Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Bookshop.org, Read Dating, and Stephen King. Then, stick around for a chat with Karin Slaughter!

Karin Slaughter is one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers. She is the author of more than twenty instant New York Times bestselling novels, including the Edgar–nominated Cop Town and standalone novels Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and Pieces of Her. She is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. Pieces of Her is a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette, and WILL TRENT, based on her Will Trent series, is on ABC (and streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally). False Witness and The Good Daughter are in development for television. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about BookTok, Publishers Marketplace, and Briet. Then, stick around for a chat with Ania Ahlborn!

Ania Ahlborn is a Polish-American author known for her work in the horror and thriller genres. Born in Ciechanów, Poland, she moved to the United States when she was young.

Ahlborn began her writing career by self-publishing her first novel, Seed, before gaining recognition for her distinctive voice in horror. Her novels often explore dark and psychological themes, captivating readers with her ability to create chilling atmospheres and complex characters.

One of her notable works, "Brother," garnered attention for its intense narrative and psychological depth. Her storytelling style often blends elements of psychological horror, suspense, and a keen understanding of the dark intricacies of human nature.

She has earned praise for her contributions to both the horror and psychological thriller genres, and her novels have resonated with readers who appreciate atmospheric, character-driven, no-holds-barred fiction.

Originally hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico, she has lived in Portland, Oregon and Greenville, South Carolina. She currently resides outside of Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, son, and standard schnauzers.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Reese Witherspoon, the AI Protection Act, and audiobook walking clubs. Then, stick around for a chat with J.T. Ellison!

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 psychological thrillers and domestic noir novels, and the Emmy® award-winning co-host of A Word on Words on Nashville PBS.

She also writes contemporary fantasy as Joss Walker, including the award-winning Jayne Thorne series. With millions of books sold across 30 countries, her work has earned critical acclaim, prestigious awards, and multiple TV options. J.T. lives in Nashville with her husband and twin kittens—one of whom is a ghost—where she’s crafting her next suspenseful tale.

Want to learn more? Visit J.T.'s FAQ page, and check out her favorite interviews. Need a book cover? How about a head shot? Visit the media kit.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about a scam, a $100,000 prize, and Anthropic. Then, stick around for a chat with Christina Dotson!

Christina Dotson: Thriller author of LOVE YOU TO DEATH (7/22/2025) from Bantam/@randomhouse, lover of carbs & plot twists, and a super Social Worker❤️ - https://www.threads.com/@christinadotsonwrites?xmt=AQF0XaAiFcQ39Vr0u9-KG8lCjhoyU8i8sy8J4f03KOJtiDU

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about TikTok, must-read magazines, and AI translation. Then, stick around for a chat with Tess Sharpe!

Tess Sharpe: Born in a mountain cabin to a punk-rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural northern California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing colony of formerly feral cats. She is the author of Barbed Wire Heart, the critically acclaimed YA novel Far From You and the upcoming Jurassic World prequel, The Evolution of Claire.

She is also the co-editor of Toil & Trouble, a feminist anthology about witches. Her short fiction has been featured in All Out, an anthology edited by Saundra Mitchell. 

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about influencers, AI, and BookBub. Then, stick around for a chat with Andrew Gulli!

Andrew Gulli's The Strand Magazine:

The Strand Mystery Magazine is a quarterly which offers the best of both worlds—publishing previously unpublished works by literary masters such as John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway,  Rod Serling,  Louisa May Alcott, Shirley Jackson, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler , Tennessee Williams, and H.G.Wells . The Strand Magazine also features new works by today’s bestselling authors including Alexander McCall Smith, R.L. Stine, Michael Connelly, Faye Kellerman, Craig Johnson, Ruth Ware, Joseph Finder, and Jeffery Deaver, as well as engaging interviews. Our reviews section looks at the latest mystery/thriller offerings, Sherlock Holmes pastiches, and anthologies, in addition to audiobooks and DVDs. The Strand Mystery Magazine has been featured several times in The New York Times, NPR, PBS, USA Today, and the Associated Press.

Our current issue features Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, C.J. Box, Denise Mina and John Floyd. We also have an interview with Amor Towles.

Join hosts Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about TikTok, Booktrovert, Meta, and training AI on copyright books. Then, stick around for a chat with Ewan Morrison!

Ewan Morrison: Described as the ‘most fluent and intelligent Scottish writer of his generation’ by Booker Prize judge Stuart Kelly, Ewan Morrison is an award winning novelist and screenwriter and an essayist. Morrison’s writing has been praised by renowned authors Lionel Shriver, Ian Rankin, Fay Weldon, Douglas Coupland, James Frey, Irvine Welsh, James Robertson, Luke Rhinehart and Hanif Kureishi among others. 

Ewan's eighth book, the 'darkly comic thriller', HOW TO SURVIVE EVERYTHING was published by Contraband in the UK in 2021, and in the US with Harper Perennial in 2022. It tells the story of a teenage girl who is abducted by her survivalist father, who believes that a world ending pandemic has begun.

​In November 2022, the book was optioned for a TV series and developed by Made Up Stories (Nine Perfect Strangers, Pieces of Her), Fifth Season & Kindling Pictures.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about printing cost changes, the vicious cycle of book publishing, and BookCon's return. Then, stick around for a chat with Peter Brown!

Peter Brown has always loved telling stories. Growing up in New Jersey, he told stories by drawing whimsical characters and scenes from his imagination. As a teenager, he fell in love with writing and began telling his tales with words. While studying illustration at Art Center College of Design, Peter’s love of both words and pictures led him to take several courses on children’s books, and before long he knew he’d found his calling. After graduating from Art Center Peter moved to New York City to be closer to the publishing industry. He was working on animated TV shows when he signed a book deal to write and illustrate his first picture book, Flight of the Dodo. Peter quickly signed up his second and third books, and his career as an author and illustrator of children’s books was under way. Since then Peter has written and illustrated many books for children and earned numerous honors, including a Caldecott Honor, a Horn Book Award, two E.B. White Awards, two E.B. White Honors, a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year, two Irma Black Honors, a Golden Kite Award, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award and multiple New York Times bestsellers. Peter lives in Maine with his wife, Susan, and their dog, Pam.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about poisonous books, The Late Show, Oprah, and James Frey. Then, stick around for a chat with Laura Lippman!

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2025. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor’s Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association.

Ms. Lippman grew up in Baltimore and attended city schools through ninth grade. After graduating from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Md., Ms. Lippman attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her other newspaper jobs included the Waco Tribune-Herald and the San Antonio Light.

Ms. Lippman returned to Baltimore in 1989 and has lived there since. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman Jr., a Sun editorial writer who retired in 1995 but continues to freelance for several newspapers, and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a former Baltimore City school librarian. Her sister, Susan, is a local bookseller.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, JP Rindfleisch, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Pizza Hut, Business Insider, and Meta. Then, stick around for a chat with Riley Sager!

Riley Sager is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, most recently Middle of the Night and The Only One Left. His novels have been published in over 35 countries, with more than 3 million copies sold worldwide. His latest book, With a Vengeance, is available now. A native of Pennsylvania, he now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.