BookSpeak Network

On this episode of Milford House Mysteries, Sherry and Joan interview fellow Milford House Press author about his debut novel Chestnut Street.  This suspense novel involves a dangerous plot spanning five decades which looms over Philadelphia. Powerful men are willing to do anything to keep the truth from coming out. But when they make the mistake of framing Sam Brighton for a crime he didn’t commit and take away everything he holds dear, they unknowingly unleash a dangerous enemy who will do anything to bring them down.

Readers' Favorite says, "Simon Landry's first novel, a fiction thriller, and it ticks the boxes when it comes to a unique plot, an engaging main character,good use of dialogue throughout, reasonable pace, unexpectedtwists and a satisfying ending...if ever there was a story that exemplifies how a person's life can suddenly spiral out of controlwhen bad things happen to a good person, Chestnut Street is it." Join us for a conversation with Landry about this book, his other work, and his journey to become an author.

Milford House Mysteries Hosts - Sherry Knowlton is the author of the Alexa Williams series of murder mysteries including Dead of Autumn, Dead of Summer, Dead of Spring, and Dead of Winter. Joan West is the author of the Carlisle Crime Cases series including Dying for Vengeance, Courting Doubt and Darkness, Darkness at First Light, Had a Dying Fall and Things Strangled.

Keeping up appearances is paramount in Vintage Woods. In his fiction debut, Josh Penzone tells eleven tales of the dysfunctional, the strange, and the outragous in the characters of a suburban housing development. 

People struggling with their past, those seeking some kind of future, and others who realize the life they thought they wanted is not all they hoped for. 

A Pushcart Prize nominee, Josh Penzone's stories have appeared in Eunoia Review, Junto Magazine, Five on the Fifth, Blue Lake Review, and other publications. A public educator for two decades, he lives in Ohio with his family.

Dead Letters: Delivering Unopened Mail from a Pennsylvania Ghost Town

On assignment for a small-town newspaper in rural Pennsylvania, rookie reporter, Jessica Weible, meets Joan Swigart, a creative fireball and “pioneer in print.” As the two women forge a relationship based on their passion for storytelling, Joan reveals a mystery that she had discovered years ago, but had never solved—a pile of dead letters found in an abandoned general store, just before it was torn down. Joan gives Jessica the letters, each stamped and dated over a hundred years ago, and encourages Jessica to investigate the untold stories of the people and places contained in each one.

What begins as yet another assignment for the reporter, a young millennial who relies happily on email and texting as the primary means of communication, develops into a heartfelt mission to tell the story of the people and places in the letters. The young reporter’s journey takes unexpected twists and turns through the quiet lumber towns of Pennsylvania, the early American settlements in Massachusetts, the bustling crowds at Ellis Island, the violent strikes at the Passaic textile mills, and beyond. Dead Letters is an intimate portrait of small town America and the people who, at times, risked everything in pursuit of economic prosperity, religious freedom, and social equity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jess Weible is a freelance writer and reporter. She is also a founding editor for The Watershed Journal, an inclusive, regional literary magazine for the western Pennsylvania wilds. Jess leads two writing groups, the Writer’s Block Party and the Rebecca M. Arthur’s Young Writers. She lives with her husband and two boys in Brookville, Pennsylvania.

A special Milford House Mysteries for authors. During this COVID-19 crisis, many of us have been quarantined at home. For some authors, it's been a great opportunity to buckle down and finish that short story or novel they've been working on. Others might be working their day jobs from home, helping their kids with schoolwork, or dealing with the illness for themselves or family. As a result, finding the time or will to write might be a struggle. Especially when you add the stress caused by the pandemic and the precautions we must take to protect ourselves. In this episode, co-hosts Sherry Knowlton and J.M. West offer some thoughts on how to deal with the challenge of writing in this new environment.

Milford House Mysteries Co-hosts - Sherry Knowlton is the author of the Alexa Williams series of murder mysteries including Dead of Autumn, Dead of Summer, Dead of Spring and Dead of Winter Joan West (JM West) is the author of the Carlisle Crime Cases series including Dying for Vengeance, Courting Doubt and Darkness, Darkness at First Light, Had a Dying Fall, and Things Strangled.

Performance comes easily for Megan O'Russell--an author, playwright, actress and singer, Megan is most prolific with the former. Her string of Young Adult series delve into adventure, vampires, magic and dystopia, including "The Tethering," "When Worlds Began," and "Girl of Glass." She has also written "How I Magically Messed Up My Life in Four Freakin' Days."

A native of Upstate New York, Megan hosts the podcast, "A Book and a Dream," and can be found touring and traveling the world, as well as trodding the boards onstage alongside her husband, Christopher.

The storied career of Janiva Magness is ongoing. The award-winning singer has a string of blues and like-influenced recordings behind her. Now, Magness tells her life story in "Weeds Like Us."

Not for the faint of heart, Magness pulls no punches about growing up in an abusive, dysfunctional family, marked by physical and sexual abuse, suicide and drug use. Magness spares no words of criticism, especially on herself as she tells of a wild, dissolute life, but one which turns to the thing that becomes her saving grace: music.

Names, many names are familiar here--Magness sang, played and toured with legends in both the blues and rock worlds. Her own journey as a recording artist is detailed here, and Magness turns aside critics and her own personal demons in an empowering story.

Twenty-five Sunbury Press authors contributed twenty-seven chapters about the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on society. Based on their experiences in a variety of fields, they provide their projections about the changes facing us, many of which have already been underway for some time. On this show:

Cheryl Brooks -- How Museums and Galleries Will Adapt to the Coronavirus

Marianne Bickett -- Coronavirus, Instrument of Change: How the Arts Will Usher in a New Era 

Merrill Shaffer -- The Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Sports

Twenty-five Sunbury Press authors contributed twenty-seven chapters about the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on society. Based on their experiences in a variety of fields, they provide their projections about the changes facing us, many of which have already been underway for some time.  On this episode:

Tory Gates -- Change and Embracing It

Penny Fletcher -- Materialism vs. Spirituality

Chris Fenwick -- Creativity—Necessity is a Mother

In this episode of Milford House Mysteries, co-hosts Sherry Knowlton and J.M. West interview Lawrence Knorr, Publisher of Sunbury Press, Inc. and editor of the new release, After the Pandemic: Visions of Life after COVID-19. The book, a collection of forward-looking essays by 25 Sunbury Press authors, just hit number one in it's category on Amazon. We ask Knorr to tell us about the evolution of the idea for the anthology, the collaborative process in getting such a timely collection of essays to press, and his own piece in the book about the Economic Impacts of COVID-19. Please join us.

Milford House Mysteries Hosts - Sherry Knowlton is the author of the Alexa Williams series of murder mysteries including Dead of Autumn, Dead of Summer, Dead of Spring, and Dead of Winter. Joan West is the author of the Carlisle Crime Cases series including Dying for Vengeance, Courting Doubt and Darkness, Darkness at First Light, Had a Dying Fall and Things Strangled.

Twenty-five Sunbury Press authors contributed twenty-seven chapters about the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on society. Based on their experiences in a variety of fields, they provide their projections about the changes facing us, many of which have already been underway for some time. On this show:

Scott Zuckerman MD - Public Health, Civil Liberties, and Life After the Pandemic

                                   - Medicine in the Post-Coronapocalypse Era

Will Delavan PhD - Looming Health Insurance Problem

Pat LaMarche - Politics Makes No Bedfellows