Episode 611 - Nick Peck - Award-Winning Journalist, Only Way Out, A Son and Brother That Finds His Way

Nick Peck, a California native, is an award-winning journalist who has primarily covered the world of finance and law and has garnered significant recognition for his work in the industry.

Before starting his journalism career, Nick earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Upper Iowa University, where he was a standout football player.

The book "Only Way Out" covers Jaylen Pierre, a high school senior growing up in an impoverished area of California who deals with many traumas daily, including brutal physical abuse from his alcoholic father and emotional abandonment from his mother, who battles a paralyzing depression.

Since both of his parents are seemingly incapable of doing the job, Jaylen takes it upon himself to be the sole caregiver for his little brother, Elijah, and himself.

Fueled by these hardships, Jaylen eagerly looks to find a way out of his situation and eventually finds one when he watches a television special late one night that ignites a fire in him to embark on a journey that he believes will lead to a better life for him and his little brother, but little does Jaylen know that he may find the love of his life along the way.

https://www.nickpeckauthor.com/

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Episode 610 - Marianne Leone - Actor in The Sopranos, Three Stooges, Author of Five Dog Epiphany, Ma Speaks Up And a First-Generation Daughter Talks Back and Jesse A Mother’s Story

Marianne Leone grew up seven miles outside of Boston, in the village of Nonantum that everybody called “the Lake,” a small blue-collar enclave of a larger city, Newton. Lake dwellers were pretty evenly divided between Italian and Irish-Americans, with a soupcon of French-Canadians. There was no actual Lake in the Lake. The original had dried up and all that remained during my childhood was a green-slicked puddle on the site of a factory my mother and aunt worked in during World War II.

All the Italians in the Lake had migrated from the same southern mountain village, San Donato Val di Comino. My mother and father were both Italian immigrants, but my mom was an outsider, from Sulmona, Abruzzo. My dad owned a small workingman’s bar, Leone’s Café. I went to Catholic school for twelve years.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a saint, a reporter and a cowboy. I didn’t become a saint, but I married a cowboy and sometimes I write for the Boston Globe. I’ve written a bunch of screenplays, and sold some of them, but I’m unproduced, except for a scene in With/In, a compilation film about the covid lockdown I shot with my husband and write about in FIVE DOG EPIPHANY.

I was also lucky enough to play Joanne Moltisanti, Christopher’s mother, on HBO’s The Sopranos for four seasons. I live in a small town on the south shore of Massachusetts with my husband, Chris Cooper, and two rescue dogs, Titi and Sugar. KNOWING JESSE is about my son, whose luminous presence expanded and transformed everything else in my universe. I wrote the book to celebrate his life, to deal with his death, and to share him with others. MA SPEAKS UP is about my mother, who came to America to escape fascism and an arranged marriage to an old man. FIVE DOG EPIPHANY is about grief/mutual healing/rescue dogs.

https://marianneleonecooper.com/

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Episode 609 - Kristin Aurelia - SHE Wise Publications, illuminate, guide, and empower souls on their journey

Kristin Aurelia grew up in a small town in New England and currently resides in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. She is a Soul-Led Author, Podcaster, Public Speaker, Coach and Teacher. Additionally, she is a Certified Health Coach (CHC), NASM Certified Nutrition Coach (CNC), Certified Wellness Coach (CWC), Certified Biofield Tuner and Reiki Master. Kristin obtained her MBA, M.A. in Human Resources Management and Instructional Design and B.A. in Psychology from Marymount University in Arlington, VA. She has spent much of her life studying and observing human behavior. She has made it her life’s mission to share experiences and bring wisdom and knowledge to the forefront of her works with the desire to help others along their journey.

Kristin is a messenger sent to spread light and love while creating unity. As she puts it, "We are ALL CHILDREN OF GOD…one collective consciousness…Surviving the Human Experience!"

https://www.shewisepublications.com/

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EPISODE 608 - Paul J.C. Edge - Mercurial Novels to Unleash Your Imagination, and a Local Bakeshop

Paul J.C. Edge is a leading independent author , his works include the gritty Summer Haven and Book of Xaal Sci-Fi horror trilogies, fusing his love of space sagas, fantasy and Lovecraftian gothic horror stories.

Paul studied IT at university, which included modules in Astro Physics, which built real knowledge around his love of tales of space travel and alien contact. Finally forsaking a successful career in pharmaceutical IT system design and scientific informatics, he became a full time author in 2020.

Paul lives in Cheshire and loves spending time walking in nature, whilst dreaming up new ideas and stories. He also has a passion for rock and jazz, cooking and reading (ranging from sci-fi and thrillers to Dostoyevsky). His offbeat sense of humour will often solicit a groan from his wife and full time editor, Elaine.
"A novel begins with the seed of an idea. However, by putting myself in the role of the protagonist I follow a trail led by the decisions made. The story writes itself to some extent.

As an indie author, I do not have access to expensive resources, the marketing and graphics are brought to life by myself. I collage ideas from real world photographs from numerous sources, bringing together an image to meet the needs of the novel in question".

Paul JC Edge
https://www.pauljcedge.co.uk/

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Bonus - November Will Have 30 Episodes in 30 Days of Living The Next Chapter

National Podcast Post Month is a November challenge every year to produce and release an episode every day - Starting Nov 1st, we will be releasing 30 episodes featuring amazing authors!

If you love what we do here, please consider supporting the show financially via our Buy Me A Coffee link

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If you want to jump the line to see what is coming in the future head over to our YouTube Channel - be sure to subscribe and follow too!

https://www.youtube.com/@LivingTheNextChapter

https://livingthenextchapter.com/

#NaPodPoMo

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Episode 607 - M C Paas - Debut novel Broken Rules of The Hunt and of the Fight- Dark romantic suspense

M.C.Paas writes dark romantic suspense where happily ever after is earned through shadows, secrets, and a heartbeat of danger. Her obsession with storytelling began at fourteen with a single poem and has grown into six completed manuscripts that blend pulse pounding stakes with sinful chemistry. Her debut novel Broken Rules of The Hunt strands two broken souls on opposite sides of a crime that could destroy them or bind them forever.

When she’s not plotting twisted fates, M.C. haunts Estonian coffeehouses, sketches gothic‑tinged art, and spoils her horses to no end. A certified bookworm, she lives for late night page turners and reader DMs.

Book: BROKEN RULES OF THE HUNT

Wildcat is an elite criminal, thriving in a world built on danger and deception. But when an unknown syndicate places a massive bounty on her head, she becomes the hunted. Betrayed by the very criminal society she once ruled, Wildcat is thrust into a high stakes game of survival where every move could be her last.

Enter Fox, a seductive and cunning rival. Torn between claiming the bounty or helping her uncover the dark secrets of her past, he becomes both Wildcat’s greatest threat and her only chance at survival. With powerful enemies closing in and her heart on the line, Wildcat must decide: can she trust the man who has the power to destroy her? Or will falling for him be her most dangerous gamble yet?

In a world where loyalty is deadly and betrayal is currency, the ultimate prize is her life and the cost of love could be her death.

This is a pulse pounding tale of passion, betrayal, and high stakes danger, where the price of trust is survival, and the ultimate heist is her heart.

Book: BROKEN RULES OF THE FIGHT

In the brutal world of the Undercrowd, Serpent has built his own empire. An underground fighting ring where only men step into the cage. It keeps things simple. Controlled. But when his search for his abducted sister leads him to the Russian Bratva’s human trafficking network, his path collides with the last person he ever expected to see alive – Phoenix.

Once a rising star in the ring, Phoenix was supposed to be dead. Now, she’s an Undercrowder, a ghost in the criminal underworld, fighting for survival. And she might be the key to unraveling the Bratva’s secrets. Serpent swore he’d never deal with female fighters again, but Phoenix isn’t just any fighter. She’s a force of nature.

To take down the Bratva and uncover the truth, they’ll have to break every rule, fight against their pasts, and trust each other in a world where trust is a death sentence.

Because in the Undercrowd, the only thing deadlier than the fight itself… is coming back from the grave.

https://mcpaaswrites.com/

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EPISODE 489 - Author Darlene Campos Shares the Amazing Story of Holocaust Survivor Pete Philipps

Hello! Hola! I'm Darlene P. Campos, an Ecuadorian-American author who is also a proud Houstonian.

I earned my BA in English-Creative Writing with a Medicine and Society Studies minor from the University of Houston (Go Coogs!) and my MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso (Go Miners!).

I am the author of the young adult novels Behind Mount Rushmore, Summer Camp is Cancelled, and Heaven Isn't Me, traditionally published by Vital Narrative Press.

Pete Philipps' Interview
Pete grew up in Essen, a major industrial city on Germany’s Ruhr River. His father worked as a cattle hide dealer for an international trading company in nearby Mühlheim. His mother was a designer for a fashionable women’s dress shop. Pete, his younger twin brothers, and parents lived together in an apartment.

1933–39: Pete had barely passed his first birthday when the Nazis came to power. His father realized the danger that now faced Jews in Germany, and the family left for Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1936. Pete attended Jewish school there, but the times were unsettling. In fall 1938, the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia, was incorporated into the Nazi Reich, and the following March, German troops marched into Prague. Shortly thereafter, Pete’s family left for Italy, where they settled in the Genoa suburbs. There, they were attacked by local antisemitic fascists. Soon after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the Philippses immigrated to Ecuador.

1940–45: In Quito, the Philippses joined the growing colony of refugees from Germany. Pete attended a private boys’ school. His father set up business making margarine, while his mother did clothing alterations and knitting. In May 1941, just six months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Philippses arrived in the United States. Pete’s father returned to his former company.

After the war, Pete learned that his paternal grandmother, who had fled earlier to the Netherlands, had been deported to Auschwitz, where she perished. He completed his education and, after a tour of military duty in Germany, became a journalist for the New York Times.

https://www.ushmm.org/remember/holocaust-survivors/volunteers/pete-philipps
https://www.ushmm.org/
https://www.darlenepcampos.com/
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Published: Jan. 20, 2025

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EPISODE 237 - Stewart Lee - Me and My Addiction - one man’s battle to break free from a life heavily impacted by alcoholism

About our Guest -
I grew up in Exeter, Devon and lived with my parents and 2 older sisters. I didn't really have a troubled life but from a young age I discovered alcohol and my journey into addiction began.

Drugs and alcohol consumed my life from that point on. It got so bad that I thought I would either end up in prison, a psychiatric unit or dead. Either by someone else killing me or succeeding in killing myself.

I managed to find a way to recover and now live a clean sober life. You could say the complete opposite of how I lived before.

I'm hoping now that if I share my experience through writing books I can help to inspire anyone that change is possible.

The Book: Me and My Addiction tells the intense, but overall positive, account of one man’s battle to break free from a life heavily impacted by alcoholism. This thought-provoking book gives the reader a no holds barred, insight into addictions, and their power to change people’s lives, often without the victim realizing until it’s too late.

Stewart’s reflection of the problems around addiction, along with his real, raw and (brutally!) honest stories will open your mind to see life through the eyes of an addict.

If you think you, or maybe someone you know, may have an issue with alcohol it provides answers to the questions that many are afraid to ask, a deeper understanding of how addiction works, along with hope that it’s possible to break the cycle of destruction and to turn your life around.

https://www.stewartleeauthor.co.uk/
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Published: Aug. 31, 2023

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