Public Display of Imagination

Today’s guest grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. She received her Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Butler University, and under intense pressure, she will confess to having a lifetime love of fairy tales.She also loves to travel… and can lay claim to having set foot on all 7 continents… which sounds like a secondary adventure that we’ll just have to explore.Currently, she works as the Senior Copywriter at John Wiley & Sons, Publishing Company. Prior to her current role, she also served in the company’s Editorial and Publicity positions.In 2019 she published a Young Adult adventure, featuring an arrogant warrior princess, who has to wrestle with some very difficult decisions and the fallout from choices made.In 2020, she published Book #1 in a series built from the legendary tales of King Midas and the previously untold tales of his young daughter. Today, we’re going to step into the pages of that series and listen to the heartbeat, with it the talented authored who gave it life.Please welcome our tour guide for today’s adventure, Annie Sullivan…

He’s the only International bestselling author to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American Crime Fiction’s most prestigious prizes.His novels have been translated into a dozen languages and have won critical acclaim across the globe, including stars from every major pre-publication review outlet.He’s a graduate of Dartmouth and former journalist with The Washington Post and The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger.He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children, but he’s actually Closer Than You Know… Please welcome our tour guide for today’s adventure… Brad Parks.

Haunted by his parents’ death and his own career failures, Dr. Brian Scott has begun to settle for the life he’s been given. Until he’s “recruited.” Kidnapped by military insiders known only as “The Group,” Brian joins a team of world-class scholars on a confidential initiative. Their mission? To prepare mankind for a new reality… Alien Disclosure.As the team is briefed on the government’s involvement with extraterrestrials, strange things begin to happen. Disappearances. Visitations. Murder. Something isn’t right. Peeling away layer after layer of deception and counter-deception, Brian moves toward a shocking revelation that will forever alter how mankind sees itself.The book is entitled The Façade and we’re joined today by its author, Dr. Michael S. Heiser…

She's a life-long book lover who left the world of corporate finance to pursue her passion for writing. After co-authoring the non-fiction book, Haunted Highway, The Spirits of Route 66, she realized her true love was fiction... historical mysteries in particular. She also decided that winters in Arizona were much more enjoyable than winters in Michigan. Taking a cue from the old Paul McCartney song... Dianne and her husband, just follow the sun. Her debut novel, which was the first book in the series we’ll be talking about today, was titled: A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder. It won the Agatha Award for Best Debut and a Lefty Award for Best First Novel. It was also nominated for a Mary Higgins-Clark Award. Heat up a spot of tea boys and girls, because today’s adventure takes us to London, where we’ll explore the pages of The Countess of Harleigh, Cozy Mystery Series with author Dianne Freeman...

He’s the author of more than a dozen international bestsellers, who’s been hailed by Lee Child as “one of the best thriller writers working today.”He lives in Boston, teaches writing at Harvard, and fabricates novels that readers can’t put down. His debut novel, DEVIANT WAYS immediately propelled him into the upper echelon of noteworthy thriller authors.He also writes the acclaimed series, featuring Crime Scene Investigator, Darby McCormick, and has a number of standalone page-turners that we’ll most certainly highlight at some point along the way.Today’s adventure tour guide is a master storyteller, who’s going to walk us into the pages of his, highly-anticipated, newly-released thriller… BLOOD WORLD.Please welcome the wildly imaginative, Chris Mooney…

He’s a native of Ontario, Canada, who obtained his Masters of Business Administration from the Ivey Business School. He enjoyed a successful career in corporate technology before transitioning into investing and education.He’s traveled throughout Europe, North America, South America, and the South Pacific for both business and pleasure. He’s passionate about technology, the forces that drive it, and the impact it has on our society.He’s a big fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy, as well as a master of escape room misdirection and trickeration. He’s also been known to crash a Comic Con whenever the opportunity presents.Please welcome a debut author who will keep you up late turning pages… our tour guide for today’s adventure, Drew Murray…

Today’s guest is a New York Times bestselling author who, along with Guillermo del Toro, co-authored the haunting & heartbreaking love story, THE SHAPE OF WATER, which was not only an international bestseller, but also a feature length film that won the Oscar Award in 4 categories, including Best Director and Best Picture.In 2015, our tour guide for today’s adventure also co-authored TROLLHUNTERS with del Toro, which was adapted into an Emmy-winning Netflix series. Also in 2015, today’s guest launched an award-winning 2-book series titled, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH which was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 Books of the Year. Earlier this year he released BENT HEAVENS, built from the story of one man’s alien abduction and eventual disappearance.Today, we’re going to dig into the pages of his latest release, which is a posthumous collaboration with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero… THE LIVING DEAD. Please welcome our guest, the multi-talented, Daniel Kraus…

Today’s guest is a peer-reviewed scholar in the fields of biblical studies and Ancient Near East mythology. He earned his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2004. His studies include the Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, including Israel and Egypt.He taught biblical studies on the college and seminary level for over 20 years and was the Scholar-in-Residence for Logos Bible Software for 15 years. He is currently the Director of a school of Theology, located in Jacksonville, FL.He is the author of several bestselling books, both in the fiction and non-fiction genres. Today, we’re going to get a quick walk through 2 of his most recent non-fiction works, one detailing what Ancient Near Eastern Literature has to say about Angels and another, detailing what the same volume of work has to say about Demons.Join us as we peel back the curtains and shine a light on what ancient literature has to say about the captivating and mystifying realm of the supernatural with our tour guide for today’s adventure with Dr. Michael S. Heiser…

Today’s guest is a partner in a San Francisco based office of an international law firm and co-chair of its privacy and cyber security division. He’s authored six thrillers to date that draw upon his background as a privacy attorney. His first book, THE INSIDER, was a finalist for the 2011 International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel.THE INSIDER was followed by a trilogy featuring former Department of Justice, cyber-crime prosecutor Chris Bruen. THE ADVERSARY, INTRUSION, and SURVEILLANCE are all highly rated reads that weave through the hacker-happy world of the dark web.In 2019, he launched a new series, featuring Lisa Tanchik, an FBI Special Agent who dons her own cyber-mask, as she goes undercover on the dark web. She made her debut with BLACK NOWHERE. Today, we’re going to peel open the pages of book #2 in the series. Please welcome our tour guide for today’s adventure – Reece Hirsch…

He’s a bestselling author and journalist who has written for Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and Time Magazine. His 1995 novel, Atlantic, which takes place aboard an oceanliner during a transatlantic crossing, following WW2, was nominated for The Booker Prize, which is given each year to the best original novel, published in the U.K.He also authored Blood Knots, a 2010 memoir about childhood innocence, paternal love, and fishing. It was short-listed for the 2010 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, as well as the William Hill Prize.Today’s guest trained as a dancer at the Rambert School, and co-authored a book with his daughter called Stars, about teenagers at a performing arts school.In 2014, 15, & 16, he published a series of books that have become the basis for the wildly popular BBC television series – Killing Eve. Please welcome our tour guide for today’s adventure: Luke Jennings…

She’s an Agatha Award winning, best-selling author of several Cozy Mystery Series.Prior to her career as a novelist, she wrote screenplays and created the format for the popular TV sitcom Out of this World. She’s also been featured as an actress and her portfolio includes roles from Matlock, Hart to Hart, and Murder, She Wrote.She’s a graduate of Stanford University who loves to cook, read, golf, swim, garden, and has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.Through the creative imagination of author Daryl Wood Gerber, today’s adventure takes us to a place filled with magic and wonder, located in beautiful Carmel, CA. Join us as we dig into the pages of Book #1 of The Fairy Garden, Cozy Mystery Series: A SPRINKLING OF MURDER…

Our Public Display of Imagination Resources For Writers segments are designed to bring helpful insight and inspiration to writers and aspiring writers.We’ve been fortunate to talk with a host of talented and successful authors over the course of the podcast and in some cases, we’ve been able to schedule additional time with them to talk about specific topics connected to the art and the craft of writing.These are the best of the best in a number of fields related to writing and publication. We’re thankful that they were willing to spend some additional time with us.In this segment, we talk with the author of the Detective John Byron series, Bruce Robert Coffin. During his 30+ year career in law enforcement, Bruce has accumulated a wealth of knowledge regarding crime scenes. In this conversation, he walks us through the process of identifying and questioning witnesses that no writer should overlook.

Today’s guest has logged nearly 5,000 hours as a flight engineer for the Air National Guard in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and elsewhere, including Latin America, the Horn of Africa, and the Far East. Military honors include three Air Medals, three Aerial Achievement Medals, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal. He retired from the military as a Senior Master Sergeant.He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He studied writing there and at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, among other places. He authored a six book series which follows the story of Air Force pilot Colonel Michael Parson and U.S. Army interpreter Sophia Gold.He is also the author of a non-fiction work titled, The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan, and contributed to the anthology Operation Homecoming, edited by Andrew Carroll.Please welcome the author of the hot new military thriller release, SILVER WINGS IRON CROSS, Tom Young…

Today’s guest completed her first novel when she was 15.Her work has been used in school textbooks in Denmark, made into a short film, optioned twice for TV and film, inspired an original song, and has won (or been nominated) for numerous awards both in the United States and in the UK.She created her highly popular, no-nonsense heroine after receiving death-threat letters as a photojournalist. That heroine has anchored 13 books thus far, with more on the way.Today, we’re going to dig into the pages of Book #2 in a new trilogy about a Crime Scene Investigator named, Grace McColl, and a Detective Constable named, Nick Weston. The series started with a book, designed to be a standalone novel called, Dancing On The Grave. It’s popularity has led to the book we’ll be exploring today – Bones In The River.Please welcome the author of the bestselling Charlie Fox thriller series, several standalone novels, and a host of short stories for anthologies and magazines, Zoe Sharp…

He’s the author (or co-author) of nearly 40 books and has written both riveting fictional suspense and gripping non-fiction exposé. More than 20 of his books have ascended the New York Times Bestseller list and several have topped the list as #1 Bestsellers.He has traveled around the world, lived in a number of countries, and won awards for his work both in America and abroad. He has explored the jungles of Central America where he worked with a team, beset by torrential rain, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes as they searched for a lost city.He has also spent time in Italy, researching the files of one of Italy’s most notorious serial killers. He recounts that experience during our conversation. We also discuss working with a writing partner, as he does for the Award-Winning series featuring FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast.Last week, I was asked in a writing group if an author could write both fiction and non-fiction. Today, we’re going to talk with someone who has won a long list of accolades for doing exactly that. His work is in print. His work is on the big screen. His work has, and is, being developed into Television Series. World renowned author, Douglas Preston takes us on today’s adventure…

She lives with her husband in Ft. Worth, TX, and she’s obsessed with water… specifically, open water. After completing an advanced scuba class in Dallas, she got the opportunity to dive a shipwreck off the coast of Key Largo, FL, and has been fixated on the mysteries that lurk the heart of the deep ever since.She loves a good mystery, especially if it’s shrouded in shadows and creepy “what-ifs” that keep you up all night. Today, we’re going to dig into the pages of her debut novel, which could very well be the baby that was produced when LOST and Stranger Things shared a drunken weekend in Tahiti… Please welcome our tour guide for today’s adventure, Leslie Lutz…

Our Public Display of Imagination Resources For Writers segments are designed to bring helpful insight and inspiration to writers and aspiring writers.We’ve been fortunate to talk with a host of talented and successful authors over the course of the podcast and in some cases, we’ve been able to schedule additional time with them to talk about specific topics connected to the art and the craft of writing.These are the best of the best in a number of fields related to writing and publication. We’re thankful that they were willing to spend some additional time with us.In this segment, we talk with Sendible Founder and CEO Gavin Hammar about Story Telling on Social Media. What works? What doesn’t? Gavin gives us insight to best practices, while providing the backstory of how Sendible started and developed its remarkably easy-to-use platform for those who need to increase their productivity and effectiveness in the realm of telling their story via Social Media.

Her first novel has over 11 hundred positive reviews on Amazon. Déjà Dead, was the first book in a long running series featuring forensic anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan. Book #1 became an instant New York Times bestseller and won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel in 1997.The books launched a FOX TV series you may have heard of called, BONES. Today’s guest is the producer of that TV Series; it ran for 246 episodes over the course of 12 seasons. As a forensic anthropologist, today’s guest taught FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, as well as, how to separate and identify commingled body parts. She served as consultant to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina and continues to consult for the Laboratory of Forensic Sciences and Legal Medicine from her Montreal lab, in Quebec.She is one of only 100 forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She’s a native of Chicago and earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Please welcome, Dr. Kathy Reichs…

She grew up in New York and is an avid reader of everything from takeout menus to Greek Mythology. She also enjoys a suspenseful story, well-told and historical biographies. She started writing as a child, but didn’t pursue publication until completing her first novel, The Blind.She’s a lifelong Yankee fan. She’s also a fan of Guns-N-Roses and Metallica. She loves dogs, needs all labels in the pantry to face the same direction, adores the sea, and is willing to stay up late at night for a good chat.She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Brown University and two master’s degrees in Psychological Counseling from Teachers College & Columbia University. She currently owns and operates her own private practice where she counsels both individuals and couples.Author, A.F. Brady is my guest… and today we’re going to dig into the pages of her latest thriller – Once A Liar…

She’s a bestselling author who began her legal career as a criminal defense attorney and went on to become a prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office in 1981. She spent 10 years in the Special Trials Unit, where she handled a number of high profile cases, some of which resulted in legislation that offered victims increased protection from stalkers and more severe sentencing for offenders.She also was lead prosecutor in an L.A. County murder case that captivated the attention of the entire nation in 1994 & 1995. She’s the co-creator and executive producer of the ABC drama series, The Fix. And… she’s also the host of A&E’s unscripted drama series, Marcia Clark Investigates: The First 48.She just released Book #4 in the Samantha Brinkman Legal Series, Final Judgment, please welcome our guest for today’s Public Display of Imagination Adventure, Marcia Clark.