Jennifer Manocherian’s book is Alpha Bette , sort of the opposite of a coming of age story. It takes place over the course of a single day and is centered around a 95 year old widow, Bette Gartner, who wakes up one morning in her New York City apartment and decides to throw a dinner party that evening, with a surprising guest list. Manocherian, who has produced Broadway plays, written books for a couple of musicals, and has produced and written for film, joins Suzanne Lang in conversation to talk about this, her first Novel, Alpha Bette . Suzanne also talks with Jude Berman, who has spent the last 30 years supporting other writers as a coach, editor, and ghostwriter, and now has a slew of novels coming out which include, The Die , a utopian techno-thriller set in the near future that folds in ancient wisdom from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata . It’s A Novel Idea with Suzanne M. Lang. Streaming and podcasting at KRCB.org .