SAM Magazine

E162 - SAM Magazine, Egyptian Queen

Joanna Vander Vlugt briefly explains what has occurred and how the JCVArtStudio podcast has changed from an interview to a short story podcast, in support of SAM Magazine. In today's podcast Joanna reads her short story Egyptian Queen, published in 2006 in the Crime Writers of Canada anthology, Dead In the Water, by Rendezvous Press.
Joanna is the author of the Jade & Sage thriller series in which her heroine Jade Thyme is a prosecutor who finds herself embroiled with drug dealers and espionage. The Unravelling and Dealer's Child are out now. Spy Girls is being released March 2024.
SAM Magazine can be purchased at https://www.sam-magazine.com/

E161 - Charlotte Morganti, The End Game

If you check out author Charlotte Morganti’s website, you’ll see that she, “like the protagonist in one of her novels,” is a recovering lawyer. In addition to her law degree, she holds an MFA in creative writing. She’s an active member of the Canada West chapter of Sisters in Crime, a collegial group of writers of mostly crime fiction, and Crime Writers of Canada. Charlotte writes fiction (mysteries, both dark and light), and the personal essay or review. Her short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies. A true writer, Charlotte is fascinated by the many absurdities of life. She’s addicted to chocolate and caramel, crime fiction and mysteries, sunshine, and white sand, to name a few. She can be found singing along with Willie Nelson, Ian Tyson, ZZ Top, Queen, and Bob Dylan.
Today we discuss her debut thriller novel, The End Game, and yes, we do talk about "the voices "in our head." Thank you Charlotte.
https://charlottemorganti.com/

E160 - Kalee Boisvert, Make Money Your Thing

Kalee Boisvert has been in the financial industry for over 15 years, but her love of money started very young. Growing up in a single parent household, she watched her mom struggle with finances and wished there was something she could do to help. Around this time, she realized she needed to find her own way to save and earn if she wasn’t going to allow her circumstances to define her. And so, her own journey to financial literacy began.
Today, as a single mom and financially independent woman, Kalee is called to support women in their financial lives. She felt the pull toward a career that would allow her to pursue this deeply personal goal to advocate for women and their money, which led her on the path to becoming a financial advisor. Being an advisor allows her to work directly with women to empower and support them and help put an end to any money-related stress and doubts.
In today's episode we talk about MONEY, and in particular Kalee's two books, Moneywise Mabel’s Bursting Bank and then the adult book Make Money Your Thing.
https://kaleeboisvert.com/

E159 - 2022 CBCA Winners, Isis Henriquez and Natasha Silva

Today's episode is the fourth and final in a series of podcasts I’m doing in my capacity as the Official Podcast Host for the 2022 Canadian Book Club Award winners. Today, I talk with poet Natasha Silva, author of North Star Heart; and Isis Maria Henriquez, the author of Mangos and Snowflakes. Their books were the winners of the 2022 Canadian Book Club Awards in their categories.
Natasha Silva is a dual citizen of Portugal and Canada. She graduated from UBC’s School of Creative Writing, and an avid lover of the outdoors. It was through the Langley Fine Arts School where she began writing, and her passion to write has grown ever since.
https://natashasilva.ca/
Isis Maria Henriquez comes from a Salvadoran family. She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and grew up in Canada. At the age of 7, her parents piled the family into a baby blue 1977 Dodge van, and drove from Edmonton, Alberta to San Salvador, El Salvador. Fascinated by the experience, she knew that the journey marked the beginning of her life as an educator, traveller, and storyteller. Her first novel, Mangos and Snowflakes, is an unconventional novel that tells the silenced stories of the victims of the Salvadoran civil war and provides a multigenerational connection between those who were lost, those who survived, and those who are the fruit of the fight for survival.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59110085-mangos-and-snowflakes
 
 
 

E158 - Kim Herdman Shapiro, The Raven’s Cry

Kim Herdman Shapiro with me and we’re going to talk about the first novel in her Wynter Island cozy mystery series, The Raven’s Cry.
Kim Herdman Shapiro worked as a journalist in Canada for many years, with experience in both print and broadcast journalism. Her book, Gelato with the Pope, highlights her time as a syndicated travel columnist in the Nineties. In addition to her travel column, she has written feature articles for numerous publications, edited a monthly children’s publication in British Columbia, and had her poetry published in Do Whales Jump at Night?: A Canadian Anthology of Children’s Poetry.
She won a Microsoft Network award for best website for Footloose, one of the first digital e-zines on the internet. For the past eight years she has been working on her video project, What the Hell is a Toque? which chronicles her travels with her sons from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island and north to the Canadian Arctic. Kim is also a board member of Sisters in Crime New England. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two sons, and three dogs.
https://www.kimhshapiro.com/

E157 - Susan Calder, Spring Into Danger

Susan Calder is a Calgary writer who grew up in Montreal. Spring Into Danger is her fifth novel and the fourth book in her Paula Savard Mystery series. Susan’s short stories and poems have won contests and appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. She has worked as an insurance claims examiner and served on the boards of the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society, Crime Writers of Canada, and When Words Collide Festival for Readers and Writers. Susan is a co-chair for Boucheron World Mystery Convention, Calgary 2026.  Today we’re going to talk about her latest Paula Savard mystery, Spring into Danger.
https://susancalder.com/

E156 - Francesca Maria, They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark

Francesca Maria writes dark fiction surrounded by cats near the Pacific Ocean. She is thecreator of the Black Cat Chronicles, a true horror comic book series narrated by a mystical black cat. Her short story collection, They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark is out now, published by Brigid’s Gate Press. Her short stories and essays can be found in Crystal LakePublishing's Shallow Waters series and anthologies and Death’s Garden Revisited. You canfind her at Francesa Maria and on Twitter @Writer_of_Weird.
They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark is a collection of 13 chilling tales that weave through shadows, exploring the nature of fear, powerlessness and control.

E155 - Tony Ollivier, The Tokyo Diversion

Tony Ollivier is the author of the David Knight, high concept thriller series. The first book was released on March 2020, The Amsterdam Deception, and on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, the second novel in his series, The Tokyo Diversion, a fast-paced international thriller that starts in Tokyo. I never knew Tokyo had so many dispensing machines.
A child of the 60s, Tony voraciously read every science fiction and adventure book he could. He lives in Vancouver with his wife.
Tony works in Competitive Intelligence in a software company based out of Portugal. His high-tech career included stints at Xerox, Apple, IBM, and Microsoft. Prior to joining the corporate and writing world, Tony worked as a bartender, a DJ, and a tobacco picker! On August 22, 2023, he'll be launching The Tokyo Diversion at the Outdoor Terrace Lounge at the Library Square Public House with fellow authors Meredith Hambrock, Sarah M. Stephen, Charlotte Morganti, Winona Kent, Karen Dodd, Yvonne Maximchuk, Ken MacQueen, and with special guest David Rabinovitch. The event begins at 8:30 pm.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyollivier/
https://twitter.com/tonyollivier