This week’s peak Behind the Scenes vodcast of the #DesideratumPodcast is ready…

John Gilstrap ‘s #BlueFire really got my heart racing! He puts his characters in imminent danger in a post nuclear war world he creates with gritty detail. But you should also know that this 2nd book in his #VictoriaEmersonThriller series is a story about how humanity needs civilization, community, and leadership focused on the common good.

Episode 46 is coming soon with more about the skills his characters need, the reason all his storytelling includes teenagers, and a heart pounding excerpt from the audiobook with narrator Kate Forbes Recorded Books Kensington Publishing Corp. #audiobooks #thrillerseries #podcastrecommendations

Episode 45 of the #DesideratumPodcast features Donna Everhart and her new novel #TheSaintsOfSwallowHill The story takes us somewhere I'd never heard of - a Turpentine Camp. Donna's characters suffer - but that's the way she likes it - struggle provides a path to perseverance and growth.  Listen as Donna shares how steeped in reality this story's suffering really is. The audiobook was produced by Tantor Audio a division of Recorded Books and narrated by Amy Melissa Bentley who has performed over 200 audiobooks. She has an Audiofile Earphones Award, and she has a real gift for dialects from Russian to New Yorker to the Southern American you hear in this performance. 

Thanks to Vida at Kensington Books for connecting me to Donna. For Desideratum listeners, Kensington generously provides the discount code DP20 to save 20 percent across their incredible library. 

Also, please look for The Saints of Swallow Hill on Libro.fm  Using this affiliate link supports the podcast and a local book store of your choice at Libro.fm. As always, Thank you for listening.

Listen and look behind the scenes of this weeks Desideratum Podcast Episode with Donna Everhart. We are talking about her new novel #TheSaintsOfSwallowHill - set in the Depression Era with all its suffering and hardship. Donna’s main characters try to escape their troubles - but they end up going from the frying pan into the fire. There are some near death experiences that shape them. In this Bonus Behind the Scenes Donna shares a very personal moment from her own life that she drew on for this story of loss, suffering, love and safety. Kensington Publishing Corp. #southernfiction #northcarolinaauthor #audiobook #depressionerafiction

This week's featured story is The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney.  It's a story about secrets and obsessions set in an oppressive southern summer.  Our conversation with Robert touches on his fascination with (not fear of) the cicada emergence that inspired the title. And, we explore his love of music, fashion, architecture, and that mixture of joy and fright he's found experiencing firsts in the middle.  

Below is a link to his website, the book trailer and the cocktail recipe inspired by the novel and created by his brilliant brother Chris. The book launches February 22, 2022. 

Thanks to the Pulpwood Queen Kathy Murphy for first introducing me to Robert,  thanks to Robert and Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC, for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Cicada Tree, and as always thank you for listening! 

https://robertlgwaltney.com/

https://www.facebook.com/robert.gwaltney.9/videos/10225982764142771

https://www.facebook.com/1445412163/videos/pcb.10228050386272032/400029188479106

Behind the scenes of this week’s episode with Robert Gwaltney talking about the way his childhood reaction to Cicadas made its way into his debut novel - The Cicada Tree  - would you be afraid or fascinated? Oh - and we talk about secrets, self discovery, obsessions and disillusionment too - Hear his complete audio conversation and an excerpt from the book In the Desideratum Podcast Episode 44 #southerngothic #podcastrecommendation #thecicadatree #audiobook #AtlantaAuthor #LiteraryFiction

Our featured story is from author, attorney and LGBTQ+ activist Robyn Gigl.  We are talking about Survivor's Guilt, Book 2 in Robyn's Erin McCabe legal thriller series that launches this week. Part of Robyn's writing genius is how she quietly and skillfully introduces readers to things and people around them that they might not otherwise see or understand. You will also hear about: a real person she immortalized in the series, her mental health connection to sports, and why her main character wears lucky socks to court. This story is about the greedy and powerful coming up against the system we call Justice. It centers on how they are ultimately held accountable by and for those they have exploited.

Robyn's narrator for the series is Marguerite Gavin.  She is a narrator with 20 years experience, numerous Audie nominations and Earphones awards, and a devoted fan following. Audiofile Magazine says Marguerite has "the coveted ability to disappear as the narrator -  letting the story take the limelight it deserves". 

I hope you will visit https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ to save on Robyn’s books and their entire incredible library. Just use the Desideratum Podcast Code DP20 at checkout to save 20%.  If listening to the excerpt hooks you on narrator Marguerite Gavin’s delivery, in a few weeks, you can purchase the complete audiobook at Libro.fm. Please use the Desideratum Podcast affiliate link with Libro.fm. Doing so supports the podcast and a local bookstore of your choice.  https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25361&awinaffid=970873 

Thanks to Vida at Kensington Books for introducing me to Robyn and as always thank you for listening!  

In her debut novel A DAY LIKE THIS, author Kelley McNeil explores intuition, memory, motherhood, science, the mystery of creativity and the magic of place. Her main character Annie is an artist who is haunted by visions and memories of things she can not explain. The novel follows Annie far from home as she tries to reconcile her memories with her reality.  Our conversation is full of wit and wisdom.  Kelley's essential thing made me so happy.  It's about belonging and family and home.  Her narrator is one of my favorite voice actors.  Amanda Leigh Cobb delivers this immersive story with just the right blend of urgency, skepticism and wonder.  Thanks to Brilliance Audio for the audiobook excerpt.  And, as always, thank you for listening. 

https://www.kelleymcneil.com/

https://www.amandaleighcobb.com/

This week's Episode features author Colleen Cambridge aka Colleen Gleason. Her latest novel MURDER AT MALLOWAN HALL from Kensington Publishing Corp. is a gem for anyone who enjoys a good old fashioned English manor murder mystery.  Her heroine Phyllida Bright is self assured, knows her worth, pays attention to detail, is friends with THE Agatha Christie, and becomes a smashing good amateur sleuth in this - Book 1 - of Colleen's new series.  Listen to the multitalented audiobook narrator Jennifer Dixon perform Chapter 1 from MURDER AT MALLOWAN produced by Highbridge a division of Recorded Books. You can find Colleen's previous NY Times Bestselling series on her website https://www.colleengleason.com/  . I hope you will also visit https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ to save on Colleen's books and their entire incredible library. Just use the Desideratum Podcast Code DP20 at checkout.  Thanks to Sudden Fiction Books for hosting me in their stacks for my zoom chat with Colleen.  You can choose Sudden Fiction as your bookstore to support when you buy your audiobooks on Libro.fm. Please use the Desideratum Podcast affiliate link with Libro.fm to buy your audiobooks.   https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25361&awinaffid=970873 

Thanks to Larissa at Kensington Books for introducing me to Colleen and thank you for listening!