On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Katherine St. John about her novel THE LION'S DEN. Katherine is a native of Mississippi and graduate of the University of Southern California. Over the years she has worked as an actress, screenwriter, director, photographer, producer, singer-songwriter, legal assistant, bartender-waitress, yoga instructor, real estate agent, and travel coordinator . . . but finds she likes writing novels best. Katherine currently lives in Los Ang...
Jul 07, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 20
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews thriller writer Meghan Holloway about her latest novel HUNTING GROUND. Meghan lives in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains with her standard poodle and spends her days as a scientist with the requisite glasses, but minus the lab coat.
Jun 30, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 19
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Ohio poet Darren Demaree. Darren C. Demaree is a graduate of the College of Wooster, Miami University (MA), and Kent State University (MLIS). He is the recipient of a 2018 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, the Louise Bogan Award from Trio House Press, and the Nancy Dew Taylor Award from Emrys Journal. He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with...
Jun 09, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 17
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot welcomes back fiction novelist Jordan Farmer to talk about his new book THE POISON FLOOD. Jordan was born and raised in a small town in West Virginia, population approximately 2,000. He earned his M.A. from Marshall University and his Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jun 02, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 16
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot speaks with the White House Historian for the White House Historical Association Lindsay Chervinsky about her new book THE CABINET: GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE CREATION OF AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION. Lindsay writes about politics, the military, and culture from the 1770s to the 1820s. Lindsay completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, my Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis, and m...
May 12, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 16
On this episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews novelist Taylor Brown about his latest book Pride of Eden. Taylor Brown was born on the Georgia coast. He is the author of a short story collection, IN THE SEASON OF BLOOD AND GOLD, as well as four novels: FALLEN LAND, THE RIVER OF KINGS, GODS OF HOWL MOUNTAIN, and PRIDE OF EDEN (St. Martin's Press). He is the recipient of a Montana Prize in Fiction, and a finalist for the Press 53 Open Awards, Machigonne Fiction Contest, and Doris Betts Ficti...
May 05, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 15
On this episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot speaks to Conor Knighton about his new book "Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park." A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Conor Knighton is an Emmy-winning correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, America's #1 Sunday morning news program. He has also hosted shows on Current TV, AMC, and Bio Channel.
Apr 28, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 15
On this episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Kentucky author Wesley Browne about his new novel Hillbilly Hustle. Wesley is the founder and host of Pages & Pints Reading Series at Apollo Pizza in Richmond, Kentucky.
Apr 07, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 14
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Mississippi author Lee Durkee about his latest novel The Last Taxi Driver. Lee Durkee is the author of the novel Rides of the Midway . His stories and essays have appeared in Harper’s Magazine , the Sun , Best of the Oxford American , Zoetrope: All-Story , Tin House , New England Review , and Mississippi Noir . In 2021, his memoir Stalking Shakespeare will chronicle his decade-long obsession with trying to find lost portraits of William ...
Mar 10, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 15
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Amanda Eyre Ward about her latest novel "The Jetsetters." Amanda Eyre Ward is the author of Sleep Toward Heaven, How to Be Lost, Love Stories in This Town, Forgive Me, Close Your Eyes, The Same Sky, The Nearness of You, and The Jetsetters. Her bestselling novels have been featured in People Magazine, The New York Times, and more. Amanda's work has been optioned for film and television and translated into fifteen languages. She liv...
Mar 03, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 14
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot talks to Kentucky author Carter Sickels about his latest novel "The Prettiest Star." Carter is the recipient of the 2013 Lambda Literary Emerging Writer Award, and has been awarded scholarships to Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, VCCA, and the MacDowell Colony. His essays and fiction have appeared in various publications, including Guernica, Bellevue Literary Review, and BuzzFeed, and he is the editor of Untangling t...
Feb 27, 2020•30 min•Season 2Ep. 13
On the latest episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot talks to mystery author Jess Montgomery about her latest novel "The Hallows," a sequel to her first novel "The Widows." Jess is is the Literary Life columnist for the Dayton Daily News and former Executive Director of the renowned Antioch Writers’ Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Based on early chapters of The Hollows, Jess was awarded an Ohio Arts Council individual artist’s grant for literary arts and the John E. Nance Writer-in-Residence at T...
Feb 05, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 11
On the latest episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews author Matt Browning. Matt Browning is the author of "Bookstore Explorer: West Virginia," a celebration of the Mountain State's independent bookstores. He discusses the role that independent bookstores have within the cultural fabric of Appalachia and how independent bookstores throughout the country are often the center of the community. He is represented by Stephen Fraser at the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
Jan 22, 2020•25 min•Season 2Ep. 10
On the latest episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews thriller author John Vercher. John Vercher is a writer currently living in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two sons. He holds a Bachelor’s in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Mountainview Master of Fine Arts program. His fiction has appeared on Akashic Books’ Mondays are Murder and Fri-SciFi. and he is a contributing writer for Cognoscenti, the thoughts and opinions page of WBUR ...
Dec 17, 2019•23 min•Season 2Ep. 9
On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews South Carolina short story author Dustin M. Hoffman. Dustin painted houses in Michigan for ten years and is now an assistant professor of English at Winthrop University in South Carolina. His short fiction has appeared in many magazines, including Threepenny Review , Black Warrior Review , Puerto del Sol , Midwestern Gothic , and Cimarron Review , and his story “Building Walls” received a Pushcart Prize special mention....
Dec 10, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 8
On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews author Jordan Farmer. Originally from West Virginia, Jordan received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His stories have appeared in the Southwest Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Baltimore Review, Pembroke Magazine, Day One Magazine and many other publications. The Pallbearer, his first novel, is discussed extensively in this interview.
Nov 12, 2019•32 min•Season 2Ep. 8
On the latest episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews poet January Gill O'Neil. January is the author of the new poetry collection Rewilding, as well as other collections titled Misery Islands and Underlife , published by CavanKerry Press. She is a board of trustees member with the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) A Cave Canem fellow, January's poems and articles have appeared in the Academy of American Poets' Poem-A-Day series, Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac, Am...
Nov 05, 2019•30 min•Season 2Ep. 7
On the latest episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews Tennessee author Kimberly Collins. She grew up in Matewan, West Virginia and currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. She discusses her latest novel, titled "Blood Creek: Mingo Chronicles: Book One." She is working on the second book in the Mingo Chronicles series titled "Mingo Chronicles: The Massacre."
Oct 15, 2019•34 min•Season 2Ep. 5
On the latest episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with essayist Randal O'Wain. Randal O'Wain earned his MFA from the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program. He is an assistant teaching professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and serves as a National Endowment of the Arts Writing Fellow at the Beckley Federal Correctional Institution. O’Wain is the author of the essay collection Meander Belt and his work has been published in Oxford America...
Oct 08, 2019•37 min•Season 2Ep. 4
On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot interviews North Carolina author Elaine Neal Orr. Elaine Neil Orr is a writer of fiction, memoir, and literary criticism. With stories set in Nigeria and the American South, she delves into themes of home, country, and spiritual longing. Orr was born in Nigeria to medical missionary parents and spent her growing-up years in the savannahs and rain forests of that country. She is an award-winning Professor of English at North Carolina State University an...
Sep 24, 2019•31 min
On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with author Kasey S. Pipes about his latest book "After the Fall: The Remarkable Comeback of Richard Nixon." Kasey is the Norris Fellow at the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He also served as an advisor to President George W. Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Sep 17, 2019•34 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Joe Walters is the former marketing director at Inkwater Press and is the founder and president of Independent Book Review since April 2018. During his time as the marketing and publicity director at Inkwater Press, he discovered how difficult it was for small press and self-published books to get the attention they deserved. In this interview, Joe discusses why its difficult for some books to get attention and how Independent Book Review can help authors overcome that obstacle.
Aug 20, 2019•31 min•Season 2Ep. 1
On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with author John Billheimer. Billheimer, a native West Virginian, lives in Portola Valley, California. THE CONTRARY BLUES was the first book in the “funny, sometimes touching,” mystery series set in Appalachia and featuring failure analyst Owen Allison.A second mystery series featuring Lloyd Keaton, a Midwest sports writer with a gambling problem, debuted in 2012 with FIELD OF SCHEMES, a mystery involving baseball and steroids. The author’s outp...
Jul 16, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 13
On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot speaks with essayist Brooke Larson about her new collection of essays "Pleasing Tree." They also discuss the genre of essays and what makes them unique for writers and readers. Born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Brooke holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, and is currently a PhD student in Poetry at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Often she runs away to teach primitive survival skills as a wilderness guide in Arizo...
Jul 09, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 12
David Bell is the USA Today -bestselling author of eight novels from Berkley/Penguin, He is an associate professor of English at Western Kentucky University where he directs the MFA program in creative writing. and is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. He discuss with Eliot his latest thriller novel "Layover" and how and MFA program can benefit writers.
Jun 25, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 11
On this episode of "Now, Appalachia," Eliot talks with creative nonfiction author Christina Fisanick about her book "The Optimistic Food Addict," which discusses her personal struggle with food and weight and the complicated relationship food has with Appalachian people and their culture. They also discuss the first Northern Appalachian Writers Conference, scheduled for early September 2019.
Jun 18, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network host and thriller author interviews Karen Swallow Prior, an award-winning Professor of English at Liberty University. She earned her Ph.D. in English at SUNY Buffalo. Her writing has appeared at The Atlantic, Christianity Today, Washington Post, Vox, First Things, Sojourners, Relevant, Think Christian, and other places. She is a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, a Research Fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Co...
Jun 05, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network host and thriller writer Eliot Parker interviews Del Duduit. Del Duduit is an award-winning sportswriter and author. He has been published in Clubhouse Magazine, Sports Spectrum, and on ToddStarnes.com. He is a contributing writer for Athletes in Action, The Christian View, Bridges Magazine, and PM Magazine. He is the co-editor for Southern Ohio Christian Voice and blogs weekly at delduduit.com. He lives in Lucasville, Ohio, with his wife Angie.
Jun 05, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network Host and thriller author Eliot Parker interviews poet Rita Quillen. Rita Quillen’s novel Hiding Ezra was published in 2014 from Little Creek Books; it was a finalist in the 2005 DANA Awards competition, and a chapter of the novel is included in the new scholarly study of Appalachian dialect just published by the University of Kentucky Press entitled Talking Appalachian. Her poetry chapbook, Something Solid To Anchor To, was published by Finishing Line Pres...
Jun 05, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network host and thriller writer Eliot Parker interviews Cat Pleska. Cat is an author, editor, educator, publisher, and storyteller. She often leads writing workshops in the community and is an essayist for West Virginia Public Radio, and a book reviewer for West Virginia University Press. She edited the anthology Fed from the Blade: Tales and Poems from the Mountains (Woodland Press 2012), and her first book, Riding on Comets: a Memoir was published by West Virgi...
Jun 05, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 6
