The Story Blender

Bruce Montgomery has a doctorate in interpersonal and public communication from Bowling Green State University and a master of divinity from Christian Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching classes on storytelling, as an ordained minister he has spent twenty-seven years as a preacher in Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, and Texas. He has also taught speech classes at numerous colleges and universit...

Daniel Palmer is the USA Today bestselling author of ten critically acclaimed suspense novels. With tech-centric themes, Daniel’s novels focus on ordinary men pitted against extraordinary circumstances. He published his first novel, DELIRIOUS, after a decade-long career in e-commerce, where he helped launch first generation websites for major online retailers including Barnes & Noble and Dick...

Richard Ferrone is a former lawyer who became an actor in the 1970s. He has appeared on Broadway and in theaters across the country. His television appearances include ”Law & Order,” “Against the Law,” “Guiding Light,” and “One Life to Live.“ He became an immediate favorite of audiobook fans more than 20 years ago with his first audiobook, “The Stranglers” by Loren D. Estleman, and since then...

Our guest this week, Danusia Trevino, is a storyteller who has won two GrandSlams with the MOTH. She emigrated to the United States from Poland and her artwork has appeared in galleries throughout the world. She also toured extensively with the punk band FUR. But her passion was always to be an actor, which she has been pursuing for the last 23 years ever since leaving the band. She has performed...

From the Story Vault: A self-described “full-time daydreamer who moonlights as a storyteller,” Ed Stivender has been dubbed “the Robin Williams of storytelling” by the Miami Herald and “the Catholic Garrison Keillor” by Kirkus Reviews. Join us as he shares a delightful mixture of whimsy, wit, and wisdom on the art of storytelling.

Andrew Erwin and his brother Jon comprise the filmmaking duo the Erwin Brothers. They became interested in film and sports while they were children and went on to produce an award-winning documentary about the 9/11 terror attack, then began developing feature films including October Baby and I Can Only Imagine, which topped $100 million in sales (more than 12x the production budget). Their latest...

Simon Brooks was born in England and raised on traditional tales. His work as a storyteller began nearly two decades ago and since then he has taken his powerful performances all over New England and the U.S.  With his bodhrán and stories full of memorable characters, Simon combines the intensity of a solo performance with the intimacy of a face-to-face conversation. His CDs have garnered awards f...

From the Story Vault: Adam is a unique and multi-talented comic, author and actor. He has been named one of Esquire’s "25 Comics to Watch," and Variety’s "10 Comics to Watch." With three comedy albums released and available on iTunes, he has appeared on Conan, Flophouse and many other shows. His writing has appeared in major publications such as Spin, Village Voice, and The Atlantic.

Iain Thomas is the international number-one bestselling author of dozens of books and creative projects and is one of the world’s most popular writers and poets. His works have won multiple awards for creativity. His prose and poetry appears on monuments, in university collections, has been quoted by everyone from Steven Spielberg to Arianna Huffington, is regularly tattooed on people, and has bee...

From the Story Vault: Lynne Constantine is an internationally bestselling author who writes under the pen name Liv Constantine with her sister Valerie. Their debut thriller, The Last Mrs. Parrish, was a Reese Witherspoon book club selection, a People Magazine book of the week, and is in development for television. Their most recent book, The Last Time I Saw You, was published by HarperCollins in M...

Candice Fox is an international and #1 New York Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She began collaborating with James Patterson in 2015 and their first novel, Never Never, was a huge bestseller in Australia and went straight to the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list as well as to the top of the charts in the UK. Since then they ha...

From the Story Vault: Frank Peretti is a New York Times bestselling author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction that have sold over 15 million copies and been adapted for film. A “natural storyteller,” Frank takes readers on imaginative journeys that weave together suspense and unseen worlds. Listen in as Frank shares his insights on the art of story!

John Raab is a publishing industry professional and podcast producer who is also the founder of Suspense Magazine and the CEO of Suspense Publishing. If you like thrillers, suspense, mystery, or horror, be sure to check out these resources. John was also the impetus to me starting The Story Blender, so it's exciting for me to have him on the show today.

From the Story Vault: Steve Berry is the New York Times and international bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and our first returning guest on The Story Blender. He weaves history, mystery, an intrigue together to create compelling stories. Listen in to hear his take on storytelling and to hear him discuss his latest novel, The Malta Exchange!

Bestselling author Travis Thrasher has written over 50 books ranging from fiction to nonfiction and love stories to supernatural thrillers. Travis worked for thirteen years at Tyndale House Publishers after graduating college, an experience that was helpful in allowing him to understand the writing life as well as training him to work with a variety of personalities. His inspirational stories have...

From the Story Vault: Megan Collins is an author whose debut novel THE WINTER SISTER is being called gripping, luminous, and mysterious. She holds a MFA in creative writing and has taught her subject at a university level. Her work has been published by Blinders Literary Journal, Truthdig, The American Journal of Poetry, Quail Bell Magazine, and numerous others.

Raymond Khoury is a New York Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than forty languages. His book The Last Templar was adapted into a comic book and an NBC television miniseries. An acclaimed screenwriter and producer for both television and film, he has also penned several scripts for BBC series such as Spooks (known in the US as MI:5) and Waking the Dead.

From the Story Vault: Tony Marr is an award-winning speaker and storyteller who has spent years captivating audiences with his larger-than-life tales. From unbelievable adventures that will leave you wondering how he’s still alive to the untold stories of American past and scripture, Tony immerses his audiences in an imaginative world you will never want to leave.

Adam Hamdy is a British author and screenwriter who works with studios and production companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Prior to beginning his writing career, he worked as a strategy consultant advising global businesses, and is now the author of the Pendulum Trilogy, an epic series of conspiracy thriller novels. Publishers Weekly calls the first book, Pendulum, a “fast-paced, cinematic thr...

Jeff Buick writes fast moving fiction across numerous genres, including mystery, suspense, thrillers and crime. Over the last twenty years, he’s written twenty-one books. For Jeff, it’s all about the story. A tight plot with well-crafted characters means a psychological thriller geared for readers who love an adventure, and creating the characters who populate his books is second only to the plot...

From the Story Vault: Michelle Medlock Adams is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author who specializes in children’s books. Her latest book, I Love You the Mostest, recently won the prestigious Maxwell medal. When not working on her own assignments, she ghostwrites books for celebrities, politicians, and ministers, and teaches at writers’ conferences and universities across the nation...

Jamie Freveletti is an award-winning and internationally bestselling author of seven novels and four short stories. In addition to her own novels, she also wrote The Janus Reprisal and The Geneva Strategy for Robert Ludlum’s Covert One series. Her works have won an International Thriller Writers Best First Novel award and a Barry award and have been published into four languages. Apart from writin...

From the Story Vault: AJ Hartley is the New York Times and international bestselling author of young adult and adult fantasy, mystery/thriller, and historical fiction novels. He was born and raised in England, is a professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and has had a number of death-defying encounters with local wildlife while traveling around the globe....

Francine Rivers graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno. From 1976 to 1985, she had a successful writing career in the general market and her books were awarded or nominated for numerous awards and prizes. Shortly after becoming a Christian in 1986, Francine wrote Redeeming Love, which has held a spot on the Christian bestseller list f...

From the Story Vault: Steve Laube is a literary agent with nearly 40 years of experience in a variety of fields. He has worked as a bookstore manger, an award-winning editor with Bethany House Publishers, and is the president and founder of The Steve Laube Agency, which has represented nearly 2,000 new books in genres ranging from romance to fantasy to theology. Steve is also the owner and Preside...