SAM Magazine

E74 - Sam Wiebe, Author of Hell and Gone

Award-winning Vancouver crime writer of the Wakeland novels, Sam Wiebe, and I discuss his latest novel, Hell and Gone, which is the third novel in his Dave Wakeland series. Sam's prose is gritty and authentic. He gives the reader a great sense of living on the streets of Vancouver. We talk about beats, and Sam's not meaning music, conflict, as well as the writing courses he offers, the flagship course being Mystery Writing Mastery.  I came away from this interview thinking dig down when it comes to your protagonist's conflict, keep adding layers. 
Sam’s work has won the Crime Writers of Canada award and the Kobo Emerging Writer’s prize. He has been shortlisted for the Edgar, Hammet, Shamus and City of Vancouver book prizes. As well, I got a scoop. Small screen. Tune in to find out what's on the horizon for Sam.
http://samwiebe.com/

E73 - Authors Across the Border Drinking Coffee

The Joanna and Benny Show. Yes, two authors, myself and Benny Sims, we are fans of each other's novels and writing styles. We talk about everything from writing in the 3rd person point-of-view to the first person point-of-view. Character arcs. What we've learned and what we still want to learn. Book trailers, promotion, and using life experiences in plotting a novel. 
Benny joins me from his writing shed in Alabama. We celebrate Benny's novel Code Gray winning Killer Nashville's Silver Falchion Award for best mystery, and Dealer's Child placing #60 and #64 in Amazon's top 100 during it's first week of release. And did Benny really have 70 questions for me to answer? It's a fun conversation across the border.
⁠Benny Sims | Writing, reading, and various other mayhem⁠
Cover art photo courtesy of Jeremy Yap.

E72 - The Urban Escapist, Cory Scott - Artist

Artist Cory Scott, moved back to Canada with three suitcases. A creative soul since a child, he's travelled the world and worked various jobs. When he and his fiancée left Australia and were selling their possessions, Cory was pleasantly surprised when Australians wanted to buy his paintings hanging on the walls. Cory knew this was a sign and pursued art fulltime. Cory’s art has won numerous awards, including in 2020, the Award of Excellence at the Sooke Fine Arts Show. On Cory’s website, Cory writes that he, “was born a daydreamer in the prairie city of Brandon, Manitoba, spending his days fishing in the Assiniboine River and melting coins on the railway tracks.” Cory explains the backstory behind the yellow VW bus, the yellow house and the yellow mailbox in his painting, Victoria, The Redfern Nursery, featured in the podcast art.  
https://www.coryscottgallery.com/

E71 - Celeste Barclay, The Clan Sinclair Legacy

Have you heard the term story bible? Or reading guides? Multi-published, bestselling historical romance author, Celeste Barclay, joins me in the studio. She is the author of 31 historical romances and after 16 years in the classroom where she was a Social Studies and English teacher, she is now a full-time author, entrepreneur, independent publisher and mentor. We talk about her historical romances, writing as a business, and her upcoming new releases. Celeste and I had a great conversation, and two days shy of Valentine's Day, it was great to talk about romance.
https://www.celestebarclay.com/

E70 - Mark Creedon, Caught Between Two Devils

Author Mark Creedon joins me on the podcast and we talk about his historical fiction novel, Caught Between Two Devils, which is based on the real experiences of family members, Antanas Paskevicius, and Antanas's wife Jadwyga and his sister Maria in April 1944, when they, along with other prisoners, escaped from a forced labor camp during WWII. A moving interview, Mark and I discuss favourite scenes, the little Polish car that looks like a small frog, war, romance, humanity and helping your neighbour.
Mark worked in Child Welfare and Family Services agencies for 38 years until he retired in 2013. Caught Between Two Devils is available in paperback and Kindle format through Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.
DISCLAIMER: this podcast contains a story or two about war crimes which some listeners may find upsetting.

E69 - Gordon Mott, The Angels of Klaipeda

Amazon bestselling author Gordon Mott returns to the podcast. Gordon and I previously talked on the podcast about his hugely popular novel, Lithuanian Lullaby and today we talk about Gordon’s second novel, The Angels of Klaipeda.
Gordon and I have an extensive discussion about characters, their strengths, their weaknesses and finding the character to carry a new series or new story. We also talk about the Stockholm syndrome and using life events to fuel a novel, in particular the kidnapping of Terry Waite.
If you live in the Chicago, Illinois area, on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 2:00 PM, Gordon will be speaking about and signing his latest novel, The Angels of Klaipeda at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture.

E68 - Marcelle Dube, The Wronged Woman

Multi-published author Marcelle Dube joins me on the podcast. Marcelle is the author of numerous mystery novels and short stories. Her bibliography is incredible. She is also on the executive of the Sisters in Crime – Chapter West.  Marcelle grew up in Montreal, and after trying a few provinces, she set roots in the Yukon for 35 years and she now lives in Alberta, which she says is, “much like the Yukon in all the ways that counts.” Today, we will be talking about her latest novel, The Wronged Woman, the common error novelists make when writing the short story, the "dirty middle" and the "boys in the basement."
http://www.marcellemdube.com/

E67 - Christine Gabriel, Crimson Forest

Christine Gabriel is the author of the Best-Selling, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance novel, Crimson Forest, the first novel in her Crimson Chronicles Series. Her fiction has been nominated for such awards as The People’s Book Award and The Buckeye Book Award. Christine's been in the marketing industry for over 15 years and is in charge of the publicity & graphics department at Pandamoon Publishing, based out of Austin, Texas. Christine and I shared many laughs and writing experiences. In this podcast we discuss the series arc, and spoiler, yes, Christine has another series in the works. I learned about red moss and talked about Whistler's pink snow and why German tourists think Canadians are tough. Christine talked about the tough scenes, and the scene that made her go through two boxes of Kleenex. 
⁠Christine Gabriel - Writer, Books, Marketing (christine-gabriel.com)