In the spotlight is Ainslie Hogarth, the author of three novels, including “Motherthing," her latest, which has been named by Cosmopolitan as the best horror novel of all time, and the best book of the year by the New York Times, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and KOBO.

The New York Times Book Review called it “a quirky, gruesome, utterly original feminist horror experience.” Publishers Weekly wrote that Motherthing is a “masterfully crafted horror novel that’s by turns humorous and deeply unsettling … this dark domestic drama packs a punch.”

Learn more about Ainslie Hogarth at: https://www.ainsliehogarth.com

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

Ever since I read White Noise, the 1985 National Book Award winner written by Don DeLillo, I’ve been expecting some Hollywood movie director would recognize its brilliance and bring it to the Silver Screen in some limited fashion. Finally, it happened, aided by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, thanks to movie director Noah Baumbach and his wife, actress Greta Gerwig. Here is my take on the resulting product, which I liken to the Talking Heads meets Don DeLillo.

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

Kat Rosenfield is a culture writer and author of five novels, including the Edgar-nominated No One Will Miss Her. In 2018, she partnered with the late, great Stan Lee to co-author A Trick of Light, a new superhero story set in the digital age. 

We discuss: 

>> The impulse and rewards of writing 

>> The World According to Garp 

>> The Feminine Chaos podcast 

>> Sexual famine 

>> Social media 

>> A perfect writing day 

>> Etc. 

Learn more about Kat Rosenfield here: https://katrosenfield.com 

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program. 

In the spotlight is author of THE CLOISTERS, northern California novelist Katy Hays. We discuss:

>> Tarot cards

>> The Zodiac

>> Believing the unbelievable

>> Origins of The Cloisters

>> The Harmonic Convergence

>> Art history

>> Teaching

>> Cake baking

>> Etc.

Learn more about Katy Hays here: https://www.katyhays.com

To subscribe to her June Gloom blog, go to Substack.com and search Katy Hays.

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

In the spotlight is professional therapist and author Anna Hogeland whose debut novel, THE LONG ANSWER, takes on pregnancy, motherhood and the nature of female relationships. The Sunday Times called the book “a triumph of human portraiture, as subtle as it is seething” and “fascinating both on its surface and in its depths.” 

We discuss: 

>> Being sentence-focused vs. momentum-focused 

>> Unpublished novels 

>> Auto-fiction 

>> Miscarriage 

>> The Dobbs decision 

>> Psychology 

>> Motherhood 

>> Etc. 

Learn more about Anna Hogeland here: https://www.annahogeland.com/ 

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.   

Jemima Kelly, Financial Times columnist, writes: “There is nothing cozier than curling up on the sofa, tucking oneself into bed, or — my particular favorite — sinking into a deep, steaming-hot bath with a good novel, to be transported to lands far away, times long gone or the minds of characters strange, sex-obsessed and sadistic. (Or perhaps that’s just me; I am currently reading Philip Roth.)” She goes on to cite studies that explain what fiction reading contributes to our mental and emotional acuity.  

Read Jemima Kelly’s column at this link: https://www.ft.com/content/ac4a0ede-f0e1-4ff6-b1bf-c99f09947b69  

Write to Jemima Kelly at [email protected]  

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.  

In just 15 months the Novelist Spotlight podcast has accumulated 100 episodes. Here is a look back and forward.

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

In the spotlight is Jess Lourey, author of crime fiction, nonfiction, children's books, YA adventure and magical realism. She is a retired professor of creative writing and sociology, and blogger for Psychology Today. 

We discuss: 

>> The one sentence per scene outline 

>> Writing 2,000 words per day 

>> First efforts, first novels 

>> Characteristics of the best crime fiction 

>> How to find an agent 

>> What makes a good publicist 

>> Dream journal on the nightstand 

>> The TEDx Talk 

>> Etc. 

Learn more about Jess Lourey on her website: https://jessicalourey.com/welcome 

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program. 

In the spotlight is the bestselling author of Jane Austen-influenced titles such as “Incense and Sensibility” and “Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.” Her latest novel, “The Vibrant Years,” is the first book published with the new Mindy Kaling (“The Office,” “The Mindy Project”) imprint Mindy’s Book Studio, created in collaboration with Amazon. 

We discuss: 

>> Romance 

>> Indian culture 

>> Actress and writer Mindy Kaling 

>> Storytelling 

>> The writing regimen 

>> Exercising the brain 

>> Etc. 

Learn more about Sonali Dev and her books here: https://sonalidev.com/ 

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.

In the spotlight is Toronto-based novelist and cinephile Heather Babcock, whose debut novel “Filthy Sugar” features a libertine lesbian protagonist who models at Blondell’s department store by day and dances at the Apple Bottom burlesque theater by night — all the while obsessing over the mysterious Apple Bottom proprietor who trades under the name Mr. Manchester. 

We discuss: 

>> 1930s street slang 

>> Silent and classic films 

>> Hollywood sirens 

>> Literary influences and aspirations 

>> Social media strategy 

>> Etc. 

Learn more about Heather Babcock at: https://heatherrosebabcock.tumblr.com 

Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol, author of “Family Recipes: A Novel About Italian Culture, Catholic Guilt and the Culinary Crime of the Century,” “Hardwood: A Novel About College Basketball and Other Games Young Men Play,” and two yet-to-be-published manuscripts, “Lolita Firestone: A Supernatural Novel,” and the short story collection “Love American Style.” Write to him at [email protected]. We hope you will subscribe and share the link with any family, friends or colleagues who might benefit from this program.