In this week’s Corks & Conversation with Lisa Regan, we had all the fun and inspiration we could hope for! Have a listen …

Lisa Regan  is a bestselling author many times over. Yes, she’s sold over 2 million copies of her books in just the last four years! We talked about her latest book in her Josie Quinn series, Her Deadly Touch. We loved it and happy that we have a new series to binge read! So get a copy of the book (indie bookshop.org or Amazon.com) and enjoy this page-turner.

Lisa is a consummate storyteller both on and off the page. Join us with a glass of Barefoot Rosé to hear about her path, full of ups and downs, to becoming the successful author she is today.

She learned a lot through writing and publishing previous books before her success with the Josie Quinn series…

“I tried to pay attention to what readers liked and what they didn’t like, and what they wanted and they didn’t want, and they wanted less violence that happens on screen and more focus on the mystery. So that’s what I tried to do with Josie Quinn and it has really worked.”

Her Deadly Touch is the 12th book in the series. Since Lisa is contracted to write many more, we wondered if she knows where Josie is going to be in book 20. Here’s what Lisa said …

“Sometimes she’ll surprise me by what she learns about herself and what she’s capable of and what she’s not capable of. So it’s kind of just fun to get onto the page and let her do her thing and see what happens.”

Lisa tells us how her current publisher, Bookouture, looks at the capability of her as a writer and not just the success of her current book…

“Really I feel like that’s the way it should be. You should be looking at the writer, not one book. Because the way that it’s structured now, you get one book, one chance when some writers over time will definitely get better or write something that will fit.”

On her writing process, Lisa talked about how she found out what works best for her through a Becca Syme course. 

Some highlights from the Episode:

7:37 More (LOTS) of Josie Quinn coming!
9:05 Lisa Regan is obsessed with the details!
11:58 Hot baths are EVERYTHING
13:34 How many rejections did she get before selling 2 MILLION books?!
13:49 You have to hear this publishing story to believe it!
30:10 Weak Executive Function – yes, it’s a thing

You can play the episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch them on our YouTube Channel. 

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB Recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

This week’s Corks & Conversation with Heather Chavez coincided with our 100th episode! Have a listen …

We kicked off Season Four with a fun chat with Heather Chavez  about her debut No Bad Deed. This thriller received lots of rave reviews and we agree! If you haven’t already you should get yourself a copy (indie bookshop.org or Amazon.com) and be prepared to want to read it all at once! We paired our conversation with sparkling wine since we celebrated our 100th episode and Heather’s awesome debut. Turns out we all three picked different Proseccos!  

Heather discussed how she approaches her novels and where she gets her ideas. She is a plotter, which explains her complex story in No Bad Deed. She also mixes heaviness and suspense with lightness and humor …

“… we sometimes cope with humor. Humor is one of the mechanisms we use to get through these times, and that’s how Cassie copes” 

Heather wrote quite a few of what she calls practice novels over the many years leading up to this debut novel. 

“…A lot of authors can write a brilliant book and it’s their first one ever, but for me, I needed the time. I needed to discover what my voice was…”

We also talked about her writing process. Spoiler … she loves editing and revising! And her best part of the writing life is the community!

“People who love books are wonderful people”

Some highlights from the Episode:

:58 our 100th episode!
6:10 the incident that inspired No Good Deed
8:35 for the love of colored index cards
12:45 the importance of humor in novels and hard times
15:30 for the love of Grease!
24:55 for the love of the writing community

You can play the episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch them on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB Recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

Writing, Reading, and Life in Between is our new tagline! Writing brought us together, reading introduced us to all the wonderful authors we love meeting, and life in between is exactly what we talk about when we’re not talking about writing and reading! We’ve missed podcasting and are so excited to be back for the first episode of Season 4 of GOB with Christie & Cathi …

Our first wine of the season is Liquid Light Sauvignon Blanc. Cathi received it for a birthday present. Turns out it’s a must share! Or should we call it a GOB Rec? Light and low carb with a delicious taste, all under $20. 

Speaking of GOB Recs, did you know that we started them last season and are going to continue giving our recommendations on books, streaming, podcasts, and more throughout the season! Follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletters to find out what they are each month. We will also give one of them away each month to one lucky listener!

You may also have noticed that we changed our title from Game of Books to GOB with Christie & Cathi. And don’t you love the fun new cover art? We still will have the same Corks & Conversation and Words In Progress episodes. Plus we’ll be adding a new weekly podcast where we talk about a tidbit of life that is on our minds. 

Next week will be our 100th episode!! We are celebrating it with Heather Chavez a debut author with a hit of a thriller for her first novel! NO BAD DEED has been met with rave reviews from the likes of Lee Child and Lisa Gardner. Order her book here and join us next week with some sparkling wine to celebrate! 

This season we will have two monthly giveaways, the #CorksnConvo books and a #GOBrecs. Check out the HOME page of this website to get links to our current giveaways, events, and how to guides. 

Some highlights from the Episode:
1:05 Our new tagline – if Christie can get it right!
1:55 What’s behind our new tagline: Writing, Readling, and Life in between
12:50 How we organize our bookshelves
14:15 Our 100th Episode!
18:55 A writing update from both of us
21:24 The return of writing conferences in 2022
24:30 The Giveaways return this season (and there’s 2 each month!)
24:49 GOBrecs

You can play the episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB Recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

It’s August and as we move toward our Season 4 opening we continue to revisit some of our favorite episodes. This week is a redux of our Corks & Conversation with T. Jefferson Parker from May 2019…

T. Jefferson Parker is an award winning and bestselling author of 28 books, by our count. Then She Vanished is the latest in his series featuring California PI Roland Ford. We love the rich characters and atmosphere of these books set in the southern California desert meeting the Mexican border. This book just came out in paperback so it is quite a bargain and you can order it here for a great end of the summer read! You are sure to become a fan and will want to read more of his books!

We recorded this episode at Sleuthfest 2019, so we shared wine in person … such fun! T. Jefferson was the Guest of Honor and delighted us with his story of perseverance while writing his first novel. He rewrote the whole novel five times until he was satisfied! On this episode, we talked about that and his other advice for writers while sipping Chateau de Camarsac Bordeaux. Have a listen!

You can play our episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the episodes on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

It’s mid-summer and we continue our trip down memory lane with this week’s Corks & Conversation with Alexia Gordon from April 2019…

Alexia Gordon  is the author of the Gethsemane Brown series, the most recent is Execution in E.  This fun series set in Ireland, features Gethsemane Brown, an African American classical musician who solves mysteries along with a resident ghost. Read all five books in the series!

We recorded this episode with Alexia at Sleuthfest 2019, live and in person. We loved all her insight into writing mysteries and could have talked with her all night (and we almost did). We’ve kept up with Alexia, who is also a physician, and she’s also featured on our Thrillerfest Part II episode! If that isn’t enough, you can also listen to her podcast, Cozy Corner with Alexia Gordon. 

Alexia, a whiskey drinker, shared a bottle of Apothic Inferno with us. It is described as a wine with a whiskey soul. Enjoy this fun episode! 

You can play our episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the episodes on our YouTube Channel. 

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching! 

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

July is here in all it’s glory! And what is better than a good thriller while sitting by the pool? This week’s episode we revisit our Corks & Conversation with Lisa Unger from October 2019…

Lisa Unger’s  latest book, CONFESSSIONS ON THE 7:45 was just released on paperback! The master of suspense has done it again! You will want to add this book to your summer reads. 

Listen to this episode to hear how she approaches the writing process, her research into mental health, and her inspiring take on creativity! Check this out for more information on what we talked about.

You can play our episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the episodes on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching! 

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

Thrillerfest 2021 starts next week and in honor of that wonderful conference we brought up one of our oldie but goodies…

Thrillerfest is one of our all time favorite conferences and we can’t wait to get back to the in person version in 2022. In the meantime, they have done a fabulous job of going virtual. There is still time to sign up for Xtreme Craftfest where you will get to watch 200 videos of workshops by a range of best selling and favorite authors and even some debut authors, like Alex Finley.

His book, Every Last Fear is such a wonderful ride of a thriller, you need to read it! And fun fact … Alex Finley is a pseudonym! We hope to talk to this mysterious author one day ourselves! 

On this redux of our Corks and Conversation at Thrillerfest Part 1, we had such a wonderful time interviewing so many great Crime Fiction writers! We recorded outside the cocktail party and snagged a few authors to share a cocktail and give us some insight into their work and process. Here we talk with  K.J. Howe, David Albertyn, Cate Holahan, and Elizabeth Wilkerson. 

Listen to get a taste of the fun we had at Thrillerfest, being the wine-drinking fangirls that we are!

You can play our episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the episodes on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here  to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

Summer is here and this week’s author has a beach read book for everyone! This episode from March 2019 is chock full of laughs, insight and, of course,  SEAGLASS Sauvignon Blanc…

Traci Hall is such a wonderful writer and prolific author! She gives us such insight into how hard she works to have a career in the writing world.  Her latest Scottish Shire Mystery, Murder in the Scottish Garden, just came out! We love these characters and love that it is set in Scotland!

In addition to writing her own books and editing for Community Authors, she also co-writes another mystery series under the name of Traci Wilton.  The Salem B & B Mysteries are cozies with a touch of the  paranormal.  The next book is Mrs. Morris and the Vampire comes out later this summer, so preorder now! 

Traci describes herself as a true Gemini. Which is why she has written in just about every genre … over 40 books worth! We recommend her By the Sea romances, set in Christie’s neck of the woods!

Listen to this episode to hear how she relates different genres and defends the value of these great escape books! Traci is such a delight and gives such solid advice on everything from scheduling her time to the importance of an agent. This Corks & Conversation episode didn’t disappoint! 

Enjoy listening to this redux episode recorded back when we were just starting out! We even had different intro music!

You can play our episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the episodes on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here  to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

May flowers bring us happiness as does this fun episode from March 2020 …

Catriona McPherson is such a smart and giving author! We love to catch her insights wherever and whenever we can and this Corks & Conversation episode didn’t disappoint!

Enjoy listening to this redux episode recorded back when we had no idea what the future year would hold. Here are the links and show notes from what we discussed.

You can play our episodes from our website, wherever you listen to podcasts or watch the episodes on our YouTube Channel.

And please subscribe right here to get an email with each new episode released. You’ll get a monthly newsletter jam-packed with cool information, contests, and our new GOB recs where we give our current recommendations on what we are listening to, reading, and watching!

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!

This week we revisit our Corks and Conversation with J.T. Ellison from Season Two …

Since we spoke with J.T Ellison back in January of 2020, so much has happened! One of the most exciting is that she has a new book, Her Dark Lies, that is getting rave reviews. It’s a dark thriller in what is both a beautiful and creepy setting , a historic villa on an island off the coast of Italy. We are talking beautiful cliffs and also crypts in underground caves. Plus a wedding that’s interrupted by storms, murders, and past crimes. Really good read! in fact, Christie read it in one day … a Mother’s Day treat for herself!

You have to listen in to see how she balances writing two books a year, editing, and promoting all at the same time! We’ll give you a hint – it has something to do with her favorite quote from Master Yoda.

And please subscribe right here on our website to get an email with each new episode and to keep up with all our contests.

You can find all our episodes and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube, or right here on our website!