Author Conversations with Chris Dabbs

What do the ancient petroglyphs of Utah mean - and how much can we really know about the people who made them? In this edition of Author Conversations, I talk to Clay Brough, author of Tales of the Futures Past , about his interest in rock art, the questions raised by the Rochester Creek panel and the ideas that have shaped his research and writing. We discuss the Uintah Basin, possible connection...

My guest Dr Mark Burtman has had quite an extraordinary life. He's been a Navy medical officer, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, a musician and a poker player. He's also spent time in prison, lost his medical career and survived a stroke. And now he's doing something he's wanted to do since college - writing books. Mark describes himself as a "walking tragic comedy", and he certainly hasn't lost...

After 28 years in the US Army, retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander R. Tambascia faced a very different future. Medically retired following combat injuries, he had to adjust to civilian life after spending virtually his entire adult life in uniform. Alexander tells me about that transition, the serious health news he received and the encouragement that led him to write military science fiction. Hi...

Gunther Allen has lived through some extraordinary changes in LGBTQ+ history. He remembers a time when being openly gay could have serious consequences, when HIV/AIDS devastated communities and when life was very different for gay men growing up in the 1970s and 1980s.\n\nI really enjoyed talking to Gunther. He's done all sorts of things throughout his life, from music and competitive sport to coa...

Dessie Williams is 91, and she has seen an extraordinary amount of change in her lifetime. In our conversation, we talk about the family stories she wants to preserve, her faith and the differences between the world she grew up in and the world we know today. What interested me was how Dessie connects her own memories with the bigger changes in society. These aren't distant accounts of history - t...

Martin Terrell has been through a lot. Poverty, racial segregation, drugs, prison and some incredibly difficult experiences along the way. But even after everything he's been through, he still considers himself a fortunate man. And I think that's quite something. When I spoke with Martin, we went right back to his childhood growing up in the ghetto in America, losing his mother at a young age and...

Jeff Arnold has spent almost 30 years working across insurance, technology, entrepreneurship and leadership. What I found interesting in this conversation is that his view of AI is not about embracing every new development or resisting change. It is really about judgement. Jeff’s latest book, **Clarity Among Humans and Machines**, looks at how leaders make good decisions when technology is develop...

Are you truly thriving — or simply getting through each day? Siddharth Bhaskar, author of The Office in Your Mind, joins Chris Dabbs to explore how we can change our response to stress, strengthen our relationships and find a greater sense of purpose. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and mindfulness, Siddharth explains the personal experiences behind his book and introduces the CLIMB framework...

Steven Trio qualified as a solicitor (lawyer) and then quit after just six months and pursued the life he'd always wanted - music. Now Steven Trio is writing comedy, satire and stories destined for the screen. In this episode of Author Conversations with Chris Dabbs, we meet a jazz pianist, composer, songwriter and author whose creative journey has taken some remarkable turns. Steven talks about g...

What happens when the people making you feel small are the very people you thought were your friends? In this edition of Author Conversations with Chris Dabbs, Chris is joined by mother-and-son co-authors Dr Lucille Hilliard and Marcellus Mitchell to discuss their children’s book THAT “thing!”. The story follows the Elegant Elephant when her friendship with Fly and Flea suddenly fractures. She fin...

Every life is full of stories. Some make us laugh, others take us back to people and places we've almost forgotten. But how many of those stories do we ever write down? In this episode of Author Conversations with Chris Dabbs, presented by SLM Books, Chris meets Pete Zimmer, author of Barn Secrets, a collection of stories inspired by a lifetime of experiences, family memories and fascinating encou...

What happens when a centuries-old healing tradition collides with Western ideas of medicine, science and proof? In this edition of Author Conversations, broadcast journalist Chris Dabbs speaks with Dr Scott M Taubold, author of The System of Healing Used by the Filipino Espiritistas. He discusses the history of what Western observers came to call “psychic surgery”, the role of trance and spiritual...

🚴 A 70-year-old retired detective. A 150-mile charity bicycle ride. Thousands of cyclists travelling from Houston to Austin.💥 And an explosion that turns an endurance challenge into a dangerous rescue mission. Author Reynold Conger joins Author Conversations' Chris Dabbs to discuss A Dangerous Bike Ride, the first book in his Richard Tracy series. 📖 The idea for the novel came from a striking r...

You probably eat some of these foods every week. But how much do you actually know about where they came from? Author and entrepreneur Paul Hesketh joins Chris Dabbs to uncover the extraordinary stories hiding behind some of the most ordinary products in our kitchens. Paul’s book, Behind the Barcode, explores how familiar foods became the products and global brands we recognise today — and the con...

What if some of the moments we dismiss as coincidence are actually pointing us towards change? In this edition of Author Conversations, Chris Dabbs speaks to Mary Glesige, author of Open the Gate: A Journey into Synchronistic Healing. Mary explores the ideas behind her book and the role that synchronicity, awareness and personal insight can play in healing and transformation. The conversation look...

In this edition of Author Conversations, I meet author, artist, poet and therapist  Maree Deeley to talk about her novel The Harvest Always Comes – and I discover that there's a very personal story behind that title. Maree grew up around farming and remembers her great-uncle facing difficult seasons with a simple conviction: “the harvest always comes”. It was a phrase that stayed with her, one she...

Can a lifelong dream begin at the age of 92? In this episode of Author Conversations, broadcast journalist Chris Dabbs speaks with Joel A. Robinson, a Korean War veteran whose debut novel, Treasure's Location, was published at the remarkable age of ninety-two. What begins as a discussion about an international historical thriller becomes a thoughtful conversation about perseverance, curiosity and...

Canadian military veteran, ultra-endurance athlete and author JD Tremblay joins Chris Dabbs to explore discipline, resilience, faith and what it takes to keep moving when the body and mind are telling you to stop. What separates genuine discipline from temporary motivation? JD Tremblay joined the Canadian military at just 17 after growing up in northern Quebec, experiencing his parents’ divorce an...

"What if the greatest divide isn't between races—but between the assumptions we make about one another?" After more than thirty years as a teacher, principal and community leader, Keith Daniel Saunders Sr. has dedicated his life to helping young people overcome barriers and realise their potential. His memoir, R oosevelt to the Hamptons: The War on Both Sides , isn't a story about military conflic...

"Sometimes the biggest adventure isn't falling in love—it's learning to believe in yourself." Becky Larson Bloom didn't publish her first novel until later in life, after years of encouragement from family and friends who believed she had a story to tell. In this uplifting episode of Author Conversations, Becky discusses the inspiration behind her debut novel, New Beginnings, and explains why it's...

Doctors gave Donna Valentino just a 40% chance of survival. What followed was years of rehabilitation, relearning basic life skills and rebuilding an entirely new life. In this powerful episode of Author Conversations, Donna shares the extraordinary story behind her books Headstrong and Heartstrong, beginning with the catastrophic ATV accident that left her with a severe traumatic brain injury and...

“My parents held a very good persona. I continued to try to impress upon the authorities that what they saw on the outside was not what was going on on the inside. Nobody bought it. Nobody believed it.” Christa Jan Ryan What happens when a child tells adults that home is unsafe—and nobody believes her? Christa Jan Ryan describes growing up in a respected family while trying unsuccessfully to convi...

Is it ever too late to pursue the dream you kept putting off? Ray Denyer became an author in his sixties — and his message is simple: never give up. After decades of making up stories for his family, encouragement from his 14 grandchildren finally persuaded Ray to start writing them down. The result was Algernon Breadstick: The Hapless Knight, a warm, funny fantasy adventure about an unlikely hero...

"Sometimes the most powerful memoir isn't written in chapters—it's written one poem at a time." What if the most difficult chapters of your life became your greatest source of strength?  In this moving episode of Author Conversations, Chris Dabbs welcomes poet Pamela Wallace, whose collection You Go Girl Poetry transforms decades of love, heartbreak, motherhood, addiction, recovery, humour and res...

“Successful relationships happen when your head, your heart and your physical connection are all moving in the same direction.” Why do some relationships thrive while others seem destined to fail?  According to psychotherapist Dr René Vázquez del Valle , lasting relationships aren’t built on chemistry alone. They depend on something far deeper: the alignment of the head, the heart and the physical...