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Author News & Interviews

Author Talk: Aaron Jacobs, author of Time Will Break the World

Jul 6, 2023

Inspired by the largest kidnapping-for-ransom scheme in American history, TIME WILL BREAK THE WORLD weaves a rich backdrop of place and circumstance --- long-term trauma, dysfunctional family legacies, sibling rivalry, a granite quarry, and the Summer Olympics. In this interview, Aaron Jacobs talks about his decision to write a fictionalized account of the Chowchilla, California school bus kidnapping of 1976 and set the novel on the East Coast in the 1980s. He also explains the book’s title, the significance of revisiting these characters 30 years after their ordeal, and his emotional experiences as he was putting together this fascinating, multi-layered story.

Interview: Jeremy P. Bushnell, author of Relentless Melt

Jun 15, 2023

"Stranger Things" meets the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in RELENTLESS MELT, a rollicking supernatural detective thriller by Jeremy P. Bushnell that introduces readers to Artie Quick, a sales assistant at Filene’s in Boston who moonlights as an amateur detective. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Bushnell talks about the extensive research he did for the book, which is his first work of historical fiction; the cross-dressing tendencies of his female protagonist; the books he read as a child that informed the writing of RELENTLESS MELT; and his all-time favorite supernatural novel.

Interview: Daniel Weizmann, author of The Last Songbird: A Pacific Coast Highway Mystery

May 25, 2023

THE LAST SONGBIRD is a gritty, fast-paced neo-noir that explores the consumptive nature of fame, celebrity and motherhood through the lens of a driver lost in the gig economy. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Daniel Weizmann talks about his inspiration for his debut mystery novel, which is the opening installment in his Pacific Coast Highway series, and what he learned during the writing process that will help him as he begins working on the second book. He also pays tribute to some of his favorite writers from the classic age of LA mystery fiction and reveals which musical artists from the past he would like to incorporate into a future story.

Interview: Dave Barry, author of Swamp Story

May 11, 2023

Dave Barry is the author of more bestsellers than you can count on two hands, including LESSONS FROM LUCY, DAVE BARRY'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO GUYS, DAVE BARRY TURNS 40 and DAVE BARRY IS NOT MAKING THIS UP. SWAMP STORY, his latest Florida caper, is full of oddballs and more twists and turns than a snake slithering away from a gator. Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, was one of Barry’s publicists at G.P. Putnam’s Sons from 1996 to 2014, so he was thrilled to have an opportunity to catch up with him. In this interview, Barry explains why Florida has been the subject of so many comic novels over the past three decades, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of collaborating with other authors, and gives his two cents on the current state of the book industry.

Interview: Warren C. Easley, author of Fatal Flaw: A Cal Claxton Mystery

May 11, 2023

When greed runs rampant, murder can’t be far behind. That’s the intriguing tagline of Warren C. Easley’s ninth Cal Claxton mystery, FATAL FLAW, which finds the small-town lawyer up against two killers --- a ruthless murderer and a deadly virus. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Easley talks about the difference between writing this book and the eight previous installments, the writers whose novels inspired him to try his own hand at a mystery series, and his plans for Cal in book 10.