Five Compelling Questions with Shawn

Shawn chats with returning guest Linda Norlander about the newest book in her series, wanting to be a cowgirl, the importance of having an editor in your life, messy middles, New Yorkers, and snow-driving skills. 

Shawn chats with British author Louise Hare about writing, mentoring and working with other writers, Black people in historical fiction, addressing racism in different forums, solving problems while drunk, and how boring office jobs can inspire creativity. 

Shawn and Lucy chat about living near the sea, what makes a great thriller thrilling, turning books into movies, what movie sets are really like, and how it took Lucy only seventeen days to write the first draft of her newest novel. 

Shawn chats with Nancy Cole Silverman, author of The Navigator's Daughter, the first book in the new Kat Larson historical mystery series about history inspiring current day and writing, being a military wife, the power of words, working in radio, and their mutual love of wine. 

Shawn chats with Susan Van Kirk, author of the Art Center Mystery series, about her new series, art in everyday life, going from academic writing to fiction, being from the Midwest, banned books, and a special interaction with Kurt Vonnegut. 

Shawn and Don chat about writing in the Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan Universe, juggling multiple jobs, writing more than one series, writing a new book every five months, creative sulking, comparing writing to giving birth, and the value of networking with other writers. 

Shawn and Fabian chat about writing across mediums, anger & insecurity as motivating factors in careers, writing for yourself, doing your own thing, and the coffee habits of exhausted suburbanites. 

About the Author:

Fabian Nicieza is best known as a comic book writer for Marvel and DC, and as the co-creator of Deadpool. He has also written X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, Cable, Thunderbolts, and many more. He developed the story world and created the characters for the 2021 animated series, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten. Suburban Dicks, Nicieza’s debut novel, was published by Penguin Putnam in 2021.

About the Book:

After mother of five and former FBI profiler Andie Stern solved a murder—and unraveled a decades old conspiracy—in her New Jersey town, both her husband and the West Windsor police hoped that she would set aside crime-fighting and go back to carpools, changing diapers, and lunches with her group of mom-friends, who she secretly calls The Cellulitists. Even so, Andie can’t help but get involved when the husband of Queen Bee Molly Goode is found dead. Though all signs point to natural causes, Andie begins to dig into the case and soon risks more than just the clique’s wrath, because what she discovers might hit shockingly close to home.

Meanwhile, journalist Kenny Lee is enjoying a rehabilitated image after his success as Andie’s sidekick. But when an anonymous phone call tips him off that Molly Goode killed her husband, he’s soon drawn back into the thicket of suburban scandals, uncovering secrets, affairs, and a huge sum of money. Hellbent on justice and hoping not to kill each other in the process, Andie and Kenny dust off their suburban sleuthing caps once again.

Shawn chats with Debut Author Davida Breier about her new book SINKHOLE, surviving childhood in Florida during the 80s, power dynamics in friendships and in life, selfishness in younger years turning into malignant behavior when we get older, and unique aspects about Florida that tourists don't always see. 

About the Author:

Davida G. Breier was born in Miami, FL. She's spent the last two decades in various roles within the book industry and currently works for Johns Hopkins University Press. Davida lives in Maryland with her family, a pack of wee rescue dogs, a rescue tortoise, and two companion chickens.

About the Book:

“The final showdown between them is destined to shock; the electric denouement more than justifies the tension throughout.” -NYT Book Review

A mesmerizing, darkly comic coming-of-age novel immersed in 1980s central Florida. Lies from the past and a dangerous present collide when, after fifteen years in exile, Michelle Miller returns to her tiny hometown of Lorida, Florida. She’s forced to confront the death of her best friend, but what if everything she remembers is a lie?

Shawn chats with Fiona Barton about her new novel LOCAL GONE MISSING. They also discuss fresh starts, the unique perspectives of household staff, not panicking while writing, what writing isn't always, and the benefits of allowing your writing self to think. 

About the Author:

Fiona Barton has been a journalist - senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at The Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the National Press Awards, gave up her job to volunteer in Sri Lanka and since 2008, has trained and worked with exiled and threatened journalists all over the world.

But through it all, a story was cooking in her head.

The worm of a book infected her long ago when, as a national newspaper journalist covering notorious crimes and trials, she found herself wondering what the wives of those accused really knew – or allowed themselves to know.

It took the liberation of her career change to turn that fascination into a tale of a missing child, narrated by the wife of the man suspected of the crime, the detective leading the hunt, the journalist covering the case, and the mother of the victim. That book became The Widow, which went on to be a bestseller, garnering rave reviews around the globe. Fiona followed that book up with The Child, and now her most recent is Local Gone Missing.

About the book: 

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes. 

Shawn chats with Annabel about her first adult fiction novel: Nora Goes off Script, their mutual love of Steve Martin, the humorous absurdity of domestic life, magical tea houses, great places to write great books, and how Hallmark Channel movies are both addictive and inspirational.