GiantPandaPodcast: Writing/Books/Reading

Today on the podcast I have writer and novelist Janna King. Her most recent book is ‘Malibu Bluff’ the sequel to her previous novel ‘The Seasonairres’ Janna has worked in TV, Film and Theatre. She’s also a freelance journalist and blogger, co-founding the website, The Broad Life.

https://www.janna-king.com/

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781643130668

https://www.thebroad.life/

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Today on the podcast I have author Gwendolyn Womack. She is the USA Today bestselling author of The Fortune Teller’ and the award-winning reincarnation thriller ‘The Memory Painter’. Her newest novel is ‘The Time Collector.’ Gwendolyn is originally from Houston, Texas. She moved to Alaska for college to become an environmental scientist and ended up in the theater department writing plays. Later she went on to receive an MFA in Directing Theatre, Video & Cinema from California Institute of the Arts. Currently she resides in Los Angeles. The Time Collector is also included in our Sponsors UniverseBound ‘Simple Read and Relax’ August BookBox. You have until the end of the month to sign up for this months box. You can sign up by going to time.universebound.space. Enter the code THETIMECOLLECTOR for $10.00 off the Simple Read and Relax bookbox 1, 3, 6 or 12 month subscription.

https://www.gwendolynwomack.com

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250169235

Author photo: Photo by JennKL Photography

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Photo by JennKL Photography

On todays’ episode I have Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke authors of ‘The Two Lila Bennetts’. This is their fifth novel together. Their previous books include ‘Girls Night Out’, The Good Widow’ and ‘The Year We Turned Forty’ ‘The Two Lila Bennetts’ is also included in our Sponsors UniverseBound ‘Simple Read and Relax’ August BookBox. You have until the end of the month to sign up for this months box. You can sign up by going to embrace.universebound.com On the episode today we talk about their approach to writing as a duo and how they went from best friends to writing partners. We also talk about what developmental editors and copy editors do and how important they are to the whole process. And we hear about the time they hit a rough patch in their writing partnership and how they worked their way through it.

https://www.lizandlisa.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Two-Lila-Bennetts-Liz-Fenton-ebook/dp/B07L2W72YF/?tag=lizandlisacom-20

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Author Photo Credit: Debbie Friedrich Photography

Credit: Debbie Friedrich Photography

Here are a few things you need to know about my guest today Kira Jane Buxton, the author of the new novel ’Hollow Kingdom’; not only has she written the funniest and most wonderfully bizarre book you will read this year, but she also has a dog named Ewok, three cats, 2 crows and a charm of hummingbirds. She loves puns and wordplay. And she has written pieces for The New York Times, NewYorker.com, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus and Huffington Post. ‘Hollow Kingdom’ is narrated by a snarky, American Crow named S.T. who loves humans, almost as much as he loves Cheetos. Things change when he has to reconnect with his non-human neighbors once it appears that humanity may be on the brink of extinction. On the episode today we talk about her past life in LA pursing an acting career, she drops some bird knowledge on us and we talk about the possibility of an animated ‘Hollow Kingdom’ series coming to AMC.

https://www.kirajanebuxton.com/

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781538745823

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Today on the podcast I have two very special guests- Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb the co-authors of the new Novel ‘Meet Me in Monaco ’ set to the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s royal wedding, featuring a French perfumer and a British press photographer, whose fates are linked with Grace’s over twenty years of friendship, love, and tragedy. This is their second collaboration, their first was Last Christmas in Paris which was also a Globe & Mail bestseller. They were both kind enough to take time out during their book tour to speak with me. Heather is the award-winning and international bestselling author of historical novels Becoming Josephine, Rodin’s Lover, The Phantom’s Apprentice, and Hazel is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today and Irish Times bestselling historical novelist. Her novels include The Girl from The Savoy, The Cottingley Secret and The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter.

https://www.hazelgaynor.com/

https://www.heatherwebbauthor.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Me-Monaco-Hazel-Gaynor-ebook/dp/B07F1G44N7/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=meet+me+in+monaco&qid=1564544475&s=gateway&sr=8-2

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

To celebrate our 50th episode and the one year anniversary of the podcast I have a very special guest today: Shan Boodram the author of the brand new book ‘The Game of Desire: 5 Surprising Secrets to Dating with Dominance--and Getting What You Want’ Shan is the Internet’s most sought-after, certified sex educator, dating coach and relationship expert with over 35 million YouTube views. She’s also known for her work on MTV's Guide to Sex and was the executive producer of the Fullscreen series, Your Perfect Date and the host and a consulting producer for Facebook Watch’s relationship series, Make Up or Break Up. Shan is an ambassador for AIDS Healthcare Foundation and WomensHealth.gov She is a certified sexologist. I can’t think of a more fun person to celebrate our 1 year anniversary with than Shan. I had a blast hanging out with her and I think you will too.

https://www.thegameofdesire.com/

https://www.shanboodram.com/

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Today on the podcast I have writer Sarah Rose Etter to talk about her novel ‘The Book of X’, published today by Two Dollar Radio. Sarah is the author of the short story collection ‘Tongue Party’ Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Cut, Electric Literature, Guernica, VICE and more. She is the co-founder of the TireFire Reading Series, and a contributing editor at The Fanzine. She has also served as an arts columnist at Philadelphia Weekly. On today’s episode we hear how an art exhibit inspired the story of The Book of X. She talks about surrealist writing as a mode of feminism. We find out what it was like writing the book during her residency in Iceland. We touch on how the place you’re writing in shapes what you’re writing and we find out if our dogs really love us.

You can find out more about her at https://www.sarahroseetter.com/

You can buy her book at https://twodollarradio.com/products/book-of-x You can also buy it at https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=sarah+rose+etter or wherever you buy books

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Author Photo Credit: Natalie Graf

Sarah Rose Etter-Photo Credit Natalie Graf

My guest on todays episode is author Cerece Rennie Murphy. She is here to promote book two in the ‘Wolf Queen’ series, which comes out in October. Book one of the series:The Wolf Queen: The Hope of Aferi’ is included in our Sponsors UniverseBound ‘Simple Read and Relax’ July BookBox. You have until the end of the month to sign up for this months box. You can sign up by going to embrace.universebound.com Cerece earned her master’s degrees in social work and international relations at Boston College and Johns Hopkins School for Advance International Studies, respectively. On todays episode we talk about her childrens book series "Ellis and the Magic Mirror' We chat about our equally bad typing skills and how using a dictation app has been a saving grace for her. We find out she came up with the idea for her ’Order of the Seers’ book series while washing the dishes. We hear about how her naivete about exhibiting at New York Comic Con as a unknown writer worked in her favor We explore how what's happening in your life at at given time always informs what story you write. We also talk about her website NARAZU- an online platform designed to deliver the best in indie sci-fi content and comic culture. And we touch briefly on our mutual love of Game of Thrones. Enjoy!

You can find her author website here

You can buy her books here

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Today on the podcast I have Pam Jones, author of the brand new novel “Ivy Day” (Spaceboy Books)  Pam studied Creative Writing at Hampshire College and is also the author of The Biggest Little Bird (Black Hill Press/1888Center, 2013), Andermatt County: Two Parables (The April Gloaming, 2018) Her short fiction has appeared in The Cost of Paper, Boned, and Heavy Feather Review.  

BUY ‘IVY DAY’ HERE https://www.amazon.com/Ivy-Day-Pam-Jones/dp/099978627X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1562118293&sr=8-1

or here https://readspaceboy.com/

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Visit our website at https://www.giantpandapod.com

Contact us at [email protected]

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

I’m very excited to have New York Times bestselling YA author Amber Smith on the podcast today. She is here to talk about her most recent novel ‘Something Like Gravity’, which is the story of Chris and Maia. Maia has recently lost a sister and Chris has come out as transgender. What develops is an unexpected story of first love, as they both learn how to be the most authentic version of themselves. It’s a story about how ‘finding the right person at the right time can really save you’ This is Amber’s third novel. She is also the author of the YA novels ‘The Last to Let Go’ and ‘The Way I Used to Be.’ Amber is also an advocate for increased awareness of gendered violence, including sexual assault and domestic or intimate partner abuse, as well as LGBTQ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue surrounding these issues. On today’s episode we talk about how todays’ YA is continually taking on challenging issues and topics. We also hear about what her experience was coming out as a queer woman and her work today with Time Out Youth-Charlotte a North Carolina organization provides services and programs and a safe meeting place for LBGTQ youth. She also teases the middle grade novel she’s working on and we find out how she ending up writing fiction after coming from painting and working in the art world.

Buy “Something Like Gravity’ here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1534437185/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1534437185&linkCode=as2&tag=asmithauthor-20&linkId=af9a3dba8308860a61a63d52e6fa573e

Learn more about Amber here:

http://ambersmithauthor.com/

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Get GiantPanda Merch at https://www.giantpandapod.com/shop/

Todays Sponsor is https://www.universebound.com/

Amber-Smith-Photo-by-Deborah-Triplett