Bookwild

By Kate Hergott, Bookwild CollectiveTV & Film Fiction TV Reviews Drama Film Reviews

Bookwild episodes

September 01Class, Race, Jazz and Crime: Andre Hardy's Fresh Take on Noir Fiction
This week, I talk with Andre Hardy about his fresh take on noir in his debut novel Tear the City Down!
Listen to hear about:
How Andre Hardy’s debut novel, Tear the City Down, grew from his lifelong love of noir—particularly Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress, which showed him a fully realized Black protagonist in a genre he already loved.

The ways Hardy uses San Diego’s stark dualities—tourist paradise versus underserved neighborhoods, enormous wealth versus systemic oppression—as the foundation for Coltrane's story and the novel’s larger questions about social mobility, morality, and what happens when you actually reach the top.

Why Hardy shied away from a traditional stoic noir hero, and created Coltrane to be masculine, dangerous, and deeply vulnerable.

How the mystery expands from one missing girl into something far larger, illustrating Hardy’s belief that seemingly isolated injustices often lead back to systems of power and exploitation.

How Hardy drew on his own NFL experience, love of jazz, reading, and upbringing in San Diego to give the novel its texture.
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor
1 hr 2 min
August 26Sci-Fi, Philip K. Dick & the Birth of Pink Beam Press
This week, I talk with Keith Giles, David Agranoff, Brian Evenson, Gordon Bonnet, and Andrew Turck about Pink Beam Press, a new speculative-fiction imprint inspired by Philip K. Dick and the strange, reality-bending possibilities of science fiction.
Listen to hear about:
The origins of Pink Beam Press and how Philip K. Dick’s legendary “pink beam” experience helped inspire its identity and mission.

Why speculative fiction is such a powerful way to explore reality, consciousness, identity, technology, privacy, and other big philosophical questions.

How the authors behind Pink Beam’s novellas transform wildly different concepts—from digital replicas and mind reading to cyberpunk technology and artificial realities—into deeply human stories.

Why writing shorter doesn’t necessarily mean easier, and how the novella forces writers to crystallize their ideas while still leaving room for complex characters and themes.

How research, personal experiences, literary influences, and unexpected discoveries during the writing process shape stories—and why sometimes the best fiction teaches the writer something, too.
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor
1 hr 12 min
August 21 Fall Hopefuls on Our TBRs with Gare
This week, Gare and I share fall book releases we are excited about!
Kate’s Books
The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo Johnson
Have You Seen Romit? By Chital Mehta
It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller
The Turning of Sally Mae by Nuzo Onoh
Lethal Kiss by Taylor Grothe
Gare’s Books
The Little Red House Liv Andersson
Killing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar
The Witch by Freida McFadden
This B Just Won’t Die by Tanya Pell
All the Little Secrets by May Cobb
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

57 min
August 18The Multi-Hyphenate Marie Laveau: Kayla Hardy's The Quarter Queen
This week, I talk with Kayla Hardy about her dark fantasy The Quarter Queen!
How The Quarter Queen began as a television pilot.
Kayla Hardy’s screenwriting background shaped the novel’s cinematic pacing, visual set pieces, ensemble cast, and meticulous plotting.

Why Marie Laveau is both historical inspiration and a personal connection.
Hardy draws on her Louisiana Creole roots, academic background in African American literature and folklore, and fascination with Marie to humanize a woman often reduced to legend.

Crafting the mother-daughter relationship is the emotional heart of the novel.
Marie and Ree represent different sides of the same coin, allowing Hardy to explore generational pain, privilege, protection, and what happens when the past refuses to stay buried.

How fantasy becomes a way to confront real American history.
The book explores conflicting approaches to oppression and liberation while using Southern Gothic and supernatural elements to make the consequences of historical violence impossible to ignore.

How Hardy reclaims Black and Creole folklore from pop-culture mythology,
Through Voodoo and zonbi, Hardy grounds the supernatural elements in traditions that have often been appropriated or stripped of their origins.
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor
1 hr 2 min
August 14ARCs We Are Excited About with Emma West
In this episode, Emma West and I share ARCs we are excited about!
Kate's Books
Hive Mind — Allison Gunn

Accidents Never Happened — Penny Zang

Scream City — Hannah Morrissey

Our Cut of Salt — Dina Nayeri Helm

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman — Deesha Philyaw
Emama's Books
Kiss Slay Replay — Rachel Harrison

She’s a Doll — Barbara Truglove

Public Access Afterworld — Jane Schoenbrun

Mother Dearest — Claire Bird

Bad Words - Rioghnach Robinson
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor
1 hr
August 11Friendship, Grief and Second (and Third, and Fourth) Chances: Paige Harbison's Destination Funeral
In this episode, I talk with Paige Harbison about her new time loop novel Destination Funeral!
Listen to our whole conversation to hear about:
How Destination Funeral uses being literally stuck in time to explore being emotionally stuck. The characters are trapped with unresolved relationships, old resentments, and versions of themselves they haven’t fully escaped.

Why “What if?” is Paige’s favorite starting point for storytelling. Rather than setting out to write magical realism or a particular genre, she follows a compelling premise and lets the story dictate where it needs to go.

How grief and humor can exist in the exact same moment. Paige explains that the combination of heartbreak and comedy in her books isn’t a carefully calculated tonal balance—it reflects the way she experiences real life, where devastating and hilarious moments often coexist.

Why writers sometimes discover what their books are about only after writing them. Paige talks about allowing characters, themes, and even her own unresolved feelings to emerge unconsciously rather than trying to engineer every meaning from the beginning.

Why friendship breakups deserve the same emotional weight as romantic ones. Paige talks about how friendships can be some of our longest and most defining relationships—yet we have almost no cultural roadmap for grieving them when they end.
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor
1 hr 4 min
August 07 The Best & Rest of Summer Books with Gare Billings
This week, Gare and I share some of our best reads of the summer, and forecast ones we think we will love for the rest of summer!
Kate’s Best of Summer
Killer Vibes by Jack Friday
Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
The Great Game by Arvind Ethan David
Kate’s Rest of Summer
Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
Mazywood by Tananarive Due
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw
Gare’s Best of Summer
Heather by Caitlin Mullen
The Shark by Emma Styles
Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier
Gare’s Rest of Summer
Saint Delilah by Isabelle Spotts
The Crying Killer by Jess Lourey
Fruit Fly by Josh Silver
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

56 min
August 04 Manifestation, Murder, and the Cults of the 1920s: Olesya Lyuzna's Liars in Paradise
In this episode, I talk with Olesya Lyuzna about the second book in her Ginny Dugan series Liars in Paradise.
Listen to hear all about:
The roots of modern self-help, manifestation, and MLM-style thinking stretch back to the 1920s. Olesya shares how historical figures like Napoleon Hill and the era's get-rich-quick culture inspired the novel's sinister organization, Echelon.
Sometimes throwing away an entire draft is the best writing decision. Olesya discusses scrapping a nearly finished manuscript, rebuilding the story from the ground up, and how the rewrite created a much stronger mystery centered on Jack being framed.
Historical fiction can feel incredibly relevant because human behavior doesn't change. We discuss how periods of uncertainty—after war, during economic booms, or amid social upheaval—create fertile ground for cults, scams, conspiracy thinking, and charismatic leaders.
Real places often make the best fictional settings. Olesya shares how a supposedly haunted Long Island mansion, Winfield Hall, became the inspiration for Echelon's headquarters, complete with strange history, ghost stories, and Gilded Age excess.
Great mystery series let their characters carry emotional scars. Rather than resetting Ginny after each case, Olesya discusses intentionally letting previous losses and evolving relationships shape every investigation, making the series feel more emotionally authentic.
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

39 min
July 31An Eldest Daughter Pastor’s Kid Unpacks Her Father's Arrest and Shares the Books That Changed Everything with Kate Johnson
This week, I talk with Kate Johnson about her deconstruction journey and healing from religious trauma.
Listen to hear all about:
How growing up in evangelical culture created an information bubble. We reflect on how strict media restrictions, homeschooling, and Christian-only entertainment reinforced the belief that avoiding certain books, movies, and ideas would keep families spiritually and physically safe.

How trauma exposed the cracks in that worldview. Kate Johnson shares how her father's arrest for child sexual abuse material shattered the promise that following every rule would guarantee safety, leading to a painful reevaluation of the community and beliefs she trusted.

Why forgiveness without accountability can deepen harm. We discuss how teachings about immediate forgiveness sometimes minimize abuse, shift responsibility onto victims, and allow perpetrators to avoid meaningful accountability.

When books became a path toward healing and perspective. Kate Johnson shares how fantasy novels initially provided escape during childhood, while later works by authors like Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Rachel Held Evans, and Tia Levings helped her understand her experiences within the larger context of evangelical culture rather than seeing them as isolated events.

How deconstruction ultimately led to connection instead of fear. Rather than abandoning spirituality altogether, we discuss moving toward a spirituality rooted in curiosity, community, nature, joy, and authentic human connection instead of shame, perfectionism, and control.
Links:
Kate Johnson's Substack
Kate Johnson's List of Books for Healing from Religious Trauma
Kate Johnson's List of Books on Purity Culture
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor
1 hr 53 min
July 24 SUMMERWEEN Book Recs with Brian Watson
This week, Brian Watson @readingwithbrian is back, and we share our take on Summerween book recommendations!
Kate’s Books
Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Almost Surely Dead by Amina Akhtar
Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
Fiend by Alma Katsu
An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
Brian’s Books
Marion by Leah Rowan
The Night Shift by Alex Finlay
Don’t Turn Around by Jessica Barry
Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft
Final Girls by Riley Sager
Misery by Stephen King
All the Bookwild Links:
Check Out the Bookwild Substack
Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube
Get Bookwild Merch
Follow @imbookwild on Instagram
Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:
Gare Billings @gareindeedreads
Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland
Halley Sutton @halleysutton25
Brian Watson @readingwithbrian
MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba
Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

1 hr 9 min