Authors Kiss podcast

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

Self 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

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AK25-47. Age of Consent by Mark Thompson

Self 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.

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www.markthompsonauthor.net

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AK25-46. Chester L. Richards, From Star Trek® to Crocodiles

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

An Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Chester L. Richards, on air from November 18th

From Star Trek® to Crocodiles: Chester L. Richards talks new memoir, The Trek Continues

Award-winning author and rocket scientist returns with true tales of hair-raising adventure and resilience.

Retired rocket scientist and author Chester L. Richards. Author, inventor, and co-writer of the iconic Star Trek episode “The Tholian Web,” Chester L. Richards continues his acclaimed Treks Beyond the Great Potato memoir series with The Trek Continues: More Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist

In this second volume, Richards expands on the journey he began in From the Potato to Star Trek and Beyond, blending pulse-pounding adventure with poignant reflections on life, love, and loss. From near-death experiences with crocodiles in Africa to a white-knuckle flight back home in California, The Trek Continues dives deep into the real-life escapades of a man who helped imagine the universe onscreen—and then went out and lived it.

Richards shares what it meant to survive, to grieve, and to grow. Central to the memoir is his late wife Sarah, a brilliant and spirited presence readers first glimpsed in Book 1. Responding to fan letters asking to learn more about her, Richards infuses this new collection with her voice, her stories, and the extraordinary impact she had on his life. There are also stories of eccentric animals (including cats, a dog named Hector, and a horse—almost), scientific breakthroughs in aerospace and on earth, close calls with Neolithic tribes, and the unexpected wisdom of failure.

“Every story is a letter of love to Sarah,” Richards writes. “Each stands on its own. Each is an adventure. And each is true.”

Known for his witty, self-deprecating style and cinematic detail, Richards proves again that memoir can be both thrilling and intimate. A scientist by training and adventurer by instinct, he invites  readers to see life not as a linear path—but as a series of treks, each one worth telling.

“Adventure starts when your gut clenches and you do it anyway,” says Richards. “That’s when you find out who you really are.”

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Chester L. Richards is a retired aerospace engineer and inventor with nineteen patents, and a new one pending. While still in college, he co-wrote “The Tholian Web,” one of the most beloved episodes of the original Star Trek. He went on to lead a life of exploration and innovation—surfing Southern California, navigating deadly rapids in different locales, including Ethiopia in the midst of a civil war, and designing technologies for space exploration. He is the author of From the Potato to Star Trek and Beyond and The Trek Continues, and has had more than fifty essays published, so far. He lives in Thousand Oaks, California, where he writes, plays music, and reflects on a life well lived and still boldly going.

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 https://www.chesterlrichards.com

https://x.com/ChesterLRichar1

www.facebook.com/ChesterLRichards

www.instagram.com/chesterlrichards

https://www.youtube.com/channel

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AK25-39. Sam Hawksmoor, Flamenco can be Murder

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Sam Hawksmoor, on air from September 29th

“In Sam’s new novel Days After She Went Dancing, readers are taken on a gripping journey of liberation, murder, crypto, and friendship—all woven together in one powerful story.”

Nia is an editor at a small publishing house with secret dreams of becoming a Flamenco dancer. She meets with a psychic/fortune teller who warns her that she must leave her abusive husband immediately; she sees extreme danger coming.
That night Nia discovers her husband owns a fake passport, a gun and a bundle of Euros of hidden in the freezer. She suspects he’s either leading a secret life or about to leave her. The cash is a chance to beat him to it and escape to study dance in Spain.
The very morning Nia flees, her husband, and her father-in-law are executed in a professional hit. Naturally, the police and the media look no further than the scheming,’ killer housewife’ who has fled the scene.

Enter Joss, a tracker for a news outfit, dispatched to trace this woman before anyone else can get to her. But her husband’s killers have unfinished business with Nia and won’t be far behind.
All Nia wanted was to change her life, but as people say, ‘be careful of what you wish for.’

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Sam says “Ever since I was a child, I’ve found myself lost in the world of words and stories. I am Sam Hawksmoor, and writing isn’t just what I do; it’s who I am. It’s like I discovered my calling before I even knew what a calling was. Each blank page was a canvas for my imagination, a gateway to unknown worlds and uncharted territories’.

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AK25-38. A Moon in All Things? by Jennifer Comeau

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Authors Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Jennifer Comeau, on air from September 23rd

Jennifer Elwell Comeau, author of the new book, A Moon in All Things? Perfect for readers enchanted by Irish folklore and stories that echo the timeless call of nature, A Moon in All Things reminds us that the true magic of life is waiting if we dare to reach for it.
Fans of Outlander’s Claire Fraser and The Frozen River’s Martha Ballard will love Comeau’s Morrigan Lane, who is fiercely devoted to discovering her healing gifts. 

In the wild heart of 1820s Ireland, young Morrigan Lane hears the sea’s call—and her ancestors’ ancient voices. Born with a connection to the mystical lands of her Celtic heritage, Morrigan is no ordinary girl. She dreams of adventure, breaking free from the restrictions of village life, and, above all, sailing beyond the distant horizon.
But Morrigan finds herself pulled into a mysterious journey when a haunting vision of the Irish sea god, Manannán mac Lir, beckons her into his shadowy world. Against the backdrop of Ireland’s rugged cliffs and ancient stone circles, she must navigate myth and reality, confronting age-old traditions, family secrets, and the fierce expectations placed upon her as a young woman.

A Moon in All Things is a spellbinding tale of Celtic mysticism, forbidden dreams, and the resilience of the human spirit. Fans of historical fantasy and coming-of-age adventures will be swept away by Morrigan’s quest for self-discovery in a world where land and sea, myth and truth, are deeply intertwined. 

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Jennifer Comeau is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, singer-songwriter, and author-speaker. Her forthcoming debut novel, A Moon in All Things, is a woman’s quest to reclaim her ancestors’ old ways of healing and intuitive magic. She lives in Kennebunkport, Maine, where she works globally on restoring nature-human interconnection.

“Atmospheric and beguiling … Comeau uses the Irish setting … and tales of the Otherworld and Tuatha dé Danann to craft an ethereal, fablelike narrative. Morrigan, … friends, family, and fellow villagers, come alive … fitting perfectly into the picturesque village … Morrigan’s frustration with the imposed limits on her gender adds a fascinating dimension to the spooky tale..”—Kirkus Reviews

“Tears, sighs, fabulous!”—Geralyn White Dreyfous, Academy Award-winning film producer“Atmospheric, subtle, and captivating”—Foreword Reviews, Clarion

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https://www.jennifercomeau.com

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