen Art ); and his podcasts: Close Reads and Withywindle . Then there is also a meditation on midnight conversations with books in closed bookstores… And of course, the most important question is asked: C...

Rachel Donahue interviews Jonathan Rogers about the new re-release of The Charlatan’s Boy on Oct. 5th, 2026 ( preorders open now)! She also discusses how his creation of the writers’ community The Habit has helped her as a writer and hundreds of others. Along the way, Jonathan and Rachel also discuss naming alligators, feechies, dogs in tuxedos, flintknapping tomfoolery, phrenological scams, the p...

The Song of the Stone Tiger by Glenn McCarty has been nominated for audiobook of the year by The Selah Awards ! To celebrate we’re closing out season five by sharing Glenn reading the first three chapters of the book. Enjoy! Mentioned in this episode: • The Selah Awards - 2026 https://www.blueridgeconference.com/2026-selah-award-finalists/ • The Song of the Stone Tiger Audiobook - Audible https://...

Rachel Donahue interviews Dr. Carolyn Weber about how poetry has shaped her life and faith, and also her newest release, Four Questions God Asks . Carolyn is best known for her memoir Surprised By Oxford , which has been turned into a movie (available on Apple , Angel or Amazon ) but Carolyn is also a poet and the trajectory of her entire life has been altered by how deeply she engaged with a John...

Annie Beth Donahue interviews Bethany Faulk about the newest Bandersnatch Book release, Seichō Summer ! Bethany describes Seichō Summer as a kind of 90’s Little House on the Prairie, albeit with sushi rather than smoked meats! But both Faulk and Laura Ingalls Wilder lightly fictionalized their own childhoods to make a story that could resonate with all generations about feeling misplaced somewhere...

Carolyn Givens interviews Melissa Woodruff about her path to being a reader, then a homeschool mom who writes novels, works at her church, and now has become a full partner in Bandersnatch Books! From Radio Shack to camp counseling, Melissa has weaved through life with energy, love and engagement with everyone who God sends her way. When she stumbled into Bandersnatch Books’ booth in the Great Hom...

Carolyn Clare Givens interviews S.D. Smith ( The Green Ember ) about where the Green Ember came from, how he seeks to serve his audience, how he stumbled into a grace-filled vocation (albeit with hard work and a calling) and the strange concatenation of events that could possibly align to allow for an entire barbecue restaurant to be filled with only bearded men on a Tuesday! Sam is also releasing...

A.B. Donahue interviews Ambre Sautter about “Reshelving Alexandria” a bookish community on Facebook and later on Substack (organized originally in 2017). Ambre is a wife and mother of five living in the picturesque landscapes of Iowa, and she aims to be a guide for others on their literary journeys, especially in curating their own home libraries. Though she is a homeschooling parent, Ambre doesn’...

Carolyn Clare Givens interviews Square Halo’s Théa Rosenburg about co-writing and compiling Strong Allies after Leslie Bustard’s death. Thea had originally planned to be an editor and a collaborator on Leslie’s book Strong Allies, a book that expounds upon the Hebrew word ezer which can be translated as helper, but is perhaps better translated as ‘Strong Ally’. Expounding this concept was Leslie B...

Rachel S. Donahue interviews Rabbit Room’s Andy Patton (Darkling Psalter) about where and how the logistics of productivity overlap with the creative process, and much much more having to do with 3.5x-speed-audiobooks, the Toyota Way, LitRPG, and yellow slime (yes, yellow slime!) and the various niche corners of the internet where LitRPG represents a new kind of publishing model, that’s really a r...

Annie Beth Donahue interviews Doraine Bennett about writing In the Grip of the Ice , Bandersnatch Books’ most recent adventure. Doraine shares her previous experiences as a writer which prepared her for this epic adventure told from the perspective of real-life stowaway Perce Blackborow, and his journey upon a famous Antarctic exploration ship ( Endurance ) interspersed with accounts from their va...

Rachel S. Donahue again interviews Ben Palpant (creator of Brightwing Tales ) to learn how a poet approaches a foray into children’s literature. Ben is our first return guest on the podcast (you may remember him from Season 3: Episode 9 where we discussed his poetry book, An Axe for the Frozen Sea ). Ben is back after completing a new work of children’s literature in the whimsically adventurous tr...

Melissa Woodruff interviews her friends and colleagues Carolyn Clare Givens , Rachel S. Donahue and Annie Beth Donahue for this end of season question & answer episode filled with as many questions that we could answer, taken from all the questions that you listeners sent in. Thank you for sending questions, thank you for listening and thank you for taking an interest in Bandersnatch Books! Also w...

Rachel S. Donahue interviews her friend and colleague Carolyn Clare Givens (author of Rosefire and The King’s Messenger ). In this discussion, Carolyn shares the multiple roots of her career as an author and the many origin points of each of her stories. Every author tends to be inspired differently, and Carolyn describes how poetry, shoofly pie, music, and classroom settings all variously sparked...

Annie Beth Donahue interviews our newest Bandersnatch Books author and illustrator Mary Barrows (author of Joe the Fourth and the King’s Crown ). About ten years ago, Mary switched careers and started writing her Middle Grade novel Joe the Fourth while also making an effort to begin working as a freelance illustrator. As her illustration business grew, so did her confidence and the scope and size...

Rachel S. Donahue interviews Emily J. Person (illustrator of I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry ) about a behind the scenes look at all the stresses and joys of illustrating such a huge project while simultaneously navigating several life changes and moving her studio and all her art supplies from state to state to state! * Emily J. Person www.emilyjperson.com * PREORDER: I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry...

Carolyn Clare Givens interviews our “fairy godmother” Diana Pavlac Glyer (author of our publishing company’s namesake book Bandersnatch ! ) about her life’s work reinterpreting the Inklings (J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and their friends) not as a group of solitary men occasionally meeting together, and keeping their creativity strictly boundaried from each other. Instead, Glyer challenged the acad...

Annie Beth Donahue interviews Amanda M. Brindley & Sofia Rector (author & illustrator of Doodle’s Mountain ) about the unexpected joys and pitfalls of two friends collaborating as author and illustrator for a children’s picture book. During the nap times of their littles, Sofia and Amanda slowly pieced together the ideas for this picture book and slowly shepherded Doodle’s Mountain toward becoming...

Carolyn Clare Givens interviews Andrew Mackay (co-creator of Story Warren publisher of the Green Ember series) about publishing, brand new Green Ember video games and how Story Warren got started in the first place. There are wonderful side discussions abou the smell of giant printing presses, why Carrie is a “Newsletter Ninja”, why Andrew is “human Benadryl” and many more. By the end of this epis...