EPISODE 638 - Janet Skeslien Charles - Author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan's Book Brigade comes a charming and cinematic multi-cast audiobook, The Parisian Chapter

Janet Skeslien Charles is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Library, Moonlight in Odessa, Miss Morgan's Book Brigade (called The Librarians of Rue de Picardie in the UK and Commonwealth), and the audiobook The Parisian Chapter. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the anthology Montana Noir.

Her work has been translated into 40 languages. Janet was born and raised in Montana. After graduating from the University of Montana, she got a job teaching English in Ukraine. She later went to France intending to teach for a year, and has been there ever since. Place is at the heart of every story she has ever written. She loves traveling, spending time with friends and family, and researching stories of forgotten people and places.

The Parisian Chapter
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade comes a charming and cinematic multi-cast audiobook following a young woman from Montana who lands a job in the American Library in Paris, where she discovers the power of storytelling and writes her own Parisian chapter.

https://www.jskesliencharles.com/

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podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/

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EPISODE 637 - Jann Alexander - Unspoken - Historic Texas during the Dirty Thirties and beyond

About Jann Alexander
I'm an author, photographer, and artist.

My characters face down their fears, in novels that are as close-to-true as fiction can get.

I specialize in time travel. Read Unspoken, my best-selling novel and the first in my Dust series that stars historic Texas during the Dirty Thirties and beyond. Explore my photography featuring Vanishing Austin, Mother Earth, and Texana. Journey into the American southwest and Mexico, along the Mission Trail, as I capture the colors in my paintings and photos. ​

"Jann Alexander's blazingly alive novel Unspoken asks how do we keep a family intact? Especially during a time of upheaval and betrayal in the 1930s Dust Bowl? Here, in a story told by both a mother and her daughter, two people struggle to both understand their world and each other."

— CAROLINE LEAVITT, New York Times bestselling author of
Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

Upheaval, betrayal, estrangement, families lost and found, poverty, and homelessness, are the themes we wake up to in today's headlines. In the 1930s, the Texas Dust Bowl was no different — with one exception. Nobody knew how to fix air you couldn't breathe.

https://www.jannalexander.com/

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https://livingthenextchapter.com/
podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/

Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!
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EPISODE 636 - Gil Merrick - Haunted Victory, Come September, Olympics and Horses

Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Gil Merrick attended Hiram College, earning a BA in International Finance and German. Upon completing his MBA at Cleveland State University, he began a forty-year career managing companies throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. An avid horseman with credits as Team Leader for the U.S. Equestrian Federation at the 2007 Pan American Games and the 2008 Olympic Games, he now devotes himself full-time to writing in South Florida.​

Book: Haunted Victory: Healing From Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Decades of Addiction That Followed - A small and effeminate boy—bullied for years while growing up in an alcoholic family in suburban Cleveland—Gil finds refuge in the equestrian world. A coach instills in him the dream of going to the Olympics and becomes his mentor, his guide—and his predator.

Gil survives rape, betrayals, setbacks, and the loss of family and friends—all while on a quest to fulfill his dream. This book is not only about surviving; it's about the resilience of the human spirit and the pursuit of dreams against all odds. Gil makes it to the Olympics, but not in the way he imagined. He discovers what happens when a dream ends, and all you have left are your addictions.

What does it take to finally realize that our lives can’t go on as they are? How do we put an end to our self-destructive ways? Is it even possible to grasp the complexities of untreated and unrealized trauma? How do we come to terms with the cost of the abuse we suffered?

Gil tells his story with a breadth of detail and thought-provoking insights rarely shared by male victims of sexual abuse. Readers will find a story of hope, determination, and the transformative power of confronting one's past.

Book: A small and effeminate boy—bullied for years while growing up in an alcoholic family in suburban Cleveland—Gil finds refuge in the equestrian world. A coach instills in him the dream of going to the Olympics and becomes his mentor, his guide—and his predator.

What does it take to finally realize that our lives can’t go on as they are? How do we put an end to our self-destructive ways? Is it even possible to grasp the complexities of untreated and unrealized trauma? How do we come to terms with the cost of the abuse we suffered?

Gil tells his story with a breadth of detail and thought-provoking insights rarely shared by male victims of sexual abuse. Readers will find a story of hope, determination, and the transformative power of confronting one's past.

Book: Come September - Ryan Jackson is a shy, scrappy teenager from a poor Appalachian town. Kip Reynolds is a talented high school polo player from a wealthy family living in the suburbs of Detroit. Sharp and stunning, Claudia Kinzler wins the admiration of both young men before her world is shattered by her father’s death in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.

With unforgettable characters and emotionally charged storytelling, this novel explores what binds us and what breaks us, the power of strength and perseverance, and how truth and forgiveness can be the key to reconciling the pain of our past and building a new life.

https://www.gilmerrick.com/

Support the show

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https://livingthenextchapter.com/
podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/

Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!
https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca