Indie Reads Aloud: A Storytelling Podcast

Listener Advisory: Language About The Author:  Australian Jennifer Raines writes contemporary romances set mainly, but not exclusively, in Australia – think Malta, Finland, New Zealand or ?. A dreamer and an optimist, her stories are a delicious cocktail of mutual respect, passion and loyalty because she still believes in happily-ever-afters. Title: Planting Hope Genre: Romance Book Synopsis:  Nur...

EPISODE #100! About The Author:  D.A. Reed (Deborah Reed) writes young adult novels—from page-turning thrillers to stories based on challenges children and adults face every day. D.A. Reed’s books have received acclaim, notably:  Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards  in the category of Young Adult Fiction for  All The Things We Didn’t See  (2021) and  Dare Accepted  (2020);  Best Indie Book Award  (BIB...

About The Author:  Randy D. Pearson has been displaying his creativity for as long as he can remember. Starting at an early age drawing comic strips and cartoon books, he quickly realized he enjoyed writing stories more than he did sketching. When he discovered his other childhood passion, the Atari computer, everything came together. He spent many late nights typing stories, winning several writi...

About The Author:  Samantha Moran is a proud Magna Cum Laude graduate of Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s in English Education. Throughout her career, she has taught many English and Language Arts courses to students in middle school, high school, and college in urban and suburban settings. She is a loving mother of two amazing children and has been happily married to her husband sinc...

About The Author:  Melinda started her journey with the release of the book she will read today, “The Gubbins Club,” which won awards at the New York Book Festival.  Her first picture book, Lousy Liver - a book which has more frequent flyer miles than Santa Claus!  The whimsical tale has enjoyed a visit to the Oshima Picture Book Museum in Japan where it was displayed in the museum's annual ev...

About The Author:  Randy D. Pearson has been displaying his creativity for as long as he can remember. Starting at an early age drawing comic strips and cartoon books, he quickly realized he enjoyed writing stories more than he did sketching. When he discovered his other childhood passion, the Atari computer, everything came together. He spent many late nights typing stories, winning several writi...

About The Author: Melinda Taliancich Falgoust is an author whose works have appeared in Reader's Digest, Writers' Journal, in the Harlequin Mini-Round Robin ebooks THE RANCHER AND THE ROSE and THIN ICE. Other works have also won awards in competitions around the world, including:  The New York Book Festival Annual Competition, The Oshima International Hand-Made Picture Book Competition, Th...

About The Author:  Randy D. Pearson has been displaying his creativity for as long as he can remember. Starting at an early age drawing comic strips and cartoon books, he quickly realized he enjoyed writing stories more than he did sketching. When he discovered his other childhood passion, the Atari computer, everything came together. He spent many late nights typing stories, winning several writi...

About The Author: Andrew Allen Smith is a West Michigan Author with a passion for life. As an author he has explored multiple genres and feels at home with each of them. His first book was a collection of poetry which has recently become more popular while his Action/Adventure series,  “The Masterson Files” has achieved a positive success, having earned five star Reader’s Favorite awards. In 2021...

LISTENER ADVISORY: MILD VIOLENCE About The Author: D.A. Reed (Deborah Reed) writes young adult novels—from page-turning thrillers to stories based on challenges children and adults face every day. D.A. Reed’s books have received acclaim, notably: Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the category of Young Adult Fiction for All The Things We Didn’t See (2021) and Dare Accepted (2020); Best Indie Book...

Listener Advisory: Strong Language; Violence; Mature Situations About The Author: J.A. Bullen was born 1988 in Mason, Michigan and has remained a local with his wife and children. He first became interested in writing at the age of 8 but never pursued it passionately until explaining to his daughter, the importance of having dreams and pursuing them. J. A. Bullen mostly delves into Epic Fantasy Fi...

About The Author: Lisa Jacovsky currently lives in her hometown of North Brunswick, NJ. She works as a Child Development Specialist with Early Intervention. In her job she is able to help children under the age of three with cognitive and developmental delays, sometimes with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has been working in the field of applied behavior analysis for eight years and...

About The Author: D.A. Reed (Deborah Reed) writes young adult novels—from page-turning thrillers to stories based on challenges children and adults face every day. D.A. Reed’s books have received acclaim, notably: Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the category of Young Adult Fiction for All The Things We Didn’t See (2021) and Dare Accepted (2020); Best Indie Book Award (BIBA) in the category of Y...

About The Author: Jennifer Willcock grew up telling herself stories in the middle of the night to keep away the monsters that lurked in the dark. Once she realized there weren’t any real monsters, she kept telling stories. A voracious reader, Jennifer reads many different genres, but she never outgrew young adult fiction. A degree in English Literature enabled her to keep her love affair with read...

About The Author: Lisa Jacovsky currently lives in her hometown of North Brunswick, NJ. She works as a Child Development Specialist with Early Intervention. In her job she is able to help children under the age of three with cognitive and developmental delays, sometimes with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has been working in the field of applied behavior analysis for eight years and...

Listener Advisory: Strong Language; Violence; Mature Situations Title: The Last Angel To Fall Genre: Supernatural, Inter-Agency Urban Fantasy Thriller Book Synopsis: After 12 Federal Agents are murdered, Black Ops Special Agent Jubal Stone, still grieving over the death of his wife, is pulled from a desk assignment and plunged into a nightmare pursuit of a Fallen Angel who was imprisoned inside a...

LISTENER ADVISORY: STRONG LANGUAGE About The Author: Julie Navickas is a best-selling and award-winning, nationally recognized contemporary romance novelist, known for her keen ability to tell heart-wrenching, second-chance love stories through relatable characters with humility, humor, and heroism. She is also an award-winning university instructor and serves as the executive director of The Writ...

Listener Advisory: Strong Language About The Author: Edward Conley served nearly three decades with FEMA, passionately leading teams around the globe in response to some of history’s most significant disasters. During his career, Ed has also managed national incidents and international emergencies with the Coast Guard, Secret Service, Centers for Disease Control, and Department of State. Appointed...

The Short Story Experience... ​...with Andrew Allen Smith We will start with an overview of short stories, novellas, and novels and the differences between each.  Once establishing a baseline, we will talk about approaches and use several short stories as examples that will show tactics for engaging the reader and keeping them enthralled in your writing, as well as common ideas to make you memorab...

Exploring Comedy In Fiction ...with Kristoffer Gair Imagine if the film Caddyshack 2 had been written to be a comedy. Wait...it was. Well, what if it had been funnier? Or even remotely funny at all? Or what if a certain former President had come out with exorbitantly priced digital trading cards? Wait...he did.  Look around you. There's humor to be found everywhere. Writing humor is just a mat...

Title: Vanishing Act (Book 2 of the Jamie Richmond Mystery Series) Genre: Mystery/Romance Book Synopsis: A new year marks new beginnings for Jamie Richmond. Not only has she moved into a cozy new house, but she’s brought Malone along with her to fan the flames of their growing romance. When Jamie’s best friend, Linda Davis, enters the picture, she thinks everything is right with the world. Linda b...

In this episode, we're talking with Deborah Reed about two workshops she'll be teaching during the Writer's Retreat. The first is How To Keep Your Story Moving: Tips & Tricks: Sometimes we get a little stuck in our writing. The words haven’t just stopped flowing, they feel jammed up behind a brick wall with no way out. Frustration builds and we eventually walk away from the keyboar...

Chances are likely you’ve heard of The Hero’s Journey, but why does this pattern keep showing up, both in ancient mythology as well as modern books and movies? Because it speaks to the heart of the journey that everyone must take if they want to become a “hero” in their own lives. And because it makes for great stories! This workshop will break down the stages, explain why they are important, and...

LISTENER ADVISORY: STRONG LANGUAGE, MATURE SITUATIONS, VIOLENCE About The Author: Since childhood, Kaia loved books. At the age of 12, she began a teenage romance novel which she never finished, but it served as a fun topic of conversation for her pre-teen friends. Later, upon the birth of her first nephew, she wrote children's poetry book as a gift for him. It sits on the bookshelf even today...

Creating Book Cover Designs in PhotoShop ...with Jules Nelson Are you at a loss on how to start designing your cover? Whether you are coming up with a design idea to submit to a cover artist or wanting to create your own book cover, we will walk through the process of how to design your cover to stand out.   Join us as we explore genre specifics for cover styles, fonts, sizes and backcover matter....