In today’s episode, we meet Kathryn Schwille, author of “What Luck, This Life,” a story about life on the ground following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

In this engaging literary work, the fictional town of Kiser, Texas becomes a central character in the novel when the space shuttle debris rains down on it from on high. The story is told through complex lives of normal people whose choices sometimes feel like an echo of the chaos visited upon them from a place outside their normal space.

Kathryn starts the show with a reading from the first chapter, where trails of smoke in the sky lead to somber times to follow on the surface.

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet authors Miriam Herin and Christy Alexander Hallberg, who came to Charlotte for a North Carolina Literary Review reading event at Park Road Books.

This episode includes their stories about Cambodian refugees and mercy, Christy’s story about Freedie Mercury, the star of the rock group Queen, and readings from Miriam’s award-winning book, “A Stone For Bread,” a literary mystery about a collection of poems allegedly saved from a Nazi death camp.

We open the show with two readings, the first from Miriam’s award-winning short story, “Lucky,” which was inspired by her work in Charlotte for an inner-city program for teenaged children of Southeast Asian refugee families. We follow with Christy’s story, “Fistful of Mercy.”

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet Lisa Saunders, author of “Even at the Grave” and despite the title, it’s not a horror story, just the opposite.

This is a memoir, but not a sad one. Though it might make you cry when you read the book, you will laugh, too. Lisa has inspired and been inspired by the people she pastored. In her journey, she discovered that there is much generosity and grace in the world, even at the grave.

Lisa starts with a short reading from the first chapter of the book, “Stopping Time.”

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet Abigail DeWitt, author of “News of Our Loved Ones,” a novel that begins in June 1944 with the Allied invasion of France that leaves some family members in Normandy with only hours to live and others in Paris looking for news of their loved ones.

Decades later, one of the survivors, now the wife of an American musician, returns each summer with her children, the youngest of whom becomes obsessed with stories of the war, thinking they are the key to understanding her mother and the conflicting cultures of her life.

We start first with Abigail reading her short story, “Shorn,” published in Narrative Magazine, which explores similar World War II deprivations and tragedies in France.

You can connect with the show at: www.charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet Mark deCastrique, author of 18 mystery novels, in two mystery series, and a number of short stories, too.

Mark is well-versed in the mystery genre and shares his years of knowledge about what makes for a good mystery. He reads from the most recent book in his Buryin’ Barry mystery series and in his Sam Blackman mystery series, and he also reads a creative non-fiction piece set on a farm of his youth near the Charlotte airport that involves a farmer joining the circus.

We start first with Mark reading from Chapter 1 of “Secret Undertaking,” a Buryin’ Barry mystery.

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet Charlotte Squawks co-producers Mike Collins and Brian Kahn at a Charlotte Squawks rehearsal and explore the mania that has become a Charlotte music stage tradition in the Booth Playhouse at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

Brian writes the song lyrics and creates the PowerPoint design and Mike directs and performs in a show meant to make fun of just about everything Charlotte and beyond. What is Charlotte Squawks? It’s Saturday Night Live meets Broadway meets our beloved Queen City!

You can join Charlotte Squawks this year from May 30 to June 23rd, as they celebrate their "Quackceañera". That's right, FIFTEEN YEARS of FUNNY!! The creative team of Mike Collins and Brian Kahn collaborate with the area's most talented performers to make fun of pop-culture, sports, life and politics!

We start out with Mike Collins and Brian Kahn reading the director notes for this year’s show and then we dive into conversations with each of them about the why, the how and the what of Charlotte Squawks, and also, we talk about some of the parody songs in this year’s production. At the end of the show, we have a collection of songs from past shows.

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In this episode, we meet romance authors Jessica Peterson and Rick Pryll, explore the ins and outs of the romance genre and listen to Jessica and Rick talk about how romance novels are more than just sex, although there is the sex, too.

Jessica reads from her book “Southern Charmer,” a novel in her “Charleston Heat” series and Rick reads from “The Chimera of Prague.” Both books take readers to culturally romantic and historical venues where the heroine and hero struggle to find that thing called love.

We start with Rick reading from the first chapter of “The Chimera of Prague,” with Joseph leaving his past behind and searching for the girl of his dreams in that ancient magical city, followed by Jessica reading from the first chapter of “Southern Charmer” where Olivia runs into Eli, who she sees as a gorgeous bearded guy with a thick torso and shoulders, shapely waist and forearms so sinewy and perfect they make Olivia “want to die a little.”

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet Kathy Izard, author of the award-winning book: "The Hundred Story Home: A memoir about finding faith in ourselves and something bigger." The “something bigger” in the title - that thing Kathy found faith in - was battling chronic homelessness in Charlotte, and for Kathy, this mission came in the form of a challenge.

Kathy had read a New York Times best-selling book entitled Same Kind of Different As Me, which the book cover says is about “a modern-day slave, an international art dealer, and the unlikely woman who bound them together.” It’s a story about a homeless man in Fort Worth, Texas named Denver Moore who with much hesitation, meets and befriends an art dealer and his wife, a woman Denver describes in the opening passages of the book as “the skinniest, nosiest, pushiest woman I had ever met, black or white.”

Kathy Izard became a bit pushy too – in a good way - in her quest to take on chronic homelessness in Charlotte. But that quest never would have gotten off the ground or been as big as it was without a one-on-one meeting she had with Denver Moore, who she had invited to Charlotte to speak at a fundraiser about homelessness. While Denver was in town, Kathy proudly showed him around the Urban Ministry Center so that he could see all the good things Charlotte was doing to help the homeless. But it didn’t go how she planned. Because she heard silence rather than praise. And then Denver asked the question that began to haunt her.

We open the show with Kathy reading about this encounter with Denver Moore – a meeting that changed her life and the lives of many chronic homeless people in Charlotte.

For more information on the show: www.charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet New York Times best-selling author Gavin Edwards and we focus on his two books that explore the celebrity lives and careers of Tom Hanks and Bill Murray.

It’s true that Tom Hanks is a nice guy but as Gavin notes, Hanks sees that summation as boring and Hanks’ life and career have the complexity and richness to prove it. He’s also beloved as a star of the big screen.

If Hanks is the nice guy, Bill Murray is the guy everyone loves to have crash their party, but he has a dark side, too. He’s everywhere, he’s random, he often is not on time for work and even his lawyers and agents have trouble reaching him. He’s a Ghostbuster. Who you gonna call? Right?

We start with a section from “The World According to Tom Hanks,” entitled “The Ten Commandments of Tom Hanks.” We spend half the show in Tom’s world and the other half in Bill’s.

You can connect with the show at: charlottereaderspodcast.com

In today’s episode, we meet Brian Lafontaine, a Charlotte actor and podcast host of “You May Have Seen,” a show where Brian explores behind the scenes stories with actors you may have seen in your favorite television shows and movies, but you probably don’t know their names. Brian reads “The Deliberation,” a short story written by host Landis Wade that won the 2016 North Carolina State Bar short story contest. Brian also talks about acting and his podcast and then we answer the question: “What’s Coming in Season 3?”