My guest today is the award-winning author of a dozen books, including three different multi-book series and two standalones. She is also a veteran journalist who has reported from more than a dozen countries over her long career, and is now she’s back in the newsroom serving as an interim editor at the Seattle Times. And somehow between books and the news, she finds time to produce a Substack newsletter – I am now tired even saying those words. So please welcome the very talented Gwen Florio to the Open Mic: Writers in Their Own Words.

I met my guest today a while back at the Left Coast Crime conference in Bellingham, Washington. She has been a magazine writer, a writing tutor and an editor during her career, but only began writing fiction about 10 years ago. In that time she has published several short stories and, in 2023, her debut novel I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, which deals with this fascinating premise: What if a bestselling novel fictionalizes the death of your childhood best friend, and accuses you of her murder? That is one hell of a premise to be sure. To talk about this and more, please welcome Cayce Osborne to the Open Mic.

My guests today are a husband and wife team of Anthony Leigh Adams and Christina Adams that collectively write under the nom de plume of A.C. Adams. They are longtime veterans of Hollywood with a ridiculously long list of credits for many major studios, including ABC, CBS and Disney. They are have worked on scores of projects with Oprah Winfrey, produced documentaries for PBS, musicals for the stage and, well, you get it – they are very, very talented.

But with all that, they are here with me today to talk about yet another project, their new book CHASING SHADOWS, which is a mystery based on true events related to the disappearance of Christina's father. The book has been called “a hair-raising roller-coaster thrill ride” by Kirkus Reviews and received numerous five-star reviews on Amazon and at Goodreads.

My guest today is a very talented writer, particularly in one of the forms I enjoy the most – the short story. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, and he has been a finalist for the Derringer, Anthony and Macavity Awards, which for the uninitiated are kind of like the Oscars, Golden Globes and maybe the Grammies for us writer types. And on top it all, he’s one of the industry’s good guys. So please welcome Curtis Ippolito to the Open Mic: Writers in Their Own Words.

My guest today is a very multifaceted author, editor and journalist whose work includes short stories, two nonfiction books, editing the Columbus Noir anthology, and the Andy Hayes Private Eye series, featuring a former Browns quarterback turned private eye. He is here today to talk about The Mailman, his brand new thriller starring Mercury Carter, a former postal inspection agent who must track down a violent crew across the Midwest to rescue a kidnapped woman.

Please welcome Andrew Welsh-Huggins to the Open Mic.

Regular Open Mic folks know I focus my attentions on crime fiction, mystery and thriller authors. But for today's show we delve into true crime as I welcome my good friend and colleague Brian Joseph to the show to talk about his new book, Vegas Concierge: Sex Trafficking, Hip Hop, and Corruption in America.

My guest today has long been a world traveler who has had more adventures than anyone I know. He is joining me today from his home in France, a country I very much look forward to returning to someday. He has been a guest before, all the way back when this was still just a blog and before the YouTube and podcast shows. His work has won numerous awards and accolades, including the Paris Prize for Fiction in 2013 for his novel, a Vision of Angels. His 2019 novel THE FOURTH COURIER was also a finalist for Best Gay Mystery in the Lambda Literary Awards, and his 2020 novel FIRE ON THE ISLAND won the Gold Medal in the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition. I could go on, but you get the idea.

His new book, Istanbul Crossing, is the story of a young gay Syrian refugee who, after watching his cousin executed by ISIS for being homosexual, flees to Istanbul for his safety. I’ll let him tell us more about that in a moment. So now let me please welcome Timothy Jay Smith to the Open Mic.

NOTE: This conversation took place before the Nov. 5th 2024 election.

My guest today, Jason Powell, is one of the up and coming authors out there in the mystery genre. His debut novel No Man’s Ghost introduces us to Charles Davids, a probationary NYC firefighter whose first week on the job coincides with that of a mentally disturbed man going through a divorce who moves from calling in fake fires to acting on the real thing. It is a gripping and fast moving story that not only is a crime tale, but gives us a really insightful look into the lives of the brotherhood of firefighters.