Harperaudio Presents

On this week’s episode, we listen to a clip from the audiobook version of PAX by Sara Pennypacker. The story of a boy and his pet Fox, separated by war, this beautifully wrought, utterly compelling novel about the essential truths that define us and the devastating costs of war, is destined to become a beloved classic. You can buy the audiobook of PAX on audible, where it is currently on sale!

When Mary Kubica introduced the suspense element to her writing with The Good Girl, she knew she had found her style. Now a Master of Suspense, Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date in Every Last Lie - one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried. Ms. Kubica and Ana Maria Allessi sat down at the ABA’s 2017 Winter Institute to discuss Mary’s new book, how to come up with original twists, and her background as a writer.

Megan Whalen Turner's favorite thing about being a writer is that she can give away her creative output while still keeping it on a shelf at home. Her Queen's Thief novels are rich with political machinations, battles, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. The author sits down with Harper Audio’s Ana Maria Allessi to discuss writing, publishing and her latest stand-alone novel, “Thick As Thieves.”

Jodi Lynn Anderson’s MIDNIGHT AT THE ELECTRIC tell the story of three women – two from different eras of the early 20th century, one from the future – being linked both by their actions and a “very long-lived tortoise.” Anderson says that she likes “to write about magic that’s very realistic,” which was a “constant thread while writing this book.” Grief, love, faith, a “magical glass globe”, and how one’s life can impact others carry a thread between the novel’s three distinct protagonists. Ms. Anderson and Ana Maria Allessi sat down to discuss this title and the author’s writing life at the ABA’s 2017 Winter Institute.

Jamie Harrison sets her novel in 1905 Livingston Montana because, contrary to popular belief, it was a place of sophistication and flux similar to our world today. THE WIDOW NASH is about a woman who reinvents herself under a new identity. It poses the question, is this cowardice or courage? Harrison has lived in Montana for almost 30 years and writes when not plying her trade as a technical editor. She’s the daughter of author Jim Harrison.

Daniel Wallace believes his protagonist in EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES, Edsel Bronfman, is the first character he's ever created who "can exist outside the covers of the book." Wallace discusses his new "coming-of-age-late" novel and talks about finding underlying messages in his works after the fact, in today’s interview with Ana Maria Allessi.

Susan Burton tells HarperAudio Presents that lectures and appearances are familiar territory, something she had to master as founder and Executive Director of “A New Way Of Life.” But now they’re in the service of her first book, a memoir entitled “Becoming Ms. Burton.” Burton intends the audience for her addict-to-activist story to include women in prison, because she offers a new vision for their life after incarceration. However, all audiences will gain insight from this story of getting on your feet and giving back.

Lisa Ko’s debut novel THE LEAVERS takes a poignant look at the detainment of undocumented immigrants and the devastating emotional effects it has on their American-born children, who often end up being adopted by families outside of their background. Lisa discusses the novel, her background as a storyteller, and the need for more diverse writers in American literature of today’s episode, recorded at the ABA Winter Institute in January 2017.

"I’ll quit next week" became Laura McBride's motto when her life became too difficult and too busy for writing. The irresistible project was 'Round Midnight, the story of four very different women whose lives come together after sixty years. The setting for their interaction is Las Vegas, McBride's home for nearly 30 years. Speaking with Harper Audio's Ana Maria Allessi at the Winter Institute, McBride reveals some of her greatest strengths and weaknesses as a writer.

Benjamin Ludwig's debut novel GINNY MOON revolves around the title character, a fourteen-year-old girl adopted from the foster care system who is plotting an escape. Ludwig's own daughter is autistic and was adopted as a pre-teen by Benjamin and his wife, though the similarities between her and Ginny Moon begin to diverge after those facts. Today, Ludwig expands upon his parenting and writing backgrounds and dives into his mindset while writing in the voice of an autistic high school student.

Marina Benjamin hopes that people say that her new book THE MIDDLEPAUSE "completely redefines the debate about aging for women." Her approach is to look at aging as "an embodied experience, and put the body very much back in the frame." She took the time to sit down with Ana Maria Allessi at the 2017 ABA Winter Institute to discuss these ideas and others about the changing opportunities women encounter as they progress through their middle years.

In Radical Candor, Kim Scott explains how to be a kickass boss without losing your humanity. Scott was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Twitter, and other Silicon Valley companies. A previously unpublished novelist, she wrote her latest book in Google Docs with ongoing input from 100 invited editors.

Over the past six years, Bassem Youssef went from being a cardiothoracic surgeon who helped protesters during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution to becoming Egypt's most popular political satirist and TV host. After being exiled from Egypt, Bassem moved to America, where he has continued to produce television and practice medicine. He also penned his first book, REVOLUTION FOR DUMMIES, which he speaks about with Ana Maria Allessi in this episode of HarperAudio Presents.

Women In The Castle took Jessica Shattuck seven years to write, and draws on her ambivalence about her German ancestry. Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle, this historical novel dwells on characters who are neither victims nor heroes, but who must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives.

Lauren Grodstein's new novel, OUR SHORT HISTORY, looks into the choices that parents make when faced with their own mortality. The author's inspiration for this novel came about after losing three friends to ovarian cancer, two with children still in elementary school. Ms. Grodstein sits down with Ana Maria in Minneapolis to discuss her own experiences with motherhood, her "other professional life" running an MFA program, and her current focus on essay writing.

When asked about his most marked quality as a writer, “Hearts of Men” author Nickolas Butler answers that it’s sincerity. That quality is evident in this heartfelt interview. Learn the writerly superpower he’d most like to possess and the personal advice an airplane seatmate offered after a bumpy ride.

Pam Jenoff, author of the World War II novel THE ORPHAN'S TALE, discusses her work as a diplomat in Krakow, Poland after the fall of communism, working on relations with the Jewish population who had survived the Holocaust, and how the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks changed her career path from being an attorney to embracing her dream to be a novelist.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s YA debut addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence and heart. Listen to discover why her editor’s letter made her cry and how she found her literary agent on Twitter.

Christina Baker Kline, author of A PIECE OF THE WORLD, thinks about her book as "a philosophical meditation on what it means to find value in your life." Today, she discusses the Andrew Wyeth painting "Christina's World", which is the inspiration for the novel, as well as what she's learned about the Wyeth and Olson family histories while researching the book in Mid-Coast Maine.

After a career helping such luminaries as Ben Bradlee and Hillary Clinton pen their books, Barbara Feinman Todd has claimed her own voice in the memoir, “Pretend I’m Not Here.” Listen to a view of behind-the-scenes Washington through the eyes of a woman who worked in the trenches and made headlines.