Passions & Prologues

Louisa Morgan has had many acts in her life, but her favorite involved a deep-rooted passion for classical music and opera singing. Her new novel, The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird, is a lovely combination of the many twists and turns her own life has brought about.

Adam's Boston Marathon fundraiser for the Boston Medical Center

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Adam is joined by fellow Clevelander Josh Womack to discuss his new book You Are Not That Funny, how he came to love stand-up comedy, the nuance of being a copywriter, and their shared adoration for their hometown

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Anna Pitoniak had written several novels before the pandemic and planned to take a break when the world changed. She found herself with lots of time and little to fill it. Insert The Artist's Way, a book millions have used to discover (or re-discover) their creative vein. In this discussion, we breakdown how Anna used the book to flesh out her stunning new novel, The Helsinki Affair.

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Christina Henry's books are enthralling, heart-wrenching, and will leave you in awe... which makes sense when you hear about her deep love of movies that are much the same. This conversation delves into her love of samurai movies, how she's begun taking her kid to classic movie theaters, and the Iron Giant... It makes sense. Her new book Good Girls Don't Die is now available!

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Something About Her, Clementine Taylor's debut novel, tells a story of joy and discovery, something Clementine found when she took up swimming. In this chat, Adam and Clementine dive into her passion, their shared love of Edinburgh, and so much more.

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Lyndall Clipstone's books are world-renowned for providing intricate and richly imagined worlds where readers can get lost. And when you learn about the way she loves to spend her free time, you'll understand why. Her latest book, Unholy Terrors, is now out!

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Matt Singer loved movies so much that he's made a career out of it writing for Screencrush. His passion began as a child watching At The Movies with Siskel and Ebert, the subjects of his latest book, Opposable Thumbs. It's a deep dive into their relationship as partners and how they changed how we ingest movies. We discuss his favorite films of childhood, Kevin Smith, Mel Brooks, and a bunch more.

Adam is running the Boston Marathon and would love your support as he fundraises for the Boston Medical Center!

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Laurence Leamer, bestselling of nearly 20 books, turns 82 this month, and we spent a morning discussing the many stories he's told throughout those decades. We dissect the art of making a guest comfortable during an interview, exchange stories of interviews gone well (and wrong), and discuss his extensively researched new book, Hitchcock's Blondes

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Isa Arsén is acutely aware of the rhythms of everything around us. She spends her life thinking about how sound affects us all. It even sparked the inspiration that became her debut novel, Shoot the Moon. We discuss how her passions started as a child with her father's music and turned into an entire career. And there is just a sprinkling of quantum theory and rocket science tossed in here... as a treat.

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Alexandra Christo is an internationally bestselling fantasy author who knows a thing or two about monsters, myths, and legends. And her love of all three was spawned through her discovery of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In this chat, we discuss her enduring love for the series and how it inspires her writing, including her latest, upcoming novel, The Night Hunt.

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Michelle Cameron is an author, creative writing teacher, and avid re-reader of books for myriad reasons. Her new book, Babylon, is one of the reasons Michelle dove back into older writing, but we also discuss why we turn to book seasonally, depending on our emotions, and for research.

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Kerri Maher is a bestselling author and mom to a newly minted teenager. In this chat, we discuss the experiences she's had raising her daughter, taking her to Paris, and her new book All You Have to Do Is Call, an essential read about the Jane Collective and women's rights.

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Carissa Orlando is passionate about how the mind works. So much so that she's spent her life studying and teaching about it. She works to improve quality and access of mental healthcare for children and their families during the day and writes terrifyingly captivating stories at night. Her debut novel, The September House, weaves both horror and psychology together and we get into how it came to be!

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Lucy Clarke, bestselling author of several "destination thrillers" loves few things more than grabbing her surfboard and finding the perfect wave. It's how she frees her mind and unwinds. She also has a deep passion for exploring the world and finding new locations to write her edge of your seat thrillers which is how her latest stunner, The Hike, came about. We discuss her love of the waves and the Norwegian hike she took that became the must read novel!

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Angie Kim's debut novel, Miracle Creek, was an international bestselling, Edgar Award winning best book of the year. Her latest novel, Happiness Falls, is a Good Morning America book club pick all about when a father goes missing, his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another.

A key character in this story is mute and it asks questions about intelligence and how we perceive it as a society, something Angie is deeply passionate about.

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Holly James, author of the new RomCom The Déjà Glitch, has spent her adult life understanding sleep. Why we all struggle to get it and how to improve that concept. It's something she normally keeps separate from her other career as a writer but in this discussion we dive into both!

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Tim Murphy's new book, Speech Team, is a nostalgic and cathartic look back at a traumatic high school experience of several members of a championship speech team. The story itself is a slow burn that lets the reader care deeply about the characters and their experiences. It makes sense, when you learn the types of stories and shows Tim is obsessed with personally.

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Marie Benedict has been a bestselling author many times over but her works co-authoring with Victoria Christopher Murray have set the book world on fire with their poignant deep dives into fascinating woman and their history. The First Ladies, their INSTANT NYT bestseller, is much the same.

In this unique discussion, Marie brings something a bit different to the table... She discusses her co-authors passions and how they inspired their latest book.

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Andrew Ridker's first book The Altruists took the literary world by storm and his new book Hope is just as captivating. Part of the reason why his books are so relatable is the humor he's able to inject into his characters. It makes them more well rounded. We chat why this matters so much to him and why he loves breaking down comedy.

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Josh Winning's new book, Burn the Negative, is an homage to all things horror and when you hear this conversation you'll understand that he has the chops to back up his writing. We discuss his adoration for the Scream movie franchise, how he's been seeing franchises out of order for years, and what it's like to interview the Muppets!

It's... a wide-ranging chat.

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Learning that Candi Sary thinks a great deal about ghosts won't surprise you when you read her book Magdalena. This conversation dives into her childhood interest in the beyond and how, instead of seeking to be scared she found peace of mind with the stories of ghosts. Take a listen and check out her new book.

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For UK-based bestselling author Paige Toon getting there is half the fun. She loves taking road trips to new countries to see bands she loves in locations they would normally never be found. It's a passion that has shown her entirely new cultures and helped inspire the amazing books she's writes.

Don't miss her latest, Only Love Can Hurt Like This

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Chanel Cleeton is a bestselling author and was chosen as a Reese Witherspoon book club selection. She knows what it takes a write a mystery that keeps readers on the edge of their seat. Perhaps it's because she has spent her entire life fascinated by mysteries. In this conversation, Chanel and Adam breakdown the origins of her passion for mystery and how it's blossomed into a career.

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Bestselling author Genevieve Gornichec knows a thing or two about Vikings... in fact, she's made it her life's work even before it became her life's work. In this discussion, we chat about her life studying and living the Viking lifestyle. We then dive into both of her books including the latest, The Weaver and the Witch Queen.

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New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis joins Adam to chat about her brand new book, The Spectacular, but before they get into that, they get into her massive adoration for the theater. An actress by trade, Fiona expresses where her love comes from and how it connects with the stories she tells.

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Jude Atwood is a teacher and author of the award-winning debut middle grade novel, Maybe There Are Witches, but the science of baking is where he finds pure joy. He's baked over 40 different types of pies and cakes and loves tinkering with recipes. In this chat, we breakdown how this baking has helped his writing and all about his new novel!

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Sidney Karger is an award-winning screenwriter for film and television with credits including Billy on the Street, Comedy Central, and Saturday Night Live. Growing up near Chicago, he was raised on a steady diet of improv and sketch comedy from some of the greats of Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade. It's a shared love Adam also adores. They also get into his incredible new romantic comedy Best Men!

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Margaret Owen creates elaborate and fantastical worlds that feel so vibrant you can almost touch them. Her books are magical and fully realized and this comes from the origins of her creative story-as an artist.

Margaret discusses her fascination with visual arts and her incredible, instant bestselling new book Painted Devils.

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Anissa Gray was raised in a world of music, specifically gospel music. It's inspired her latest novel, Life and other love songs. In this discussion, we get into how the music of her childhood home shaped her work and her life at large. We get into the music of her adult life and returning to gospel later in her life.

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It's a bonus episode with friend of the show, Mallory O'Meara! We are dishing out loads of book recommendations but before you get to those, go preorder her new book, Girls Make Movies, right now!

Books mentioned in this episode:

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Magdalena by Candi Sary

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Advika and the H...

H.G. Parry's newest book, The Magician's Daughter has a few magical animal characters and when you learn about her interests, you'll understand why. She adores mice and rabbits both in the literary sense and the "own a bunch of them" sense. This is a fascinating discussion about her deep research about these animals and their relationship with stories as well as what it's like owning them as pets.

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J. Ryan Stradal is the author of New York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great Midwest and national bestseller The Lager Queen of Minnesota but somehow his latest novel Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, might just be his most midwestern book yet. He tells the stories of generations of a family-run diner, what it means to the community, and the stress it brings the people who run it. In this conversation, we discuss food at-large, what a supper club is, our respective midwestern upbringing and so much more.

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Rebecca Makkai is borderline obsessive with language. When you read her books, it feels like every sentence and every word is exactly where it should be. When you find out that she's on a quest to learn one of the world's most difficult languages, it's easy to understand why words matter so much to her. Rebecca's latest book, I Have Some Questions for You, uses her obsession with language to tell a story riddled with deep character construction. We dive into both her loves, writing the perfect story and learning the challenging language of her father, and what it...

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline has written 35 books in 35 years but her true passion is her love of of animals all shapes and sizes. From her trusted best friend dogs, to horses, to chickens Lisa loves them all. In this scatterplot chat, Adam and Lisa discuss their senior dogs, her new bestseller Loyalty, and what sparked her to realize she wanted to keep adding animals. This is a MUST listen.

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Kristin Loesch joins the podcast to discuss her new book The Last Russian Doll as well as her love of flash and experimental fiction. It was a passion she discovered during the pandemic and it's been a great way for to keep her writing skills sharp in between novels. She offers all kinds of tips for aspiring writers and fans of short stories.

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Jenny Jackson has taken the literary world by storm with her new book Pineapple Street and the heart of that story lies in the heart of her own community. During the pandemic, Jenny found herself obsessing over her community of Brooklyn Heights. She researched the buildings, the prices of the real estate, and the people who lived there. An obsession begat a story which begat an instant place on the New York Times bestsellers list!

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What would you do if your entire town lived in a single building, couldn't leave, and then found yourself trapped? That's what Iris Yamashita's novel City Under One Roof asks. In this discussion, we chat about her new murder mystery based on a real Alaskan town, her life as an Oscar-nominated screenplay writer, and her rediscovery of the joys of playing music... specifically movie scores.

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Melissa De La Cruz is well know for her bestselling young adult novels, incredible book festivals, and her experience creating stories in Hollywood. What people might not know about her is her fierce adoration of being a mother. In this chat, we breakdown what it means to be a classroom mother and how her children's friends have become beta readers for her.

We then discuss her new novel The Headmaster's List.

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Alma Katsu built an entire career in intelligence before the literary world discovered her talent for writing historical horror with The Fervor, The Deep, & The Hunger. Now, with Red London, she returns to the world of secrecy and thrillers. Her initial novel in the series, Red Widow, kept readers guessing until the final page with it's political intrigue and spy games and Red London does the same.

Where does she write all these stories? Well that's what this discussion is all about! She and her partner discovered their love of a small West Virginian town after retirement...

Hannah Whitten took the literary world by storm with her debut For the Wolf & it's follow up For the Throne. Now she's back with a magical, mysterious heisty novel that you won't be able to put down... The Foxglove King!

In this chat, Hannah and Adam talk about where she learned to block a story scene by scene... on the stage! They discuss musical theater, how she sees character interactions, and all the intricacies of her stunning new novel.

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