Renowned grief therapist (and future Zibby Books author!) Claire Bidwell Smith comes back on the podcast, this time to discuss CONSCIOUS GRIEVING: A Transformative Approach to Healing from Loss. As she and Zibby delve into the book's core themes, Claire shares her personal journey of loss—having lost both her parents at a young age—and how it led to a career in grief counseling. She also shares insights on the grieving process, touches on its misconceptions, and offers practical advice and encouragement for those facing it. 

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Zibby is joined by award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and translator Katya Apekina to discuss MOTHER DOLL, a spellbinding, hallucinatory, and very funny novel about four generations of mothers and daughters and the inherited trauma cast by Russian history. Katya describes her novel’s protagonist, Zhenia, a young woman navigating pregnancy and a complex relationship in LA, and the strange phone call she receives from a medium channeling her dead great-grandmother, a Russian revolutionary. She delves into themes of ancestral trauma, grief, relationships, abortion, and creative process, touching on her own experiences and inspirations. Finally, she shares her best advice for aspiring authors.

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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Debut author Dara Levan joins Zibby to discuss IT COULD BE WORSE, a visceral and moving novel about a woman who discovers something devastating in the piano bench of her childhood home and starts to question if the people who should love her the most, her parents, have done more harm than healing. Dara delves into the inspiration behind the story and the themes of narcissistic abuse, resilience, and the pursuit of self-acceptance. She also describes her creative process (she wrote this novel in 15 weeks!) and the integration of speech pathology into the storyline, inspired by her past as a speech therapist. 

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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Zibby speaks with Chelsey Goodan, a highly sought-after academic tutor and mentor, about her fresh, unexpected, and empowering new guide, UNDERESTIMATED: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls, which has been endorsed by Oprah’s Book Club and Hello Sunshine! Chelsey shares insights from her sixteen years of working with teenage girls from underrepresented communities, emphasizing the deep trust she’s built with her students. She discusses the importance of radical honesty, holding space for emotions, and empowering teenage girls to assert their truth. Finally, she offers valuable advice for parents and caregivers.

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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In this special episode (a live event at Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica!), Diana Nyad, the renowned marathon swimmer who, at age 60, swam more than 100 miles from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage, chats with Teddy Schwarzman, the President and CEO of Black Bear Pictures and producer of the Netflix movie Nyad. (Oh, and Teddy is Zibby’s brother!)

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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Debut author Lottie Hazell joins Zibby to discuss PIGLET, a stylish and razor-sharp examination of women’s complicated relationship with food and the messes life makes for us. Lottie delves into the main thematic elements of her book: appetite, aspiration, and the role of food in the protagonist’s life during her pre-wedding crisis. She also talks about her creative process and food writing (which she masters in this novel!) and then describes her dual pursuits in creative writing and game design. Finally, she shares her best advice for aspiring authors!

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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Bestselling romance writer Kennedy Ryan joins Zibby to discuss her heart-searing, sensual, and life-affirming new novel, THIS COULD BE US. Kennedy talks about her protagonist, Soledad, who is on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment after facing betrayal. She delves into the themes of feminism, sisterhood, and the complexities of modern womanhood. Finally, she sheds light on her personal connection to the portrayal of autism in the book, drawing from her own experiences as an advocate and parent of an autistic son.

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Serle joins Zibby to discuss her gripping, emotional, passionate, and heartbreaking new novel, EXPIRATION DATES. Rebecca delves into her novel’s plot, unveiling the intriguing premise of a woman who receives slips of paper predicting the expiration dates of her relationships. She reveals how elements of her own relationships found their way into the narrative and then talks about structure, character development, and the themes of love, fate, and relationships. Finally, she shares some of her Hollywood experiences and updates us on upcoming film projects!

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Zibby chats with bestselling author Carola Lovering about BYE, BABY, a gripping and compulsively readable novel about lifelong best friends Billie and Cassie, and what happens when Cassie’s infant daughter disappears… and Billie is somehow involved. Carola reveals the inspiration for this story and then discusses the battling forces of toxicity and love that define female friendships, the themes of adulthood, motherhood, and trauma, the challenges of writing while navigating motherhood, and the blurred boundaries between fiction and reality.

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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Zibby Books author alert!! Zibby speaks with debut Canadian author Amy Lin about HERE AFTER, a beautifully visceral and emotionally intimate memoir in vignettes about the sudden loss of her husband and the two grief-filled years that followed. Amy describes the unconventional method of using tiny text boxes in Word to distill her raw emotions into concise, essential fragments. She also talks about the challenges of navigating her grief amid personal health struggles and a global pandemic, the importance of asking for help, and the transformative nature of connecting with others through writing.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/48E0ulN

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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact [email protected].)

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