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Author Interviews

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An Interview with Domnica Radulescu, Author of Dream in a Suitcase

I am a Romanian American award-winning novelist and playwright. I arrived in the United States in 1983 as a political refugee, having escaped the Communist Dictatorship of my native country. I obtained a PhD in French and Italian Literatures from the University of Chicago, in 1992. I am the author of three critically acclaimed novels: Train to Trieste (Knops 2009 & 2010), Black Sea Twilight (Transworld 2010 & 2011) and Country of Red Azaleas (Grand Central Hachette 2016). Train to Trieste was published in thirteen languages and is the 2009 winner of the Best Fiction Award from the Library of Virginia. Both Train to Trieste and Black Sea Twilight were best sellers in the UK, in 2009 and 2011, respectively. I have also authored three books of original plays and more than a dozen books and edited collections of literary criticism. I am twice a Fulbright scholar and a distinguished service professor of French and Comparative Literature at Washington and Lee University.

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An Interview with Bárbara Mujica, Author of Miss del Río

Bárbara Mujica is a novelist, essayist, short story writer and critic. Her latest novel, Miss del Río, is based on the life of Mexican movie star Dolores del Río, who was both a Hollywood sensation and a key figure in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Miss del Río was named one of the best books of 2022 by Library Journal and one of the five best recent historical novels by The Washington Post. It won second place in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Novel competition out of thousands of submissions. It was a Target Book Club Book of the Month, and the audio version was an Apple Audio “Must Listen.”

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An Interview with Rebecca Miller, Author of Touch

Rebecca Miller is a twenty-five-time award-winning author known for her sweeping debut novel Touch, a story about a fragile young relationship between two teens that boldly addresses a critical issue in society while also reminding us of the goodness that remains in the world.

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An Interview with Tinamarie Cox, Author of Self-Destruction in Small Doses

Tinamarie Cox lives in Arizona with her husband, two children, and their one-eyed cat. Her written and visual work has appeared in numerous publications in a variety of genres. Her first poetry collection, Self-Destruction in Small Doses, was published with Bottlecap Press in 2023. She is currently working on more poetry collections as well as her first fiction novel. You can find more of her work at tinamariethinkstoomuch.weebly.com.

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An Interview with Sue Coletta, Author of Merciless Mayhem

Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Novel Blogs on the Net.” She also blogs at the Kill Zone (Writer’s Digest “101 Best Websites for Writers”) and Writers Helping Writers. Sue lives with her husband in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Her backlist includes psychological thrillers, the Mayhem Series (books 1-4), the Grafton County Series, and true crime/narrative nonfiction. Now, she exclusively writes eco-thrillers, Mayhem Series books 5-8 and continuing. Sue’s appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion, and three episodes of A Time to Kill on Investigation Discovery.

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An Interview with Leslie Cieplechowicz, Author of Detroit Revealed

Leslie Cieplechowicz is a photographer who developed her craft by working the streets of Detroit as a paramedic and shooting old, historical buildings she found on her runs. Her love of creating unique imagery lead her across the state, then the United States, then globally, where she currently finished shooting in the country of Cuba, documenting its lively culture, friendly people, and classic automobiles. She currently works as an instructor after leaving the road and spreads her love of photography to her students.

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An Interview with John M. McIlveen, Author of Girl Gone North

John M. McIlveen is the bestselling author of the paranormal suspense novel HANNAHWHERE, winner of the Drunken Druid Award, and nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, and GIRL GONE NORTH, which was shortlisted for the Wilbur and Niso Smith Foundation Award. He also authored three collections, A VARIABLE DARKNESS, INFLICTIONS, and JERKS and Other Tales from A Perfect Man.

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An Interview with David Doersch, Author of The Gathering Storm

David Doersch has worked for nearly 40 years in the performing arts as an Actor, Director, Fight Director, Stunt Coordinator, Theatre Educator, Audiobook Narrator, and Touring Musician. As a Fight Director and Sword Master, he has worked at regional theatres and Shakespeare festivals from coast to coast, including the Guthrie Theatre, the Dallas Repertory Theatre, American Players’ Theatre, the American Shakespeare Center, the Virginia Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the Crossroads Theatre, the Virginia Repertory Theatre, and many others.

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An Interview with Author George Gorman

How Long the Way is not quite “modern poetry,” in the sense of, “a faster way than short stories or journalism to dive into the narratives of others.” Though I have nothing against the narrative bent, poetry, for me, has been more of a mystical quest, as with Mary Oliver, William Stafford, Vachel Lindsay, e e cummings, Dylan Thomas, Yeats, Hopkins, Hesse, Rilke, Whitman, Dickinson, Shelley, Blake, Goethe, and many more; more about love and freedom and how they can work together.

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An Interview with Author Thomas D. Kersting

Thomas D. Kersting travels often with his wife to her native Ireland, where he has published articles on local history and culture over the years. These include several pieces in the Leitrim Guardian annual and a feature in CARA, the former in-flight magazine of Aer Lingus, on the history of his wife’s village. This article was the inspiration for the setting in TOBAR IN THE GLOAMING, his historical novel of the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s. Tom has also written some human interest pieces for local publications in NY. He is working on a memoir about growing up in The Bronx in the 1950s and ’60s, as well as some short fiction. A complete list of publications is on his blog, thomasdkersting.com, along with some blog posts he recorded as a commentator on Pawling Public Radio, formerly WPWLFM, in Pawling, NY.

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An Interview with Author Aysha Baqir

I grew up in Pakistan. My time at Mount Holyoke College, USA, sparked a passion for development and I chose to return to Pakistan to work. I quickly learnt that girls and women in villages needed access to economic resources before they could voice their demands for social justice. I founded the Kaarvan Foundation (www.kaarvan.com), a pioneering economic development not-for-profit organization. During the time I spent in rural villages, my life interfaced closely with girls and women and my admiration and respect for their determination, strength, and humor in times of despair grew immensely—with so little they managed to achieve so much.

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An Interview with Author Kit Falbo

Kit Falbo is obsessed with storytelling. It’s one of their neurodiverse special interests. Folding in their non-binary, nerdy, life experiences with their degree in psychology to create compelling quirky stories. Best known for their book The Crafting of Chess, they continue to explore technology, pop-culture, magic systems, and family in their writing. Books on Amazon, on Facebook, Tiktok, and Twitter(not calling it x).

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An Interview with Author David E. Frost

David E. Frost is an NFPT-certified Master Fitness Trainer, a rowing coach, a champion competitor, and an award-winning adjunct professor. After decorated careers in the US Navy and business world, he founded Well Past Forty LLC to promote wellness and longevity for folks in their “middle ages.”

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An Interview with Author Jet Parker

Jet graduated from the University of Texas, Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree. She started her first company as a very young entrepreneur in 1986. Each venture became more successful and demanding. Jet celebrated some exciting achievements throughout her corporate career: she edited and published the first full-color (print) newspaper for CEOs written by CEOs, became a national speaker, published her first book, ABCs for CEOs and closed her first multi-million-dollar deal. She currently operates two small companies while completing her first three novels.

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An Interview with Author Sam Polakoff

I knew I wanted to write historical fiction and I knew it would follow a heroine in indentured servitude 17th or 18th century rural colony in Maryland. I began reading, researching, and speaking with local historians, one of whom told me a story about women in England’s overcrowded debtors’ prisons . As the story goes, These ladies were shipped across the Atlantic to become indentured servants in the New World. Once I heard that story, combining it with my original notion became much easier.

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An Interview with Author Nancy Van Iderstine

Former film studio copywriter Nancy Van Iderstine wrote Twentieth Century Fox: The First 75 Years as part of a film anthology. She’s a contributor to No Kidding: Women Writers On Bypassing Parenthood (Seal Press) and The Total Cat Manual: Meet, Love & Care For Your New Best Friend (Weldon-Owen). She self-published the cookbook Vegan and Gluten-free Recipes to Live For. (A second edition has just been completed.) Nancy has also penned a number of short stage plays that have been produced in Los Angeles. A selection of those will be available in a compendium sometime in 2024. Her solo piece 7 Years I Could Have Spent in Vermont was produced for the stage at the former HBO Workspace by the studio (now MAX), and more staged readings and fully produced works are to come.