BookSpeak Network

Prohibition was referred to as, "the great social and economic experiment," by former President Herbert Hoover, but the 20th-century temperance movement did not stop people from consuming alcohol or manufacturing it. In much of the US, the making of home-brewed "moonshine" was an industry, and often was the difference between putting food on families' tables, or going hungry.

One such place was Mississippi, where an April 1, 1921 shootout saw two law enforcement officers ambushed and killed while they worked to shut down a still. The murders of Richton Town Marshall Lawrence Dunnam and US Treasury Special Agent Jacob "Jake" Green of Leakesville, and what happened fell to Green's granddaughter, Juanita Green Hollinghead.

Spanning four decades of research, interviews with family and those in the know, plus old family documents, Hollinghead tells of her grandmother's unwillingness to speak of the incident, and what happened to the killers of her grandfather and Dunnam. Hollinghead also examines family dynamics through her own experiences and paints an intimate, detailed portrait of that time and its place in history. 

A longtime educator, Juanita Green Hollinghead has teamed with author Sherye S. Green to bring "Beyond the Green Widow" to Sunbury Press Books. She lives in Leakesville, Mississippi.

The Fourth of July is the day we honor America's independence, but on successive fourths from 1776 onward, there have been some fascinating moments in US History. Thomas K. Clancy offers some of these in his new book, "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Clancy discusses with host and Sunbury Press founder Lawrence Knorr how the Declaration of Independence and the concept of liberty have changed and expanded beyond what the Founding Fathers could have imagined. 

Efforts by Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Filipinos to make the declaration more inclusive. The deaths of former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson fell within hours of one another on July 4th, 1826, and Clancy details their long correspondence. The likes of Henry David Thoreau, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lou Gehrig, and the difference in their pursuits are also chronicled.

A nationally recognized expert on the Fourth Amendment, Thomas K. Clancy has written more than 20 articles on the subject, and is the author of "Cyber Crime and Digital Evidence" and "The Fourth Amendment: Its History and Interpretation. He holds the title of Professor Emeritus from the University of Mississippi School of Law, from which he retired in 2014. He lives on Cape Cod.

March of every year brings about spring, but it is also a unique time in a certain place south of Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland ConCoction, or CleCon, completed its 2025 event recently at the Bertram Hotel & Conference Center in Aurora. Your host, Tory Gates, once again took part in this annual event of authors, board and video game enthusiasts, Star Trek fans, artists, and cosplayers.

During this three-day event, Tory got to speak with organizers, volunteers, and especially those who come to show off and sell their wares, but also to network and be with friends of a unique tribe.

All of the guests and their doings can be found on the CleCon website -- Tory speaks with:

Melissa Stasko, Organizer/Manager, Cleveland ConCoction

Weston Kincade

Mike Harness, aka "Duerger," Volunteer, Right Hand to Melissa

David F. Balog

Megan Leigh, Artist

Marie Vibbert

Marcus V. Calvert

Jarod K. Anderson

Clif Flynt

Meg Englehardt

“In a Power Couple, one may rise. The other may fall.” 

In the first of the Aluzamoak Series, “The Elder’s Sequence” (on Compassionate Alien Press) sets a deep aesthetic for a universe that recalls the heaviest of science fiction and fantasy. Author S. A. Ferguson tells of worlds that show advancement, but can also fall to frailties, such as ambition, jealousy, fear, and a drive for power. 

Mira has vowed to lead the planet of Aluzamoak and its empire with her spouse, the native-born Zaraith. To break these vows means death.

As Zaraith begins to exploit and possibly abuse his authority, Mira becomes the questioner. Above them are the nebulous elders who elected them, but they remain in the shadows. Mira must navigate the politics of several cultures and decide whether to stay loyal to Zaraith or oppose him.

 S. A. Ferguson has been an author since childhood. They hold an MA in English with a concentration in creative and technical writing. They practice Vajrayana Buddhism, along with Holotrophic Breathwork, and other healing practices. They live near Cleveland, Ohio.

Twenty-year-old Charlotte Savatier returns to Charleston during the American Revolution, on a mission to avenge the wrongful execution of her affluent parents. While assigned by Lord Balfour to make this investigation, Charlotte takes on Heathcliff, a ruthless young Brit to assist her.

Soon, Charlotte realizes not only being a woman (mixed race at that) in a man's position is dangerous enough but that Heathcliff's greed could cost them their lives.

Adam Smith brings his historic novel The Journey of the Snake to Sunbury Press Books and speaks with founder and podcast host Lawrence Knorr. A native of Vermont, Smith is an award-winning author and a graduate of the University of Arizona. He is an accomplished chef and a "reformed restauranteur." Smith's previous works include SCABLAND, and Falling from the Light. 

Ronald T. Waldo has written widely about baseball and its history, with ten books to his credit. In this latest work, Waldo looks at the "Deadball Era" of professional baseball, in Deadball Mayhem: Scoundrels, Scandalous Behavior, and Tragic Events. 

Waldo joins Sunbury Press Books founder and podcast host Lawrence Knorr to discuss a few of the era's characters, some of whom committed acts that adversely affected the game. The suicides of Win Mercer and Chick Stahl are examined, along with the mental breakdown suffered by Eddie Doheny on the eve of the 1903 World Series. Further tales of famous (and infamous) hurler Rube Waddell are also considered, including at least one pinned on him that was later debunked. 

The newspapers of this time did much to mythologize the players of the day, some with ulterior or business motives. Gambling and other temptations were a part of this time as well. 

Ronald T. Waldo's five previous books on the Deadball Era have each been nominated for the Larry Ritter Book Award. One of these, Deadball Trailblazers: Single-Season Records of the Modern Era was a finalist in 2023. 

In this work of historical fiction on the Milford House Press imprint, Dana R. Dillon brings the Revolutionary War to life in a tale of unlikely heroes, soldiers, spies, and intrigue in Sowing Dragon Teeth: A Novel of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

It is April 1775. Quock is an enslaved African-American militiaman. He is joined by tavern owner Jason Green as they try to hold off a British raid to destroy Minutemen arms in Concord. Across from them, British officer Llewellyn Caradoc and his friend and patron, Lord Robert Dandridge, are trying to do their duty, but a beautiful spy holds a secret over his Lordship's head.

Dana R. Dillon served twenty years in the US Army as a company commander, staff officer, and in the Foreign Area Officer program. He has been an international policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, has appeared on numerous programs, and as an intelligence analyst for the Pentagon. He is also the author of the book The China Challenge.

Dillon's experience has informed his new novel, and in this episode, he discusses the similarities in the roots of revolutions and how parallels may be drawn to the American Revolution.

You can find out more about Dillon at his website -- he lives with his family in Fairfax, Virginia.

What if you came home and found your husband dead in his favorite chair? Rebecca Daniels takes us through her experiences in this memoir, That Day and What Came After: Finding and Losing the Love of My Life in Six Short Years.

Daniels tells of meeting her husband, Harold "Skip" Stoughton III later in their lives, how their friendship and relationship developed, and especially the support he provided. Ironically, Skip's passing in 2010 followed a supposed clean bill of health just a few weeks before.

After finding many books that dealt with death, dying, and grief in a self-help manner, Daniels felt this did not fit her experience. In this book, Daniels shares parts of her journal, along with stories and essays that take the reader through the multiple stages when the sudden death of a loved one occurs.

Rebecca Daniels is a retired university professor with a PhD and an MFA. She taught, acting, directing, and playwriting for 25 years. She writes both creative non-fiction and stage plays. Her works include Women Stage Directors Speak (McFarland, 1996 & 2000) and the Sunbury Press releases Keeping the Lights on for Ike (2019) and Finding Sisters (2021). She lives in Turners Falls, Massachusetts.

Is it possible to know someone from only the words they have left behind? 

In this fascinating account, Rebecca Titchner pieces together the life of a sister she never knew through two decades of detailed journals the woman left behind. This adoption memoir touches on Titchner being given up at birth, the sister who walked away from the family, only to be murdered at the hands of her partner in New Orleans. This book is the tale of two sisters, and how their lives, lived separately are now together in another form. 

Rebecca Titchner is the Director of Recycling Operations in Elk County, Pennsylvania, a post she has held for nearly a quarter-century. Titchner was a reporter and editor of two small daily papers. She is also a musician, singer, and songwriter. Her flash non-fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous regional literary journals. She lives in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania.

The American Revolution has brought us the tale of Molly Pitcher, a woman who took her husband's place in battle and manned the ramrod of a cannon. Based on the historical record, Pitcher is a more fictionalized character, but women did serve in battle. Author J.M. West provides a similar account of the Carlisle, Pennsylvania woman, who, based on the historical record best matched that description, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley.

Her life story is told in West's book, Carlisle's Molly Pitcher through the Local History Press imprint of Sunbury Press Books.  Readers will be familiar with West for her offerings on Sunbury Press, including the award-winning Madam Bessie Jones, Her Life and Times, and the fact-based Carlisle Crime Cases.

West is a Professor Emerita of English Studies at Harrisburg Area Community College-Gettysburg. She has also taught at Messiah University and Shippensburg Universities. West co-hosted the Milford House Mysteries podcast with Sherry Knowlton on the BookSpeak Network for four years. She lives with her husband in Carlisle, PA.