Reader's Entertainment Radio

Erica Ferencik considers her MA in Creative Writing from Boston University just the beginning of her literary education. Her thirty-five years of writing—novels, short stories, essays, ghostwriting, ten years of standup and sketch comedy, as well as dozens of screenplays, and a brief filmmaking stint—was her boots-on-the-ground training. Her work has appeared in Salon and the Boston Globe, as well as on National Public Radio. 

She says, “I was raised in the wilds of upstate New York during the era when—rightly or wrongly —you could take off after school to explore and no one worried, as long as you were home by dark. Now, I live in MetroWest Boston with my very tolerant husband and frankly enormous Maine Coon cat. I am in love with my family and friends, the startling beauty of the natural world, and the wonders that lay half hidden in everyday life. 

Find out more on her website EricaFerencik.com and follow her on Twitter @EricaFerencik

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights - shining a light on good books!

Katja Desjarlais is a music teacher by day and a paranormal romance writer by moonlight. She is an unapologetic music addict and has an obsession for bad Bach puns despite her irrational aversion to Baroque. Her favorite words include ‘plethora’ and ‘dapper’, and she is physically repulsed by the word ‘moist’.

Desjarlais lives in the Okanagan valley with her husband, three children, and three cats. Her ideal summer vacation is spent driving Route 66 with her family and attending heavy metal concerts.

Her newest release, Muzzled, is out now with Tule Publishing.

You can find at her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify.

Katja Desjarlais is a music teacher by day and a paranormal romance writer by moonlight. She is an unapologetic music addict and has an obsession for bad Bach puns despite her irrational aversion to Baroque. Her favorite words include ‘plethora’ and ‘dapper’, and she is physically repulsed by the word ‘moist’.

Desjarlais lives in the Okanagan valley with her husband, three children, and three cats. Her ideal summer vacation is spent driving Route 66 with her family and attending heavy metal concerts.

Her newest release, Muzzled, is out now with Tule Publishing.

You can find at her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify.

Joanna Vander Vlugt is an author and illustrator. Her motorcycle illustrations have been purchased world-wide and her Woman Empowered motorcycle art series has been featured in on-line art and motorcycle magazines. In 2006 her short mysteries Egyptian Queen and The Parrot and Wild Mushroom Stuffing were published in the Crime Writers of Canada mystery anthologies. Her personal essay, No Beatles Reunion was published in the Dropped Threads 3: Beyond the Small Circle anthology.

The Unravelling, her debut thriller novel, was a Canadian Book Club Awards finalist. The sequel, Dealer’s Child, is set for release August/September 2021. She is proud of her podcast JCVArtStudio - From the Dressing Room and being able to promote authors and artists. You can learn more at: https://www.jcvartstudio.net/

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights - shining a light on good books!

Sam Tschida (pronounced cheetah) is a rom-com author. She lives with her gang of children, a couple of poorly behaved dogs, and one handsome man. When she’s not writing she is probably making lasagna. Just kidding. Who knows what she’s doing, least of all Sam. The only guarantee is that she is actively brainstorming her next book. And if we’re being honest, it’s pretty likely that she’s not making lasagna, unless it’s the frozen kind. Shout out to Mrs. Stouffers!

Besides living the dream writing books, Sam is the head bitch at SMUT University, a school of writing she started for writers to connect, learn craft, and tell dirty jokes. She also edits other peoples’ books , but she is a Pisces so we might as well call it what it is, therapy. So boiled down, Sam is an unlicensed therapist who also writes rom-coms.

Her debut novel, Siri, Who Am I? is out now and you can find it Amazon, Kobu, and Barnes and Noble.

You can find Sam online, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Sam Tschida (pronounced cheetah) is a rom-com author. She lives with her gang of children, a couple of poorly behaved dogs, and one handsome man. When she’s not writing she is probably making lasagna. Just kidding. Who knows what she’s doing, least of all Sam. The only guarantee is that she is actively brainstorming her next book. And if we’re being honest, it’s pretty likely that she’s not making lasagna, unless it’s the frozen kind. Shout out to Mrs. Stouffers!

Besides living the dream writing books, Sam is the head bitch at SMUT University, a school of writing she started for writers to connect, learn craft, and tell dirty jokes. She also edits other peoples’ books , but she is a Pisces so we might as well call it what it is, therapy. So boiled down, Sam is an unlicensed therapist who also writes rom-coms.

Her debut novel, Siri, Who Am I? is out now and you can find it Amazon, Kobu, and Barnes and Noble.

You can find Sam online, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Deborah Falaye is a Nigerian-Canadian young adult author. She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she spent her time devouring African literature, pestering her grandma for folktales, and tricking her grandfather into watching Passions every night. When she’s not writing about fierce Black girls with badass magic, she can be found obsessing over all things reality TV. Deborah currently lives in Toronto with her husband and their partner-in-crime yorkie, Major. Blood Scion is her first novel. You can find out more here: https://linktr.ee/deborahfalaye

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights - shining a light on good books!

Kelly Cain is a native Northern Californian but has spent the last couple of decades in Texas, currently residing in, Austin, the live music capital of the world. Consequently, most of her books are set somewhere between those two locations.

She writes multicultural romance with determined women directing their own fates and the swoon-worthy men who adore them. 

She loves reading most genres but please don’t ask her to pick just one. However, she can pick her favorite book boyfriend – Will Herondale (from Shadowhunters).

When she isn’t reading or writing, Kelly is most likely using a genealogy site to research her extended family, both old and new. Or cooking/baking something delightful.

She has collaborated with a group of wonderful authors (and great friends), and their short story collection, Déjà You, is available.

Find out more about Book Besties and their short story collection at their website.

You can find Kelly at her website, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest & Tule Publishing. 

Check out YouTube for her book trailers.

Eliot Parker is the author of four novels, most recently A Knife’s Edge, which was an Honorable Mention in Thriller Writing at the London Book Festival, and is the sequel to the award-winning novel Fragile Brilliance. His novel Code for Murder was named a 2018 Finalist for Genre Fiction by American Book Fest. He is a recipient of the West Virginia Literary Merit Award and Fragile Brilliance was a finalist for the Southern Book Prize in Thriller Writing. He recently received with the Thriller Writing Award by the National Association of Book Editors (NABE) for his novels.

Eliot is the host of the podcast program Now, Appalachia, which profiles authors and publishers living and writing in the Appalachian region and is heard on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network and Blog Talk Radio. A graduate of the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University with his MFA in Creative Writing and Murray State University with his Doctorate in English, he teaches English at the University of Mississippi and lives in Oxford, Mississippi and Chesapeake, Ohio.

He is the proud pet-parent of two loving, and spoiled cats, Layla and Buddy, and enjoys sports, traveling, reading, and movies when he’s not writing. You can learn more here: https://www.eliotparker.com/

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights - shining a light on good books!

Carina Alyce is the pen name of the Amazon Best-selling author and full-time triple board-certified physician who started writing dramatic medical romances after twenty years in the trenches of health care. She promises she never had sex in a call room – the mattresses are not comfortable – or had a fistfight with a patient – though she did work as a fight doc at the Octagon. Her stories are sexy, snarky, and real with all the romance and drama of the lives of our first responders.

She writes the MetroGen Downtown series that tackles the personal and professional challenges facing our front line providers. Her stories have the drama of Grey’s Anatomy, the comedy of Scrubs, the sexiness of Outlander, and the medical details of Forensic Files. They feature fast, witty dialogue, strong women with goals, and quirky ensemble casts.

When not working or writing, she is a brown belt in judo, an avid reader, and an attending surgeon in stuffed animal veterinary medicine for her six kids. (No one trusts her husband’s medical skills because he’s just a lawyer.) 

Her latest release, Unchecked, is out now. You can get her book Wildcat, for free now and you can pre-order

Heroes with Heat and Heart Anthology here.

Keep in touch with Carina at her website, Facebook, Twitter, and BookBub.