BookSpeak Network

"What happens when the saviors of the world are falling apart at the seams?"

Fifteen years ago, six college housemates unwittingly opened a portal which unleashed monsters upon the world. Of the six, only Charlie touched this portal, and has paid the price, in the loss of his family. In addition, his friends' memories of the incident were erased.

Now the Nowhere Men are coming home, and Charlie must drop concerns about his mess of a life and teach his old friends what he knows (and they forgot) in order to stop the onslaught, but also to be able to face their pasts. 

"The Way We Used to Walk" is the collaboration of Megan Engelhardt and Mark Beall. The pair met just before their freshman year of college. They have gamed, podcasted and written together. Speaking with host Tory Gates, Engelhardt and Beall explore their times together, and how Charlie, Smitha, Joe, Alice, Inez and Mona came to be. The long walks, sometimes for hours on their college campus provide a foundation for the facing of pasts, the friendships, found families, and that love always remains the one answer anyone needs.

Megan Engelhardt, aka Mad Merry Meg has seen her writing in publications that include Asimov's, Crossed Genres and Daily Science Fiction. She lives in Northeast Ohio with her family.

Mark Beall is the founder and operator of Retrograde Orbit Radio and Retrograde Orbit Dice and Leather; he lives in Millerstown, Pennsylvania.

Michael L. Hawley has become an authority on the mass murderer known as Jack the Ripper, and his contributions have brought us closer to finding out his true identity. He is the author of several books on the subject and related matters, which you may find at his author page. His titles include Jack the Ripper Suspect Dr. Francis Tumblety, and The Watchmaker Revelations series.

Hawley write both true crime non-fiction, plus mystery and crime-related fiction. He has appeared as an expert on documentaries on the History Channel and the Travel Channel, lectured in Liverpool, England and across the eastern United States. He is also the co-host of NBC Radio's House of Mystery. 

A retired commander and naval aviator in the US Navy, more about Michael L. Hawley can be found at his website.

The second volume of The Castatine Chronicles, Into the Red Realm carries on Joseph Mazerac's series that effortlessly combines young adult fiction, coming of age, adventure and fantasy on Sunbury's Milford House Press imprint.

In book one, Into the Attic of the World, Charles Miller and his friends join the ageless Captain Kid on an adventure through layers of reality in an effort to rescue the Patch Fairy. Through endless trials, Charles now finds himself essentially alone in the "Red Realm," a place not even the captain wants to venture. Here, a black unicorn rules and awaits the delivery of the Patch Fairy. 

Joined only by Cyclops the Great, who has prophesized his next-level immersion, Charles must face horrors unknown. What will he find in the Red Realm, and will he survive?

Joseph Mazerac traveled through much of his early life, with many "friends" who have made their way into his writing. For over two decades, Mazerac worked as an unexploded ordinance technician, or "bomb guy." A winner of the Royal Palm Literary Award, Mazerac is working on the third and final Castatine Chronicles volume, plus an adult fantasy work, Tournament Moons. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida; you can find out more at his website.

Philadelphia, 1950. Ben Green, a war veteran, soon to be college graduate, aspiring author and a husband with a child on the way finds himself at a crossroads in his 25th year. Ben finds himself pulled in different directions, with a need to find a job to support his family, an old-school Jewish culture that he finds himself both at odds with and respectful of, and questions about what he really wants in life. All of this plays out in Whiz Kid, available on Sunbury Press Books' Milford House imprint.

Amid the culture clash, anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry, there is one thing that unites the city and provides hope: the Philadelphia Phillies are playing inspired baseball and are contending for their first National League pennant since 1915. The "Whiz Kids," players like Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis and Jim Konstanty are driving the team on, and the city's passion for the game is at a fever pitch.

While Ben's wife Debby struggles with her pregnancy, Ben must fend off the advances of classmate Ilene, and deal with the attitudes of those around him. Through it all, Ben's novel burns within him as he tries to finish the work and see if there is a future as a writer.

Joel Burcat credits his father David Burcat, whose own unpublished novel marks Whiz Kid, with the genesis of a story he began over 15 years ago. Speaking with Brown Posey Press Show host Tory Gates, Burcat discusses his father's growing-up life in South Philadelphia, the infusion of Jewish culture, baseball, and his own writing process.

A longtime attorney, Joel is the author of a series of crime novels focused on the environment, including Drink to Every Beast, Amid Rage, and Strange Fire. You can find out more about Joel at his website. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The roots of baseball and the avenues the national pastime has taken are not only a part of American history, but also politics. J. B. Manheim is the author of several books on the "Deadball Era," uncovering tales of names who left those footprints for superstars to follow, which you can find out about here.

Manheim speaks with Dr. Lawrence Knorr about his decades of research, and past releases, which include The House Divided: The Story of the First Congressional Baseball Game and the parallels, political and otherwise we face today. What's in Ted's Wallet? is the story of how Manheim and Knorr stumbled across a set of ancient cigarette cards, owned by the grandson of Thomas Edison.

J.B. Manheim is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University, where he developed the world's first degree-granting program in political communication. He was also the founding director of the School of Media & Public Affairs. Manheim is also a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. He lives in Maryland.

Author and historian Wylie McLallen returns to the BookSpeak Network to discuss his life, career, and biographies, which have left a lasting impression when considering the subject matter.

Growing up in Memphis, McLallen earned a degree in History and English. He studied under Professor Robert Drake, a close friend of Flannery O'Connor, who exposed his students to poet and novelist James Dickey. 

A programmer and analyst by profession, McLallen's work includes Tigers by the River, a history of the early pro football team that his father was a fan of, and examines the roots of what would become the National Football League. 

McLallen may best be known for his two-volume biography of Ernest Hemingway, Unbridled Dreamer, and A Man of Modern Letters: Hemingway and the Rise of Modern Literature. 

McLallen speaks with host Dr. Lawrence Knorr about these subjects and previews an upcoming biographical release, Electric Bluesman: The Life and Times of Jimi Hendrix.

Wylie McLallen lives with his wife, Nickey Bayne, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In this episode of The History Stacks, we hear from Carol Schultz Vento, political science professor, attorney, and chronicler of the life of a father whose real-life exploits were immortalized in film.

Vento is the daughter of World War II veteran Arthur "Dutch" Schultz, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and a paratrooper whose experience in the D-Day invasion was portrayed in the film The Longest Day. In her Sunbury Press releases The Hidden Legacy of World War II (now in its 2nd edition), and Twisted Strands: Family Secrets and Intergenerational Trauma, Vento discusses Schultz's experiences in Europe, his postwar activity in counter-terrorism, but also his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Advised to write about "the impact of my war on you," Vento discusses her father's struggles with alcoholism and PTSD, and his redemptive work to help others who suffered. 

A native of Philadelphia, Carol Schultz Vento earned her undergraduate degree and doctorate from Temple University and her law degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She lives in Palmyra, New Jersey. You can find out more at her website.

A foremost authority on the American Revolution, Eugene Procknow is the author of a series of scholarly articles for the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Revolution. 

Speaking with Sunbury Press Books founder and program host, Dr. Lawrence Knorr, Procknow discusses how his career as a management consultant with one of the largest global firms allowed him to transition to becoming a writer and historian of the Revolution. He speaks of the discoveries that have provided insights into the thought processes of the Founding Fathers, unique documents, including diaries and the rebel army's order of battle (a copy of which somehow ended up in the hands of the British), and how much more there is to learn.

Eugene Procknow is the host and curator of a website that helps casual and professional researchers locate diaries and memoirs, plus other Revolutionary War sources, which you can find here. In addition, he is the author of "William Hunter: Finding Free Speech" (2022), which is available through Sunbury's Oxford Southern imprint.

More information is available at his professional site. He lives in Washington, DC.

A love of baseball, its players, characters, and quirks has sparked numerous books over the decades, including a series by Chris Williams. In an avowed tongue-in-cheek manner, Williams bestows "honors" on players who were members of some of Major League Baseball's greatest teams but didn't necessarily stand out in terms of stats. 

The Flip Side of Greatness: The Baseball Bozo Award, 1920-1999 takes a look at some familiar players one might not think belong on such a list. Williams, along with host and Sunbury Press Founder/CEO Lawrence Knorr, discusses some of those who made the cut and delves into which of their beloved Philadelphia Phillies might rate a spot in a future work.

A broadcaster for over three decades, Chris Williams is a veteran freelance writer with several books and three volumes of historical baseball essays. He is a regular contributor to the Baseball Almanac website and a former member of the Central Pennsylvania chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. His works on Sunbury Press include Stealing First and Other Old-Time Baseball Stories, and I am Not a Baseball Bozo: Honoring Good Players Who Played on Terrible Teams - 1920 to 1999.

Along with being a writer and essayist, Chris is a Certified Level 3 Dog Trainer. He lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

The BookSpeak Network debuts a new podcast, dedicated to history and those who have devoted their time and lives to keeping the world's past alive.

Dr. Lawrence Knorr, founder and CEO of Sunbury Press Books, invites a familiar voice to be his inaugural guest. Mark Carlson is a lifelong student of military history. For the past two decades, Carlson has regularly contributed to more than a dozen publications devoted to the subject. In this program, Carlson discussed his experiences meeting and interviewing veterans, fellow historians, actors, and writers. 

Furthermore, Carlson has produced several works of history and historical fiction for Sunbury Press. These include When Yamamoto Ran Wild, The Marines Lost Squadron, and the unique fictional Vengeance of the Last Roman Legion Series.  

Despite being legally blind, Mark Carlson works with advanced computer software and travels with a guide dog. He lives in San Diego, California.