🐮 Welcome to Bell Cow Book Club, the Bell Cow Productions podcast where Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride read along with the herd and then sit down for a live, unscripted conversation about books worth talking about. No edits. No safety net. No second take. Just two readers, one book, and wherever the conversation takes us.

📖 This month, we’re discussing Heartbreak Hollow by Frank F. Weber, one of the authors featured in the Bell Cow Cattle-Log. Weber’s true-crime novel follows Eliana Castillo after a horrific assault leaves her fighting to survive, while BCA investigator Jon Frederick tries to unravel what happened, who was responsible, and how the people closest to Eliana may be connected.

🔎 In this conversation, Rob and Michael dig into the book’s shifting perspectives, Eliana’s journey from trauma toward recovery, the complicated relationship between Jon and Serena, Lorenzo’s endless ability to rationalize his own behavior, the forensic investigation, and the betrayals at the center of the story. We also talk about Weber’s use of humor and Minnesota detail alongside some very dark material, the clues that point toward the novel’s larger mystery, and whether the characters ultimately earn the endings they receive.

⚠️ Spoiler warning: Bell Cow Book Club is a true book-club conversation. We discuss the entire novel, including major twists, character revelations, and the ending. Read first if you want to experience Heartbreak Hollow without spoilers.

📚 Heartbreak Hollow author Frank F. Weber is also a member of the Bell Cow Cattle-Log, our guide connecting readers, bookstores, and libraries with authors and their books.

Learn more about Frank here: https://www.frankweberauthor.com/ and pick up a copy of Heartbreak Hollow (or any of Frank's books) at any of the great independent bookstores out there.

🐮 Learn more about Bell Cow Productions at:

https://www.bellcowproductions.com

📺 Follow Bell Cow Productions and join future Bell Cow Book Club conversations live:

https://www.youtube.com/@BellCowProductions/streams

#BellCowBookClub #BellCowProductions #FrankFWeber #HeartbreakHollow #BookTube #BookClub #BookPodcast #TrueCrimeFiction #AuthorBooks #ReadersOfYouTube #BellCow

Bell Cow StoryLab is our monthly author panel series, hosted by authors Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride. Each episode brings multiple writers into one craft-focused conversation, spotlighting how books actually get built. Scene by scene, choice by choice.

In Writing Minnesota: The Myths, the Weather, the Quiet Weirdness, we talk about why Minnesota (and places like it) is such ripe soil for fiction. The weather that acts like pressure. “Nice” that reads like motive. Lakes and woods that feel comforting until they do not. We dig into the tiny sensory tells that signal “Upper Midwest” without naming it, and the craft choices that turn regional texture into real stakes.

We get into questions like:

What is one detail that instantly says “this is Minnesota,” without naming it?

When does weather stop being atmosphere and start functioning like plot?

How do you write “Minnesota nice” as character psychology, not a punchline?

What kind of Midwest weird looks normal until you stare at it for five seconds too long?

Today’s panelists (bios + links)

Cary Griffith: Award-winning author whose work draws power from wild places and the natural world, bringing regional landscapes to life on the page.

https://www.carygriffith.com/

Chris Norbury: Mystery-suspense-thriller author who builds pressure-cooker stories with Minnesota settings, where winter can be a wildcard, not just scenery.

https://chrisnorbury.com/

James W. Bennetts: Minnesota mystery and suspense author known for tight pacing and layered plots grounded in local texture and human stakes.

https://www.jameswbennettsbooks.com/

Connect with the hosts

Rob Jung: https://robjungwriter.com/

Michael David MacBride: https://www.michaelmacbride.com/

Everything Bell Cow: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/

More StoryLab info: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/podcast

#BellCow #BellCowProductions #BellCowStoryLab #StoryLab #WritingMinnesota #MinnesotaWriters #WritingCraft #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #MysteryWriters #CrimeFiction

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world—publishers, authors, editors and more—to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word.

The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow!

Today we’re joined by Minnesota author Christopher Valen, creator of the Detective John Santana series, who reads from Every Broken Thing, the latest Santana novel (released March 2026).

In Every Broken Thing, homicide detective John Santana returns to Colombia, and what should be a vacation turns into a nightmare. His childhood friend César Robledo is found drowned in a thermal pool, and Santana becomes the prime suspect. As the bodies stack up and the evidence keeps twisting, Santana is pulled into a conspiracy that touches paramilitary death squads, corrupt officials, and international arms smuggling.

In this episode, Christopher talks about building tension without losing clarity, writing international stakes with procedural credibility, and how he keeps a long-running series feeling sharp and alive when readers expect both momentum and heart.

You can learn more about Christopher here:

https://www.christophervalen.com/

You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (https://robjungwriter.com/ and https://www.michaelmacbride.com).

And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow at the official webpage: https://www.bellcowproductions.com (🐮 -- moo!)

#BellCowProductions #BellCowAuthorRoundUp #ChristopherValen #EveryBrokenThing #JohnSantana #MysteryBooks #CrimeFiction #PoliceProcedural #ThrillerBooks #MinnesotaAuthors

Mystery Conversations: A Bell Cow Podcast brings the best of Minnesota Mystery Night to listeners everywhere. These episodes are recorded live, in front of an audience, at the long-running monthly event that pairs top mystery and thriller writers with smart, engaging interviewers for lively, unscripted conversation. Expect craft talk, publishing stories, crime-fiction gossip of the respectable variety, and the kind of audience energy you only get when book people gather in a room together. Minnesota Mystery Night describes itself as a live, meet-the-author event featuring mystery and thriller writers in conversation with intriguing guests, held on the third Monday of each month in Mendota, Minnesota.

These Bell Cow encore presentations preserve those live conversations and give them a second life beyond the room. They also connect to Masters of Mystery Radio Hour, the broadcast version of Minnesota Mystery Night, which is recorded live at the event and carried on multiple radio stations in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, including KRWC-AM, AM950/KTNF, KTOE, KLTF, KCCR, KKBJ, KWNO, WWIS, and KJAM. Bell Cow Productions, meanwhile, exists to support writers through podcasts, resources, and behind-the-scenes literary conversation, which makes this series a natural fit for the herd.

Originally recorded 5/18/2026

The five members of Midwest Mystery Works introduce The Kill Code Collective, a collaborative medical thriller recorded live at Minnesota Mystery Night. Brian Lutterman, Rob Jung, John Baird Rogers, Chris Norbury, and Julie Holmes come together to talk about building one story out of five distinct writing voices, weaving their signature characters into a single high-stakes plot, and managing the research, continuity, and collaboration required to make the whole thing work. At the center of the novel is a Minnesota-based cardiac-device company facing unexplained deaths, leaked patient data, financial losses, and blackmail, forcing an unlikely collective of investigators to race against a deadly technological threat. Bell Cow is proud to give the evening an encore presentation, with the conversation also living on through Masters of Mystery Radio Hour.

Brian Lutterman is the author of Incel and the Pen Wilkinson suspense series. A former trial and corporate attorney, he writes thrillers rooted in business and corporate settings.

https://brianlutterman.com

John Baird Rogers writes the Joe Mayfield and Louise Napolitani thriller series. His background includes finance, technology, and biotech, and his novels blend suspense with strong tech elements.

https://johnbairdrogers.com

Chris Norbury is the award-winning author of the Matt Lanier mystery-thriller series, including Straight River, Castle Danger, and Dangerous Straits. He lives in southern Minnesota and is also known for his younger-readers adventure novel Little Mountain, Big Trouble.

https://chrisnorbury.com

Julie Holmes writes mysteries ranging from suspense with a touch of romance to police procedurals with a brush of extrasensory. A former aircraft mechanic, she is now a technical writer and the current president of the Twin Cities chapter of Sisters in Crime.

https://julieholmesauthor.com

Rob Jung is an author, publisher, and producer whose books include The Reaper, The Sower, Judgment Day, and Cloud Warriors. Also the host of Minnesota Mystery Night and Writer's Corner.

https://robjungwriter.com

Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com

Minnesota Mystery Night: https://www.mnmysterynight.com

Masters of Mystery Radio Hour: https://www.mnmysterynight.com/mmrh

#MysteryConversations #MinnesotaMysteryNight #KillCodeCollective

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world—publishers, authors, editors and more—to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word. The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow! Today we’re joined by Minnesota author Joe Egan, the writer behind the thrillers Steer Clear (the first Jack Walker book) and Run to the Rio, plus the mystery Losing Lee and two children’s books, Kate is Late and Jude is Rude. Joe writes page-turners that keep the pace moving while still letting character and consequence land.

In this episode, we talk about building momentum without sacrificing clarity, writing tension that stays grounded, and what changes (and what does not) when you move between thrillers, mysteries, and kidlit.

You can learn more about Joe here: https://www.joeeganbooks.com/

(If you want a bonus conversation starter, ask him about golf. He is, by his own admission, obsessive.)You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (https://robjungwriter.com/ and https://www.michaelmacbride.com).And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow at the official webpage: https://www.bellcowproductions.com (🐮 -- moo!)#bellcow #bellcowproductions #interviews #authors #roundup #bellcowroundup

Author Amran Gowani joins Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride on Beyond the Pasture for a lively conversation about his debut novel, LEVERAGE, a darkly funny Wall Street satire about ambition, power, money, identity, and the corrupting pull of corporate capitalism. Not only does his book feel particularly timely and engaging, but Amran feels like someone who is comfortable in any room, with any group of people. We immediately picked up the conversation as if we were old friends.

Amran brings a sharp and unusual background to the conversation: former organic chemist, former financial analyst, full-time author, stay-at-home dad, and fearless satirist of the systems that shape contemporary life. In this episode, we talk about how his experiences in Big Pharma and Wall Street helped shape LEVERAGE, how satire can expose uncomfortable truths, and why fiction is such a powerful way to explore politics, culture, capitalism, and survival.

LEVERAGE follows Ali “Al” Jafar, a hedge fund analyst whose career and life spiral after one disastrous investment loss. Facing an impossible ultimatum from his firm’s powerful founder, Al is pulled deeper into the darker side of high finance, where ambition, greed, pressure, and self-worth collide.

Learn more about Amran Gowani: https://www.amrangowani.com/

Learn more about LEVERAGE: https://www.amrangowani.com/leverage-a-novel

Explore Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com

Learn more about Beyond the Pasture and the Bell Cow podcast network: https://www.bellcowproductions.com/podcast

Subscribe to Bell Cow Productions for more conversations with authors, storytellers, publishers, and literary voices from inside and beyond the pasture.

#AmranGowani #Leverage #BeyondThePasture #BellCowProductions #AuthorInterview #WallStreetFiction #Satire #CorporateSatire #BookTube #WritersLife

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world, including publishers, authors, editors, and more, to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word.

The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow!

Today we’re joined by Minnesota author Richard J Sherry, whose newest Baker Mischief novel, Wednesday, After, continues a series that is equal parts page-turning and sharp-eyed about how power actually moves. These books are for readers who like their suspense with a side of uneasy recognition.

Richard writes with an instinct for systems, institutions, and the human choices that slip between them. He builds tension by showing what happens when information is controlled, when pressure gets applied, and when someone finally decides they are not going to look away. In this episode, Richard talks about writing series continuity, creating suspense that feels plausible, and why the Baker Mischief world keeps generating new trouble.

You can learn more about Richard at: https://www.facebook.com/RichardSherryAuthor

His books, including Wednesday, After (Baker Mischief), are available wherever books are sold.

You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (https://robjungwriter.com/ and https://www.michaelmacbride.com).

And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow at the official webpage: https://www.bellcowproductions.com (🐮 moo!)

#bellcow #bellcowproductions #interviews #authors #roundup #bellcowroundup

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world—publishers, authors, editors and more—to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word. The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow! Today we’re joined by Minnesota author Peggy Scholberg, whose book Girls in a World at War offers a rare and deeply human look at World War II through a female lens, filled with resilience, humor, and poignant moments. Built from a firsthand account, the story follows Kathy and four other young women who served in the 223rd General Hospital in France, working out of a converted horse barn near the action, and facing the realities of war up close.

Peggy is bringing her mother’s story to readers with care and determination, honoring the original voice while shaping it into a narrative that moves. The result is a book that captures the sharp contrast of wartime life: grief and grit, friendships and fear, and the strange, bright flashes of ordinary humanity that still show up in extraordinary circumstances.

You can learn more about Peggy at: https://www.authorpeggyscholberg.com/

Her book, Girls in a World at War, is available wherever books are sold. Minnesota listeners can also find it locally at Lake County Booksellers (White Bear Lake) and Book Line Books inside Union Depot in St. Paul.

In this episode, Peggy talks about preserving a legacy without sanding down its edges, writing women’s wartime experience with honesty, and why this story still matters right now.You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (https://robjungwriter.com/ and https://www.michaelmacbride.com).And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow at the official webpage: https://www.bellcowproductions.com (🐮 -- moo!)#bellcow #bellcowproductions #interviews #authors #roundup #bellcowroundup

Mystery Conversations: A Bell Cow Podcast brings the best of Minnesota Mystery Night to listeners everywhere. These episodes are recorded live, in front of an audience, at the long-running monthly event that pairs top mystery and thriller writers with smart, engaging interviewers for lively, unscripted conversation. Expect craft talk, publishing stories, crime-fiction gossip of the respectable variety, and the kind of audience energy you only get when book people gather in a room together. Minnesota Mystery Night describes itself as a live, meet-the-author event featuring mystery and thriller writers in conversation with intriguing guests, held on the third Monday of each month in Mendota, Minnesota.

These Bell Cow encore presentations preserve those live conversations and give them a second life beyond the room. They also connect to Masters of Mystery Radio Hour, the broadcast version of Minnesota Mystery Night, which is recorded live at the event and carried on radio stations in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, including KRWC-AM, AM950/KTNF, KTOE, KLTF, KCCR, KKBJ, KWNO, WWIS, and KJAM. Bell Cow Productions, meanwhile, exists to support writers through podcasts, resources, and behind-the-scenes literary conversation, which makes this series a natural fit for the herd.

Originally recorded 8/18/2025 at Lucky’s 13 Pub in Mendota, Minnesota: Eli Marks mystery author John Gaspard sits down with actor, entertainer, and audiobook narrator Jim Cunningham for an evening where mystery meets magic, theater, performance, and more than a little misdirection. Cunningham is the voice of the Eli Marks audiobooks, making this a conversation between the writer who creates the clues and the performer responsible for bringing the characters—and perhaps a few red herrings—to life. Bell Cow is proud to give the evening an encore presentation, with the conversation also living on through Masters of Mystery Radio Hour.

John Gaspard is the author of the Eli Marks mysteries, a cozy mystery series featuring a working magician who repeatedly finds himself solving crimes both onstage and off. Gaspard is also a filmmaker, podcaster, publisher, and author of the Como Lake Players mysteries.

https://www.elimarksmysteries.com

Jim Cunningham is an actor, writer, producer, director, master of ceremonies, and the audiobook narrator for the Eli Marks series. His long Twin Cities career has included the Brave New Workshop, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, television, radio, voice work, and live theater.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-cunningham-29019240

Bell Cow Productions: https://www.bellcowproductions.com

Minnesota Mystery Night: https://www.mnmysterynight.com

Masters of Mystery Radio Hour: https://www.mnmysterynight.com/mmrh

#MysteryConversations #MinnesotaMysteryNight #JohnGaspard

The weekly Bell Cow Herd Podcast, hosted by authors, Rob Jung and Michael David MacBride, rounds up the best voices from the Bell Cow Cattle-log and the wider publishing world—publishers, authors, editors and more—to shine a light on the people who compose the remarkable Midwestern literary community. With short, punchy chats, exclusive author readings, and deep dives into their background and craft, you’ll get to know, like never before, the people who embellish our lives via the written word.

The podcast rings the bell loud and clear, guiding you straight to your next favorite author, maybe even one who writes in your own backyard. Join the herd. Give the round-up a listen: subscribe, like, and follow!

Today we’re joined by Minnesota author David Bruns, who reads from Weapons Free, which begins the Third Option Series--a series with high-stakes momentum and the kind of tension that feels uncomfortably close to real life. This is national security storytelling built for readers who want the plot to move fast and the details to feel earned.

David is 50% of the team that writes thrillers balancing propulsion with credibility. He understands how to deliver big stakes while keeping characters human, and he builds suspense by turning pressure into narrative fuel. In this episode, David talks about writing modern threats without drifting into technobabble, keeping a series fresh, and what he focuses on when readers expect both realism and speed.

Book 2 in the Third Option Series--Alpha Strike--comes out today (July 21, 2026).

You can learn more about David at: https://www.bruns-olson.com/

His books are available wherever books are sold.

You can find out more about your hosts: Rob and Michael at their webpages (https://robjungwriter.com/ and https://www.michaelmacbride.com).

And, of course, you can find everything about Bell Cow at the official webpage: https://www.bellcowproductions.com (🐮 -- moo!)

#bellcow #bellcowproductions #interviews #authors #roundup #bellcowroundup