The Artful Periscope – The Nimble Art of Storytelling

How many threads of logic lead us to revelations? On this episode of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with Adam Sykes , author of the thriller novel The Underhanded . In addition to being an author, Adam also had a long career in the U.S. Marine Corps, received a Silver Star and was a former CIA Paramilitary Officer. Larry and Adam discuss the origin of character names and how Adam’s military...

How many threads are woven together where the sum of the parts exceed our expectations? On this episode, Larry welcomes three different authors.   First, Terry Hayes discusses his newest book The Year of the Locust . They discuss the influence of epic poetry and epic storytelling, the complexity of writing stories about intelligence organizations, and the effect of the film and television ind...

How many threads intersect and impact the world of sports and the history of a country? On this episode, Larry invites author Ethan Scheiner to the show to discuss hisnewest book The Freedom to Win: A Cold War Story of the Courageous Hockey Team That Fought the Soviets for the Soul of Its People—And Olympic Gold . Freedom to Win follows the story of the 1969 Czechoslovakian World Ice Hockey Champi...

If words are threads in a storyline, where do they take us? This week on The Artful Periscope, Larry conducts a double interview with E.A.(Ed) Aymar , author of When She Left , and Bruce Borgos , author of The Bitter Past . Together, the group discusses what they enjoy the most about storytelling – strong characters, interesting subplots, and settings as characters. Both Ed and Bruce discuss...

How many threads are brought together in criminal justice reform? On this week’s episode of The Artful Periscope,,Larry sits down with Colleen P. Eren , Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at William Paterson University and author of Reform Nation which discusses the First Step Act – a surprising piece of legislation signed off by Donald Trump on the verge of a government s...

How many threads take us behind the scenes of the basketball world? In this week’s episode of The Artful Periscope,Larry sits down with author Rich Cohen to discuss his latest book, When the Game was War: The NBA’s Greatest Season . The book chronicles the NBA season of 1987 and the basketball stars that dominated the game. Rich discusses his childhood growing up with his basketball coach father a...

How many threads do storytellers weave together?  Joining Larry on the show is return guest S. J. Rozan to talk about her latest work  Mayors of New York .  S. J. shares that she has a love affair with New York City and wants to share that love with the reader.  Larry asks if part of the book was influenced by Jeffrey Epstein and S. J. shares that she is interested in people of a lower social stra...

How are the threads of family history interwoven into storylines?  In this episode, Larry checks off his bucket list by being joined by Pulitzer prize winning author, Stephen Hunter to talk about his new work  Front Sight .  Larry and Stephen explore the origin of character names and “if you don’t get the name right, you don’t get the character right”. Larry also posits tha...

How many threads connect us to story tellers whether an author or a singer/songwriter?  In this episode, Larry chats with James Wolff author of the book  The Man in the Corduroy Suit .  Larry loves spy novels and asks how James picked his “pen name”. James shares what genre of book tickles his fancy and some of his favorite authors.  Larry speaks about the idea of a “public life&...

How many threads lead us to cultural dissonance?  In this installment of the podcast, Larry invites back to the program author Alma Katsu discussing her latest work  The Fervor   Larry asks how difficult is it to put a character into a crisis and how they work their way out of that situation?  Alma discusses developing conflict in a story and always ask what the worst thing that can happen, then w...

How many threads connect authors and what we can learn.  On this episode are two amazing authors who really need no introduction.  Nelson DeMille and his son Alex DeMille join the program to talk about their latest work  Blood Lines .  Larry asks what it is like to co-author a book with a fellow family member and also if it was a challenge to find the starting point for the story.  Nelson talks ab...

In the world of espionage, how many threads are unwoven?  In this installment of the podcast, Larry chats with author of the book  The Peacock and the Sparrow , I. S. Berry.  Larry talks of origin stories and asks when a child, where did the door open up to have a thought to be a writer?  Ilana shares how she came to work as a spy with her beginnings in law.  Larry poses the idea of the importance...

In a world of espionage, how many threads are frayed?  In this installment of the podcast, Larry speaks with Paul Vidich , author and 3 time guest on the show.  He has penned the new novel  Beirut Station . Larry and Paul speak about the parallels between the current crisis in Israel with Hamas and how timely his book is. Then the conversation shifts to the size of Paul’s name on the cover, what h...

In relationships, how many threads are unwoven? This this installment of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with Joseph Ammendolea , film director and owner of “I Like to Play with Toys” productions . Joseph recounts his childhood, his early filmmaking experiences at Hofstra University and how he finds actors for his projects. Then the discussion turns towards his latest film, Broken Hearted, w...

How many threads connect the past to the present? In this installment of the podcast, Larry sits down with wife and husband writing team Nicci Gerard & Sean French to discuss their latest book The Favor . Together they examine the ethical dilemma at the center of the novel- how far would you go to do a favor for someone who is important to you? Nicci and Sean also discuss living in rural Engla...

How many threads connect the relationships between mankind and the horse? In this episode of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with author Fred M. Kray to discuss his latest book Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing’s Golden Age . Together they untangle the unsolved murder of Alydar, a famous racehorse who mysteriously broke his leg one night when locked up...

How many threads connect the reader to the crime fiction writers that they follow. Larry was fortunate to have well known crime fiction writer Reed Farrel Coleman to talk about his latest work  Sleepless City .  Larry asks Reed how he defines Noir fiction to which he responds “french for black” which brings a chuckle.  Some have called Reed the “crime fiction writers crime fictio...

How many threads connect us to what is below the surface?  In this installment, Larry has a discussion with Peter Speigelman about his latest book A Secret About a Secret .  Larry and Peter explore the story out side of the cover of the book, how the title draws the reader, and whether this book is a cautionary tale.  Larry draws a comparison of Peter’s work with the television show  Dark Sh...

How many threads contribute to a cascading series of events? On this week’s episode of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with author Paul Moses to discuss his latest book The Italian Squad . As a New York City historian, Paul sheds light on the forgotten work of Italian police officers of the NYPD who battled the Mafia while also striving to protect immigrant Italian families in a society that...

How many threads take us through the ages? On this installment of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with author Bill Morris to discuss his latest work, The Age of Astonishment . The book chronicles the long life of his grandfather, John Morris, and the historical events he lived through. Larry and Bill discuss the horrors of slavery in the pre-civil war south, his grandfather’s lifespan rangin...

How many threads connect the good actors with the bad actors, even if some of the good have done some bad things? In this episode of The Artful Periscope, Larry is joined by true crime and organized crime writer Michael Benson to discuss his latest work Gangsters vs. Nazis . Michael begins by recounting his childhood interest in true crime, chasing after his babysitter’s killer and eventually retu...

How many threads can reveal a transformation from a couch potato to endurance athlete? In this  episode, Larry is live in studio with Hilary Topper to discuss her latest book From Couch to Endurance Athlete . As a mother, business owner and adjunct professor with very little time to herself, Hilary decided to take charge of health and go “from zero to one hundred”.   Larry and Hilary examine her n...

How many threads bring strangers together? In this installment of The Artful Periscope, Larry is joined by James Grady , author of This Train . They discuss his debut book Six Days of the Condor and the experience of having it adapted into a Robert Redford movie, as well as methods for keeping thriller plots interesting and the beauty of train ride landscapes. After the break, Jerry Stahl joins La...

How many threads need to align to take us on a journey to freedom? In this installment of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with David Goodrich to discuss his latest book On Freedom Row . Tracing the remaining landmarks of The Underground Railroad, David embarked on a 3,000 mile bike ride to uncover the hidden heroes and stories of abolition. Larry and David discuss the challenges of embarking...

How many threats connect the past and present? In this week’s episode of The Artful Periscope, Larry sits down with Dr. Bronwen McShea to discuss her latest biography La Duchesse , which chronicles the forgotten life of Marie de Vignerot —Cardinal Richelieu’s niece and heiress. After years of research, Bronwen hopes to bring attention to Marie’s legacy and the enormous political influence sh...