Authorship; Fiction - Authorship; Novelists, American - 20th century - Biography; See, Carolyn - Authorship
Carolyn See discusses her book, “Making a Literary Life.” She begins by explaining that the book's target audiences are aspiring writers and dreamers. She wrote the book in an effort to teach them how to live their dreams. The book is a...
Seth Swirsky discusses his book, “Something to Write Home About.” He begins by explaining that the point of the book is that everyone has a story to tell about baseball. The book includes letters from President George Bush, Senator Ted Kennedy,...
Science fiction - Authorship; Authors, American - 20th century - Biography; Bradbury, Ray, 1920-
Ray Bradbury discusses his book, “Let’s All Kill Constance,” and Jerry Weist’s biography of him, “Bradbury: An Illustrated Life: A Journey to Far Metaphor.” Martinson begins by reading an excerpt from “Let’s All Kill Constance.” ...
Gene Perret discusses his book, “How to Write and Sell Your Sense of Humor.” He begins by talking about how he writes jokes for comedians Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller. He began writing jokes when he sent Phyllis Diller some lines, and she...
Brady, Joanna (Fictitious character) - Fiction;
Fourth of July celebrations - Fiction;
Policewomen - Fiction;
Sheriffs - Fiction;
Cochise County (Ariz.) - Fiction;
Arizona - Fiction
J.A. Jance discusses her novel, “Exit Wounds.” She begins by explaining that this book continues the series that follows characters Sherriff Joanna Brady and her husband Butch. She talks about how Joanna investigates the death of a woman who...
Jennifer Allen discusses her book, “Better Get Your Angel On,” which consist of a series of short stories. Jennifer is the daughter of the famous football coach George Allen, who taught her resilience. Jennifer spent much time alone as she...
Political corruption - Fiction; Success in business - Fiction
David R. Cudlip discusses his novel, “Comprador.” He begins by explaining that his book is about six private financers who control worldwide trade markets. He says that although his book is fiction, he patterned it after real people and...
Middle-aged women - Poetry;
Self-realization in women - Poetry
Sonya Sones discusses her book, “The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus.” She begins by explaining that she wanted to write about things that have been happening in her life as she gets older. Martinson asks Sones to read a passage about a mother’s...
Steven Kotler discusses his novel, “The Angle Quickest for Flight.” He begins by explaining that his book is about the search for religious truth. He talks about his research process, and that the novel took 10 years to write. He discusses...
Hal Ackerman discusses his book, “Write Screenplays that Sell: The Ackerman Way.” Ackerman says screenwriting takes a lot of time and effort and that stories come from the character’s desires. He talks about the accomplishments of some of...
Paris (France) - Fiction; London (England) - Fiction; Great Britain - History - 18th century - Fiction; Nobility - Fiction; Arranged marriage - Fiction
Karleen Koen discusses her book, “Through a Glass Darkly.” She begins by explaining her background in English literature and how it led her to write historical fiction set in the eighteenth century. She goes on to discuss her career before she...
Taylor, William Desmond, 1877-1922; Murder - Investigation - California - Los Angeles - Case studies; Motion picture producers and directors - California - Los Angeles -Biography
Charles Higham discusses his book, “Murder in Hollywood.” He begins by sharing that the director King Vidor was a friend of his and before he died Vidor asked him to use his papers to write the history of the murder of William Desmond Taylor....
Widows - Fiction; Inheritance and succession - Fiction; Ranch life - California - Fiction
Earlene Fowler discusses her book, “The Saddlemaker’s Wife.” She begins by discussing why she decided to write her first stand-alone book after writing twelve books in the same series. She shares how the benefits of writing a stand-alone book...
Nathaniel Philbrick discusses his book, “In the Heart of the Sea.” He begins by explaining the tragedy of the Essex, a ship that got attacked by a whale, which inspired Herman Melville to write, “Moby Dick.” Philbrick talks about the...
World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.); World's fairs
Miles Beller discusses his novel, “Dream of Venus.” He begins by explaining how it’s a story of the 1939 World’s Fair which took place in New York. He describes how he wanted to write the book as a non-traditional narrative with many...
World War, 1939-1945 - Europe - Fiction; Americans - Europe - Fiction; Women journalists - Fiction; Europe - Fiction
Brock and Bodie Thoene discuss their novel, “The Twilight of Courage.” They describe how the book took one year to write with 8 months of research and 4 months of writing. The novel is a historical fiction account of events during World War...
Americans - Italy - Fiction; Mothers and sons - Fiction; Jewish women - Fiction; War crimes - Fiction; Revenge - Fiction; Venice (Italy) - Fiction
Joseph Kanon discusses his novel, “Alibi.” He begins by explaining his own travels to Venice and how he knew he wanted to write a story about the city. He talks about Venice’s role in the Holocaust and how he incorporated that into his...
Nancy Horan discusses her novel, “Loving Frank.” She begins by explaining that the book is about Frank Lloyd Wright’s time living in Oak Park, IL and how he falls in love with his client Mamah Cheney. Horan talks about what it was like to...
Ian J. Morrison discusses his book, “The Second Curve.” He begins by explaining that the book took 4 months to write and predicts what can be done for companies in the future. He compares Walmart and Kmart and says that Walmart did a better...
Ray Shannon discusses his novel, “Man Eater.” He begins by explaining how his real name is Gar Anthony Haywood, but he decided to write this book under an alias so his readers wouldn’t get confused. He says the book is about a gangster who...