By Michael Agnew and Laura Vosika
The podcast currently has 65 episodes available.
Steve Downes is a contemporary Irish poet and novelist, currently living and working in Ireland. Educated in N.U.I. Maynooth, he holds a Degree in Classical History and a Masters in Cultural Anthropology.
Steve has published poetry; science fiction, including Cosmogonic Marbles, Temporal Tome, Gadzooks Armageddon and Botolf Tales (the Botolf Chronicles), Warworld: Shadows & Dominions (part 1), Murder on the Alpha Centauri Express and The Deaths of Guner Zoon; and four children’s Books: The Upstairs Cat Series (3 books) & An Apprenticeship to Doctor Vantastic.
Steve continues to write and publish work in many genres.
In 2017 & 2018 Steve exhibited from his collections of historical photographs, Lost Graveyards of Ireland (2017) and A Landscape For Yourself (2018). Among other things, we talked about his painting, the IRA, angsty poetry, and...the world's oldest maternity hospital!
00:00 START
05:26 Drink 1: Irish Coffee
12:28 Reading 1: chase & fight in Dublin
17:53 The Rotunda, world's oldest maternity hospital
23:55 Why the Irish give Dublin's statues...interesting...names
25:52 Tales of the IRA
33:01 Drink 2: The Love and Murder
38:21 Reading 2: Murder on the Alpha Centauri Express
42:07 On marketing
43:07 From high school dropout to a masters in classical history to sci-fi!
48:28 Drink 3: The Mission Impossible
51:57 Reading 3: Dr. Vantastic
55:43 Steve's many genres
Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with Stephen Downes
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Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Kathy Murray is a certified personal trainer with over thirty years’ experience in the fitness industry. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she was a member of the 1983 National Cheerleading Championship Team. After college she competed in and won the United States Aerobic Championship in 1986 and spent the year traveling the world as a Fitness Ambassador and worked as a free-lance educator to teach fitness to European Instructors.
While in Munich, she coached the Munich Cowboys (American Football) Cheerleaders to six national titles in cheerleading and was head trainer/translator for the German Gladiators during a pilot TV show for the International Gladiators. Kathy has owned her personal training business Fit Bodies for 25 years and in 2022 co-authored the Audible book, The Munich Cowboy Cheerleaders based upon her true story of her time coaching the squad. She has recently released it in both paperback and ebook formats. In her spare time she is a competitive triathlete which she has been enjoying for 20 plus years now. She lives in Atlanta with her husband Lutalo, dog Mingus and cat Sassy.
We talked a lot about the impact of travel, experiencing other cultures, and learning languages, in addition to cheerleading and Kathy's time as a coach.
Kathy's Readings:
00:00 Start
08:40 The Competition Starts!
29:40 Speeding Ticket--AGAIN!
48:45 Conflict with Dad (or...Following Our Dreams)
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
06:35 The Cheerleader
26:35 The Speeding Ticket
46:12 Grumpy Old man
Interview Highlights:
20:15 Life Lessons from Cheerleading and Band
22:00 The Importance of Fitness and Other Thoughts on Exercise
35:50 Other Countries' Attitudes Toward Foreigners and Americans
41:11 Overcoming the Language Barrier
54:20 Doing What You Love
55:54 Friendship with a Celebrity and Traveling the World
Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with KATHY MURRAY
COMING NEXT MONTH:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Like any good soldier’s son, Frank Warner moved with his family from fort to fort, accepted each change, and was ready to move again. Then, in 1960, Frank’s father was ordered to Fort Huachuca (WahCHOOka), Arizona. This was the fifth Army post of Frank’s childhood, the first place he never wanted to leave. So when his father was ordered to Vietnam in 1963, sending Frank and the rest of the family to Pennsylvania, the uprooting wasn’t easy. Frank’s book, “Tumbleeweed Forts: Adventures of an Army Brat,” describes the joys of living in Fort Huachuca, and the heartache of leaving it behind.
Tune in for a fun conversation and great cocktails, including in red, white, and blue for July!
Frank's Readings:
00:00 Start
10:02 A Bike Race on Base!
30:57 Atomic Dollars
47:01 Leaving Huachuca
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
06:11 Red, White, and Blue
25:40 The Atomic Cocktail
44:09 Goodbye Sunshine
Interview Highlights:
19:10 This plane is on fii--ire!
23:29 Why Huachuaca? Why it was magical
35:02 Silver Dollars and Stories on Atomic Testing
38:34 Private Jones' Buried Treasure & the Scientist with Alien Technology
43:31 How Tombstone got its Name
50:15 Finding Old Friends
52:12 Dad going to Vietnam, Saving the Ashes
Visit our PATREON for our extended AFTER HOURS with FRANK WARNER
COMING NEXT MONTH:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Sharon Bennett Connolly is the best-selling British author of several non-fiction history books. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Sharon has studied history academically and just for fun – and has even worked as a tour guide at a castle. She also writes the popular history blog, www.historytheinteresngbits.com and co-hosts the podcast A Slice of Medieval, alongside historical novelist Derek Birks.
Sharon regularly gives talks on women's history, for historical groups, fesvals and in schools; her book Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest, is a recommended text for teaching the Norman Conquest in the Naonal Curriculum. She is a feature writer for All About History and Living Medieval magazines and her TV work includes Australian Television's Who Do You Think You Are?
Tune in for a fun conversation and great beer!
Sharon's Readings:
00:00 Start
11:16 The Young Bride's First Duties
29:12 Stephen's Coronation
46:43 Matilda at the Helm
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
08:01 The Nikolaschka from Germany
26: The Mourning Cocktail
43:39 Belgian Brownie
Interview Highlights:
15:21 The Wreck of the White Ship: a king's tragedy
21:33 How oppressed were women in medieval times?
24:06 How a British author ended up on Australian TV
31:33 Widows and abbeys: the real reason
38:17 Why history is important (and a real-life vampire!)
51:50 Women, Leadership, and Leading Warriors
54:43 Do we ever learn from history?
COMING NEXT MONTH:
Like any good soldier’s son, Frank Warner moved with his family from fort to fort, accepted each change, and was ready to move again. Then, in 1960, Frank’s father was ordered to Fort Huachuca (WahCHOOka), Arizona. This was the fifth Army post of Frank’s childhood, the first place he never wanted to leave. So when his father was ordered to Vietnam in 1963, sending Frank and the rest of the family to Pennsylvania, the uprooting wasn’t easy. Frank’s book, “Tumbleeweed Forts: Adventures of an Army Brat,” describes the joys of living in Fort Huachuca, and the heartache of leaving it behind.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Robert Heath grew up in different places around the world, beginning in Japan in the late ‘40s. Robert and his eight siblings followed the assignments of their father, a sergeant in the U.S. Army. He ultimately became an educator for 37 years, serving all grade levels from Pre-K through doctoral programs in South and North Carolina. He now lives in the mountains of NC, where he loves writing and hiking. You can find him at face book at BratBob3of9
We talk about Bob's adventures growing up in Taiwan, Japan, Germany and the United States, with one sister and seven brothers, life as a military brat, the fun of large families and lots of boys and the antics kids get up to behind mom's back, U.S. history, bullying...and the day Bob was captured by Chiang Kai-Shek's soldiers and brought face with the military leader himself! Tune in for a fun conversation and great beer!
Bob's Readings:
00:00 Start
08:56 How About a Date?
25:54 Swinging
43:03 Captured by Enemy Soldiers!
Chris's Beer Pairings:
07:52 Bell's Smitten
23:29 Masthead's Tire Swing
39:54 Great Leap's The Hidden General
Interview Highlights:
12:36 How Bob's mother asked out his future mother-in-law
14:47 The stories mom never knew about--and how they led to a book
18:49 US history through personal experience
33:27 Americans in Japan two years after Hiroshima
36:26 Culture shock on returning to your own country
48:40 Do military parents make a point of not talking politics with brats?
51:16 Wild and free: military life or the times?
COMING NEXT MONTH:
Sharon Bennett Connolly has been fascinated by history for over 40 years and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, ‘in recognition of your contribution to historical scholarship.’ She’s studied history academically and just for fun and even worked as a tour guide at historical sites.
One Christmas her husband gave her…a blog – and she hasn’t looked back. The blog has given her the chance to share the history she loves – the stories themselves, and the places they happened. And in 2017 she completed her first non-fiction book, Heroines of the Medieval World.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
· Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: MUSIC; FAITH
· Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & more at the Morristown Farmer's Market, 130 W Morris Boulevar, Morristown, TN on May 10, June 7, and July 5.
· See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
· See Laura's interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
J.S. Absher is a poet, memoirist, and independent scholar. As a teetotaler—he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—he can’t add much insight into brews, but he can hold his own when it comes to books. Stan’s first full-length book of poetry, Mouth Work (St. Andrews University Press) won the 2015 Lena Shull Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society. Stan’s second full-length book of poetry, Skating Rough Ground, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Press. Poems have recently been published or accepted by The McNeese Review, Mormon Lit Blitz, Triggerfish Critical Review, Irreantum, and Tar River Review and have won awards from BYU Studies Quarterly and the journal Dialogue. His poems have been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize and twice for Best of the Net. He has also published an annotated editions of two memoirs written in the late 19th century by Ida Crumpler Beard. Stan has two prose projects under way. His father killed himself in December 1977. Earlier that year he was a whistleblower in a government investigation of the bank where he worked. The confidential information he handed on widened the scope of the investigation and led to the arrest and conviction of the bank’s CEO and two other executives and the firing of several other employees. This turmoil, on top of his already unstable mental state, contributed to his death. Stan’s account of these events is based on his father’s memoirs and letters, more than a hundred newspaper articles, his own journal, and the memoirs of another participant. Outside those directly concerned, it is now a minor story, but it connects in interesting ways with the Watergate scandal and other major events. Stan’s memoir of these events will include poems he’s written and published over many years. Stan is also currently researching and writing about the history of North Carolina immediately before the imposition of Jim Crow, focusing on fifty African American men who were arrested in 1895 for their efforts to stop a lynching in Winston-Salem, a lynching that thankfully did not occur. Stan is trying to understand who they were—their jobs and professions, their backgrounds, their kinship and social networks (to the extent they can be determined), and what happened to them afterwards. Stan’s interest in this event was sparked by the one-sided account in Ida Beard’s memoir mentioned above. Absher lives in Raleigh, NC, with his wife Patti. His work in poetry and prose can be followed on www.jsabsherpoetry.com.
Stan's Readings:
00:00 Start
08:12 The Pear Tree and Remembering Clara
23:06 What I Knew and When
43:09 Building a Wall
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
04:21 Brazilian Lime Aid
20:53 The Marigold
40:40 White Peach
Interview Highlights:
16:35 The business of being a poet
19:07 Travels to France, Belize, and Taiwan
30:36 Blowing the Whistle: family issues and corporate greed
35:11 Links to the Nixon scandal
40:46 How ancient Rome influenced a poem
50:01 From The Deserted Wife to a thwarted lynching and Jim Crow
COMING NEXT MONTH: Manswell T. Peterson has endured many challenges in his life. He decided to put those experiences to good use by writing novels as an adult. He is founder of OmegaMan Publishing & Manswell Peterson Studios. He has written at least fourteen books since 2012. Escape to the Locrottum Universe – a modern fantasy world where royal drama, tyranny, and misunderstandings run rampant! www.locrottumuniverse.com
UPCOMING EVENTS:
· Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: MUSIC; FAITH
· Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & more at the Morristown Farmer's Market, 130 W Morris Boulevar, Morristown, TN on April 13, June 7, and July 5, noon to 5 pm
· See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
· See Laura's interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Theresa Halvorsen has a “don’t tell me I can’t do that,” attitude about life and is an author, publisher, editor, and YouTuber. She’s overly-caffeinated and at times, wine-soaked. The author of multiple cross-genre works, including Warehouse Dreams, Lost Aboard and River City Widows, Theresa wonders what sleep is. She’s the owner of No Bad Books Press and one of the hosts of the popular YouTube channel, the Semi-Sages of the Pages.
In whatever free time is left, (ha!) Theresa enjoys board games, concerts, geeky conventions, and reading. Her life goal is to give "Oh-My-Gosh-This-Book-Is-So-Good!" happiness to her readers.
She lives in Temecula with her husband, her adult children, their partners (she has no idea who actually lives in her house and who’s just visiting) and many pets. Find her at www.theresaHauthor.com and on Tiktok and Facebook.
Theresa's Readings:
· Wonderland's Mad Queen – 8:57
· River City Widows, Chapter 1 – 23:52
· Riding the El – 42:55
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
· Queen of Hearts (paired to Wonderlands' Mad Queen) – 7:20
· River City (paired to River City Widows, Chapter 1) – 21:41
· The El (paired to Riding the El) – 40:21
Interview Highlights:
· Building a career as an indie author – 15:08
· The Dad's Playbook to Labor and Delivery – 16:09
· The ghost at Lochranza Castle – 31:36
· PTSD: victimization, responsibility, blame and trauma – 36:07
· Stories of portals: are we seeking escape? – 48:40
· Houses as inspiration – 52:00
COMING NEXT MONTH: J.S. Absher is a poet, memoirist, and independent scholar. As a teetotaler—he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—he can’t add much insight into brews, but he can hold his own when it comes to books. Stan’s first full-length book of poetry, Mouth Work (St. Andrews University Press) won the 2015 Lena Shull Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society. Stan’s second full-length book of poetry, Skating Rough Ground, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Press. Poems have recently been published or accepted by The McNeese Review, Mormon Lit Blitz, Triggerfish Critical Review, Irreantum, and Tar River Review and have won awards from BYU Studies Quarterly and the journal Dialogue. His poems have been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize and twice for Best of the Net. He has also published an annotated editions of two memoirs written in the late 19th century by Ida Crumpler Beard. He currently has two more projects underway.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
· Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEMES: MUSIC; FAITH
· Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & more at the Morristown Farmer's Market, 130 W Morris Boulevar, Morristown, TN on April 13, June 7, and July 5
· See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
· See Laura's interview with Rob & Joan Carter at INDIE NOVEL SOURCE
· Theresa will be at Wondercon in Anaheim: March 29-31
· LA Festival of Books: April 20-21
· Comic-Con Revolution in Ontario: May 18-19
· Comic-Con San Diego: July 25-28
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Peter is the Author of 30 books, fiction and non-fiction and published on 4 continents. He is a resident expert and regular of Top 50 USA radio and TV markets including Fox, CBS, ABC, ESPN, Coast to Coast, iHeart and over 100 major radio and TV networks.
Peter is a multi-award-winning, director, cinematographer, actor and producer on 7 continents Peter has written more than 800 articles (self-help and fiction) appearing in major news media world- wide He has been a university professor for 28 years, as well as being a psychologist, specializing in criminal psychology, sports psychology and addiction studies.
www.peterandrewsacco.com
Peter's Readings:
· Gummer, the World's Last Toothless Vampire – 8:20
· Meeting a Vampire Actor – 27:43
· A Haunted Air BnB – 42:33
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
· Bloody Maru (paired to Gummer) – 5:57
· Love Bite (paired to Meeting a Vampire Actor) – 26:00
· The Haunted Mansion (paired to A Haunted Air BnB) – 39:45
Interview Highlights:
· Jack the Ripper/criminal profiling – 15:40
· Music or criminal psychology? – 22:09
· Adventuring in Antarctica!? – 31:53
· Why are we drawn to vampires & zombies? – 34:03
· From author to TV show host – 47:17
· Scariest things seen--and why Peter quit the TV show – 48:29
COMING NEXT MONTH: Theresa Halvorsen is the author to the Dad’s Playbook to Labor and Delivery and Warehouse Dreams and countless articles on pregnancy, birth and parenting. But her true love is speculative fiction.
Theresa enjoys interacting with other writers and helps to produce a writing Podcast called the Semi Sages of the Pages She co-runs a writer’s group in Temecula that meets once a month, and belongs to various critique groups.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
· Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEME: MUSIC
· Laura will be selling her books, premium rabbit fertilizer & knit goods at Overhome Trading Post in ThornHill Tennessee, February 10, 2024
· See Laura's interview at Central Valley Talk
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
Stephanie Sanders-Jacob is an author and artist from Sandusky, Ohio. Her alien abduction novel, Singing All the Way Up, debuted with No Bad Books Press in July 2023. Her short fiction has been featured by Books of Horror, Hearth & Coffin, Mixer, Mosaic, and Ether Arts. You can find her online at www.sandersjacob.com and her artwork at www.rabbitandrain.com
Stephanie's Readings:
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
Interview Highlights:
COMING NEXT MONTH: Peter Sacco, award-winning film producer, director, writer on 7 continents!
UPCOMING EVENTS: Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEME: MUSIC. See www.gabrielshornpress.com/poetry-anthology
Laura —
Stephanie —
Find us at —
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
M. B. (Michael) Zucker has been interested in storytelling for as long as he can remember. He devoted himself to historical fiction at fifteen and earned his B.A. at Occidental College and his J.D. at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He lives in Virginia with his family. He is the author of four novels: The Eisenhower Chronicles, A Great Soldier in the Last Great War, Theodore Roosevelt and the Hunt for the Liopleurodon, and The Middle Generation: A Novel of John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine. Among his honors is the Best Fictional Biography Award at the 2023 BookFest.
www.mbzucker.com
Michael's Readings:
Chris's Cocktail Pairings:
Interview Highlights:
COMING NEXT MONTH: Theresa Halvorsen, paranormal and pregnancy!
UPCOMING EVENTS: Gabriel's Horn is accepting submissions for its anthology NEW THEME: MUSIC
Our theme music is from www.bensound.com.
The podcast currently has 65 episodes available.