AK26-12. Anna Binder Reardon’s Autonomy of Self-Confidence

March 23, 2026March 18, 2026Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast Leave a comment

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Anna Binder Readon, on air from March 24th

Lurking in the basement of her life is the ache of depression and the torment of life as an addict. Meet Amelia, a character closely based on the tumultuous youth of author Anna Binder Reardon.

In Reardon’s dramatization of her own life, Wethersfield Road is a moving story of healing. Through it all, Amelia has her besties by her side: a bottle and a bong, the binge-purge cycle, and risky hookups. She’s the cross-faded chaos queen of nobody’s dreams. Feeling lost, Amelia’s connection with her horse, Hope, seems to be her last reason to stick around. But even that simplest love can’t save her by itself. She topples into a shameful series of crash landings. From domestic violence to cringeworthy sexual encounters and drug-induced shame spirals, she can’t catch her breath. A brutal equine wake-up call propels Amelia to rescue herself in the way only she can. She must first resist her default setting: self-sabotage. In an interview, Reardon can share with us:

“This book depicts domestic violence, sexual trauma, substance abuse, eating disorders, and severe mental illness,” says Reardon. “The intention of exploring these topics is to tell the truth about the ways we as humans struggle. This is ultimately a redemptive story about recovery in all its various forms. Amelia’s journey can be messy, but as most of us know all too well, healing is anything but linear. May we all have the time and space we need to heal and feel whole.”

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Anna Binder Reardon is a former therapist who writes novels and personal essays about people in therapy. When it comes to mental health, her goal is to destigmatize the struggles and normalize care and support. Her core work embodies my core belief in the transformative power of vulnerability. Wethersfield Road, a critically-acclaimed novel, is her first published book

With a Master’s Degree in Counseling from St. Edward’s University, her three-plus years as a mental health therapist, and her own experiences on the fainting couch, she brings actual clinical and personal knowledge to her writings. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from St. Edward’s University.

An LMFTA counselor, she specialized in eating disorders, was a certified intuitive eating counselor, and she treated individuals, families, couples, kids, and teens.

Reardon was a competitive, semi-professional horseback rider for eight years. Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, she moved to Austin, Texas at age seven, where she now resides with her husband, Tanner, and their Golden Retriever Jax, and their Corgi-mix Oliver.

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James Sulzer’s “All That Smolders” #AK26-01.

January 5, 2026January 5, 2026Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest James Sulzer, on air from January 6th

All That Smolders is a New Murder Mystery Focuses on the Search for Redemption on a New England Island with a Buried Secret.

A past he can’t escape. A secret that won’t stay buried. A murder that changes everything.
It’s 1980, a time of peace and tranquility on a legendary island off the coast of New England. Inhabiting the island is a vibrant cast of locals that includes scallopers, tradespeople, and a mysterious recluse -the wealthiest man in Massachusetts. But that peace is shattered by the murder of a prominent lawyer, a pillar of the community.

After writing two literary novels inspired by Emily Dickinson and John Keats, he turned to the mystery genre with All That Smolders, a shift that invited new creative challenges and preparation. Set on a small New England island, the story is deeply informed by his family’s more than forty years of living on Nantucket, where the rhythms, isolation, and intimacy of island life naturally lend themselves to mystery. His protagonist, Peter Christie, is given a compelling backstory as a distant relative of Agatha Christie, creating subtle parallels between Peter’s life and that of the famed author. Scalloping plays a central role in the novel—not only as a community tradition and industry, but also as a potential cover for murder—drawing directly from his own experience as a scalloper. While a murder mystery relies on pace, action, and carefully placed misdirection, he also explores how to craft characters who are vivid and memorable, revealing how he selected and shaped his cast, whether inspired loosely by people he has known or imagined from the deeper truths of human nature.

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James Sulzer was an Intensive English major at Yale, worked in television for a number of years, then moved with his family year-round to the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. In his early years on the island, he labored as a commercial scalloper and sang professionally in a barbershop quartet, then taught English for three decades. Other published works include a novel about Emily Dickinson, The Voice at the Door and a novel about John Keats, Writ in Water, as well as the novel Nantucket Daybreak and a trilogy of middle grade novels for children, The Card People. All That Smolders is his first murder mystery and is written in honor of his mother, who was a big fan of Agatha Christie. Sulzer’s novel is heavily inspired by Agatha Christie. He even creates a backstory for his protagonist that places him as one of Christie’s relatives.

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www.jamessulzerauthor.com.

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AK25-48. Dr. Sheldon Greaves, The Guerrilla Scholar’s Handbook

December 1, 2025November 28, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Dr. Sheldon Greaves, on air from December 2nd

The Guerrilla Scholar’s Handbook: A guide to the pursuit of learning for pleasure, empowerment, and changing the world.

How to join the ranks of independent scholars, citizen scientists, recovering academics, makers, artists, activists, and other intellectual ne’er-do-wells pursuing a life of the mind—and changing the world.

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Sheldon Greaves completed a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in ancient Near Eastern Studies on a shoestring while living and working in Silicon Valley during the dot.com boom. Facing a sparse academic job market after graduating, he developed an unconventional approach to a life of the mind, what he calls “guerrilla scholarship”. Among his adventures was starting an educational software business, promoting science literacy in the nonprofit sector, publishing in his field, and co-founding the first private university designed to offer degree programs to members of the intelligence community. “The Guerrilla Scholar’s Handbook” is about how regular people can enjoy a life of the mind outside of academia and enrich their communities along the way.

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Book page on Spines:

https://book.spines.com/books/the-guerrilla-scholars-handbook

https://www.facebook.com/sheldon.greaves

https://www.facebook.com/guerrillascholar

https://guerrillascholar.substack.com

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheldongreaves

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AK25-47. A Complete Fiction by R.L. Maizes

November 24, 2025November 22, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

An Author’s Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest R.L. Maizes, on air from November 25th

A Complete Fiction Told in a humorous vein, R.L. examines the very serious questions of who has a right to tell a story, and has cancel-culture gone too far in our social media–drenched world?

With little evidence, would-be author P.J. Larkin serves a “nibble” on the trendy new social media app Crave, accusing editor George Dunn of stealing the novel she submitted to him for publication. The nibble shoots to the top of the site’s Popular Menu Items, and before you can say “unpaid literary labor,” George is embroiled in a scandal, his job and book deal in jeopardy. P.J. ‘s novel is snapped up amid the publicity, but has she revealed her sister Mia’s secrets in the book? Some diners on Crave think so, and now it’s P.J.’s turn to feel the public’s scorn.

Fiction can give us a breather from the relentless churn of the news, and A Complete Fiction does just that—offering a thoughtful look at serious issues while keeping readers laughing along the way. Its very creation carries a touch of irony: a book critiquing the intrusiveness of social media must still rely on those same platforms for promotion. The author explores what makes social media so objectionable to her, from its noise to its pressure, while also touching on the quieter indignities of the writing life—like receiving the dreaded “remaindered” letter for earlier books.

Why she had her husband block her social media accounts for her while she wrote the book

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R.L. Maizes’s debut novel, Other People’s Pets, won the 2021 Colorado Book Award in Fiction and was a Library Journal Best Debut of Summer/Fall 2020. She also is the author of the short story collection, We Love Anderson Cooper. Her short stories have aired on National Public Radio and can be found in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading and in The Best Small Fictions 2020. Maizes’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, O Magazine, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and have aired on NPR. She is a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellow and the recipient of a Fellowship Grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture for 2024–2025 for her novel-in-progress. Maizes was born in Queens, New York, and lives in Boulder County, Colorado, with her husband, Steve, and her muses: Rosie, a dog who spent her first year homeless in South Dakota and thinks Colorado is downright balmy, and the ghost of Arie the Cat.

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Www.rlmaizes.comes.com

https://www.facebook.com/rachel.maizes

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https://bsky.app/profile/rlmaizes.bsky.social

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17595826.R_L_Maizes

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AK25-47. Age of Consent by Mark Thompson

November 24, 2025November 22, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Mark Thomson, on air from November 25th

Age of Consent is a daring, tender novel that challenges assumptions about romance, power, and the boundaries of first love—its risks, its sweetness, and its lingering imprint. Mark Thompson delivers a story that resists easy judgment and stays with you. As Sonia Pilcer notes, the book moves not through scandal but through humanity—where desire, conscience, and vulnerability collide.

M.J. Moore adds that this is no “Mrs. Robinson” trope but an unorthodox, mythic love story set in the experimental seventies, where kindred spirits meet beyond stereotype.

A provocative coming-of-age romance, Age of Consent follows fifteen-year-old Rusty Rasmussen and 24-year-old Carla Levy, whose bond over music and social justice evolves into a clandestine relationship once Rusty turns sixteen—the legal age of consent. Their connection raises enduring questions about responsibility, authenticity, and the rules we impose on love.

Reminiscent of One Day and Call Me By Your Name, Thompson offers a raw male perspective on taboo love and asks:
– Can infatuation grow into something real?
– Can such a relationship survive judgment?
– How do we recognize a first love that lasts?
– What role should age differences play—then or now?

Bold and emotionally honest, Age of Consent explores how love defies boundaries. “When love carries a power imbalance, we are playing with fire,” Thompson says. “That fire can destroy or illuminate.” Drawing from his own experience loving an older woman, he notes, “True romantic love can overcome any boundary or obstacle.”

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Mark Thompson is the author of two novels, Age of Consent and What Makes A Man Run. He is a triathlete who began competing in high school in the late 1970s while growing up in Connecticut. Formerly a competitor for Team USA Intermediate, Thompson has participated in more than 20 marathons and triathlons, winning age group awards in many.He also plays accordion with The Zydeco Hogs, a nationally-recognized band that brings the music of southwest Louisiana across the United States. He has performed with artists including the Grammy-nominated Basin Brothers and the late, legendary D.L. Menard.Thompson, 63, is retired after working for two decades as a physical therapist assistant. He graduated from Keene State University, studying business management. Born in Chicago, his family moved to Weston, CT, where he grew up. Thompson now lives in Mamaroneck, NY and Sag Harbor, NY with his wife, author Catherine Hiller.