BookSpeak Network

Robert "R.B." Swift has marked a half-century of journalism, best known for his coverage of the State House in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the author of three books on Colonial American History, including Life, Liberty and Death on the Appalachian Frontier, released by Mastof Press in 2024.

Speaking with host Dr. Lawrence Knorr, Swift discusses his interest in history, his journalistic career, and his writings. A native of western New York, Swift is a graduate of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, with a bachelor's degree in American Studies. He lives in the Harrisburg area.

Gerri Almand has entertained and regaled readers over the past several years with her tales of RV travel, through The Reluctant RV Wife, Home is Where the RV Is, and Running from COVID in our RV Cocoon. 

Health issues, however, prompted Gerri and her husband to cut back their "Life on the Road" and move into an Over-55 community in the Eugene, Oregon area. From the Brown Posey Press imprint, Over-55 Conniptions: An Old Biddy Battles Aging is a humorous, angsty, and insightful work that examines aging, but as Gerri notes, it also led her to rediscover her personal resilience. 

You can find out more about Gerri Almand on her website. 

24th Century New Earth is a world ravaged by war, climate change, and factions. Within these are the haves and the have-nots. One of the latter, Kat Wallace, escapes slavers to find herself in the island kingdom of Bosch, where piracy is the game and the illicit "glitter" drives the economy. 

Motivated by revenge, Kat seeks to join the Pirate Force, but her plans may well be derailed by human need and a test of loyalty in a land where both are discretionary.

"A Merry Life" is the first of a (so far) four-volume collection by Sarah Branson. Her first taste of a futuristic, swashbuckling world came at age seven, when she and her family hopped a freighter to Australia. Sarah has taught science and history to students in the US, Brazil, and Japan. Her various careers also include being a licensed midwife. 

In addition to Kat Wallace's escapades, Sarah has written of those of her protagonist's children. "Unfurling the Sails: A Grey Shima Adventure" and "A Pirates' Pact: A Kik and Mac Adventure" are among those for middle-grade and young adult readers. 

Sarah Branson currently lives in Connecticut; you can find out more about Sarah and her writings on her website.

"Who is my father?"

The question has haunted Lydia Hamilton since she was five. A mixed-race girl growing up in early 19th-century Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lydia navigates her youth, her marriage, and eventual separation from Jacob Smith, to her dual role as housekeeper and business manager for an attorney named Thaddeus Stevens. From the Heart of Lydia is her story, available on the Loch Ness Books imprint.

Darlene Colón is the visible presence of Lydia Hamilton Smith. Performing in period costume, Colón shares Lydia's life and her accomplishments with local students and at historical events. She is the founder of the Lydia Hamilton Society and cofounder of the African American Historical Society of Southcentral Pennsylvania. Colón is also president of the Christiana Historical Society; she has received awards from the NAACP, the YWCA, the Junior League of Lancaster, and the Lancaster Historical Society for her first-person interpretations of local African American women. 

Dr. John LaCasse returns to the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss quantum physics, science, spirituality, and philosophy, along with a few light-hearted sidetracks. His new book, Fight for the Quantum: Essays on Spirituality and Science, is a collection of takes, described as a lively polemic that examines the "hard problem" of consciousness--why physical states give rise to subject experience.

The talk with Dr. Lawrence Knorr ranges from questions about the argument against the "flat earth," due to birds and magnetic fields, to the question of whether SpongeBob SquarePants could possibly exist in the world as we know it.

Dr. John LaCasse is also the author of Deals, Danger, Destiny, The Hunters, and Floppy Feathers, all available at Sunbury Press. He is a member of The American Association of University Professors, holds academic honoraria in Kappa Delta Pi and Golden Key, with a biographical profile in MARQUIS Who's Who. Dr. LaCasse is also is the 2025 winner of the 59th Street Medal for Literature. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

John P. Deeben is a historian, government archivist, and genealogist with a passion for Civil War history. Currently a reference archivist and Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Early American Records at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC, Deeben provides research assistance for military records from the Revolutionary War through the early 20th century. 

A frequent lecturer, Deeben's writings have appeared in national publications that include American Ancestors, NGS Magazine, and Civil War Times. He has self-published five books on various lines of his family within Northumberland County and researched the histories of several local Lutheran churches.

Deeben is also the author of Well and Eager for the Fray, Volumes 1 and 2, on Sunbury's Local History Press imprint. These two works chronicle the letters and correspondence of young Northumberland Countians who fought on the Union side in the Civil War. Their accounts, not to mention their fervor and optimism in dark times, make for intriguing reading.

A native of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, John Deeben holds degrees in American History from Gettysburg College and Penn State University. He lives in North Beach, Maryland.

In this episode of "The History Stacks," Col. Terrence W. Beltz discusses his love of the subject from his youth (which included dragging his parents to Civil War battlefields such as Gettysburg). This extended into Beltz's career with the US Army, from which he retired with the rank of colonel, and he also served with the Virginia Housing Development Authority in Richmond.

Beltz recounts the historical research that led to the Sunbury Press release, Unclaimed Valor: The History of the 130th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. His paternal great-grandfather, Pvt. William H. Seifert of York, PA, served in Company C of the 130th. Beltz tells of the company's history under the command of Col. Henry Zinn and his fate at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

A native of Canton, Ohio, Terrence W. Beltz earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Bowling Green University and a Master of Arts (History) at the University of Richmond. He served in Texas and South Korea during his military career. A member of the Sons of Union Veterans and the Sons of the American Revolution, Beltz devotes his spare time to family genealogy and volunteers with Find-A-Grave. He lives in Earlysville, Virginia. 

The roots of rock n' roll run deep in the blues, soul, R&B, and gospel music. Undoubtedly, one of the hubs is Jackson, Mississippi. Jacktown USA: The Capital City of American Music chronicles the history of the music and profiles several of the artists who exemplify its spirit. Included in this book are stories, anecdotes, and especially photographs that tell the tales of the music, the people who played it, those who championed these artists, and the respect for those who left the footprints they follow.

For example: which Mississippi vocal group went viral after an impromptu performance at a fast-food joint? Why was a Grammy Award-winning arranger from the Delta kicked out of junior high school? Who changed his direction back to the blues...after walking his dog?

In this edition of the Brown Posey Press Show, Kamel King and Joe Lee discuss some of the history of "Jacktown, USA" and their roles in bringing the music forth and keeping a unique art form alive. Among these artists are Zac Harmon and Stevie J. Blues (whose music you will hear bits of), Four Washington, Eddie Cotton, Dexter Allen, and others, who appear on an accompanying CD and an upcoming documentary. The book is available at Dogwood Press, Lemuria Books in Jackson, plus all online retailers.

Kamel King is an attorney who specializes in entertainment and intellectual property law; he is also the head of Emerald Tiger Artist Management. Joe Lee has a background in radio and television and is the author of a dozen books of suspense and non-fiction.

In a tale described as "Fargo meets Miss Marple," Ginny Fite brings her latest work, Mrs. Goodman's First Murder to the Milford House Press imprint. A darkly comic twist on the murder mystery genre, an amateur sleuth investigates crime in a small town, where no one is an angel, everyone has an agenda, and fate deals from the bottom of the deck.

Ginny Fite has written widely across the literary spectrum with her numerous releases. Mrs. Goodman's First Murder is her tenth novel. Her previous works include Sanctuary, The Physics of Things, and the Sam LaGarde series, which can be found on the Sunbury Press website. She has also produced three works of poetry and a collection of humorous essays on aging. 

A graduate of Rutgers and Johns Hopkins Universities, Ginny Fite has had a 40-year career in communications, with experience in newspapers, magazines, universities, politics and a robotic R&D firm. She lives in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. 

Find out more about Ginny Fite here.

Nina has grown up in a family haunted by its past; generations of misfortune and untimely deaths have led Nina to believe her family may be cursed.

While writing a novel, Nina has discovered her descendent, Elspet Bruce was accused of witchcraft in the 18th century. Fiction appears to become fantasy, bordered on reality. Nina passes into the spiritual realms, to make contact with Elspet and to break the family curse in A Witch's Penance.

Drawing on Scottish history and their background, J.K. Divia brings mythology, the supernatural and the paranormal in their latest work. An "American Selkie," J.K. has forged their own path with works that include What the Sea Knows, Berja, and A Sea of Blood and Tears. They live in rural Maryland.