Bookshop Interview with Author Shirley Reva Vernick, Episode #141

Author Thomas R. Weaver discusses his debut novel, Artificial Wisdom. In this techno-thriller murder mystery, it is 25 years in the future. The world is polarized by politics and is gripped by war, climate change and technology that has advanced exponentially. Tom began writing by asking: What if the global community were to put its faith in an AI leader in a Brexit-style referendum? But all of this serves as a backdrop to a very personal and human story that centers around a reporter whose personal tragedy and grief has a direct connection to the crises that plague the global community.

Author Dr. Marschall Runge discusses his debut novel, Coded to Kill. In this techno-medical thriller, a state-of-the-art medical records system gets hijacked, giving the hijackers unfettered access to private information and the ability to change the patient records of some very important people—which means that medicine’s greatest breakthrough has become the world’s most efficient killing machine. As Marschall explains, everything in this book is possible, and some of it has already happened.

Author Gary Braver discusses his new book, Rumor of Evil. In this mystery novel, Gary weaves together two seemingly unrelated murders—one past and one present. Two police detectives catch a case of a woman’s murder that is staged to look like a suicide. As their investigation unfolds, they discover clues leading back to a decades-old murder of a teenage foreign exchange student. Gary believes the draw of the mystery genre comes down to the differences between true crime stories and fiction—namely that in fiction, motives become clear and, in the end, justice is usually served.

Author D.P. Behling discusses his new series, Josh & Sen Save the Multiverse. In the first book, The Path of One, two unlikely friends, one human and the other immortal, are thrown together to try to accomplish the impossible—rescue Josh’s four-year-old daughter, stop a genocidal soul-harvester, and save the multiverse. Dave’s inspirations include video games, sci fi fandoms, mythology, the difficult job of parenting, and the recent pandemic. Despite the sweeping and sometimes serious nature of this series, Dave’s favorite aspect of writing it was working humor into the stories.

Author Emily Shiner discusses her two of her new books: The Wife in the Photo and The Hotel. If you love a good revenge plot, check out The Wife in the Photo. It’s a psychological thriller filled with secrets, twists, a mysterious death and edge-of-your seat family drama. Emily’s other book, The Hotel, is a locked-room thriller that reveals what can go wrong when you’re trapped in a beautiful clifftop hotel during a blizzard with a family of strangers. As the author of more than a dozen books, Emily writes stories designed to keep her readers up at night.

This is the 200^th episode of The Bookshop at the End of the Internet and a celebration of the podcast’s five-year anniversary, since the first episode went live on the various podcast platforms. There have been so many wonderful guest authors who visited the Bookshop to discuss their books and their writing journeys. In this episode, however, host Stacey Horan is doing something a little different. In fact, she is doing something that she has never done in any of the prior 199 episodes. Today, host and author Stacey Horan discusses her own books—Sycamore Lane, Inland, and The Elixir Vitae Adventures series—as well as her own writing journey.

Author Becca Wierwille discusses her new middle grade novel, Road Trip Rescue, in which 12-year-old Kimmy loses her dog Bo. But Bo is more than just a pet. He is Kimmy’s best friend—because Bo never made fun of her for being born with only one hand. When Kimmy stumbles across a magazine photo of a dog eating an ice cream cone, she knows in her heart that the dog is Bo. With the aid of her Aunt Skylar, an adventure-seeking, pink-haired woman, Kimmy goes on a road trip to try to find her dog. Becca and her main character Kimmy share something in common—they were both born with a limb difference. Born with only half of her right arm, Becca now uses her stories to help others find beauty in what makes them extraordinary.

Author Nancy McCabe discusses her new young adult novel, Vaulting Through Time. A 16-year-old biracial high school student named Elizabeth is coming to the end of her competitive gymnastics career. But that isn’t the only thing that has her head spinning. Elizabeth discovers a mystery surrounding about her birth that her mother has kept secret from her. She also finds herself catapulted through time, through her family’s own history as well as great moments in gymnastics history, in order to solve that mystery and stop a fellow time traveler whose actions may prevent her from being born at all.

Author Maggie Giles discusses her new thriller, Twisted, in which a mysterious drug is believed to be linked to several unsolved murders. When Detective Ryan Boone’s investigation finds more questions than answers, he has no choice but to team up with escort service madame Mel Parker to unravel the mystery behind the medication.  Maggie also discusses her debut novel, The Things We Lost. Main character Maddie has been haunted by the death of a close friend. When Maddie wakes up one morning to find herself in a different life, one in which her friend is still alive, Maddie thinks she’s been given a do-over. But this second chance may mean giving up the life she had and never seeing her kids again.

Author Heather Dixon discusses her two new releases, Burlington and Last Summer at the Lake House, both of which released this fall. In Burlington, a mother of two moves to a new neighborhood and quickly gets caught up in the drama of the other mothers. However, the schoolyard politics soon take a dark turn when one of the moms goes missing. In Last Summer at the Lake House, three sisters are called back to the family lake house after their father’s death only to learn that he was hiding a dark secret from them all. Despite being in different genres, Heather’s books share similar themes of motherhood, belonging and identity.