"Now, Appalachia"

On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews North Carolina author Elaine Neal Orr. Elaine Neil Orr is a writer of fiction, memoir, and literary criticism. With stories set in Nigeria and the American South, she delves into themes of home, country, and spiritual longing. Orr was born in Nigeria to medical missionary parents and spent her growing-up years in the savannahs and rain forests of that country. She is an award-winning Professor of English at North Carolina State University and serves on the faculty of the low-residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University.

On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with author Kasey S. Pipes about his latest book "After the Fall: The Remarkable Comeback of Richard Nixon." Kasey is the Norris Fellow at the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He also served as an advisor to President George W. Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Joe Walters is the former marketing director at Inkwater Press and is the founder and president of Independent Book Review since April 2018. During his time as the marketing and publicity director at Inkwater Press, he discovered how difficult it was for small press and self-published books to get the attention they deserved. In this interview, Joe discusses why its difficult for some books to get attention and how Independent Book Review can help authors overcome that obstacle. 

 On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with author John Billheimer. Billheimer, a native West Virginian, lives in Portola Valley, California. THE CONTRARY BLUES was the first book in the “funny, sometimes touching,” mystery series set in Appalachia and featuring failure analyst Owen Allison.A second mystery series featuring Lloyd Keaton, a Midwest sports writer with a gambling problem, debuted in 2012 with FIELD OF SCHEMES, a mystery involving baseball and steroids. The author’s output includes two nonfiction books, BASEBALL AND THE BLAME GAME, which examines scapegoating in the major leagues, and HITCHCOCK AND THE CENSORS, which traces the rise of movie censorship and documents its impact on Alfred Hitchcock as he battled bluenoses to produce a lifetime of memorable films. 

 On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with essayist Brooke Larson about her new collection of essays "Pleasing Tree." They also discuss the genre of essays and what makes them unique for writers and readers. Born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Brooke holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, and is currently a PhD student in Poetry at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Often she runs away to teach primitive survival skills as a wilderness guide in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.  https://bit.ly/2NHk2kS

David Bell is the USA Today-bestselling author of eight novels from Berkley/Penguin, He is an associate professor of English at Western Kentucky University where he directs the MFA program in creative writing. and is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. He discuss with Eliot his latest thriller novel "Layover" and how and MFA program can benefit writers.

 On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot talks with creative nonfiction author Christina Fisanick about her book "The Optimistic Food Addict," which discusses her personal struggle with food and weight and the complicated relationship food has with Appalachian people and their culture. They also discuss the first Northern Appalachian Writers Conference, scheduled for early September 2019. 

Authors on the Air Global Radio Network host and thriller author interviews Karen Swallow Prior, an award-winning Professor of English at Liberty University. She earned her Ph.D. in English at SUNY Buffalo. Her writing has appeared at The Atlantic, Christianity Today, Washington Post, Vox, First Things, Sojourners, Relevant, Think Christian, and other places. She is a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, a Research Fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, a Senior Fellow at Liberty University' Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement, and a member of the Faith Advisory Council of the Humane Society of the United States. She and her husband live on a 100-year old homestead in central Virginia with sundry horses, dogs, and chickens. And lots of books. 

Authors on the Air Global Radio Network host and thriller writer Eliot Parker interviews Del Duduit. Del Duduit is an award-winning sportswriter and author. He has been published in Clubhouse Magazine, Sports Spectrum, and on ToddStarnes.com. He is a contributing writer for Athletes in Action, The Christian View, Bridges Magazine, and PM Magazine. He is the co-editor for Southern Ohio Christian Voice and blogs weekly at delduduit.com. He lives in Lucasville, Ohio, with his wife Angie.

Authors on the Air Global Radio Network Host and thriller author Eliot Parker interviews poet Rita Quillen. Rita Quillen’s novel Hiding Ezra was published in 2014 from Little Creek Books; it was a finalist in the 2005 DANA Awards competition, and a chapter of the novel is included in the new scholarly study of Appalachian dialect just published by the University of Kentucky Press entitled Talking Appalachian. Her poetry chapbook, Something Solid To Anchor To, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014. Her new full-length poetry collection, THE MAD FARMER'S WIFE, was published in the fall of 2016 from Texas Review Press, and was a finalist for the prestigious WEATHERFORD AWARD IN APPALACHIAN LITERATURE from Berea College.

One of six semi-finalists for the 2012-14 Poet Laureate of Virginia, her poetry received three Pushcart nominations as well as a Best of the Net nomination. Her collection Her Secret Dream, new and selected poems, is from Wind Press in Kentucky and was named the Outstanding Poetry Book of the Year by the Appalachian Writers Association in 2008. Previous works are poetry collections October Dusk and Counting The Sums, as well as a book of essays Looking for Native Ground: Contemporary Appalachian Poetry.

Rita is also a musician, playing guitar, mandolin,piano, dulcimer, autoharp, bass, and bodhran, and she has recently began writing songs. She won first place in the 2015 Gathering in the Gap Songwriting Contest and was also a finalist in the Richard Leigh Songwriting Competition that same year. She has performed at many venues in the region as part of various groups or as a singer/songwriter.

She lives and farms on Early Autumn Farm in Scott County, Virginia. Contact her through her author Facebook page linked on this page: www.facebook.com/ritaquillenhidingezra.