The Florida Writer Podcast

Angie Elita Newell chats with Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen about the challenges of writing about Canada's Indigenous history, Angie's modern-day colonialism experience, the significance of stories from various cultures and religious texts, and the power of shared experiences expressed through storytelling.

As a trained historian, Angie's interest lies in the oral storytelling of her indigenous elders which she passes along to the next generation as both spoken and written texts. Angie's personal history led her to use surrealism to make storytelling feel authentic.

ANGIE ELITA NEWELL belongs to the Liidlii Kue First Nation from the Dehcho, the place where two rivers meet. A trained historian, she blends a tradition of oral stories with academic history and holds university degrees in English literature, creative writing, and First Nations history with an emphasis on colonialism.

https://www.instagram.com/angieelitanewell.

Founded in 2001, Florida Writers Association (FWA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

Our motto, "Writers Helping Writers," is demonstrated daily by our volunteers.

You might be surprised to know that surgical robots are used for over one million procedures every year. In this episode, Dr. Roger Smith chats with Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen about his medical thriller series on robotic surgeons in the year 2050 and his real-life work with surgical robots over the last ten years.

His novels include an advanced AI character struggling to understand its role in society and healthcare. Roger writes about AI in his novels and experiments with current AI tools in the writing process. He will share his perspective on the controversial role that AI is playing in writing and other creative professions.

Roger's experience spans healthcare, defense, and intelligence industries. He spent the last ten years working exclusively with surgical robots and performing experiments to determine their contributions to improving surgical performance.

Dr. Roger Smith has over 30 years of experience creating new technology solutions for large organizations. He holds two doctoral degrees and three master's degrees that span business, computer science, and mathematics.

The first twenty years of his career addressed defense and intelligence problems and last ten years focused specifically on surgical robots in healthcare systems. Currently, he leads a consulting company focused on robotics, AI, and simulation in healthcare. He was previously a Chief Technology Officer at AdventHealth System; CTO for U.S. Army Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation; and a VP and CTO for Titan Corp. As part of this career, he published over a dozen nonfiction books on technology, business, and innovation topics.

He is currently writing fiction that explores advanced medical devices, applications of AI, and new forms of simulation in the future. These describe the technology, but more importantly, they speculate on the impacts that these might have on surgeons, patients, the healthcare system, and society.

Founded in 2001, Florida Writers Association (FWA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

Our motto, "Writers Helping Writers," is demonstrated daily by our volunteers.

Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen chats with Edward DiGangi about his memoir, The Gift Best Given, a son's search and mother's journey, a timeless story of adoption, search, discovery, and reunion set against the backdrop of the glamorous ice skating shows of the 1940s. Edward shares how his hunt for clues about his adoption opened doors to a compelling story about his birth mother, who hid her pregnancy from the world. "Like a jigsaw puzzle, every story is made up of pieces; big ones, smaller ones, pieces not easily found, tiny and hiding, essential to complete the picture."

Edward Di Gangi is a retired customer service executive who lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina with his wife, Linda. Di Gangi was adopted at the time of his birth, and his first book, The Gift Best Given: A Memoir, recounts his late-adulthood search for the identity of his birth mother and the unexpected discoveries he made during the course of his journey.

Founded in 2001, Florida Writers Association (FWA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

Our motto, "Writers Helping Writers," is demonstrated daily by our volunteers.

Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen chats with legal and financial thriller author Mark Shaiken. Writing a heart-racing legal and financial thriller has exhilarating consequences. Mark Shaiken draws on his 40-year career in law to create his fictional characters. In his latest novel, Cram Down, inspired by his volunteer work with marginalized individuals, Mark explores a company that builds inner city housing for disadvantaged communities.

Mark also publishes 3 weekly essays on Medium @Markshaiken.medium.com

Mark lives with his wife Loren and their dog Emily in Denver Colorado. He schooled at Haverford College and Washburn University, and practiced commercial bankruptcy law for almost 4 decades before moving on to writing, board service, and his photography and music.

Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.

Power, Greed, and Corruption in Washington, D.C. with Steve McGuire

Steve McGuire, a retired Federal judge with a 32-year legal career in Washington, DC, joined Alison Nissen on the Florida Writer Podcast. Steve writes political thrillers inspired by his experiences in Washington. He believes that politics has always been about the same issues, but the influence of corporations and the ill-informed public have exacerbated the situation. Steve faced challenges in his writing journey, particularly in his role as a judge, when every word was scrutinized.

Today, he can share his background and knowledge from the viewpoint of fictional characters. Steve's books have a common theme of power, greed, and corruption in Washington, D.C. Although his books are fiction, they have an underlying tone that implicates today's reality.

Steve is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and had a thirty-year legal career serving as an attorney and a federal judge in Washington, D.C. Steve retired in 2008 as the Chief Judge of the Federal Trade Commission, where he received the FTC Distinguished Service Award and was honored by President George W. Bush for his service to the nation's judiciary. Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.

Insert comedy into any story by sticking to the truth but changing one part. In this Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Tim O'Leary about his strategy to write an entirely true story, except for inserting a fictional narrator.

Tim O'Leary is a Pacific Northwest-based short story writer who has published two collections of short stories and a novel set to be released next year. His book, "The Corona Verses," explores social themes that emerged during the pandemic. Tim shared his journey into fiction writing, including his publishing and writing processes. Toward the end of the discussion, he shared his personal preferences.

Born in Billings, Montana, Tim is the author of Warriors, Workers, Whiners, & Weasels, Dick Cheney Shot Me in the Face, Men Behaving Badly, and, forthcoming, The Corona Verses, to be released in 2024. He graduated from the University of Montana and received his MFA from Pacific University. Tim and his wife Michelle and their yellow lab Pinchot split their time between the Columbia Gorge in Washington state, and Santa Ynez, California.

Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.

Meet Modello Brown! On this Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen chats with the multi-media artist as he shares the evolution of Hip Hop Littles. What started with writing lyrics, Modello Brown turned his songs into life lessons by writing children's books. Today Modello is creating an immersive experience to build strong, emotionally resilient children.

Hip Hop Littles' mission is to bring culture together little by little while focusing on teaching children that their support, positivity, and love for one another can bring tremendous value and success in life. Through different life situations and lessons, learning from one another, and honoring each other's uniqueness.

Hip Hop Littles began as an invention for the music in our souls and transitioned into expression through style. This brand is for all leaders - men, women, and children of every ethnicity. These fun musical threads are not just worn as a fashion statement, but to navigate our spirits In happiness.

Modello was raised in Englewood, Chicago IL. Starting off rough in a middle-class community that's known as one of the most unsafe areas in the city, hard times were inevitable. With a lack of diversity, crime control, and especially job opportunities, Modello had to strive to achieve the success he has today.

Having always been interested in different forms of art, including Music, Animation, Drawing, and Painting, Modello took his passion and used it to create a better future for himself.

In 2016, as an underground Hip Hop and R&B artist, Modello ignited his dreams.

With dreams in hand, it was the hard times that gave Modello the strength that paved the way. Working as an underground artist, the realization hit; music and culture stand poles apart, even though similar souls long to be unified.

While in a recording session, Modello realized the need for togetherness. Among other things, Modello believes music to be that one force strong enough to tether communities together, and thus, Hip Hop Littles was born.

Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.

Enjoy this Florida Writer Podcast interview with Host Alison Nissen and Susan Shapiro Barash, who writes under the pen name Susannah Marren. Susan shared about their career as a nonfiction author, having published 13 books on gender studies and women's societal roles. They also mentioned their teaching experience in the writing department at Mary Mount Manhattan College for over 20 years.

Susan Shapiro Barash has written over a dozen nonfiction books, including Tripping the Prom Queen, You're Grounded Forever, But First Let's Go Shopping and A Passion for More: Affairs that Make or Break Us. For more than twenty years she taught gender studies in the Writing Department at Marymount Manhattan College and has guest taught creative nonfiction at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. For her fiction, Between the Tides, A Palm Beach Wife, A Palm Beach Scandal, and Maribelle's Shadow.

She has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Elle, Marie Claire, and has appeared on national television including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC. Barash has been a guest on national radio including NPR and Sirius Radio. Speaking appearances include Credit Suisse, Bayer Diagnostics, UBS, United Way, Kravis Center and the Society of the Four Arts. Several of her titles have been optioned by Lifetime and HBO.

She has served as a literary panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts, as a judge for the International Emmys, and as Vice Chair of the Mentoring Committee of the Women's Leadership Board at the JFK School of Government, Harvard.

Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.

Check out this Florida Writer podcast as host Alison Nissen sits down with Zachary Solomon to discuss Zachary's debut novel, A Brutal Design. The novel, set in an experimental Socialist city, explores the themes of fascism and how it can be disguised as modernism or humanism. The title also refers to the architectural style of brutalism, which is central to the story as the protagonist, an architecture student, is fascinated by it.

Zachary C. Solomon is from Miami, Florida. He received an MFA from Brooklyn College, where he was a Truman Capote fellow. He lives with his wife, the novelist Mandy Berman, and their two children in New York's Hudson Valley. A BRUTAL DESIGN is his first novel.

Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.

How can you become more attuned to your intuition? Have you ever wondered if you can train yourself to receive psychic messages? John Russell, a professional psychic and paranormal investigator, discusses his writing journey, his latest non-fiction book about enhancing psychic abilities, and the practice of psychometry with Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen. He and Alison chat about his book 20 Ways to Increase Your Psychic Abilities and how these techniques could benefit writers.

John Russell is an internationally known professional psychic and medium. As a paranormal investigator, he has experienced over 1,000 physical supernatural manifestations. He has provided psychic readings for clients in over 40 countries. He is a popular featured guest on radio shows and podcasts, including multiple appearances on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, and filmed a TV pilot for The History Channel in which he psychically explored the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Florida Writers Association embraces the diversity of its membership from across the state of Florida, the nation, and the globe. We celebrate our differences and are united in our shared love for the written and spoken word.

We strive to provide a professional atmosphere, a vast networking system, and valuable tools to help members succeed in their writing careers. Our motto of "Writers Helping Writers" is demonstrated by our volunteers in Florida and beyond.