This week’s Corks & Conversation was with Dana Stabenow, Edgar award-winning author of thirty-seven novels  …

Dana chose the Delheim Pinotage Rosé from South Africa to drink. It is not too sweet and she has lovely friends who visited the vineyard then shared it with her. We might have to add South Africa to our list of post-pandemic wine destinations.

Dana’s newest book, The Spoils of the Dead, is set so intimately in her native Alaska. It is part of her Liam Campbell series of mysteries. We fell in love with the characters so we can’t wait until the next book comes out.

Dana revealed how she approaches writing her novels…

“Setting is the single most important thing for me, you have to know where the setting is, you have to be grounded, so to speak, in the setting of every book.”

In order to get a good handle on setting, Dana even spent time on a Coast Guard vessel one February in Alaska. What a story!

Don’t only take our word for it that she is a wonderful and sharing writer … you can also join her group of fans/friends called the Danamaniacs. And to further her commitment to helping writers learn the business side of writing, she has started a writers retreat in Alaska called Storyknife. 

Listen to the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our YouTube Channel. 

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This week’s Corks & Conversation was with Sebastian Fitzek, Germany’s most successful author of psychological thrillers  …

Sebastian suggested gin and tonics, Monkey 47 and Tanqueray, and we complied for a change of pace! We talked with Sebastian from Berlin, where he lives. Thankfully for us, he speaks English so we could hear all about how his books, described as the stuff of nightmares, are actually inspired by everyday situations. His best-seller, The Package, was just released in the US and is a must read!

On how he has written books that have sold 12 million copies, been translated into more than twenty-four languages and are the basis for international cinema adaptations and theatre adaptations…

“The characters, all of a sudden, have their own life and then we just watch them and we no longer get to tell them what to do.”

We talked and laughed about so much, including how he got into writing after other careers. Sebastian also shared about the process of foreign translations. We can only hope we will need this information one day! 

Listen to the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our YouTube Channel. 

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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 Elizabeth Breck was a fun-filled talk about her debut novel Anonymous, stories from her job as a PI, and how it inspires her writing.

We drank Leaping Horse Chardonnay and the Anonymous Cocktail and jumped right into some harrowing stories of her life as a private investigator in California. Some of these stories even ended up in Anonymous, experienced by her main character, Madison Kelly.

Listen to hear about her beloved San Diego, becoming a writer and her methodical approach to writing and publishing.

Elizabeth gives some good advice …

This is a business and you have to remember that people want to make money. Agents and publishers are desperate for a great book that will make money so they’re not against you. 

Listen to the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our YouTube Channel.

Elizabeth in California was a great way to kick off a month of “world travel” on Game of Books! Next week’s author, Sebastian Fitzek will come to us from Berlin, Germany. You won’t want to miss it! 

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This week we are revisiting our Corks and Conversation with Jess Lourey from almost a year ago. Jess has a new book out, Bloodline. This follows her wildly successful and Edgar Award 2021 nominee, Unspeakable Things! Both novels are fiction based on true events and crimes in her native Minnesota.

Open and engaging, Jess shared so many interesting tidbits like how she has to “Wrestle the monkey in my mind” and her most peaceful place she’s visited, “The sky is really low… something about the clouds it’s just really low, so you feel like you’re under a big blanket the whole time.”

Her editing and writing tips will resonate with all you writers out there! We learned so much from her! While we sipped some Bota Box Red.

Check out the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our  YouTube Channel.

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!

This week’s Corks & Conversation with Halley Sutton was a lively and interesting discussion …

We had such fun talking with Halley Sutton about her debut, The Lady Upstairs, recently named to the Washington Post’s 5 New Thrillers of the Month. We paired our conversation with a Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel.  

We started our conversation discussing Halley’s intriguing main character, Jo:

“Likeability gets thrown around, particularly for women, as if a character has to be likeable to be somebody you want to spend a book with. I think that there’s something about somebody being a very distinct character that propels that even if they’re not likable.”

 We moved on to discussing noir crime fiction and her thoughts on creating her feminist femme fatale:

“For me, where I wanted the book to feel feminist was centering a character that’s an archetype in noir, the femme fatale. Like what if she’s a literal person, she’s not just this projection of male anxiety which is what usually the femme fatale is in classic noir. What if she has hopes and dreams and aspirations of her own.”

Listen to the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our YouTube Channel.

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

This week we are reintroducing an oldie but goodie from March of 2019! The Corks and Conversation with Brad Parks was a funny and inspirational  episode we had as newbie podcasters that will entertain you as we kick of 2021! Enjoy!

And while you are at it, you should check out his latest book, Interference! It is a heart-pounding thriller that delves into scientific unknown in a page-turning way!

This episode is full of laughs which is much needed during these trying times! In it we talked about his time at Hardees, the meaning of grit, and a naked LeBron James!

Check out the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our  YouTube Channel.

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!

In this week’s episode, we discussed Gilly Macmillan’s To Tell You the Truth and paired the conversation with Freixenet Brut Cava.

To Tell You the Truth was recently named one of the Best Thrillers of 2020 by the New York Times! Cheers to that!

The perfect pairing, inspired by a scene early in the book, is Freixenet Brut Cava and a ragu. Christie schooled us on Champagne versus Cava … think France versus Spain!  And Cathi discussed the finer points of Ragu versus Bolognese as described on the Alpine Bakery and Trattoria’s website.

Cathi’s preferred Ragu recipe comes from one of her favorite food bloggers and cookbook authors, Deb Perelman from Smitten Kitchen.

No spoilers in this episode, but we did discuss gaslighting (AGAIN) and name changes.

Listen to the full episode for more, or you can watch the episode on our YouTube Channel.

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In this week’s Christmas episode, Christie and Cathi discussed two Christmas Cozies, movies, and music. They paired the fun conversation with Cupcake Red Velvet wine.

Cozies we covered:

Christie chose Mrs. Morris and the Ghost of Christmas Past by Traci Wilton, the writing duo comprised of Traci Hall and Patricia Wilton.  Fun Fact! Traci Hall joined us for our very second Corks and Conversation episode!

Cathi chose Holiday Hostage by Kathi Daley, the author of over 100 cozies!  

Movies we discussed:

Godmothered

The Happiest Season

The Family Stone

Miracle of 34th Street

Love Actually

We are happy to spend a virtual Christmas together and with you! You can feel part of the conversation when you watch us on YouTube.

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In today’s Words In Progress with Steven James, we continue our series where we speak with writers and writing professionals about a specific aspect of writing craft. Today’ episode focuses on Character Status so have a listen here:

Or you can watch us on YouTube.

Steven James is both a writer (the critically-acclaimed author of seventeen novels) and a writing teacher (he teaches Novel Writing Intensive retreats with Robert Dugoni). He has authored Story Trumps Structure and Troubleshooting Your Novel. He also has a storytelling podcast, called The Story Blender.

He joined us to discuss how status affects your character, which he devotes a whole chapter to in  Story Trumps Structure.

He gives examples of three different kinds of status:

Situation Status: This is when a character has the odds against them.

Relational Status: An example of this is when a parent has a higher relational status than their child.

Positional Status: This is like when a Boss at work has a higher status.

Multi-dimensional characters are created by giving them multivariate status levels so they aren’t always any one status.

He also suggests that writers can establish a character’s status through verb choice or adding pauses and stillness.

We felt like we could have continued this conversation for hours, but alas we wanted to get going on the interesting exercise he gave us … one that involved mirroring other people’s status. 

You have to listen to the whole episode for more insights from writer and teacher Steven James, or check us out on YouTube (Steven joins us from outside on a brisk winter afternoon). 

Subscribe right here so you don’t miss next week’s Christmas episode!

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