Uncorking a Story

Lea Konen is the author of All the Broken People and of several young adult novels, including Love and Other Train Wrecks and The Romantics. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied journalism and English literature. She lives in Brooklyn and Saugerties, New York, with her husband; their daughter, Eleanor; and their dog, Farley.

Listen in as we discuss how Lea's navigated the transition from writing YA novels to thrillers and why it's so important for her to work from an outline, and the inspiring advice she'd give her younger self.

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Shari Lapena is the internationally bestselling author of the thrillers The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, and The End of Her, which have all been New York Times and The Sunday Times (London) bestsellers. Her books have been sold in thirty-seven territories around the world. She lives in Toronto and Not a Happy Family is her sixth thriller.

Listen in as we talk about her writing process, why so many lawyers want to become writers, and the secrets to becoming a bestselling mystery author.

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Jessica Chiarella is the author of And Again. She holds an MA in writing and publishing from DePaul University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside.

In this interview, I learned that she wanted to be a writer when she was seven years old so, when she told me that she had a degree in Political Science, I had to ask about that.  It turns out, she didn't think she could make a living as an author. Clearly, she was wrong.

Listen in as we discuss the differences between writing a mystery and writing speculative fiction, what Jessica go out of her two Masters programs, the powerful advice she would give that seven year old girl with aspirations of becoming an author.

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A #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, Christina Baker Kline is published in 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities and schools as "One Book, One Read" selections. 

Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as the New York Times and the NYT Book Review, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, Psychology Today, Poets & Writers, and Salon. Born in England and raised in the American South and Maine, Kline is a graduate of Yale (B.A.), Cambridge (M.A.) and the University of Virginia (M.F.A.), where she was a Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing.

Listen in as we talk about the pioneering spirit embodied in her family of origin, her experiences teaching in a supermax women’s prison, and the inspiration behind her latest book, The Exiles, which should be at the top of your Summer reading list.

This episode of Uncorking a Story is sponsored by Mike Carlon’s latest novel, The Ruin of Souls. If you like books about gladiators, then this isn’t the book for you. But, if you can appreciate a good mystery, jaw dropping plot twists, and a generous pour of espionage, then The Ruin of Souls should be on your summer reading list. You can buy The Ruin of Souls in e-book or paperback format wherever books are sold online. Enjoy the show.

Happy listening.

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Nigerian born and raised debut mystery author Noel Obiora watched the George Floyd video and said to himself, That could have been me. Having come to the United States when he was 17 in 1983, and having attended the University of Texas Law School, Noel, a black man in very white Texas, was pulled over many times for minor infractions and believes it was his accent that kept him safe from police brutality.  

His debut crime novel, A Past that Breathes, takes place in Los Angeles in the early nineties when he practiced law in the City of Angels during racial turmoil bookended by the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson trials and years before the Black Lives Matter movement gave people a forum in which they could express their grief and anger.

Listen in as we discuss his childhood in Nigeria to his University education in the United States and how he found working as a practicing attorney in Los Angeles a far cry from the expectations set by the hit TV drama L.A. Law. We also discuss how he found the confidence to write again after facing rejection, why it's important to get out of your own way in the publishing process, and his favorite Seinfeld episode. 

This episode of Uncorking a Story is brought to you by Michael Carlon’s latest novel, The Ruin of Souls. You can purchase The Ruin of Souls in e-Book or paperback format or wherever books are sold. Enjoy the show.

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Mary Dixie is the daughter of Designing Women star, Dixie Carter and step-daughter of Hal Holbrook. Her writing has appeared in Time, The Economist, San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and more. She worked at The Observer for five years as the publishing director, and has worked as a professional actor. Mary Dixie has an honors degree in English Literature from Harvard College and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two young children. 

Her first novel, The Photographer, has been called "an explosive debut” (Library Journal) and “a breathless psychological thriller about epic mind games” (from People Magazine's 20 Best Books to Read This Summer). It is destined to be the book everyone will be reading this summer.

This page-turner about a family photographer, desperate to belong, who lives off of images rather than experiences will stay in readers minds for a long time. Brilliantly observed, suspenseful, a story of envy and obsession, mesmerizing, this is a unique novel and will make us doubt that seeing is ever believing.

Listen in as we dig into the real-life event that inspired the story, why it’s so important to write every day, and what it’s like driving an RV from coast-to-coast.

The Photographer is available wherever books are sold.

This episode of Uncorking a Story is brought to you by Michael Carlon’s latest novel, The Ruin of Souls. You can purchase The Ruin of Souls in e-Book or paperback format or wherever books are sold. Enjoy the show.

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Anne Basting, Ph.D. is an artist, scholar, and educator committed to the power of the arts and culture to transform our lives as individuals and communities. She is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and founder and President of the award-winning non-profit TimeSlips.

Basting's innovative work as both a community-engaged artist and a scholar has been recognized by a MacArthur Fellowship, an Ashoka Fellowship, a Rockefeller Fellowship, and multiple major grants. She is author/editor of multiple books, including her latest, Creative Care (HarperOne); as well as The Penelope Project (U of Iowa), and Forget Memory (Johns Hopkins). TimeSlips fosters an alliance of artists and caregivers bringing meaning and joy to late life through creativity, and has over 900 certified facilitators in 48 states and 20 countries.

Her latest book, The Creative Care Imagination Kit, is available for sale beginning June 8th and is a perfect resource for friends, family, and caregivers to make connections with and spark conversation and engagement among anyone living with physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges, including memory loss.

Learn more at https://www.anne-basting.com/

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Marilyn Peterson Haus’ story begins when she was born in 1941 on a farm on the Minnesota Plains. Twins, mental illness, sexism/favoritism, religion, farm life in the 40s and 50s, forgiveness and reconciliation are all topics she meticulously weaves together in this extraordinary memoir.

While we touched upon all of that in our interview, what struck me hardest was the struggle she faced with her twin brother. This hit home for me as, like Marilyn, I have a twin brother and our relationship was also strained by favoritism and mental illness, though to a much lesser extent.

While her memoir has elements of tragedy, at the end of the day it is a story about a woman who found the courage and strength to break free and live life on her own terms. Half of a Whole, My Fight for a Separate Life is inspiring, uplifting, and available for sale wherever books are sold on June 8th.

Thanks for listening.

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David Yoon grew up in Orange County, California, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Nicola Yoon, and their daughter. He drew the illustrations for Nicola's #1 New York Times bestseller Everything, Everything. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Frankly In Love, which was a William C. Morris Award finalist and an Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature Honor book, the YA novel Super Fake Love Song, and the adult thriller Version Zero.

Before he made his living as a writer, David spent more than a dozen years working in the tech industry as an interface designer and user experience expert, a role that immersed him in all the cultural and technical workings of core online industries like advertising technology, social media, cybersecurity, and content strategy. It was during this time that he observed a paradox: while these companies believed its work was making the world a better place, the staff behind these platforms had a serious mistrust and disdain for the very things they were creating.

Yoon mines this experience in VERSION ZERO, his first novel for adults, which tackles everything from social media and personal privacy to data mining, surveillance capitalism, and the responsibilities of individuals in a globalized society. Part satire, part tech thriller, this propulsive tale centers on Max, a blackballed data whiz who assembles a team of disillusioned tech workers to create chaos in the world of social media—with disastrous consequences. Yoon uses his dazzling abilities to bring this contradictory and often insidious world to life with startling prescience and ease, establishing himself as one of the most exciting and dynamic voices writing today in the tradition of Blake Crouch, Ernest Cline, and Max Barry.

Version Zero is out everywhere books are sold on Tuesday, May 25th. Please consider picking it up at your local bookshop or at bookshop.org. 

Follow me at all socials @uncorkingastory and be sure to rate and subscribe to Uncorking a Story wherever you get your podcasts.

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This is the one where I talk to author, musician, and comic Aug Stone about his newly released memoir, Nick Cave’s Bar.

Don’’t feel bad if you don’t know who Nick Cave is because I wasn’t cool enough to know of him either. The important thing here is that Aug and his friend Andy know who he is and, more importantly, believed he owned a bar in Berlin, based on a rumor overheard in Spain (are you with me so far?).

Twenty years ago they had what can best be described as a misadventure in Europe complete with bad decisions, near misses at true love, and drinking. Lot’s of drinking. Check out Nick Cave’s Bar here or at the following retail locations:

City Books (Hove, England)

Happy Valley (Melbourne, Australia)

Grimey’s (Nashville, TN)

Atomic Books (Baltimore, MD)

Buch Bund (Berlin, Germany)

Brookline Booksmith (Brookline, MA)

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