Novelist Spotlight

In the spotlight is William Styron, the famed author of novels that included “Sophie’s Choice” and “The Confessions of Nat Turner.” Joining the great author in the spotlight is William Styron biographer Jim West, professor of English, emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University. He is a biographer and book historian, and the author of several books, including “ William Styron: A Life .”    We discu...

In the spotlight is John Updike and University of Cincinnati literature professor James Schiff, author of the book “John Updike Revisited.” Schiff, who is also editor of the John Updike Review , talks about Updike’s more than 60 books, short stories, poetry, reviews and letters — and the two Pulitzer Prizes and other awards.  We discuss his:  >> Time at The New Yorker  >> Passion for t...

In the spotlight is D.H. Lawrence, the great and controversial novelist, and Richard Kaye, professor of literature in the English department at Hunter College, part of the city university system in Manhattan. Since 2017, Mr. Kaye has been the editor of The D. H. Lawrence Review , the 50-year-old journal dealing with the life and work of the British writer.   We discuss:   >> The censorship o...

In the spotlight is Ben Fox, founder of Shepherd.com, an upstart competitor to Amazon, Goodreads and other major online booksellers. Fox, who reads 100 books a year, believes that books build better human beings, and he is on a mission to help everyone find the book they didn't know they were looking for.     We discuss:    >> The weakness of Amazon  >> The strengths of Shepherd  >&...

In the spotlight is the author of “Bright Lights, Big City” — the explosively successful debut novel by Jay McInerney, selling 700,000 copies during its first year, and tens-of-thousands of copies annually for years running. Dubbed a member of the 1980s “brat pack” (along with Bret Easton Ellis and Tama Janowitz), McInerney followed his sensational rookie effort with titles including: “Story of My...

In the spotlight is Sasha Vasilyuk, author of the debut novel YOUR PRESENCE IS MANDATORY, now available for pre-order and soon to be published in the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, France, Finland and Brazil. She is also a journalist who has written for The New York Times, TIME magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, NBC, USA Today, and other media outlets.    We discuss:    >...

In the spotlight is Jonathan Eller, author of a three-volume biography of science fiction novelist and short story writer Ray Bradbury. Eller is also founding director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at Indiana University.   We discuss Ray Bradbury’s    >> writing lessons >> work ethic >> fear of the dark >> love of magic >> passion for ideas >> Los Angel...

In the spotlight is romance novelist Audrey Carlan, a No. 1 New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller. She writes stories that help readers “find themselves while falling in love.” Some of her works include the Calendar Girl serial, the Trinity series, the International Guy series, 1001 Dark Nights series, and the Marriage Auction series. Her books have been translated into more...

In the spotlight is T.C. Boyle, the author of more than 30 books of fiction, including titles such as “Blue Skies,” “The Harder They Come,” “The Terranauts," “The Relive Box,” “Outside Looking In,” “Talk to Me” and “I Walk Between the Raindrops.” He was a longtime lit professor at USC, and his books have been translated into more than two dozen foreign languages.    We discuss:    >> Writing...

In the spotlight is Joanna Penn, who teaches how to write, publish and market your book — and make a living with your writing. She is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author more than 35 books published and almost 1 million sold across 169 countries in five languages. She is also a podcaster, international speaker, and entrepreneur. But it hasn't always been this way fo...

In the spotlight is Cornell University professor of literature Robert Morgan, who will discuss the life, times and writings of famed novelist Thomas Wolfe. Morgan has a good deal in common with the author. Thomas Wolfe hails from Asheville, N.C., and Robert Morgan hails from Henderson County, just south of Asheville. They have the same birthday (Oct. 3), and both are graduates from the Chapel Hill...

In the spotlight is TV and movie writer/producer/executive producer and creator Dean Hargrove. He has been writing and creating television series since 1961 when he became a staff writer on the first “Bob Newhart Show.” He became the sole staff writer on “The Man from UNCLE” and wrote the screenplay for the pilot of “Columbo.” Thereafter, he created and produced “Matlock,” “Jake and the Fatman,” “...

It took Carl Vonderau a long time to become a full-time author. He left his native Cleveland to study economics at Stanford, then spent more than 30 years as a banker in the United States, Latin America and North Africa — international settings that served as inspiration for his crime novels “Murderabilia” and “Saving Myles.” His work was honored with a Left Coast Crime award for Best Debut, and a...

In the spotlight is Daniel Kraus, New York Times  bestselling writer of novels, TV and film. His collaboration with legendary filmmaker George Romero (“The Living Dead”) was acclaimed by  The New York Times  and  The Washington Post, and during his collaboration with Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored “The Shape of Water,” the Oscar-winning film. Kraus’s work has been translated into more than 20...

In the spotlight is Tyson Cornell, who started his book publishing company, Rare Bird, after nine-and-a-half years as marketing and publicity director at Book Soup, the legendary independent bookstore on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, Calif.   We discuss:    >> The Rare Bird concept and name  >> The focus required for reading books  >> Work as a lifestyle  >> The most...

In the spotlight is family therapist, divorce mediator, Broadway and off-Broadway producer, screenwriter and screenwriting teacher Jennifer Manocherian, who has just published her first novel, “Alpha Bette,” a story influenced by her many personal and professional life experiences. Bette Gartner, the novel’s protagonist, is a 95-year-old widow who wakes up one morning and decides to host a small d...

Simon Toyne quit his job as a television producer at the BBC to pursue writing his first novel. That turned out to be “Sanctus,” the bestselling debut thriller novel of 2011 in Great Britain. He is now the author of six more novels: “The Key,” “The Tower,” “The Searchers,” “The Boy Who Saw,” “Dark Objects” and “The Clearing.” Toyne has also produced/hosted a true crime series titled “Written in Bl...

In the spotlight is Scott Lord, who has pulled many of his novels’ characters and situations from his 35 years as a practitioner of criminal and civil law. His first novel, “The Logic Bomb,” is a legal thriller, and his newly released novel, “Come November,” is a historical thriller about an assassination plot to disrupt the momentous 1947 vote of the United Nations to partition Palestine and crea...

In the spotlight is Vanessa Riley, author of 20 novels including “Queen of Exiles,” “Murder in Drury Lane” and “Island Queen,” the latter of which has been optioned by members of the team that helped produce the hit streaming series “Bridgerton.” She is also a trained engineer whose research skills have helped advance the agendas at NASA, GM, Hewlett Packard, and several startups. We discuss: >...

In the spotlight is Lawrence Schiller — photographer, movie director, producer, author, dealmaker, collaborator — someone who has been connected to the biggest names at the center of the biggest news events of the past 60 years. Think in terms of Marilyn Monroe, John Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Lenny Bruce, Norman Mailer, Gary Gilmore, O.J. Simpson and JonBenét Ramsey.   He collaborated...

In the spotlight is famed novelist Larry McMurtry and biographer, Tracy Daugherty, author of “Larry McMurtry: A Life,” the first comprehensive biography of the novelist, who authored 40 books, including many hit novels such as “The Last Picture Show,” “The Terms of Endearment” and “Lonesome Dove.” Daugherty's bio of McMurtry hit the cover of the New York Times Book Review where critic Dwight Garne...

In the spotlight is Thomas Wolfe, the famed American novelist, and Joseph Bentz, professor of American Literature at Azusa Pacific University, who serves as the Articles Editor for The Thomas Wolfe Review and as a board member for the Thomas Wolfe Society.    We discuss:    >> Thomas Wolfe’s beginnings in Asheville, North Carolina  >> His sprawling and effusive writing style  >>...

In the spotlight are Philip Roth and Benjamin Taylor. Mr. Taylor is author of the memoir “Here We Are,” a book that discusses his close friendship with Roth, one of the most original and decorated novelists of his era, before succumbing to congestive heart failure in 2018 at age 85. We discuss Philip Roth’s:   >> Personality >> Subject matter >> Favorite novel >> Writing st...

In the spotlight is Cormac McCarthy, the famed novelist who died June 13 of this year at age 89. He is remembered during this episode by Steven Frye, an author, professor of American literature, and chairman of the English department at California State University, Bakersfield. His books include the titles “Understanding Cormac McCarthy,” “The Cambridge Companion to Cormac McCarthy” and “Cormac Mc...

In the spotlight are Kurt Vonnegut and American literature professor and researcher Susan Farrell, who is also founding member of the International Kurt Vonnegut Society. Her research in the past few years has focused largely on American war literature, and her most recent book is titled “Imagining Home: American War Fiction from Hemingway to 9/11.”    We discuss:     >> Vonnegut’s body of w...