Bookwild

01:03:08

Murder, Secrets & Halloween in the Thousand Islands:...

Bookwild ·

2026/10/06

In this episode, Gare and I chat with Tessa Wegert about her new thrill The River Runs Black!Listen to hear about:How the Thousand Islands and North Country become characters themselves, creating the perfect mix of cozy fall atmosphere, isolation, and underlying dread.Why Tessa set The River Runs Black around Halloween and how trick-or-treating, pumpkin festivals, orchards, and other seasonal details actually play into the mystery.How she uses multiple POVs, secrets, cliffhangers, and carefully

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00:58:48

Trad Wives, Social Media & the Horror of Losing...

Bookwild ·

2026/10/05

This week, I talk with Sarah Langan about her novella Bloody 13 and her horror novel Trad Wife!Listen to hear about:The inspiration behind Bloody 13, and the conflicting reactions to it when she initially published it.How Sarah Langan turned the trad wife movement into horror, using the seemingly idyllic online lifestyle to explore control, gender roles, motherhood, and the systems operating beneath the aesthetic.Why accusations of “selfishness” can be so powerful against women, and how Trad Wife

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00:58:26

Motherhood, Mystery, and Agency: Chital Mehta's Have...

Bookwild ·

2026/10/01

In this episode, I chat with Chital Mehta about her literary mystery Have You Seen Romit?Listen to hear all about:How motherhood, an MFA, and a lifelong love of reading led Chital to pursue her dream of becoming a novelist.The real-life missing-person article that inspired Have You Seen Romit? and why shifting the story's focus from a father to a mother changed everything.How adoption, sibling resentment, and parental expectations, create the complicated challenge of loving your children equally.How

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01:03:08

Beyond MLK: The Women Who Shaped the Civil Rights...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/29

In this episode, I chat with Marcia Chatelain about her new non-fiction book How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington.Listen to hear about:How Marcia Chatelain’s love of storytelling, journalism, and deep historical research shaped her path to becoming a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and narrative nonfiction writer.Why How Bright the Path Grows reframes the civil rights movement by centering the Black women whose organizing, artistry, advocacy, and

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01:26:52

First Ladies, Church Secrets & Respectability...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/29

This week, Cassie Goodwin and I chat with Deesha Philyaw about her fiction debut The True Confessions of Lady Freeman!Listen to hear about:How The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman evolved over nearly 20 years, and why Deesha had to become a different, more experienced writer before she could finally tell Sharice’s story.Why Deesha transformed Sharice from a character modeled on herself into a woman who genuinely loves being a First Lady—and therefore has something meaningful to lose.How

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01:00:17

When What We Inherit Haunts Us: Deena Helm's Our Cut...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/22

This week, I talk with Deena Helm about her debut literary horror novel Our Cut of Salt!Listen to hear about:How Deena Helm turned a haunted house into a living embodiment of history, memory, and inherited trauma.Why Our Cut of Salt follows three generations of Palestinian women, and how trauma changes the relationships between mothers and daughters across decades.The tension between preserving family history and being consumed by it—and what happens when younger generations want answers their

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01:15:35

Books We Wish We Could Forget and Reread with Gare...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/19

This week, Gare, Steph and I share books we wish we could wipe from our brains and reread!Kate’s BooksNever Saw Me Coming by Vera KurianThe Ursulina by Brian FreemanBut Won’t I Miss Me by Tiffany TsaoGare’s BooksFruit Fly by Josh SilverThe Last Winter of Dani Lansing by P.D. VinerA Density of Souls by Christopher RiceSteph’s BooksThe Push by Ashley AudrainMadwoman by Chelsea BiekerNotes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Allison EspachAll the Bookwild Links:Check Out the Bookwild SubstackSubscribe to

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00:56:59

When Faith, Femininity & Capitalism Collide: Kristin...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/15

This week, I talk with Kristin Kobes Du Mez about her new book Live, Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Womenand the World They Made. Listen to hear all about:How Live Laugh Love grew out of Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne, shifting the focus from evangelical masculinity to the history and culture surrounding white Christian women.The surprising roots of “biblical womanhood” and hyper-femininity—and how ideas presented as timeless Christian gender roles have actually

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01:06:31

Horror We Are Excited to Read with Kayla Hardy

Bookwild ·

2026/09/11

This week, Kayla Hardy - screenwriter, reader, and author of The Quarter Queen - and I talk about horror books we are excited to read this year!Kate’s Upcoming ReadsThe Unhaunting — Micaiah JohnsonNightjars — Michael WehuntIncarnate — Alma KatsuKayla’s Upcoming ReadsRunner — Ashton LattimoreHorror Movie — Paul TremblayThe Buffalo Hunter Hunter — Stephen Graham JonesOther Books We DiscussedThe Quarter Queen — Kayla HardyThe Night and the Moth — Rachel GilligBetween Two Fires — Christopher

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00:56:00

Female Friendship, Identity and Motherhood: Amy...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/09

This week, Gare and I talk with Amy Chozick about her suspenseful literary debut With Friends Like You!Short SynopsisEmily, an exhausted new mother in Manhattan, becomes obsessed with finding her long-lost college roommate Daisy, whose mysterious disappearance has haunted her for years. When Daisy suddenly reappears and pulls Emily into a seductive new world of friendship and community, their reunion begins to crack, forcing Emily to question whether Daisy is saving her—or unraveling her life.Listen

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01:01:12

Class, Race, Jazz and Crime: Andre Hardy's Fresh Take...

Bookwild ·

2026/09/01

This week, I talk with Andre Hardy about his fresh take on noir in his debut novel Tear the City Down!Listen to hear about: How Andre Hardy’s debut novel, Tear the City Down, grew from his lifelong love of noir—particularly Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress, which showed him a fully realized Black protagonist in a genre he already loved. The ways Hardy uses San Diego’s stark dualities—tourist paradise versus underserved neighborhoods, enormous wealth versus systemic oppression—as the

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01:11:20

Sci-Fi, Philip K. Dick & the Birth of Pink Beam Press

Bookwild ·

2026/08/26

This week, I talk with Keith Giles, David Agranoff, Brian Evenson, Gordon Bonnet, and Andrew Turck about Pink Beam Press, a new speculative-fiction imprint inspired by Philip K. Dick and the strange, reality-bending possibilities of science fiction.Listen to hear about: The origins of Pink Beam Press and how Philip K. Dick’s legendary “pink beam” experience helped inspire its identity and mission. Why speculative fiction is such a powerful way to explore reality, consciousness, identity,

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00:56:17

Fall Hopefuls on Our TBRs with Gare

Bookwild ·

2026/08/21

This week, Gare and I share fall book releases we are excited about!Kate’s Books The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo Johnson Have You Seen Romit? By Chital Mehta It Looks Like You in the Dark by Mathilda Zeller The Turning of Sally Mae by Nuzo Onoh Lethal Kiss by Taylor Grothe Gare’s Books The Little Red House Liv Andersson Killing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar The Witch by Freida McFadden This B Just Won’t Die by Tanya Pell All the Little Secrets by May Cobb All the Bookwild

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01:01:48

The Multi-Hyphenate Marie Laveau: Kayla Hardy's The...

Bookwild ·

2026/08/18

This week, I talk with Kayla Hardy about her dark fantasy The Quarter Queen!How The Quarter Queen began as a television pilot. Kayla Hardy’s screenwriting background shaped the novel’s cinematic pacing, visual set pieces, ensemble cast, and meticulous plotting. Why Marie Laveau is both historical inspiration and a personal connection. Hardy draws on her Louisiana Creole roots, academic background in African American literature and folklore, and fascination with Marie to humanize a woman

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00:59:48

ARCs We Are Excited About with Emma West

Bookwild ·

2026/08/14

In this episode, Emma West and I share ARCs we are excited about!Kate's Books Hive Mind — Allison Gunn Accidents Never Happened — Penny Zang Scream City — Hannah Morrissey Our Cut of Salt — Dina Nayeri Helm The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman — Deesha Philyaw Emama's Books Kiss Slay Replay — Rachel Harrison She’s a Doll — Barbara Truglove Public Access Afterworld — Jane Schoenbrun Mother Dearest — Claire Bird Bad Words - Rioghnach Robinson All the Bookwild Links:Check Out the

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01:03:25

Friendship, Grief and Second (and Third, and Fourth)...

Bookwild ·

2026/08/11

In this episode, I talk with Paige Harbison about her new time loop novel Destination Funeral!Listen to our whole conversation to hear about: How Destination Funeral uses being literally stuck in time to explore being emotionally stuck. The characters are trapped with unresolved relationships, old resentments, and versions of themselves they haven’t fully escaped. Why “What if?” is Paige’s favorite starting point for storytelling. Rather than setting out to write magical realism or a particular

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00:56:00

The Best & Rest of Summer Books with Gare Billings

Bookwild ·

2026/08/07

This week, Gare and I share some of our best reads of the summer, and forecast ones we think we will love for the rest of summer!Kate’s Best of Summer Killer Vibes by Jack Friday Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim The Great Game by Arvind Ethan David Kate’s Rest of Summer Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm Mazywood by Tananarive Due The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw Gare’s Best of Summer Heather by Caitlin Mullen The Shark by Emma Styles Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier Gare’s

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00:38:38

Manifestation, Murder, and the Cults of the 1920s:...

Bookwild ·

2026/08/04

In this episode, I talk with Olesya Lyuzna about the second book in her Ginny Dugan series Liars in Paradise.Listen to hear all about: The roots of modern self-help, manifestation, and MLM-style thinking stretch back to the 1920s. Olesya shares how historical figures like Napoleon Hill and the era's get-rich-quick culture inspired the novel's sinister organization, Echelon. Sometimes throwing away an entire draft is the best writing decision. Olesya discusses scrapping a nearly finished

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01:52:51

An Eldest Daughter Pastor’s Kid Unpacks Her Father's...

Bookwild ·

2026/07/31

This week, I talk with Kate Johnson about her deconstruction journey and healing from religious trauma. Listen to hear all about: How growing up in evangelical culture created an information bubble. We reflect on how strict media restrictions, homeschooling, and Christian-only entertainment reinforced the belief that avoiding certain books, movies, and ideas would keep families spiritually and physically safe. How trauma exposed the cracks in that worldview. Kate Johnson shares how her father's

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01:08:47

SUMMERWEEN Book Recs with Brian Watson

Bookwild ·

2026/07/24

This week, Brian Watson @readingwithbrian is back, and we share our take on Summerween book recommendations!Kate’s Books Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine Almost Surely Dead by Amina Akhtar Play Nice by Rachel Harrison Fiend by Alma Katsu An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson Brian’s Books Marion by Leah Rowan The Night Shift by Alex Finlay Don’t Turn Around by Jessica Barry Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft Final Girls by Riley Sager Misery by Stephen

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