Desideratum

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! 

This week's featured novel is the latest thriller from the imagination of author Charlie Donlea.  Twenty Years Later kept me puzzling and guessing until the very end. You will meet characters who work to uncover the truth behind a 20 year old murder case while they also confront and face things they are hiding from.  It's a story about memory, betrayal and reinvention. 

Listen to a scene from the audiobook performed by Vivienne Leheny.  And, listen as Charlie shares:  How the idea for this story came from a headline... What he uses as a beacon when he's writing... And why his essential thing is connected to rejection - lots and lots of rejection. 

You can find out more about Charlie and his other novels on his website.  

https://www.charliedonlea.com/

Visit the Kensington Books website to pre-order the book at 20% off.  Just use the Desideratum Podcast DP20 listener code at checkout. Thank you Kensington Books for connecting me to great authors and sharing this discount with my listeners. 

https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/

Visit Libro.fm to purchase the audiobook narrated by Vivienne Leheny and produced by Highbridge Audio a division of Recorded Books - available December 28th. When you follow this link, you support the Desideratum Podcast and you can choose a local bookstore to support as well.  Thank you Libro.fm for the affiliate partnership. 

https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25361&awinaffid=970873

Libro.fm has audiobook gift memberships available now - they come in 3 month- ($45), 6month- ($90), and 12-month ($180) durations. Follow this link to purchase a gift membership: 

https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=25361&awinaffid=970873&ued=https%3A%2F%2Flibro.fm%2Fgift

Author Rebecca Copeland understands the power of words - and the many meanings behind them. She explores the idea of home and identity while unwrapping a multilayered mystery in her debut novel The Kimono Tattoo.  The character she has created to walk you through this story within a story is an American woman living in Japan and working as a translator.  Listen to why Rebecca feels so connected to Japan, and hear the scene that reveals the title worthy tattoo. The Kimono Tattoo is this weeks featured novel, available from Brother Mockingbird  Publishing.  The audiobook is in production at Northern Lake Audio  and will be available in early 2022.  Thanks to Johnnie Bernhard for putting me on the path to meet Rebecca, and thank you for listening. 

https://www.rebecca-copeland.com/

https://www.brothermockingbird.net/

Our conversation with author Kim Taylor Blakemore  begins and ends with how her stories come to her - sometimes it's dark.  We talk about gothic tropes, Gettysburg Battlefield ghosts, and the drive to find the voice of a lost loved one.  There are also some big ideas about sibling relationships and mercy.  Kim uses mercy - both how we show it and how we deny it. What you will not find here are spoilers. This historical thriller (with gothic roots) delivers a delightfully uncertain and sometimes weird ride and we deliberately navigated away from ruining it for anyone getting on after us. Enjoy award winning narrator, producer and actress Amanda Leigh Cobb 's performance of the audiobook scene thanks to Brilliance Audio,  Amazon Publishing. 

Here is the website for the author Kim called the 'queen of gothic' - Laura Purcell. https://www.laurapurcell.com/  

As well as Kim's https://www.kimtaylorblakemore.com/ and Amanda's websites https://www.amandaleighcobb.com/  

Thanks to author Robert Gwaltney for encouraging me to reach out to Kim. You were right, she's talented AND fun! 

Our featured story is author Kerry Anne King's new novel Other People's Things.  We talk about how the main character Nickel sparks change and creates a ripple effect of consequences in her own life and in the lives of others with her unusual compulsion to move objects that don't belong to her (it sounds like stealing - but it's not that simple).  The story plays with the concepts of fate and destiny, in an entertaining ride from lost to found.  Kerry explains what makes her a catalyst, why she is an active pursuer of joy, and what she loves about the Robert Frost poem The Road not Taken.  

Connect with Kerry Anne King (aka Kerry Schafer) and find all her books on her website.  Learn more about her narrator Teri Clark Linden through her industry profile page with Audiofile Magazine. Thanks for listening!

https://allthingskerry.com/

Teri Clark Linden - Audiofile Magazine industry profile