Sara Troy

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.

AMAZON 

Www.rlmaizes.comes.com

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

https://www.instagram.com/r.l._maizes

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

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.

AMAZON

www.markthompsonauthor.net

https://www.facebook.com/mark.thompson.9828456

https://www.instagram.com/mark_thompson_runs

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25-47.Knowingness in Business

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy, on air from November 25 th

Last night, I gave a talk on Knowingness in Business, reminding us how far we’ve drifted from trusting our instincts in a world driven by rules, data, and pressure. I shared how knowingness — the soul’s wisdom moving through the heart, speaking through the spirit, and giving the mind clarity — is our most reliable guidance system. When leaders listen to it, decisions come faster, stress drops, partnerships align, and unnecessary drama fades.

I talked about the difference between data that informs us and wisdom that transforms us, and how the body signals truth through expansion, ease, and breath, while contraction and tension reveal misalignment. Knowingness follows a simple rhythm: feel first, know second, act third. It requires alignment of heart, mind, soul, spirit, and body, and flourishes when we pause, breathe, and create moments of stillness.

I also shared the cost of ignoring intuition — burnout, misaligned partnerships, lost peace — and offered ways to strengthen knowingness: journaling yeses and nos, stepping back before committing, allowing timing to unfold, and honoring what feels right even when it defies logic.

To bring it home, I shared my own story of losing everything through misplaced trust, only to be guided into podcasting — the path I was meant to walk. That journey taught me resilience, patience, courage, and absolute faith in my internal compass.

Today, I am fully aligned with my knowingness, and because of that, doors are opening naturally and effortlessly. I encouraged everyone to trust that same inner wisdom — because when we honor it, clarity rises, stress falls away, and life becomes beautifully peaceful.

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AMAZON

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PowerPoint on Knowingness

Our Knowingness in Business presentationDownload

The Knowingness Poem

Knowingness isn’t loud.
It doesn’t argue, debate, or insist.
It rises — quietly — from the deep places where your soul, heart, spirit, and mind meet.

It’s that gentle click inside you when something is true.
The warmth in the chest when something is aligned.
The tightening in the gut when something is off.
The stillness in the mind when the next step is simply known.

Knowingness is your internal compass:
steady, ancient, endlessly guiding.

It speaks before logic catches up.
It whispers before the mind constructs its reasons.
And it reveals clarity at the exact moment you need it — no sooner, no later.

When you tune into it…
your choices sharpen,
your path steadies,
and life stops pushing against you and begins moving with you.

Knowingness is the soul’s intelligence
flowing through the heart,
igniting the spirit,
and delivering clarity to the mind.

It’s not magic.
It’s not guesswork.
It’s the truth that already lives within you —
waiting for you to listen.

By Sara Troy

TSM25-47. The Brushy Ridge Militia by Roger Chiocchi 

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Their Story Matters with Sara Troy and her guest Roger Chiocchi, on air from November 25th

“If you’re drawn to politically charged thrillers that reveal the human cost of policy decisions, this is a must-read.” — Literary Titan.
In this wrenching political novel, a school shooting turns suburban parents into federal criminals, raising the urgent question: How long can grieving parents be ignored? — BookLife, Editors Pick
The Brushy Ridge Militia is about how the intersection of grief and helplessness leads a group of parents to become so enraged after a mass shooting to conclude that enough’s enough, compelling them to commit a major act of civil disobedience. It’s the fictional version “A Civil Action” meets “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine.’

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Roger Chiocchi graduated from Ithaca College and then the Wharton School (MBA) with distinction. He spent over 25 years as a senior executive on Madison Avenue as a Senior Vice President at Young & Rubicam and then as President of Y&R subsidiary, The Lord Group where he worked on advertising campaigns for Advil, ATT, Verizon, Bell Atlantic, USAA, Kraft Foods and many others. Throughout his life, Chiocchi has had a passion for writing. In his spare time, he wrote the fictional ghost story Mean Spirits, which rose to number one in its genre on Amazon and Baby Boomer Bust? How the generation of promise became the generation of panic, which addresses the impact of the 2008/2009 recession on that generation. In 2019, he published Time Framed, a sci-fi paranormal thriller to critical acclaim. Chiocchi regards himself as a perpetual student, constantly scouring YouTube for lectures on astrophysics, quantum mechanics, human consciousness, politics and whatever else suits his fancy. The Brushy Ridge Militia is his latest novel.

AMAZON

 www.brushyridgemilitia.com

https://www.facebook.com/RogerChiocchi

https://www.facebook.com/groups

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-chiocchi

https://www.instagram.com/rogerchiocchi

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YH25-47. Health Insurance with Tony Holland

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Your health is your choice with Sara Troy and her guest Tony Holland, on air from November 25th

HEALTH INSURANCE EXPERT OFFERS CONSUMER TIPS AS ACA OPEN ENROLLMENT BEGINS

As the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment period kicks off this month, millions of Americans will face critical decisions about their health coverage—and many will see big rate increases that could strain household budgets.

Tony Holland, a leading health insurance industry veteran with three decades of executive leadership experience in the field, including serving as CEO of major insurance operations, is available to help your audience navigate these changes and find the best coverage at the lowest cost.

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Tony offers practical, non-political guidance on how consumers can shop smarter during open enrollment, including strategies to minimize premium increases, understand plan tiers, maximize subsidies, and avoid common enrollment mistakes that cost families thousands annually. 

His insider perspective on how insurance markets actually work—combined with his commitment to consumer education—makes complex insurance jargon accessible to everyday Americans.

With enrollment deadlines looming and many families unaware of money-saving options available to them, Tony can provide actionable advice that empowers your audience to make informed decisions about their healthcare coverage.

Tony Holland has spent over three decades as a leading health insurance industry executive and CEO who also focuses on leadership development and consumer advocacy. He is the author of an upcoming book on mentoring and leadership.

Tony Holland – Integrity

https://globalpremierbenefits.com

Facebook: Facebook

Tony Holland (@thetonyholland)

Tony Holland | LinkedIn

resorce AL-ON.COM

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