The Danny and Park Novels Good News Podcast

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is Jenna Weinstein and I decided to do something a little different for this episode. A good friend of mine, and previous podcast guest, Ben Toderico, suggested that I interview Jenna for an episode. All he said about her was that she was an amazing person. Jenna and I have never talked before this episode was recorded, so I had no idea what made Jenna so special, but figured you’d find out when I did as we talked. So, what makes her so special? Listen to the episode and find out. 

Once you've heard it,  do you agree with Ben’s recommendation for Jenna as a podcast guest? Of course you do! Jenna’s a blast and I enjoyed talking to her. From Brooklyn, to Boston, then to Texas, North Carolina and landing in Georgia. Working with veterans, getting her doctorate and writing a novel on the side. Simply amazing. I’m hoping Jenna comes back on the show soon and updates us on her life, job and writing career.

Speaking of her writing career, check out Book 1 in her Stone Sister Series, Fearing Fate, at the link below:

https://m.goodnovel.com/book/Fearing-Fate_31000442102

And in case you follow that link and see the author as J.N. Stein, have no fear, that's Jenna's pen name!

So until next time, take care of one another, seek out the goodness in people and as always, thanks for listening.

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is James White, host of the absolutely fantastic YouTube channel, Freakin Reviews. James’ channel popped up in my Youtube suggestions and looked interesting. I clicked on one of his videos. And then another. And then another. In the blink of an eye, an hour was gone and I was searching through his channel for my next fix! Hoping against all hope, I sent him an email inviting him to do a podcast episode and he accepted! So here he is. A quick note on the audio quality; it’s not as good as I’d prefer because of some feedback noise. Hopefully it won’t take anything away from the interview.

 As always, I hope you enjoy the episode, and once you listen to it tell me what you think of James. As you'll be able to  clearly tell, I’m a huge fan of James and his channel. I bet that if you look him up on Youtube, you’ll agree. Not just for the product reviews, which are extremely helpful and right on point, but for the entertainment value of James just being James. And while you’re hunting around the internets for his videos, make sure you check out what started it all: his website....

http://www.freakinreviews.com

Then, go get your Freakin' video fix on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTCpOFIu6dHgOjNJ0rTymkQ

So until next time, take care of one another, abide by the Golden rule and last but certainly not least, thanks for listening.

Today’s guest is a good friend of mine and an overall great guy: the one and only, Dr. Richard Groover. Richard has been an educator  for decades and was a reserve deputy with the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office for twenty years. Richard has been a fan of my books and podcasts, and I’m a fan of his, so it seemed like it was time to bring him on an episode and pick his brain on a variety of topics. Give it a listen and then let me know what you think of Richard.

I bet like me, you find him instantly likeable. Notice that when I asked him what his daughter thought about the way police officers were treated in 2020, he told me to ask her...... That’s Richard and I love it. Richard and I don’t always see eye to eye on some political issues, but we always, and I mean always, respect each other. That’s the way it should be, regardless of where you stand politically, socially, etc.

Mutual respect. 

Richard is one of my favorite people on this planet, and I’m lucky to have him as a friend.

Don't forget about the centennial of the Virginia Academy of Science; you can check out their website here👇🏽

http://www.vacadsci.org

Until next time, take care of one another, and thanks for listening.

I've been following multiple news stories in the press recently, and have been posting about them as well. Well, I decided to do a short, solo podcast about my thoughts. In it, I told about the superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, the Interim Chief of Police, and a few other things that are on my mind. No script, no outline, no guests. Just me talking. Let me know what you think. Do you agree or disagree?  Do you think I'm off base? Do you think I'm racist? I'll answer that last question: I'm not. If you think I am, who cares? You're wrong. 

Let me know what you think.

As always, thanks for listening.

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is New York Times Bestselling author Don Bentley. Now I have to say something first about the audio of the episode. Number one, I stutter my words when I introduce Don a bit because I was discombobulated. I usually call my guests, but this time, Don called me. Unfortunately I had my phone set to ignore unknown numbers, so I totally missed answering his call. Not a good idea when you’re getting ready to interview anyone, much less a bestselling author. But Don was a good sport and answered when I called him back. Secondly, there are a few times when Don’s line cuts out during our call, so bear with that as well. It doesn’t happen often during our discussion, but it does happen and I apologize in advance. 

Once you listen to the episode, let me know what you think of Don. From piloting an Apache helicopter in the Army, to FBI Agent, to a successful writer who writes three different series, Don is nothing short of amazing. Add to that amazingness that he took the time out of his incredibly busy schedule to call me when has another book due so soon and I’m absolutely blown away. If thrillers are your thing, and why wouldn’t  they be, check him out through his website:

http://donbentleybooks.com


And until next time, take care of on another and thanks for listening.

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is Jack Roney, author of the crime novels The Angels Wept, The Demons Woke and The Shadows Watch. Jack got on my radar because of the marketing for his first book, The Angels Wept. To say that the book was everywhere be an understatement. Every time I’d open Facebook or Instagram I’d either see the fantastic cover of the book,  a post about Jack doing a speaking engagement or teaching an aspiring group of writers. I did some research on Jack and found that he’d recently retired as a police detective after over thirty years of service. So, he’s an author and a retired police officer; I wanted him on the show. I sent him a message and despite the time difference between Virginia and Australia, got to interview him. 

 I know that I repeat myself when I mention how fascinated I am when I talk to people from other countries and learn about the similarities and differences between the US and where they’re from, but it’s still true. Before talking to Jack, I had no idea that there were only a handful of police agencies responsible for law enforcement in Australia.


And, in writing the description for this episode, I found that Jack has another novel out, The Ghost Train & The Scarlet Moon.


 I think the beauty of current technology and social media is that they open up the world and allows us to explore a region outside of our own and we’re able to talk to people that we ordinarily wouldn’t be able to talk to. So even though it’s easy to condemn social media for people who misuse it, there’s always the opportunity to take advantage of the education it offers. 

I’d like to thank Jack for coming on the podcast and for being patient with me when I brought up Crocodile Dundee. I hate using the term, but that was truly a cringe question.

Also stay tuned for additional episodes with Jack because we’re discussing doing other interviews to talk about the realism of first responder writers versus what civilian writers think passes as real.

Until next time, take care of one another, and thanks for listening.


Check out Jack's website: https://www.jackroney.com.au/#/

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is bestselling author and native Chicagoian, Tracy Clark. Tracy’s book, Hide, popped up in my suggested reading page on Amazon, so I read the description of the book and immediately hit ‘buy now’.  As I say to her in our conversation, once I started reading it, bam! It was off to the races. After I finished it, I reached out to her to see if she’d be interested in being a guest on the podcast, and she graciously agreed. 

After you listen to it, let me know what you think  of Tracy. Personally, I liked her about two seconds after she started talking. Authors always fascinate me, especially when they mention The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, though to be honest, I never read Christie. Regardless, I truly enjoyed talking to Tracy and enjoy her outlook on writing in particular and life in general. The world always needs more authors and we especially need more authors like Tracy. I hope she keeps writing for a long, long time.

Check out some of Tracy's links below:

http://www.tracyclarkbooks.com

https://twitter.com/tracypc6161

https://www.facebook.com/tclarkbooks

https://www.instagram.com/tpclark2000/

And.........

I asked Tracy to recommend some of the authors that she reads. Per her, these are her 'automatic buys'.......

Rachel Howzell Hall

Laurie R. King

S.A. Cosby

Isabella Maldonado

Walter Mosley

Sara Paretsky

Cheryl Head

Delia Pitts

Ann Cleeves

Until next time, take care of one another, and thanks for listening.

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is Tim Hendricks, author of the debut novel, The Instructor. Tim’s book showed up in a NetGalley email and I clicked on the link to check out the book’s description. It looked like a winner, so I requested it and got approved to read it. From page one on it was a scorcher!  So, naturally, after I finished it I searched for his website hoping to find an email address. I did, shot him an email invitation to see if he’d come on the podcast and he agreed. So here he is!

Now, I realize that a lot of my listeners may not have had a chance to read The Instructor yet, since its not due to be released until April, but I strongly recommend that you do once it’s released. If you’re a fan of action books like I am, you’ll love it. In my interviews I normally ask how my guests stay positive in life, but Tim hits the point a number of times; not delving into politics, not trying to force his views on his readers and just wanting everyone to enjoy his books and be proud of America. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I’m looking forward to Tim’s next book and I hope that he keeps writing them and comes back on the show after each book.

Here's a link to The Instructor on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Instructor-Derek-Harrington-Novel-ebook/dp/B09XL9GRJB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=653GDIWDQZJO&keywords=the+instructor+t.r.+hendricks&qid=1676971347&sprefix=t.r.+hendricks%2Caps%2C405&sr=8-1

Check out Tim's social media down below:

http://trhendricksauthor.com

Twitter: @TR_Hendricks

IG: @readtrhendricks

TikTok: @readtrhendricks

Want to check out some of the authors Tim mentioned? 

Don Bentley: The Matt Drake series

Jack Carr: The James Reece series (The Terminal List on Amazon Prime Video)

Simon Gervais: Three series- Mike Walton, Pierce Hunt and Clayton White. Plus a new Robert Ludlum Bourne universe novel).

Mark Greaney: The Gray Man series (also The Gray Man movie on Netflix).

Nick Petrie: The Peter Ash series

Connor Sullivan: The thrillers, Sleeping Bear and Wolf Trap.

Until next time, take care of one another and as always, thanks for listening.

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guests are Tom and Jen Satterly, a husband and wife team who are also authors and the founders of the All Secure Foundation, and VIRAGO, a division of the All Secure Foundation that empowers women to help their combat warrior heal from post traumatic stress. I came across Tom and Jen when I picked up the book that he co-authored with Steve Jackson, All Secure, A Special Operations Soldier’s Fight to Survive the Battlefield and the Homefront. I’m a big fan of fiction and non-fiction military books, so this one seemed right up my alley. Like many people, I’m fascinated by the Special Operations warriors and have always liked learning more about them. This book was different, though. Yes, there are great stories in there about Tom’s training and service, but there’s a darker side to Tom that he readily admits and writes about. I finished the book in days and reached out to see if he and Jen would like to be guests on the podcast and they agreed.

 I think most people idolize our Special Operations warriors and rightly so. They’re out on the front lines and beyond keeping not only Americans safe, but people from other countries as well. But what most of us don’t think about is the effect that their service has on their mental and physical well-being, not to mention the physical and mental well-being of their spouses. I strongly recommend reading All Secure and Jen’s book, Arsenal of Hope: Tactics for Taking on PTSD together. You can find Tom and Jen at the links below and I hope you take some time to do so. 

We’re all in this world together, so let’s take care of one another.

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Tom and Jen’s social media:

Instagram:  @allsecurefoundation

                          @virago_allsecurefoundationhomefront

Facebook: @AllSecureFoundation

Online: AllSecureFoundation.org

Tom and Steve's book:

All Secure: A Special Operations Soldier's Fight to Survive on the Battlefield and the Homefront

https://www.amazon.com/All-Secure-Operators-Battlefield-Homefront-ebook/dp/B07H2D6B4K/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=all+secure+tom+satterly&qid=1674298531&sr=8-1

Jen's book:

Arsenal of Hope: Tactics for Taking on PTSD, Together

https://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-Hope-Tactics-Taking-Together-ebook/dp/B08R6NJJMH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LIBOFKXJPRRA&keywords=jennifer+satterly&qid=1674298664&sprefix=jennifer+satterly%2Caps%2C342&sr=8-1

Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is Tyler Lane, an investigative reporter for WTVR, a local CBS affiliate here in Richmond, Virginia. I’ve been following Tyler’s reporting for awhile and like his style. It seems as if the country’s attention span for news stories that matter is short, compared to obsessions with other stories that are much more  frivolous. Tyler breaks that cycle and once he gets a hold of a story, to use his terminology, he peels back the layers like an onion. 

From making his own YouTube videos, to getting called to work at a radio station, to VCU and then to WTVR, Tyler’s truly making a name for himself as a journalist. To me, Tyler represents what true journalism is; fair and balanced reporting. I think it’s the media’s responsibility to dig deep and ask the hard questions, regardless of any political affiliation the person being questioned has. I think we as a country deserve to know as much as we can about events that shape our lives, and Tyler is doing exactly that. I wish Tyler the best of luck in his career and hope he stays in the Richmond area for years to come.

Until next time, take care of one another, and thanks for listening.