Author Sonia Daccarett discusses her debut memoir, The Roots of the Guava Tree: Growing up Jewish and Arab in Colombia. Sonia never intended to write a book. But as she reached middle age, she found herself looking back on a childhood that felt strangely distant from the life she was living now. Her memoir became a way to bridge those two worlds. Sonia grew up in Colombia speaking a different language, surrounded by the vibrant culture of her country as well as the traditions of her Jewish and Arab heritage. Her grandparents emigrated to Colombia and built a life there, and Sonia was always captivated by the stories, customs, and languages that shaped her family—and, ultimately, her own identity. When she enrolled in a memoir-writing class, the memories began to surface in vivid, sensory detail, eventually blossoming into the book she never expected to write.

Author Melanie Anagnos discusses her debut novel, Nightswimming. The story drops us straight into the gritty streets of Paterson, New Jersey, circa 1979. Jamie Palmieri, a young patrol officer barely three years out of the academy, suddenly finds himself pulled into a brutal double-murder investigation. What begins as a request for an extra pair of hands quickly becomes something far more dangerous, as Jamie realizes the killer may be turning his sights on him. But Nightswimming isn't just a tense police procedural—it's a sharp look at the era's entrenched injustices, including the way female victims were routinely dismissed by a police force that was overwhelming male. Melanie describes Nightswimming as gritty mystery that is definitely of its time.

Author Helen Hynson Vettori discusses her new Black Swan thriller series. The first two books—Black Swan Impact and Black Swan Shock—are out now, with a third on the way. Before becoming a novelist, Helen spent her career as a government planner for catastrophic events like pandemics. When she retired in 2018, she imagined a quiet life of travel and crafting. Then 2020 arrived. As the world shut down, Helen was stunned to see the government ignore the very plans she helped create. To cope with the anxiety of that moment, she began journaling, which quickly transformed into storytelling. The result was Black Swan Impact, set during a pandemic in the year 2113, followed by, Black Swan Shock, centered on the aftermath of a massive earthquake. Drawing on her real-world expertise, Helen writes stories rooted in disaster but driven by energy, resilience, and hope.